How to safely move primary SSD to secondary SSD?

[tkensei]

Hi everybody,

 

I am getting a new SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 256GB SATA III SSD and would like to use it as my boot drive, replacing my current ADATA Premier SP550 480GB 2.5” SATA 3 drive which I would like to use as secondary storage for storing Steam games.

 

I am wondering how to do this safely?  I remember back in the day, it would be putting the primary drive at the end of the IDE cable, then formatting and installing OS making sure to keep only one drive in the system to avoid confusion, then shut off computer and put the secondary drive in the middle of the IDE cable making sure to set the jumpers to slave instead of master.

 

Also, in the 256GB primary drive I would like to store Windows 10 OS, Chrome, antivirus, mkv codec, Diablo III + Reaper of Souls expansion, Steam client (and the games would install in the 480GB drive).  Would the 256GB be enough for all of these?

 

 

 

[forthe48]

256GB should be plenty for Windows 10, Chrome, and the other things you've listed.

 

The modern SATA connector is a lot less picky than IDE, and you won't need to set any jumpers, etc.

 

I'm assuming there's currently an OS on the 480GB drive, as that sounds like the case.

 

You'd want to:

 

Remove the 480GB drive from your PC

 

Connect the new 256GB drive

 

Boot to Windows 10 installer, install W10 to your new 256GB SSD

 

Once Windows 10 is installed and running, shut down your PC and re-connect the 480GB SSD. (Plug in SATA power, SATA data to any slot on the motherboard.)

 

You should now have both SSDs plugged in.

 

After re-connecting the 480GB SSD to your PC, boot up to the BIOS (Usually F2 or DEL when starting up) , head to the BOOT tab, and make sure your new 256GB SSD is above the old SSD in the boot order.

 

From there, you should be able to boot into your new Windows install, and you'll see both SSDs.

 

At this point, I would transfer anything off of the old SSD that you need, and then format it just to get everything off of it.

 

Hopefully my instructions make sense.

[paos]

or you could use a transfer kit and save a whole lot of hassle.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ctssdinstallac