Windows 10: new laptop: Is it possible to migrate OS from SSD to HDD (yes to HDD)

Hi,
I recently bought an MSI GL62 6QF laptop and unfortunately although it is an excellent laptop it has some limitation that might urge me to return it

system:
128 GB SSD in M.2 PCI-e (Windows pre-installed here)
1 TB HDD


If you could help me I would like to know the following:
- since I have to use Full Disk Encryption (TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt which require MBR) for my needs is there any way to migrate the OS to the hdd and not use the SSD at all?
- what I want do in order to use the laptop is to
1. use MBR and not GPT for the hdd
2. migrate Win10 to hdd
If the migration makes an exact copy maybe I'll have to

1. do the migrate first
2. convert GPT to MBR in hdd second


I understand this may be an unusual request for help but I really like the build quality of this laptop and would like to keep it instead of returning it.

What I am thinking so far is:

- set BIOS to legacy boot and turn safe boot off.
- Use Minitool Partition Wizard to convert hdd to MBR from GPT
- Use Minitool Partition Wizard with the Migrate OS option from SSD to HDD

Unfortunately hdd has some hidden partition BIOS_RVY which I guess will be lost

Is there any reason that the BIOS might not see the HDD as a boot device? (right now it is not listed, I thought that it is because it has no OS but that seems strange..)

Any other ideas? (or other tool to do all this..)

:)

 

HOW TO BOOT MY OS ON SAMSUNG SSD MSATA 850 EVO

Hi Arun,

I repeat the process of migration and remove my old hdd leaving the msata ssd install.

when I boot the laptop, it boot just fine and faster.

But when I put back the old HDD, windows return to boot from hdd again.

Clean installation means I have to buy a new OS right?.

 

HOW TO BOOT MY OS ON SAMSUNG SSD MSATA 850 EVO

Hi Microsoft community,

I have a question regarding on how can I boot my os to my new ssd msata 850 evo.

I have a windows 10 OS, I already did the following below.

install Samsung migration software/migrate all my file from old HDD to SSD.

but my problem is my OS still boot in my old HDD. Both of my disk are installed in my laptop.

What is best solution to fixed my problem?

Thank you all in advance.

R,

Jeff

 

Hi, you can switch disks of course- but why would you want your OS on a slower disk? I have windows in 35Gb of 77Gb on my 256Gb SSD (I keep personal data off it) so 128Gb should potentially be big enough, unless you're installing some very large programs.

I use truecrypt for an encrypted volume on a GPT HDD- not the whole disk though. (However I don't know if encrypting a disk is an issue for Truecrypt as you indicate).

If you install an OS on your HDD it will mark a partition as Active, bootable.

Using MBR you lose some of the robustness added in the GPT specification.
Whats the Difference Between GPT and MBR When Partitioning a Drive?

 

OP....have you seen this.....

TrueCrypt

 

@dalchina
SSDs and TrueCrypt or similar software are not a good mix to my knowledge for FDE.. Degradation of the SSD is faster..

*Smile

I have. There are other alternatives from TrueCrypt sources like VeraCrypt that continue the work.

 

Hi, thanks for the thought. Opinions vary - technical discussion here:
Can TrueCrypt encrypt SSDs without performance problems? - Information Security Stack Exchange

Any form of encryption inevitably requires more reading and writing.. actually I use Truecrypt on one volume on my HDD, not my SSD.
And then you have to consider that earlier concerns about SSD lifetime seem to have been overtaken by advances in the technology.
OS-related activity results in far more reads and writes to my SSD than me accessing my Truecrypt volume.

Interesting - but older- comment here about Truecrypt and whole SSD encryption, starting with Bitlocker. But many of these articles are older, and there's a certain amount of mythology about SSDs from their earlier years.
windows - Bitlocker Performance Impact on SSD - Super User

 

True.. You have a point..


Thank you all for replying.. *Nerd

I believe I'm in a dead end here.. Unfortunately Microsoft doesn't help either since the 1511 Win10 update software like Veracrypt or Truecrypt have a problem and in order to do the OS update you have to decrypt the system drive -> do the update -> encrypt from scratch.. *Shock
Bitlocker is not available in Home edition.. and I'm back to 0 *Sad

 

This indicates GPT on 64 bit Windows is supported (2015, note the main question is about MAC)
VeraCrypt - Any update on UEFI

Note UEFI at that point was for the future.

However this- March- indicates GPT is apparently not supported:
VeraCrypt Wont Encrypt my Entire System? | Wilders Security Forums

Hmm, is there a clear spec. on this?

 

It is supposed to be supported
VeraCrypt - Documentation

but not without problems https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/...5b859040/#2757

it might be just out of beta.. VeraCrypt / Tickets / #36 ANy chance of GPT partition support?

Still since it's so fresh doesn't seem like a good idea than the tested good old MBR