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Switching to SSD as boot drive. What will happen to programs already on my HDD?

EasonIDontKnowAnything

So I recently ordered an SSD to replace my current HDD as my boot drive and I wanted to know what will happen to the programs already on my HDD. From Chrome to Steam (including all the games), they're all stored on the HDD. Will they still function as normal once the SSD becomes the boot drive? Furthermore, how do I move all these files to my SSD? Do I just click and drag them into the SSD? My HDD is also partitioned into two (C: and D:), what will happen to them once the SSD becomes the boot drive? What happens to the Windows files in the (C:) drive?

 

Thanks.

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4 minutes ago, EasonIDontKnowAnything said:

So I recently ordered an SSD to replace my current HDD as my boot drive and I wanted to know what will happen to the programs already on my HDD. From Chrome to Steam (including all the games), they're all stored on the HDD. Will they still function as normal once the SSD becomes the boot drive? Furthermore, how do I move all these files to my SSD? Do I just click and drag them into the SSD? My HDD is also partitioned into two (C: and D:), what will happen to them once the SSD becomes the boot drive? What happens to the Windows files in the (C:) drive?

 

Thanks.

For your Steam games you can just add your Steam directory that's on your HDD (labeled D drive after installing Windows on the SSD) as another Library Folder. Steam will automatically link any games installed on the HDD so they're ready to launch without any reinstallation.

Moving a Steam Installation and Games - General Troubleshooting - Knowledge Base - Steam Support (steampowered.com)

 

For other programs, you'll need to reinstall them once you have Windows installed on your SSD as most applications are not portable. 

 

When you're installing Windows, I would recommend unplugging your old HDD just so you or Windows does not get confused on where you want your Windows files to go. It'll also prevent you from accidentally formatting your HDD which I've done before. Not the end of the world, but you'll just save you the hassle of recovering partitions afterwards.

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2 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

For other programs, you'll need to reinstall them once you have Windows installed on your SSD as most applications are not portable. 

Does this include NVIDIA drivers, as well as programs like Speccy, MSI Afterburner, CPU-Z and GPU-Z (these four programs' files are all in my HDD)?

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2 minutes ago, EasonIDontKnowAnything said:

Does this include NVIDIA drivers, as well as programs like Speccy, MSI Afterburner, CPU-Z and GPU-Z (these four programs' files are all in my HDD)?

Nope. Those would have to be reinstalled. 

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59 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Nope. Those would have to be reinstalled. 

Slightly off topic, but should I test the SSD once it arrives before trying to install Windows on it? If so, using what program?

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You can always CLONE your C partition to SSD.
There are bunch of programs which can do that.

There is only one catch.

Your C partition should be equal size or smaller than your new SSD.

If your SSD is 250GB, be sure to resize C drive to 250GB or less.

Cause when cloning, program sees your C drive as HDD of for example 500GB and tries to clone complete 500GB to SSD of 250GB which is physically impossible.

Therefore, you should resize your C drive to a size smaller or equal to the size of SSD.

 

Check this out.

I heard that coffee's good for my sex life.

 

It isn't.

It kept me awake through the whole damn thing!

I actually had to participate.

 

- Jeff Dunham -

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