Windows 10: PC Rebuild with new Motherboard/CPU and current C drive SSD: how to best go about Windows...

I haven't personally built my own PC in over a decade so I'm trying to cover all my bases before hand. I'm planning on rebuilding my PC soon with a new Motherboard, CPU, and RAM while retaining my current graphics card, PSU, and storage (including the same C drive SSD). I will also be going from an Intel build (ASRock B250m Pro 4 with i7-7700k) to an AMD one (Gigabyte x570 Aorus Elite with Ryzen 7 3700x). My understanding is that a clean windows install is the best way to go in this scenario.

My question is how should I go about doing this? Do I simply install the intended C drive unaltered and then boot from a USB with Windows 10 installation files, and then follow the steps for a clean install, or is it more complicated than that? Do I need to prepare the C drive SSD in some way before tossing the hardware in the new build? (beyond backing up important files)

I also may need a BIOS update on my new motherboard for the sake of RAM stability, is that best done before installing Windows?

Any recommendations are appreciated.

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:)

 

Upgrading CPU and Motherboard but with SSD with the free windows 10 upgrade from window 8.1

I want to upgrade my CPU and Motherboard but i scared that if i do that i will have to buy a new copy of Windows 10 and i am upgrading important hardware. My current PC has the free upgraded Windows 10 Pro from my Window 8.1 Pro. So its on my SSD but if
i use the same SSD with a new CPU and Motherboard, can i not just re-activate or does the free upgrade not carry over?

Can someone please help and tell me if i will have to buy a new copy or if it will still work with new hardware.

 

BCD File Rebuild and BIOS

Our IT department updated my pc to 1803 not realizing that I have an X299 motherboard and a Samsung NVME SSD boot drive. I came in the next day to get the BCD File error BSOD with error code 0xc000098 (a known bug but not fixed a year after discovery).
Our IT department looked up this issue and decided to rebuild my BCD file and was (we thought) successful implementing this solution. My pc then booted from the previous NVME SSD drive. I had migrated my OS from the 256GB SSD to a new 500gb SSD, both NVME.
No troubles for a year booting from the 500gb disk and now it boots from the old 256gb drive which I did not wipe on purpose. I boot into the UEFI ASUS bios on the pc and the boot order configuration only lists one option for position 1 to 4. Before each position
listed each bootable device. First of all why in the world would a Windows update and BCD file rebuild screw with the BIOS and second how do I get the proper C: drive boot with to way to change the boot order in the BIOS?

 

Cloning to SSD then swapping drive letters


@SamHobbs
What you want done is very simple and can be done in short period of time. Here's my suggestion:
There's 2 modes that Windows can be installed: UEFI and the old legacy MBR. Open Disk Management, look at the disk where your C drive is, if there's a

1. EFI System Partition, your Windows was installed using UEFI.
2. System Reserved partition, your Windows was installed using MBR

Next, Connect your SSD to an available Sata port (no need to format or do anything). Download: Macrium Reflect Free . Install and run. Follow the steps below:

1. From Macrium, click on image this disk under your C drive and save it to either an Internal or External Drive. This will create a single backup image of the whole disk containing your C drive.
2. Again, from Macrium, click on Restore tab and select the image created from step 1, Select your SSD as the destination drive, click Next->Finish
3. Exit Macrium. If your Windows was installed using MBR, Open disk management and make sure the SSD is marked "Active" else go to next step.
4. Shutdown your PC. Disconnect the HD containing Windows C drive then connect your SSD to it.
5. Reboot. Your PC should boot and the Windows should have C as the drive letter.

NOTE: The procedure above is to backup your Windows to an image file then copy it back to the SSD. This ensures proper cluster size aligment for the SSD. In addition, Macrium also perform Trimming for the SSD. This is more preferable than cloning.