Just bought a new SSD... Should I migrate OS?

Personal choice. I hate having to set everything up again so I always migrate as I just have my Windows setup how I like. I just bought a M.2 drive. I already have Windows 10 x64 Pro so I just migrated to the M.2 drive. Switched boot drives, job done my desktop appeared exactly as before. No games to reinstall, no programs to reinstall, no daft security/privacy options to disable again. Simple and it works. I`m also a tidy person so I dont have clutter either.

However some people prefer to do a fresh install as is there want. Upto you. Would be a good time to try Windows 10 though. If you dont like it you still have your old Windows install.
 
I've migrated my OS more times than I should have, and it's still seemingly fine. Once from an old Crucial M4 to a newer MX300, and again from a P45 motherboard to an X99 motherboard - shockingly, it just picked up the relevant drivers and kept going. Yeah, couldn't quite believe it myself...

Best practice would be a fresh install however, so it's down to how much time you have on your hands really!
 
Always do a new installation when going to solid-state disks - Windows detects the disk type when setting up the operating system, and runs optimization tasks to improve performance.

You don't need an auto-defragging tool scheduled with a SSD, but there are other things you will need for it instead - much easier to start it from scratch.
 
Right ok, thanks. Tedious question, but in order to fully take advantage of the SSD, do I have to uninstall any games I have on my HDD and then reinstall on my SSD? Or could I just copy them over?
 
Habakkuk said:
Always do a new installation when going to solid-state disks - Windows detects the disk type when setting up the operating system, and runs optimization tasks to improve performance.

You don't need an auto-defragging tool scheduled with a SSD, but there are other things you will need for it instead - much easier to start it from scratch.
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You dont need to do that anymore with tools such as Macrium Free as it optimises the SSD for Windows automatically during the migration and Windows 10 also does the same when it detects booting from an SSD. There is virtually nothing you have to do nowadays to "optimise" for SSD drives.

TorqueSkeptic said:
Right ok, thanks. Tedious question, but in order to fully take advantage of the SSD, do I have to uninstall any games I have on my HDD and then reinstall on my SSD? Or could I just copy them over?
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Depends. If its a self installer then generally it needs reinstalling. If its via Origin, Steam or Uplay you can normally copy the folder over and redirect Steam to the new folder. Google it there are loads of guides on how to do it.
 
TorqueSkeptic said:
How much do you guys reckon the cost of Windows 10 is? It's not free anymore, right?
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Don't think anyone picked up on this but you don't have to buy it again to reinstall it again if that's what you mean... any trouble activating it just tell them it's a reinstall as you had a drive fail.
 
Ok so moving my games will be simpler than I originally thought, and if I migrate using this macrium software will I still be able to upgrade to windows 10 and revert if i don't like it? Also, can you get penalised for using this 'assistive technology' workaround? Doesn't exactly seem above board... :/
 
You can always revert to a backup made before you upgrade to 10. Often upgrading to 10, then doing a fresh install is the best way to do it as there can be bugs when you upgrade. However it's easy to understand not wanting to fresh install cause setting everything up is a PITA.

The assistive tech thing is a win win for everyone. Microsoft keeps it's 1 year free upgrade promise, looks like it cares deeply for the the disabled and gets more users on windows 10. Users still get access to the free upgrade.
 
Well when you put it like that I feel better about it, might opt for the upgrade and fresh install as I could reorganise the data on my drives a bit. I assume I should find the boot disc I had previously used for my initial setup? However, if I do this what do I do about the space my OS used to take up on my old SSD?
 
varkanoid said:
You dont need to do that anymore with tools such as Macrium Free as it optimises the SSD for Windows automatically during the migration and Windows 10 also does the same when it detects booting from an SSD. There is virtually nothing you have to do nowadays to "optimise" for SSD drives.]

Ah! good to know - since I've avoided doing that, I didn't know it'd been solved.

Any idea if it works going from SSD -> HDD?
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TorqueSkeptic said:
Well when you put it like that I feel better about it, might opt for the upgrade and fresh install as I could reorganise the data on my drives a bit. I assume I should find the boot disc I had previously used for my initial setup? However, if I do this what do I do about the space my OS used to take up on my old SSD?
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First make appropriate backups

Use the assistive tech tool do the upgrade to 10 on your current system if you have the space (this will save time later) and activate. Whilst this is working you might want to make a bootable windows 10 usb drive.

Use the bootable usb drive to install windows 10 onto your new SSD. If you have the option to boot the drive in UEFI mode then do it. It's also recommended to disconnect all other drives whilst installing windows. Once it's installed it should automatically activate because you are using the same motherboard as you were previously.

Connect all the drives back up, boot into your new ssd. With the old windows install I'd move everything over that you want moving then format it to remove all traces of windows.
 
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