Putting windows on an ssd

[Guest]

If I want to put windows on an ssd will i have to reinstall windows to do it or is there some type of program i can do it with?

[Mira Yurizaki]

You can clone your current storage device, as long as it's not using any more space than what the SSD's capacity is. Some people will advise against this, but I've cloned installs to SSDs multiple times without issue.

 

Otherwise you'll have to install Windows on the SSD.

[Jay917536]

2 minutes ago, Endrivia said:

If I want to put windows on an ssd will i have to reinstall windows to do it or is there some type of program i can do it with?

Some ssd brands have drive cloning software such as samsungs Magician software. I personally when switch main drives always do a fresh install.

[Guest]

I'm just trying to move windows. I'm adding the ssd to the pc im not replacing my hard drive.

[Enderman]

You should do a clean install.

Cloning/migrating is a horrible idea.

http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

[manikyath]

while cloning is a possibility (a surprisingly easy possibility at that) switching to an SSD is a great time to do a clean install.

 

when opportunities come up, clean installing is one evening worth of hassle, but if you properly plan it out it feels amazing afterwards. doing a well planned out clean install is like replacing your bedsheets after a long sweaty month and going to bed after a refreshing shower.

 

should explain what i mean by "well planned":

- take backups of everything you want to keep (since you are moving to an SSD, and probably keeping your hard drive as secondary storage, this is basicly already done.)

- take note of the things on your desktop, in your start menu, and what startup applications you have.

- take note of installed applications you want to keep (skip over steam library, and other things that are self-explanatory you'll need again like your browser of choice)

- prepare a USB drive with the drivers you'll need, and other applications like your browser of choice, steam, and the like.

- do some benchmarks and take timings of how long things take before you start the procedure, it's always fun to have some actual numbers on how much that clean install (and the new SSD) actually did for you.

[RexNoctis]

If you do decide to clone (and I'm also of the opinion that a fresh install is preferable), don't forget to switch off disk defragging. Windows will automatically detect an SSD on install and optimise itself, with a clone, it may not realise it's on an SSD and continue with defragging which is not required and actually detrimental to the wear life of the SSD.