Transfering Windows 10 disk to SSD? Easy or painful?

NeilF · 27 May 2016 at 12:43

So I have a Dell machine with a 1TB 3.5" traditional SATA disk in. I'm looking to change that over to a 1TB SSD.

So if I just plug that new drive into a USB cradle, and use Macrium (free) to duplicate the disk over to the new SSD, then put that into the machine in place of the original/old one?

Am I entering a world of pain? Or is it going to be simple?

It's running Windows 10 (upgraded form Windows 8), with two partitions...

moogle · 27 May 2016 at 12:54

Sounds fine to me.

bledd · 27 May 2016 at 13:04

I would just use onboard SATA and not bother with the USB, it will just slow the transfer down.

Personally I would run CCleaner and remote system restore points, empty your download folders, clean the desktop etc..
-Just to make it all quicker.

NeilF · 27 May 2016 at 13:19

BoatyMcBoatface said:
I would just use onboard SATA and not bother with the USB, it will just slow the transfer down.

I could try that, but it's a mini-system so only has two sata connectors. One for the system disk, and one for the DVD drive.

Guess I could use the DVD drives cable(s) for the transfer!?!

moogle · 27 May 2016 at 13:22

Cleaning the drive out of files is one I didn't think of, however I don't know if the USB -> SATA will affect it much unless it's USB2.0 as the mechanical drive won't be able to copy any faster even when connected to SATA.

Punt · 27 May 2016 at 13:24

That would work!

Or, you could use this as an excuse/opportunity to do a nice fresh install. If you've got the time and it's not a ballache with software etc.

NeilF · 27 May 2016 at 13:45

Punt said:
That would work!

Or, you could use this as an excuse/opportunity to do a nice fresh install. If you've got the time and it's not a ballache with software etc.

There's a couple of accounts, and a fair amount of software/config on it I'd not want to revisit

KIA · 27 May 2016 at 15:41

NeilFawcett said:
Guess I could use the DVD drives cable(s) for the transfer!?!

Yes. Temporarily disconnect the DVD drive. Are you using to use the Macrium live environment or clone in Windows?

NeilF · 27 May 2016 at 15:55

KIA said:
Yes. Temporarily disconnect the DVD drive. Are you using to use the Macrium live environment or clone in Windows?

I have Macrium (free) installed on that machine, and a bootable USB stick (created by Macrium)...

If there's a Windows 10 "clone" option and that's recommended, more than happy to use that!?

bledd · 27 May 2016 at 16:05

Yup, use Macrium on a USB stick (the bootable media creator lets you pick it as an optio if you have one connected).

Clone is what you want to do. Just make 100% sure you're selecting the correct source / destinations. The drive letters may appear different in the Macrium screen, but it will boot up as it was before. -Just be aware of the drive letters when selecting the drives.

You can do it from within Windows, but doing it from a live USB sits better with me..

Not a bad idea to install Treesize Free beforehand to hunt out any potentially massive folders that you've forgotten to clear out.

https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

NeilF · 27 May 2016 at 16:10

BoatyMcBoatface said:
Yup, use Macrium on a USB stick (the bootable media creator lets you pick it as an optio if you have one connected).

Clone is what you want to do. Just make 100% sure you're selecting the correct source / destinations. The drive letters may appear different in the Macrium screen, but it will boot up as it was before. -Just be aware of the drive letters when selecting the drives.

You can do it from within Windows, but doing it from a live USB sits better with me..

Not a bad idea to install Treesize Free beforehand to hunt out any potentially massive folders that you've forgotten to clear out.

https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

Thanks... I'd only do this after doing one of my quarterly full (Macrium) disc image backups anyway, so I should have a full image backup incase something goes jihad!