Windows 10: Can I split an existing Windows 10 install into boot/data drives?

Hi all, I have Windows 10 Professional on my laptop and my current setup is a 500GB HDD that is C and a 250GB SSD that is D. I replaced the CD drive on the laptop with a hard drive bay and that's where my SSD is stored. I also currently, for space reasons, have a few user folders such as Documents and Downloads on my D drive with several directory junctions in place.


I recently bought a 1TB SSD on Cyber Monday, and my plan is to migrate my Win 10 installation to it. Basically, I'm going to undo the directory junctions - remove them, then restore the original Documents, Downloads, etc. to the C drive - and then set up the 1TB drive in the hard drive bay. Next, I'm going to do a disk copy from the 500GB to the 1TB. Lastly, I'll remove the 500GB and install the 1TB in the main laptop HD slot.


However, that basically leaves me with an empty 250GB SSD just sitting around. I was wondering if, after doing the disk copy or perhaps during the disk copy, it would be possible to somehow split my existing Win 10 install to use the 250GB as the boot drive and the 1TB as the data drive, including user folders, etc. I could easily put the 250GB in the main laptop HD slot and the 1TB in the bay. Also, if this is possible, should I perhaps do it before I copy things over? Or, rather, instead of doing a disk copy from the 500GB to the 1TB, should I do some sort of split-disk copy?


Thanks in advance for any help.

:)

 

Installing windows from usb hard drive

You can install Windows on seperate partitions from an existing Windows install. The difference with doing it from the desktop is that you'll be able to select which OS you'd like to boot to, without entering bios at all...it will give you a list of each OS, and 30 seconds to choose(the time waiting before it automatically boots the first one on the list can be adjusted as well).


There was a time when I was running XP, Vista, and Win7, all off of the same drive, with each OS on it's own partition.

 

Dual Booting 2 x Windows 10 OS Drives (Existing Installs)


It is uneccessary to do all of the above.

1. Boot up Windows 10
2. Open Disk Management and take a note of the drive letter of the other Windows 10
3. Open Admin Command Prompt and type: bcdboot X:\Windows where X is the drive letter noted in step 2
4. Reboot, you should have a dual boot menu.

 

Is it time for Windows 10 already?

Here's a good step by step guide on doing a fresh install.

How to clean install Windows 10 from a USB drive - Software - Feature - HEXUS.net