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As the title says, I want to transfer windows from my HDD to the SSD I'm going to add so that boot times and stuff doesn't take forever. I really don't care about losing data/apps/documents that are in the HDD, I just want to transfer Windows to the SSD and I'll start from there. I haven't found any viable ways I've found online because all I've found requires having you to back up the drive and as I said, I don't want to keep the data that's on my HDD, I just want to be able to move windows itself from the HDD to the SSD and make that the boot drive and just make the HDD extra storage or something. Most of the ways I've found online were quite sketchy and were using 3rd party apps but don't get me wrong I'm okay with using 3rd party apps but the stuff I've found were just sketchy. I can use 3rd party apps if it's needed
HP ProBook 430 G5
Windows 11
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hi Greg, I'm installing a M.2 in my PC and wanting to transfer everything from a SSD. If I were to do a fresh Windows install on the M.2, would I then need to reinstall each of my apps and programs individually, or is there some way to migrate them all? Thanks.
Hi Charles. I'm Greg, here to help you with this.
I'd only clone the install over to the new drive if you're satisfied the WIndows install is a good one. You said it's slow so that may be because of the underlying install instead of the drive it's on.
So I would weigh this out against the possibility of doing a fresh Clean Install. Look over this gold standard Clean Install which includes everything that works best in Windows and is better than any amount of money can buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...
The reason I suggest this is that no one of millions who have followed exactly this specific install has ever come back with further problems that I've seen.
If you decide you want to try to clone the old install first then here is the best method to clone Windows to a new drive:
http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/29/the-best-way-t...
http://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/C...
If you decide to clone you'll install the NVme drive, do the cloning, then unlug the source drive to see if the new drive can boot on it's own. If not I'll help you get it running.
If you decide to Clean Install you should install the NVme, unplug all other drives until after install when I'll help you plug it back in to move the data over, then wipe and reformat it as a data drive.
Feel free to ask back any questions. I will answer your questions and have other suggestions if necessary.
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Charles, I wrote this out in detail for you and provided illustrated tutorials for both Clean Install and Cloning. Please read them now so you understand the difference completely.
If your present install is working perfectly then you can clone it. If you'd like to use this opportunity to do a better install then do the Clean Install. It's up to you. I can't tell you what to do. I can tell you that the Clean Install is the best install of WIndows that one can have, and also is a great learning experience that will make you permanently the master of your PC because you will learn everything that works best and how to apply it with your own hands.
I'm glad to help Charles.
Let me know if I can help further. I'll stay subscribed to this thread in case you need anything else, until the System locks it in a few months.
Thanks for this! I'll keep this in mind when I get the SSD
