SSD Setup

[ethandeguire]

Just ordered an SSD from ADATA, 256GB. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820215016.

I am on windows 10 and want to move my operating system from my 500gb hard drive to the ssd. There is only 149GBs on the HD.

A freind recommended cloning the drive onto the SSD, and then deleting the files on the HDD, if this is a good path, what should i use to do it? Any specific program or just copy paste the files into the new SSD using File Explorer.

 

Help appreciated, thanks

[Enderman]

Do not clone/migrate to an SSD.

Do a clean install: https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

You don't need to worry about keys or anything because windows 10 activates automatically.

Ass you do is unplug your HDD, plug in your SSD, install windows, then plug your HDD back in (making sure you remove it from the boot list in your BIOS)

 

Then you can move your files to the SSD, format the HDD, and move the files back to the clean HDD.

[ethandeguire]

5 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Do not clone/migrate to an SSD.

Do a clean install: https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

You don't need to worry about keys or anything because windows 10 activates automatically.

Ass you do is unplug your HDD, plug in your SSD, install windows, then plug your HDD back in (making sure you remove it from the boot list in your BIOS)

 

Then you can move your files to the SSD, format the HDD, and move the files back to the clean HDD.

But I'd like to keep all of my OS settings and passwords and such, is there any real reasons why not to? Your method just seems like more work and I'll do it i'd just like the explanation behind it.

[Enderman]

7 minutes ago, ethandeguire said:

But I'd like to keep all of my OS settings and passwords and such, is there any real reasons why not to? Your method just seems like more work and I'll do it i'd just like the explanation behind it.

Because first of all, operating systems are very delicate and moving them between drives often causes problems.

You can go to google and look up "issues after cloning" to see the millions of people who have done it and had problems afterward.

Anything from no boot, windows locking up, drive usage pinning at 100%, programs not working, updates not installing, etc etc etc

Sometimes the issues happen immediately, other time you find out months later that something has been screwed up in the background.

 

It is also especially bad to clone to an SSD because sometimes the OS can detect it as a hard drive and perform cleaning functions that should not be performed on an SSD.

WD, one of the biggest storage drive makers in the world, does not recommend cloning to SSDs.

 

Basically, it is a lazy workaround that will end up making you clean install in the future. It takes less time to clean install now with a new drive than to clone, have problems, and clean install later.

 

 

 

It is also better to clean install now because you have a fresh new drive, so after installing you can look back at the programs or settings on your other drive to remember what you need to change/install. Since you install windows on the SSD, your HDD will serve as a temporary backup while you get your programs set up.

 

If you clean install in the future, the drive you will be installing to is the drive with your OS and programs and settings, and all of that will be overwritten during the clean install so you would need to purchase a separate drive or something to copy everything over as a backup.

[ethandeguire]

4 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Because first of all, operating systems are very delicate and moving them between drives often causes problems.

You can go to google and look up "issues after cloning" to see the millions of people who have done it and had problems afterward.

Anything from no boot, windows locking up, drive usage pinning at 100%, programs not working, updates not installing, etc etc etc

Sometimes the issues happen immediately, other time you find out months later that something has been screwed up in the background.

 

It is also especially bad to clone to an SSD because sometimes the OS can detect it as a hard drive and perform cleaning functions that should not be performed on an SSD.

WD, one of the biggest storage drive makers in the world, does not recommend cloning to SSDs.

 

Basically, it is a lazy workaround that will end up making you clean install in the future. It takes less time to clean install now with a new drive than to clone, have problems, and clean install later.

 

 

 

It is also better to clean install now because you have a fresh new drive, so after installing you can look back at the programs or settings on your other drive to remember what you need to change/install. Since you install windows on the SSD, your HDD will serve as a temporary backup while you get your programs set up.

 

If you clean install in the future, the drive you will be installing to is the drive with your OS and programs and settings, and all of that will be overwritten during the clean install so you would need to purchase a separate drive or something to copy everything over as a backup.

k, thanks, will do, appreciate the help