Wanting to change what the C drive is: will I be safe to?

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darkpowrjd

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Nov 17, 2010
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So I got a new 250 GB SSD and have ghosted Windows 8 and all my files from my current C drive onto it in order to be able to boot to it and free up the C drive as smaller storage drive (it's the same size as the SSD I bought, a OCZ Vertex 460). I am booting from it now with no hiccups besides the taskbar flickering in and out at times for some reason that didn't happen until booting from the SSD (some help to fix that, too, would be appreciated).

However, here's my main question: now that I have confirmed that everything is working fine, I would like to "swap" the drive letters of these two drives so the SSD will become the new C drive, leaving free the HDD for me to reformat and start anew (in other words, I would like the SSD to be the only drive that has Windows 8 on it to boot from). I want to be able to do this, but I don't know if there is any risk involved. I went into Disc Management to try to change these, but I can't assign C to the SSD until I restart the computer once I make the first change, according to the dialog box, which made me put on the brakes on making the first switch (the SSD is currently assigned "F", by the way).

If I change the HDD (the one currently assigned "C") to some other letter, will I be able to boot to be able to change the SSD to C once I restart? Both are considered "Local Disc"s by Windows, so I'm guessing I'm okay there. the HDD was cloned to the SSD, so all the swapping of letters would do, once I know that I can do so without risking not being able to boot after the required restart, is to tell that the file is also in another location. And also, how do I start this annoying flicker of the taskbar that has happened about four or five times while typing this question...might be related to what I'm trying to do since now the Catalyst Control Center refuses to work since I booted from the SSD, and I think I have to make the letter switch for things to work right there).
 
Solution
photonboy
You're doing this wrong..

1) Unhook all drives except the SSD that you cloned to and intend to keep.

2) Now BOOT to it to ensure it works.

3) Shutdown, and attach the other drives, then go into the motherboard BIOS and verify the Boot Order is set to the new SSD.

4) Once in Windows confirm again that the proper drive is used for Windows then FORMAT the old SSD to use for whatever.
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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You're doing this wrong..

1) Unhook all drives except the SSD that you cloned to and intend to keep.

2) Now BOOT to it to ensure it works.

3) Shutdown, and attach the other drives, then go into the motherboard BIOS and verify the Boot Order is set to the new SSD.

4) Once in Windows confirm again that the proper drive is used for Windows then FORMAT the old SSD to use for whatever.
 
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Solution
photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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Taskbar flickering?
Not sure, but if that only happens on the newly cloned SSD you may have done it incorrectly and have some corrupted data. Run with only the new SSD (see my above comment) and if that still happens I suggest redoing the Clone possibly with better software or consider reinstalling Windows since for some people that's easier.
 
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darkpowrjd

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Nov 17, 2010
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Thanks for the help, but I don't think I explained things very well of what I was trying to accomplish, or what the "flickering" thing actually was.

First, I had actually used a cloning software before I found a slip in the package of my SSD that had a license key for a different cloning software on it (the one I used was EaseUS ToDo Backup, while the one that the SSD package had a key number for is Acronis True Image).

What I am trying to do is to change the SSD's letter to C, but to do that I have to assign a new letter to the drive that C is assigned to now. When I try to do the latter, it warns me that some programs may not run correctly if I were to change the drive letter. I want to, but it's then saying that I would have to restart the computer if I want to make the C letter available to use for another drive, and this is leading to my initial worry. I can boot from the SSD drive no problem aside from the "flicker" that I will explain a bit better in a moment, and it does show me in the File Explorer that Windows is indeed on this drive and that it's running from it. Both C and F (F being the SSD) are being referred to as Local Disc in File Explorer. The current C drive is NOT an SSD. It's a standard HDD.

As for the "flicker", I think I might've used the wrong term. What happens is that every 1 to 2 minutes, the taskbar will go away for a split second then return. When I have no windows open, the entire desktop disappears (as if it was trying to enter the Metro screen). I think this is related to the changing of the colors of the taskbar since I had it set up to do that, and I think it could be related to the issue, but I won't know if there is a risk of the computer not booting if I were to change the letter that the C drive NOW refers to.

To summarize, the computer is booting fine, and I'm using it right now. I have safely went into BIOS and made it the primary boot drive. My main concern is me possibly screwing up things should I try to make this drive letter assignment change since it's requiring me to restart to make C a letter I can use once I free it up (in other words, no drive will have the C assignment before I do a restart). The question is should I be able to boot fine from the F drive if I am on now once I restart to make C available for me to use FOR the SSD. And the odd side issue may or may not be related.
 
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