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RE-Install Windows on an SSD without loosing files on old HDD?

Dubesta11
By Dubesta11
in Operating Systems
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Posted

I have an SSD that I would like to install windows on, but the downloader won't work because the serial code is already being used from the computer. I also can't do a reinstall because I want to keep the files on the old HDD. What can I do?

 

*Edit* I also don't want to mirror the drives because it would be a lot of unnecessary read/writes.

The Grey Squirrel

CPU: i7-6700k @ 4.8GHz - CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 - Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E - GPU:  ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL

Case: Inwin 303 - RAM: 4x8GB Corsair LPX - Storage: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired / Bungee - Keyboard: Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red - Headphone: Sony MDR- 1R

Microphone:  Blue Yeti - Webcam: Logitech C920 - Monitors: 3x Dell S2415H 

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Posted

I have an SSD that I would like to install windows on, but the downloader won't work because the serial code is already being used from the computer. I also can't do a reinstall because I want to keep the files on the old HDD. What can I do?

 

*Edit* I also don't want to mirror the drives because it would be a lot of unnecessary read/writes.

 

Is whats on the HDD small enough to image to the SSD? 

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you cant just move windows to another drive. the only real way i know of is cloning the drive.

Case: Phanteks Evolve X with ITX mount  cpu: Ryzen 3900X 4.35ghz all cores Motherboard: MSI X570 Unify gpu: EVGA 1070 SC  psu: Phanteks revolt x 1200W Memory: 64GB Kingston Hyper X oc'd to 3600mhz ssd: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB ITX System CPU: 4670k  Motherboard: some cheap asus h87 Ram: 16gb corsair vengeance 1600mhz

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

 

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Is whats on the HDD small enough to image to the SSD? 

 

It is around 180GB used on the HDD, and the SSD is 256GB.

 

 

you cant just move windows to another drive. the only real way i know of is cloning the drive.

 

So cloning would be the only option? How bad would it negatively affect the SSD?

The Grey Squirrel

CPU: i7-6700k @ 4.8GHz - CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 - Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E - GPU:  ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL

Case: Inwin 303 - RAM: 4x8GB Corsair LPX - Storage: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired / Bungee - Keyboard: Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red - Headphone: Sony MDR- 1R

Microphone:  Blue Yeti - Webcam: Logitech C920 - Monitors: 3x Dell S2415H 

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What you could try as well is giving Microsoft a call and telling them that you reinstalled Windows on your computer but the product key wore off the tower, typically they'll ask a few question about the old Windows install and give you a new key.

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What you could try as well is giving Microsoft a call and telling them that you reinstalled Windows on your computer but the product key wore off the tower, typically they'll ask a few question about the old Windows install and give you a new key.

 

Actually I have a spare key laying around, I could just use that. (They are so cheap these days)

The Grey Squirrel

CPU: i7-6700k @ 4.8GHz - CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 - Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E - GPU:  ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL

Case: Inwin 303 - RAM: 4x8GB Corsair LPX - Storage: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired / Bungee - Keyboard: Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red - Headphone: Sony MDR- 1R

Microphone:  Blue Yeti - Webcam: Logitech C920 - Monitors: 3x Dell S2415H 

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Posted (edited)

Shouldn't be too bad.  Just turn off some HDD-related features before cloning the drive.  Turn off Windows drive optimization (just use the SSD manufacturer software for TRIM).  Turn off superfetch and indexing.  You might want to disable System Restore as well.  Just periodically make new image backups in case you need to recover data.

Edited by Michael McAllister

My PC specifications are in my profile.

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