Windows 10: Migrating from HDD to SSD using free Macrium Reflect

I am getting ready to add an M.2 275GB SSD to my Acer Aspire E5-575-33BM which came with a 1TB 5400 HDD and Windows 10 Home preinstalled. I have browsed forums and watched several tutorials on YouTube. Here is my question before I start. One video showed moving the OS partition last in Macrium to the target drive. The video author said that 2 things will happen if you don't: 1) the drive will not boot and 2) you will need to resize partitions.
Another video said just the opposite: you must move all partitions in order, resizing if you must. The author said if you don't, the integrity of the recovery files will be compromised in case you need them in the future. I have already made a backup of the 1TB drive to a 32GB flash drive so i will have the files in any case for recovery. So, when dragging the partitions in Macrium to the target (SSD) drive prior to cloning, my question is which is correct? To drag them in exact order or is it best to drag the OS partition last? I'm trying to head off trouble prior to starting. After cloning, I plan to temporarily remove the i1TB HDD and hopefully boot to the SSD which would then assign it as Drive C if all goes well. I can then reinstall the 1TB HDD and reformat as a data drive. Since the optical drive is D, the HDD would then become E which is ok.

:)

 

How do I migrate my OS to an SSD

You can use Macrium Reflect (free).

Macrium Software | Your Image is Everything

It is often recommended by users for HDD to SDD migration.

 

Windows 10 Creators Edition

"AEOMI Backupper which is a free download but wont clone the drive without paying for it!"

Where did you get that idea ? The have a free and pay for version which has extra features, but you can

clone Windows with the free version. They use the term 'migrate' rather than clone, and they also use the phrase

'migrate OS to SSD', but you can migrate/clone to HDD as well.

Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

btw - Macrium Reflect also have a free version.

 

I did it several times this way.
Make old disk's image on another disk.
Boot from MR bootable restore USB.
Restore image to new disk.
Adjust partition sizes if different than in original disk.
Change default boot disk in BIOS.
If switching from a HDD to SSD with SSD's SATA port is set to AHCI mode, MR adjusts everything to suit SSD.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, CountMike. I installed the M.2 SSD and decided to just use the supplied Acronis to clone the SSD.
There was only about 58 GBs used on the HDD, so it only took a few minutes. All I had to do after shutdown was go into the bios and change the boot priority. Then I simply reformatted the HDD which was now Drive E. My only regret is that I didn't get a 500Gb SSD. Crucial's 275 GB SSD is actually 254 and after th clone I now have 195 free. That should work though as I already have the core programs I want installed and the 1TB HDD will be for media storage.