Windows 10: swapping boot drives between PC's

I'm upgrading my PC and am changing from 8th gen intel to 13th gen, among other things, meaning I need to change my motherboard. Can I just take my boot drive nvme drive and chuck it in the new build or do I need to do something more complex? Will it require me to reactivate windows or buy a new license?

:)

 

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.

 

Swapping drive letters, including boot volume

I have a new computer. I want to clone the system to a new SSD. Can I change the drive letter of the SSD to C: after cloning?

I have a new ASUS M52BC with:

• 1 TB hard drive with a Windows (C and empty data (D partition
• Windows 8.1 (I will upgrade to Windows 10 very soon) on the hard drive
• Samsung SSD 850 EVO (physically installed but nothing more done to it)

What I want to get to is:

• 1 TB hard drive with the data (D partition and (for the old Windows partition) the drive letter of the C: changed to something else
• Windows 10 on the SSD as the C:

I don't intend to boot to Windows on the hard drive after I get Windows working on the SSD unless I need to remove the SSD for return to ASUS for repair. (My new computer had a bad motherboard when I received it but I hope I do not need to return it again.)

I want to clone Windows to the SSD using the Samsung Data Migration tool. During the clone, the SSD will of course not have the drive letter "C". To boot from and use the SSD after the cloning, it must have the drive letter "C", correct? I assume the Data
Migration tool cannot change the drive letter used by the software it clones.

After the clone, how do I swap the drive letters? I assume I cannot change the drive letter of the hard drive Windows partition when it was used to boot from because it would be the boot drive, correct?

I know that some people will suggest that I do a fresh install. I want to avoid doing that if possible.

I see
Migrate system partition to a new disk. I think that describes doing what I am trying to do, but unfortunately he does not know how he did it.

 

Building Again

I just tried to swap the hard drive for the one you suggested keakar but i purchased rush processing so its already in step 3... *Big Grin