How to move/clone Windows 10/apps from old HDD to new SSD in old machine

MojaveHigh

1 month ago

I recently built a new computer and want to repurpose my old computer as a file/plex/backup server. The only upgrade I want is to install a small SSD as the boot/os/app drive then use the existing HDD as a pure data drive.

The current OS on the HDD is Windows 10, but originally I put Windows 8 on it and got the free upgrade from Microsoft a few years ago.

I have looked into cloning, but as I understand it, the new drive has to be at least the size of the old one. My new SSD would probably be 240GB+- while my existing HDD is 1TB. So that means cloning is not going to work, right? I mean, you can't tell something like EaseUS to clone only particular parts of a drive, afaik.

Is there some other solution for my case?

GeorgeReorgeRartinMartin

1 month ago
1 point

I have looked into cloning, but as I understand it, the new drive has to be at least the size of the old one. My new SSD would probably be 240GB+- while my existing HDD is 1TB. So that means cloning is not going to work, right?

The the target drive doesn't have to be physically the same size or large. But the new drive has to be large enough to hold the data on the drive/partition. If 100GB used on a 1TB drive, you can clone that to a 240GB drive easily. The size of the original drive or partition is a non-issue, only the amount of space the data takes up matters.

A. Delete/Uninstall data and programs until it is small enough.

B. Install Windows 10 on the SSD. It only takes about 15 minutes on a SSD.

I like cloning drives when I can. It does save some setup time and configuration that's required after Windows is installed. But if you've already got to jump through a dozen hoops to wittle down 500GB of data to fit on a 240GB drive it's usually faster to do a clean install and copy/reinstall what you need. Or buy a larger SSD, they're cheaper than ever now.

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MojaveHigh
submitter

1 month ago
1 point

Thanks for the info. That makes sense. And I could easily delete all of the data and whittle it down to just the OS and apps.

The one thing is that I would not be installing Windows 10 onto the SSD, I would be cloning Windows 10 from the HDD to the SSD.

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GeorgeReorgeRartinMartin

1 month ago
2 points

Yes I got that. I like cloning drives when I can, it's not a golden hammer though, it's not always the best solution. If it was going to take considerable time and effort to get your HDD into a clone-able state I might argue a new install and copying data/reinstalling programs you want on the SSD may be faster. I'm just saying keep your options open, but you have to decide what's best or what you want to do.