easy fastest way to install w10 onto a 2nd drive?

[hddtosdd]

problem: the 'cloning' softwares does not let me 'clone' the hdd to the sdd

 

question #1: why?

 

the disks looks like this:

 

https://imgur.com/a/bDw1QSf

 

- hdd with w10 installed, is activated

- hdd is disk 1

- sdd is disk 0

- did the windows updates

 

is laptop, nothing really on it yet

 

dunno which is faster, to do clean install on ssd and do updates again, or just clone

 

question #2: has anyone done this kind of thing recently?

 

question #3: are there any good articles or youtubes that tells us what we're suppose to do?

 

the general sites just says one option is to use the cloning software, but they dont tell explain to us what we're suppose to do

another option seems to be 'system image' but that seems extremely complicated with so many steps

[Jim K Global Moderator]

EaseUS has a good write up on how to do it.  It really isn't the complicating nor does it involved many steps.

 

https://www.easeus.com/backup-utility/migrate-windows-10-to-ssd.html

 

I've done it before, many years ago, without issue. 

 

Though if you have a fairly clean install on a HDD and just want to use the SSD ... it probably would be best just to clean install on the SSD.

[PGHammer]

If you can't remove the first drive, format the second drive - but leave it blank; then do a custom install from the Windows mounted media/ISO image.  This also makes sense if the new target - such as an SSD, is smaller than the first drive.

 

If the second drive is LARGER than the first drive, or will replace it, use a drive-migration tool. (All SSDs, and any platter drive, either includes them or makes them available via download.)

[RottGutt]

If you can get your hands on a USB to SATA Adapter, then download this (Free) software:

 

https://apricorn.com/ezgig

 

I got mine in a Corsair Cloning Kit, and it has never once failed on me. Make sure you select ALL the partitions on the Source hard drive when doing the clone.

 

Tim

[Nerd Rage]

For the issue, I'd create a bootable media from your cloning software and try it that way if you aren't already.

If you aren't having any issues with Windows, I'd definitely clone.  I've used Acronis and Aomei in the past, current Aomei.  Both, with that amount of data, will complete the task SUPER fast.  I'd say 10 minutes maybe if that.

[hddtosdd]

23 hours ago, Nerd Rage said:

definitely clone

 

why clone? is it faster or something?

 

 

[hddtosdd]

On 3/6/2020 at 5:05 PM, PGHammer said:

can't remove the first drive

 

why would you want to remove any drives? 

 

cant you just set bios to boot from ssd?

 

 

[hddtosdd]

 

does anyone know which drive is the os currently running on?

really important to know this

 

[hddtosdd]

what's on the ssd? is there anything needed for w10 on the ssd right now?

 

are we able to reinstall with clean install on ssd, and the w10 on the hdd would still work?

 

 

[PGHammer]

On 08/03/2020 at 23:56, hddtosdd said:

what's on the ssd? is there anything needed for w10 on the ssd right now?

 

are we able to reinstall with clean install on ssd, and the w10 on the hdd would still work?

 

 

Cloning the old drive lets you use it as a backstop in case the new drive has issues (such as failure).

 

I am coming back to this topic as I have new data - as I just replaced my Windows 10 boot drive with a (much larger) drive via the cloning method.

 

The old boot drive was GPT, as the desktop supports UEFI - this solved a lot of issues right off.  (It also meant that I could use all the new drive's 4 TB capacity - 4 TB is larger than the sum of all the platter drives I had EVER run Windows on in my computing life - put together.  Therefore, so much for capacity issues.)

 

There are quite a few options - including ones that cost exactly squat - to handle the cloning.  Both the old and new drives are Seagate Barracudas - that put Acronis True Image on deck.  However, Acronis has gotten rather unwieldy over the years; instead, I used Macrium Reflect 7; like Acronis, it costs nothing. (Also, like Acronis, it supports small-to-large cloning - which is what I needed.  It is also far less unwieldy than Acronis True Image these days.  Therefore, I put Macrium Reflect 7 to work.

 

I mentioned that both drives were Seagate Barracuda desktop platter drives - they compete heads-up with Western Digital desktop platter drives.  (The Compute series target the WD BLUE series - as they are 5xxx rpm SATA drives that have onboard cache and don't cost a mint - I went with the 4 TB Compute - the SAME size my mother had chosen as HER new boot drive a year previous; I also wound up paying $20USD less for mine - it was also shipped in Amazon's new "frustration-free" packing - which is ALSO useful for putting the replaced drive into, which I have done.

 

Why no SSD?  Considered - but rejected - cost was way too tall - even at 2 TB - which was my original target capacity (still twice as large as the capacity being replaced).  The system initially uses wireless Internet - not exactly speedy.  Therefore, I need an SSD why?

 

Lastly, thanks to the on-drive cache, the new drive is still considerably faster in transfer rates than the old drive (fifty percent faster, according to Windows 10 itself).  Therefore. I lost where?

 

Capacity up PAST my ears, more than meeting any need for speed, and I did not pay a mint (in fact, the cost went down compared to the previous year) - looks like a train full of WIN to me.

 

The actual storage capacity of the drive is anything BUT obvious - as physically, it looks no bigger than the 500 GB or 1 TB drive it will likely replace.  (No; I am FAR from joking about that - as I have physical examples of both - the 1 TB Seagate had replaced a WD 1 TB Eco-Green ex-MyBook as a boot drive in this same desktop - and the new Compute is bigger than the two put together capacity-wise - and shows exactly none of it.)

 

Basically, the new drive is MORE than getting the job done