Help Transferring Windows to an SSD

[ryujians]

I am going to be buying an SSD and only want to transfer windows onto it but the only way i know to do this is a fresh install of windows. I would like to be able to keep all the games and programs on my HDD and move what i want to the SSD. Is there anyway to just move only windows to the SSD and still have all the other programs and games available on the HDD without having to re install them. Thanks for the help!

[Guest]

i would just backup all of the game saves. It shouldn't be that hard to install programs, especially with ninite.com

[aricleather]

If you have amassed an amount of Steam/Origin/Uplay games on your HDD, I believe you'll have to redownload them unless you can find a way to direct Steam to where the games are located. If you just keep Steam on the HDD it should still recognize the games are where they used to be. 

 

With that in mind, I know Steam automatically backs up game saves. I've done two clean installs since my first few Steam games, and I've never lost a save file.

 

So, grab an SSD stick, and get the Windows 8.1 installer from Microsoft's website. Download it, and start it. When it asks you to type in the product key, type it in. Then, after it downloads, choose Create Installation Media. This will save the downloaded Windows files to an ISO. What I do is simply extract the ISO, and place it on a USB stick. Then, unplug the HDD from your system and plug in the SSD. Plug in the USB stick, and enter the boot menu. Select to boot from the USB stick. Continue installing Windows... Then you can plug in your HDD after Windows is installed and booted. All your stuff will, obviously, still be on the HDD.