Windows on a M.2 Drive

Alphrax · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:07

Hey guys,

So I'm going to be building a new PC in a couple of weeks, my current PC runs on Windows 10 Home edition. I'm going to be changing out my storage as part of this upgrade, going with a nice gen 4 m.2 drive. I don't want to purchase windows again, so what I'm thinking of doing is plugging in my old HDD where windows is installed on, and reinstalling it on the m.2 drive.

Now I'm wondering if there's any easier way to do this, I've heard around like USB but I'm not sure about this method.

To put it simply, I want windows to run on the m.2 drive, and I already have a version of windows, I want to transfer this to the M.2 drive. If possible please suggest the best ways of doing this, would be much appreciated

Here are the motherboard and M.2 of the new pc:

Asus Prime z590-p atx lga1200

Sabrent rocket 4.0 1tb m.2 2280 nvme ssd

Quartz · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:10

Easy. Do a Windows image backup from your old drive then restore it to the new one. Or use one of any number of cloning tools. After you've finished, remove your old drive and set the new boot drive in the BIOS.

andy_mk3 · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:13

If you have a Windows 10 Retail key then this is doable, but if it's an OEM key then you can't swap to new hardware.

Quartz · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:15

andy_mk3 said:
If you have a Windows 10 Retail key then this is doable, but if it's an OEM key then you can't swap to new hardware.

Correct, but cloning the drive will save all the embuggeration of reinstalling everything, and Windows keys can be purchased cheaply.

Alphrax · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:29

My current motherboard doesn't support M.2 Drives though! :confused:

Malki · 25 Jul 2021 at 18:42

Alphrax said:
My current motherboard doesn't support M.2 Drives though!

Need to put your old drive into new PC, use that to boot into Windoze then clone to the NVME also in the new PC.