Cloned drive, fresh windows?

Ragnaraz · 29 Nov 2021 at 22:22

I recently added an Evo plus M.2 to my laptop, being faster than the stock M.2 I thought I'd clone the drive so I don't lose windows or spent a few hours redownloading games when everyone in house is on the net.

Anyhow, after all the faffing involved wiping the other drive to make it storage again with no partitions, I read fresh installs are better for system running. The Windows reinstall software, will that count as a clean install?
The laptop came with Win10 preinstalled so I dont have a code, so doing it this way is my best shot at a "clean" install.

Second question, if I add a heatsink to the SSD, do I need to remove the stickers or just apply a good thermal pad over the top?

Snapshot · 30 Nov 2021 at 07:58

If your laptop isn't loaded with manufacturer-supplied bloatware a clean install probably isn't worth the effort.
I've never removed the stickers when applying a heatsink but check carefully that there's enough room before you do.

Ragnaraz · 30 Nov 2021 at 12:20

I always remove crap I don't use or don't need so it's fairly clean at the moment.
Only reason I ask is cause I heard the cloning can affext gaming performance and its a gaming machine so I got a little paranoid.

Syore · 30 Nov 2021 at 13:10

The sticker on the evo plus is thermally conductive (its basically a thin sheet of copper) and removing it could possibly void the warranty of it.

Ragnaraz · 30 Nov 2021 at 13:12

Yeah, it does say on the sticker on the backside that removing it voids warranty.
Never had to heatsink an M.2 before, but this one runs hotter than the stock one, but its also much faster.

mickyflinn · 30 Nov 2021 at 13:13

If ypu clone the drive then you wont need to enter windows key , is the key linked to your microsoft account ?

Ragnaraz · 30 Nov 2021 at 13:19

mickyflinn said:
If ypu clone the drive then you wont need to enter windows key , is the key linked to your microsoft account ?

Honestly, I have no idea.
My account was moved from a previous my old laptop to the new one. Then the drive was cloned. Since you no longer get windows keys like you used to, i am pretty stumped.
Is it even worth it?

demonix · 30 Nov 2021 at 16:08

The OS license key is hard coded into the BIOS if this is from the usual OEM suspects, so it'll pick up on the key and activate once connected to the internet.

bremen1874 · 30 Nov 2021 at 16:22

If the original install was okay then there's no benefit to a fresh install over cloning the drive.

You may have been seeing advice targeted at people moving a drive with an existing install to a different computer.

Ragnaraz · 30 Nov 2021 at 17:48

bremen1874 said:
If the original install was okay then there's no benefit to a fresh install over cloning the drive.

You may have been seeing advice targeted at people moving a drive with an existing install to a different computer.

I wasnt sure if it was effected by clones or not, some straight answer are damn hard to find.