SSD HDD help

Goldenrig

Goldenrig

Goldenrig

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15 Mar 2018
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42
Hi all.

Im new to SSD drives.

My PC is i7 16gb ram and 2TB HDD.
Today I have just purchased a 250g SSD HDD integral. I have no idea what to do next. Basically i want my 2TB HDD to keep all my games on ect which is running windows 10. But wanted to use the SSD for fast boot up. Do i need to install windows on the new SSD? If so is it easy?
 
Alternative is a clean install of Windows to the new SSD is fairly straight forward process - downside is that you may need to reinstall games so if you dont have cloud saves you may lose save data.

You basically create your Windows installer on a usb drive
Install new drive and select correct boot order in bios
Disconnect old drive
Install Windows on your new drive plus drivers etc
Reconnect old drive
Install games/apps as needed on old drive

A guide here https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ssd-best/9186ae98-b2b4-4b7a-b3ff-0b053ce2d1c9 plus a lot of other info/guides available if you google
 
ok thanks, What i was hoping to do is was just install windows 10 on the SSD, maybe using a few every day programmes on it and then keep all my steam games on my old HDD as it has more storage, do i leave windows 10 installed on both HDD?

I will look at this guide now thanks
 
Probably the easiest option is to go to Disk Management and format the HDD to clean it up properly and start with clean installs of all the games back onto the HDD.

Before you format make sure you've taken copies/backed up any data you want keep to somewhere safe first e.g. your new OS/SSD drive or external storage.
 
Ok so if i wipe my existing HDD and start a complete fresh on both SSD and HDD, will my steam game save files be back up to like a cloud system? that i can re download later? or would i need to save them to a USB file? im not bothered about re downloading my games, but i do not want to lose my saved game files, apart form that i have nothing else of importance on my PC. sorry for my lack of knowledge around fresh installs.
 
I wouldn't wipe your existing HDD until you've got Windows successfully installed on SSD and a strategy for keeping your save data :)

Anyway, nothing as simple as cloud based save data unless specific games support it and you don't have simple option of moving games and OS to SSD by cloning (assuming data on the 2TB HDD is greater than the size of the SSD) and then migrating library back to HDD.

All of the below at your own risk :p
If you're Ok reinstalling games it may be as simple as copying the save games and even game binaries back once steam client is reinstalled - take a look here https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526

Alternatively you can try this, it's not an uncommon scenario so there's plenty of stuff out on the internets - I'd suggest you have a lil read around to make yourself more comfortable with the process

Example of want you want to do and the solution are here http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answe...connecting-fresh-installed-steam-ssd-hdd.html

Also have a read of this - it's the Steam guide for moving your game install folder and also touches on save game data https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129
 
To give you some more confidence that you're not going to lose stuff I'd be tempted to try the following...

1) Get OS booting on new SSD, get Steam Client installed on SSD with library setup also (temporarily) setup on SSD/OS drive
2) Reconnect the HDD and ensure you can access data

Now prove your migration strategy works :p ...
3) Identify and copy save data for a few of your games
4) Install those games on the (temporary) library you have setup on SSD/OS drive
5) Copy the save data for those games into the relevant location
6) Play game and ensure the procedure to move the save game data has worked OK

If you have an appetite for a lil risk only do this for games you care about most, if you have plenty of time on your hands you could even do this for each game to give you confidence you'll have working games when you use the same procedure later on...

Once you're happy with the process you can proceed to take a copy of all your save data and back it up on your OS drive or somewhere else safe (not the HDD you're going to format shortly)

Any time upto this point you can basically roll-back to booting your OS back off this disk and keep all your games and data - proceed with caution :eek:

7) Format the old HDD to remove the old windows install, boot partition and other crud
8) Create new Steam Library on HDD
9) Download games
10) Copy your save data in and enjoy
 
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Ahhh I see, this makes sense thank you, this does store more confidence with the process now! as I mentioned the only importance is my game save files, i have got Friday sat and Sunday off work, im hoping I dont use all 3 days doing this haha :)
 
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