How to move windows 10 from hdd to ssd without losing data?

[Ben Adel]

Hello,

So I bought a new laptop which came with windows 10 pro preinstalled. 

but came with a slow 1tb hard drive 

So after about year from buying and using it I finally bought an ssd.

The problem is that the ssd is 256gb capacity. and I already filled my hdd with over 500gb of data and I have no way of backing it up.

 

So I want to know if there is any way that I can reinstall my windows 10 on my new ssd without the need to repurchase a band New copy and without losing my data that's on the hdd.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

You have a few options:

• Clone the drive. Some manufacturers have a tool that clones the HDD data onto the SSD. The only requirement is that the currently used space on the HDD must be less than the capacity of the SSD. You can also use tools like Macrium Reflect, but it may be more finicky.
  
  If you go this route, verify the clone worked by booting into the SSD, not by accessing it while booted from the HDD.
   
• Make a system image of the HDD and restore it on the SSD. This requires more work and may require that the C:\ partition can fit in the SSD, minus padding for the system bootloader and whatnot.
   
• Install Windows onto the SSD. You still have to reinstall your apps on the SSD. However, I have a way of getting all of the pertinent data from the HDD to the SSD so that you can more or less get back on your feet:

[RageTester]

On the 1TB drive, make a new partition... move all files except OS to the new partition

Then clone the small OS partition to SSD

[Ben Adel]

1 hour ago, RageTester said:

On the 1TB drive, make a new partition... move all files except OS to the new partition

Then clone the small OS partition to SSD

still it wouldn't fit

[Ben Adel]

1 hour ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

You have a few options:

• Clone the drive. Some manufacturers have a tool that clones the HDD data onto the SSD. The only requirement is that the currently used space on the HDD must be less than the capacity of the SSD. You can also use tools like Macrium Reflect, but it may be more finicky.
  
  If you go this route, verify the clone worked by booting into the SSD, not by accessing it while booted from the HDD.
   
• Make a system image of the HDD and restore it on the SSD. This requires more work and may require that the C:\ partition can fit in the SSD, minus padding for the system bootloader and whatnot.
   
• Install Windows onto the SSD. You still have to reinstall your apps on the SSD. However, I have a way of getting all of the pertinent data from the HDD to the SSD so that you can more or less get back on your feet:

Thank you going to try that

[RageTester]

1 minute ago, Ben Adel said:

still it wouldn't fit

Main question here is, do you really need all those other not OS files on your SSD...

[Ben Adel]

23 minutes ago, RageTester said:

Main question here is, do you really need all those other not OS files on your SSD...

no I just want the os on the ssd but on the other hand I don't want to delete the data that's in the hard drive I just want to keep it as it is 

moving the preinstalled windows only

[RageTester]

run diskmgmt.msc

shrink volume once, to free up space... create a new partition in that free space...

move data to the new partition, leave the OS files alone

shrink volume that has OS once more, now to smaller than your SSD size...

clone the partition that has OS to SSD with 3rd party tool

 

OTHER WAY: just copying OS files from one drive to another will not work, but you kinda can create your own boot image and write that to a bootable USB, and then re-install OS from that

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-10