Easiest way to migrate OS to a new drive?

W

WeApOn

New Member
I've been in the market for an SSD lately, and ideally I would like to move my OS to that drive, and keep most of my other programs on my bulkier drives.

I'm just looking to speed up boot-times, and maybe throw a few programs on there separately.

What is the most efficient way to migrate my Windows 7 install to this new drive? I'd like to preserve all settings if possible.

Also, is it a requirement that PROGRAM FILES must be on the same drive as the OS? There might be a storage space issue if that is the case.

Thanks!
 
Sounds like a fresh install would be best. I don't really have much of a reason not to, as long as re-activating Windows wouldn't be a problem.

Afterwards, I'd like to keep the data on my old C:/, so I figure I can just remove C:/Windows to get rid of the dual-boot environment.

And any idea on if I could keep my Program Files on that drive? I know some programs seem to NEED to use the C:/ for Program Files.
 
It will be internal. I know I can custom install programs to a different drive, so technically not all of my programs NEED to be on the C:/

I think the question would be if I can set this new SSD to have a drive letter other than C:/, while still installing Windows and booting from it.

It's not totally problematic either way, but I know some programs are hard-coded to be installed to C:/
 
WeApOn said:
It will be internal. I know I can custom install programs to a different drive, so technically not all of my programs NEED to be on the C:/

I think the question would be if I can set this new SSD to have a drive letter other than C:/, while still installing Windows and booting from it.

It's not totally problematic either way, but I know some programs are hard-coded to be installed to C:/
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You can't set the system drive to anything other than C:\. That's automatically done by Windows.
 
WeApOn said:
What about dual-boot configurations? Both OS' need to be on the C:/ ?
Click to expand...

First off, you won't be dual booting (unless you want to). In a true dual boot, the boot manager shows both operating systems and you can choose which one you want to boot to. What you're gonna want to do is unplug your old drive when you install Windows (more or less also for safety reasons so you don't lose anything.). Then when you plug your other drive back in, you just check the SSD is the primary boot drive. In the SSD Windows, your other drive will show up as a secondary drive (with drive letter D or E depending on other things). If you booted to the old drive, the SSD would come up as a secondary drive 9again as D or E depending).

Unplugging the old drive when installing Windows also saves a headache if you format the drive. If it was a dual boot, then the boot manager could have issues and then you'd have to repair the installation to get into Windows, but that's a different situation.

TL;DR - Just unplug your old drive when you install Windows on the SSD. Once finished, plug the old drive back in. Just be sure the SSD is the primary boot drive after the other drive has been plugged in.
 
Yeah, I gotcha. I have no plans to dual-boot, I was just curious about situations where two drives with an OS are present -- I thought one would have to have a letter other than C:/
 
WeApOn said:
Yeah, I gotcha. I have no plans to dual-boot, I was just curious about situations where two drives with an OS are present -- I thought one would have to have a letter other than C:/
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Nope. The host drive is (normally) always C. Though I've seen some HP's that have card readers that screw things up and make the host drive another letter.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Nope. The host drive is (normally) always C. Though I've seen some HP's that have card readers that screw things up and make the host drive another letter.
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Yep. I've had to unplug the usb cord before reinstalling OS on machines like that.
 
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