Transferring windows to SSD

[Skeletor]

Hi all
Thank you firstly for taking time to read and help.
I have recently got an SSD for my pc as I've been told it's one of if not the most beneficial upgrade.
My goal here is to transfer windows 10 from my existing hard drive to my SSD. I upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 and don't have the key, do I need it and if so how would I retrieve it?
Now I have no idea how to do this which is where you all come in.
Many thanks

 

[dholdi]

Media creation tool - https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

 

[BaldJedi]

when i changed my works pc over to ssd i used this to clone the drive.. worked a treat and have had no problem since

https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/tb-free.html

 

[Skeletor]

I've got 500gb on my hdd and only 240gb SSD is there any way of isolating windows separately?

 

[Randomface74]

Nope. Do a clean install. The key should be digitally associated with your microsoft account so you shouldn't need to enter it. More info on keys: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10749/windows-10-find-product-key

 

[Skeletor]

Okay I have my key now and now downloading windows from media tool onto a USB.
After I transfer it onto the SSD do I need to remove the previous HDD to boot?

 

[Randomface74]

I'd recommend disconnecting the HDD while you install, just to make sure you don't accidentally install on the wrong drive.

Boot device is based on the Boot Priority list in the BIOS. So you can go into your BIOS and put the SSD at the top of the boot priority list and it'll get selected over the HDD.

 

[Skeletor]

Okay thanks for your help I'll give that a go and if I get any issues I'll be back

 

[labcoattech]

Might be worth checking to see if a BIOS update is available for your motherboard.

 

[Skeletor]

Okay how would I go about finding a bios update would it actually be in the BIOS itself?

 

[stockhausen]

Okay how would I go about finding a bios update would it actually be in the BIOS itself?

Use Speccy (ccleaner.com/speccy) to get details of your Motherboard and BIOS version.

Then go to the manufacturer's website (e.g. Google for "MSI Global", "Gigabyte Global", etc. as appropriate)...
Find your Motherboard, probably under "Products"...
Look for "Support" or "Downloads" and see what the latest available version of the BIOS is.​

However, the general advice is (or used to be) to ONLY update the BIOS if you have a VERY good reason for doing so.

 

[andy_mk3]

Hi all
Thank you firstly for taking time to read and help.
I have recently got an SSD for my pc as I've been told it's one of if not the most beneficial upgrade.
My goal here is to transfer windows 10 from my existing hard drive to my SSD. I upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 and don't have the key, do I need it and if so how would I retrieve it?
Now I have no idea how to do this which is where you all come in.
Many thanks

Macrium reflect is what you need. It's free and will clone your entire HDD to your SSD. Plug your SSD in, boot into windows as normal, install Reflect, and it's a very simple process to clone. No need to re-install, no need up update your BIOS.

Once cloned, remove your HDD and alter your boot settings in BIOS to make the SSD 1st priority. If you plan to keep your HDD as extra storage space, then simply set your SSD in BIOS to be the boot drive, then delete all the partitions on the HDD in disk management, and create a new one and format.

Edit: Just read yo uhave a 500GB HDD and 240GB SSD. As long as less than 240GB of your HDD is in use, you can still clone it.