Windows 10: How do I change the hard drive without losing the Windows install.

My girlfriends computer has a hard drive that shows as having faults on the computer health scan. I would like to swap out the hard drive for another but obviously don't want to lose the Windows 10 installation. The computer had Windows 8 pre-installed and she later upgraded to Windows 10. Is it possible to swap out the hard drive without losing Windows?

The computer is a Lenovo C260 All-in-One.

:)

 

How can I repartition the hard without losing my warranty

Hi guys ,

My laptop has a genuine windows 10 but my hard driver is only 1 partition and I want to repartition it and I can't do this without formating it.

So is there anyway i can format the whole hard and reinstall the windows as a genuine one like it was ?

 

How can I repartition the hard without losing my warranty

You can re-partition your hard disk into two partitions. No need to reformat or reinstall anything. You can use Windows own' tools to do this.

Repartitioning a hard disk is not difficult but you must clearly understand what you are about to do before you start because if you make a mistake you will lose data and possibly make your computer un-bootable.

Here are Microsoft's instructions for its repartitioning utility. The instructions are for Windows 7 but the same instructions apply
to Windows 10. Be smart and learn about this procedure from the internet before you start. You'll do fine.

 

Hi, as the drive is faulty, unless you have already have created an image of your drive (which we very strongly recommend e.g. Macrium Reflect (free)), you will need to reinstall Windows.

Normally replacing a drive - even other parts- does not cause an activation issue. If it does, contact your regional MS activation support line.

 

A fresh install to a new hard drive is always the best option in my experience just remember to back up all the files/music & data you have from the old O.S. to a usb stick or to a Recordable DVD if you still can ?

I have re-installed my free upgrade of win10 over 10 times in the last year to the same mobo but was experimenting with different hard drives ect..

Activation should be automatic upon an internet connection being present.

 

Replace the hard drive with a solid state drive.

SSD 850 PRO 2.5" SATA III 256GB Memory & Storage - MZ-7KE256BW | Samsung US

SSD 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 250GB Memory & Storage - MZ-75E250B/AM | Samsung US

 

I'd probably clone the hard drive, if it is still running OK.

The C260 uses a 2.5" hard drive, like those typically used in laptops. Unless it has a second drive bay (unlikely), you'd need a USB to SATA external adapter to connect the new drive to the PC for the cloning operation. They are inexpensive; here's an example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-542-_-Product

You'd also need cloning software, which is usually available with the new drive or by download from the new drive's maker (if you buy a bare drive).

Going to an SSD would be nice, if the additional expense is acceptable. (A hard drive costs less than $0.10 per gigabyte at the 500GB size. An SSD, more like $0.25US.)

 

She might need a whole pile of USB sticks or DVDs! If her HDD is replaced with an SDD then it should be possible to put it back in later and copy them then, but the OP has to be careful about how big the HDD is and how big the SDD is - they are usually a lot, lot smaller.

 

You may find my guide here useful http://www.eightforums.com/installat...s-hdd-ssd.html. I've also enclosed the guide here.

I used Macrium Reflect to image (not clone) my system to another drive, then install a SSD and copy the imaged partitions back to the new SSD. Note it's recommended to have only the new system disk installed when you first boot to the new drive. Activation of Windows 10 should be almost instantaneous if you are connected to the internet.

 

Thanks for all your help, the PC didn't come with any install discs so is cloning the drive the only option I have or can I download Windows from somewhere?

 

Steve C post #7 gave you one of the best ways to put your Windows 10 on a new drive. I've always used Macrium Reflect to move my OS to a new drive, and like Steve said, do NOT use the clone option.
Macrium Reflect Free

 

Hi,

Imaging and then restoring that image to the new drive would be the best and fastest way as OldMike65 pointed out.

Win 10 ISO files can be downloaded from this site:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft.../windows10ISO/

Cheers, *Wink

 

Why some prefer imaging method than clone? Any reason?

 

I'm not an expert on this, but my understanding is that if you clone the drive they will both have the same disk identifiers which may cause boot problems if both drives are connected to the PC at the same time.

 

Hi,

This article explains the difference between the two methods:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20298...s-imaging.html

Another reason why many members here prefer imaging is that they use Macrium Reflect Free edition which does pretty much everything.
Cloning copies everything, including unused space whereas imaging only copies occupied space. Hence images are much smaller and can be compressed. A clone can't be compressed.

Cheers, *Wink