Replace HDD with ssd

[cancun2388]

HI guys, I am planning to replace HDD with SSD on my laptop. My laptop currently has small SDD(128GB) and 1T HDD so I don't think this will affect the booting part. On my HDD, I have some of my games and video editing software. When I do that, can I just copy the whole things from HDD to different external drive and re-copy them to SDD after I install SDD to my laptop?

Not sure if it works or I need to install everything from scratch.

Thanks!!

 

[Eximo]

As long as the OS is on the SSD and the total space you are using is less than that of the SSD, you should be able to clone it using something like Macrium Reflect. I suggest partitioning your SSD into two drives so that it will have the same drive letter as your old HDD. That way you are guaranteed to have all your programs working properly when they are copied over.

If you mean to keep the HDD in the system then you would likely need to re-install your applications to the SSD. Steam games can be moved around somewhat easily without having to re-download everything. But individually installed games will need to be re-installed, usually, to change drive letters.

All comes down to what is in the registry, and if you aren't confident poking around in there my suggestion above is your best bet.

Say you install a 512GB drive, give the OS like 180-240GB and partition the remainder to replace your HDD. You can re-install the hard drive as well, but it would just be another drive letter, and you could wipe it and use it as additional storage.

 

[USAFRet]

HI guys, I am planning to replace HDD with SSD on my laptop. My laptop currently has small SDD(128GB) and 1T HDD so I don't think this will affect the booting part. On my HDD, I have some of my games and video editing software. When I do that, can I just copy the whole things from HDD to different external drive and re-copy them to SDD after I install SDD to my laptop?

Not sure if it works or I need to install everything from scratch.

Thanks!!

If the OS is on the SSD and the HDD is just the secondary drive, then you can just copy/paste.
However...you need to actually test this first.

Power OFF.
Physically remove the HDD.
Power up.
Does it boot up?

 

[cancun2388]

As long as the OS is on the SSD and the total space you are using is less than that of the SSD, you should be able to clone it using something like Macrium Reflect. I suggest partitioning your SSD into two drives so that it will have the same drive letter as your old HDD. That way you are guaranteed to have all your programs working properly when they are copied over.

If you mean to keep the HDD in the system then you would likely need to re-install your applications to the SSD. Steam games can be moved around somewhat easily without having to re-download everything. But individually installed games will need to be re-installed, usually, to change drive letters.

All comes down to what is in the registry, and if you aren't confident poking around in there my suggestion above is your best bet.

Say you install a 512GB drive, give the OS like 180-240GB and partition the remainder to replace your HDD. You can re-install the hard drive as well, but it would just be another drive letter, and you could wipe it and use it as additional storage.

Thanks for your reply. I am going to look at how to use Macrium Reflect. Yes, I will be installing 512 SSD and everything that's in my current HDD is less than 300GB. So we will see how it goes thanks for your help!

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your reply. I am going to look at how to use Macrium Reflect. Yes, I will be installing 512 SSD and everything that's in my current HDD is less than 300GB. So we will see how it goes thanks for your help!

Again, if this is a secondary drive, you can (probably) do a simple copy/paste.
But a clone would work as well.