Windows 10: Allocation of new SSD and removal of old after cloning.....

Hi guys

Would really appreciate some help here, and hopefully I'll be able to explain in as simplest terms as possible so as not to confuse. It may be a bit long winded but I think for someone to be able to help me they need to understand the why's and wherefore's lol - so I shall begin.

Recently bought my new laptop as it was on special SPECIAL offer - with a view to upgrading slightly once it arrived.

I upgraded the RAM from 8GB to 16GB - all happy - sorted.

Now, when I got the lappy, it had a 1tb HDD and a 128GB SSD (the former being the usual size and type, not sure what's it's called though) and the SSD is more like a network card looking (if that makes sense)
I decided shortly after having the laptop that I needed more SSD space (due to playing Steam FSX) so I bought the new SSD however it looked nothing like the existing one but more like the square type (Crucial 275GB SSD)

So, what I did was move the 1TB from the storage pod and put it in a DVD enclosure and replace the DVD drive with the 1TB HDD. I then installed the new Crucial 275GB SSD into the storage pod where the 1TB came from - excellent. I then used Macrium Reflect to clone the 128GB SSD to the 275GB SSD - Excellent.

So, I reboot fine and I now have a

C: (original OS drive with programs etc) 128GB
D: (original 1TB HDD with music, videos etc) 1TB
and
E: - the new 275GB SSD

All that is fine, and I even merged the partitions on the E: so that it created the extra space for me to use... this is all fine....

So, I come to install Steam FSX and it always points to C: for some reason (probably due to most OS working on C: - but I changed the path to E: and left the rest the same - that all works fine but some things you can't change the drive install path so it goes to the wrong place and it's getting in a right mess.

So, I'm going to delete all the Steam, FSX etc from both drives and start again....

Now you have all the background, what I want to know is: Can I delete everything from the original C: and then rename it F: or something for the time being, boot up using the new E: with windows (as it's all mirrored to the old drive) and change that letter to C: ?? If the answer is yes, will the Steam and FSX start installing etc to the new C: drive (275GB SSD) instead of the old one or does the program install to it's location on the motherboard rather than the drive letter? Also, Is there really any point in keeping the old SSD? Would I be best off removing it (once the boot up and workings of the new one are OK) and selling it on Ebay etc??

I can follow instructions if they're laid out in layman's terms, I've got this far with simple instructions lol so I'm open to any help anyone can give me. I love learning and would rather get the right advice from a forum such as this than youtube vids or online where the advice can be so conflicting.

I had some great help on another forum, but kinda got stuck on this final bit.

Thank in advance to anyone who can help... I'm out at a function tonight etc but I'll keep checking back to see if anyone has responded....

Cheers *Cool

:)

 

changing my (C) drive to another installed disk without removing old disk

Hi phillkinn,

If the clone was successful:

Remove the old SSD

Plug the new SSD into the same SATA Port on the Motherboard

Go into BIOS and disable Secure Boot

Boot your PC and it should just boot from the cloned drive

Then format the old SSD and connect it your PC

 

Installing Additional SSD & Want To Move Windows 10 (pro) Onto It

Morning, I'm nearly there! Been severely hampered by the fact my daughter uses the PC for her school work (home schooled) and gaming. As such it's in use a heck of a lot.

I got the PC back to it's original state after realising the boot sequence had changed. This was why I was getting the OS not found message. I used Macrium to clone onto new SSD and it worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly. It's cloned the new SSD to the
same size as the old one therefore has 1.86TB unallocated.

Am I better running it again and making sure it's fully allocated or is there any reason why I can't/shouldn't initialise adding a new volume?

Thanks again

 

Welcome to the forum. If you clone c to e then remove the old c and put e on disk 0 is were c was it should all work with the e then becoming c once you have it all working you can put the old c back delete partition create a new one and your good to go

 

Hi there, thanks for your speedy reply...

I cloned C: to the new SSD which then became E: - so if I just turn it off and remove the old SSD (which is C*Smile will the laptop instantly boot up from the new SSD?? Then do I call that C: and everything will point to that?

Thanks *Smile

 

Any drive you BOOT from and use for OS becomes C: drive, Other drives will get letters of their own.

 

Hi Mike wow I think that's all I need to know. So as I've cloned my c to the new ssd can I simply reboot go into bios and set my news ssd to be the boot drive and it'll change that to c: ? What letter does it give my current c: then? I'm out ATM but will check reply later, thanks so much for replies.

 

Exactly, other drive may get letter D: or some other one but that can be changed thru Disk Management.

 

Fantastic Mike I'll do that tonight, once I've changed it I can then erase my original ssd? What's the best way of doing that? Or is it best to just remove it, I can't think what else I could use it for, all my music etc is on the 1tb and I need all that space lol

 

You can and probably should remove all partitions from old drive and reformat it. After that you can use it for storage or backup etc. I use mostly Download Active@ Partition Manager and/or Free Download EaseUS Partition Master - EaseUS for jobs like that.

 

HI Mike

I'm back home now and will do this after dinner *Smile Some things have a higher priority haha!! OK, so I'll boot up the bios, change the boot drive to be my new Crucial and it should boot up fine, then partition the original SSD and format, I have AOMEI partition assistant, as I used that to merge the new drive to create one large space etc and it works fine, can I use that to delete partitions (and therefore content) on the old SSD and format?

Cheers for all your help and patience, I love learning *Smile

 

Aomei would do to just one precaution I have been using since DOS days, I give each disk (and a partition with a letter) distinctive name so I don't mix them up and erase wrong one.

 

Personally, since you just got this lappy, I would`ve just pulled the original ssd/m.2 whatever it is, and just put it in the desk drawer, do you really need it installed ?

 

OK thanks, hopefully i should be able to distinguish the difference between them by their Manufacturer and size (Toshiba 1TB, Kingston 128GB and Crucial 275GB) - but get the warning for sure, thanks *Smile

I'll post back tomorrow at some stage and let you know how I got on *Smile

 

Hey, not really, but it's always worth having for extra storage should I need it, and as long as it's not affecting anything *Smile What I was worried about was changing the boot drive and ensuring that the new one would be allocated C: and any programs would default to that, until I was sure of that then that 128GB was staying right where it was lol - this is all new to me, but I'm learning and taking advice *Smile

Thanks.. If anything and I don't use it then I'll sell it - even if it's for £50 - it's better than nothing *Smile