OS Migration / Trouble Accessing Files

March 19, 2016

Disclaimer: I'm not particularly smart so probably a good chunk of this post, if not the whole thing, will sound retarded and clearly indicate I shouldn't be around a computer. Sorry in advance.

Situation: I've purchased an SSD and am trying to migrate my OS (Windows 10 Home) to the SSD from my HDD or have a fresh install of Windows on the SSD but still be able to access the files that are on my HDD. (Unsure if the latter is possible, I've heard it isn't)

Problem: I want an exact copy of how everything is in my system now to be mirrored on my SSD but have ONLY my OS installed on my SSD and have everything else sitting on my HDD. The problem I've heard from friends who have used migration software claim they've ran into two main problems. 1) Any game saves that aren't/cannot be synced to things like Steam cloud will be lost. 2) A lot of files won't be accessible from the HDD while on the SSD. An error message along the lines of "this software is not properly installed on this computer" will frequently appear.

What I've tried: I installed a fresh Windows 10 Home on my SSD which works fine. But I get the exact error message stated above. What exactly is preventing me from being able to launch a game or program? I can't access any of the folders that we're on my desktop or the standard pictures, downloads, music, videos, and documents folders.

Conclusion: I'd like to know if problem numbers 1 and 2 are real things that happen when migrating an OS. If so, what exactly are my options here. I'd like to not fuck up my computer for a faster load up time. Thank you in advance.