- Jan 10, 2015
- 1
- 0
- 4,510
Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade the hard drive on my current laptop. I figure it's the best option until this laptop dies and then I can hopefully use the SSD in a custom built desktop.
My laptop is: Dell Inspiron 7520, i7, 8GB RAM. I currently have a 1TB HDD with two partitions - one for OS and programs, one for movie/music/picture storage (200GB/800GB)
I'm looking at getting a 500GB SSD and I would like to then use my 1TB drive with an enclosure for external storage.
I have the Win7 activation key that came with the pre-installed OS. I do not have the discs with the OS.
If I lose all of my installed programs I don't mind. I'd almost rather have a fresh start since it's been a while since I've done a format.
My question: What's the easiest option to get the OS onto the SSD? If I download a clean copy of Win7 and put it on the SSD then install the SSD, will that work? Or how would I clone only the OS partition to move over?
Also just realized it'd be nice to have the recovery partition... so maybe cloning would be the best?
I'm not familiar with the free cloning programs I see recommended and not sure of their capabilities.
Any tips and expertise appreciated! Thanks in advance!
I'm looking to upgrade the hard drive on my current laptop. I figure it's the best option until this laptop dies and then I can hopefully use the SSD in a custom built desktop.
My laptop is: Dell Inspiron 7520, i7, 8GB RAM. I currently have a 1TB HDD with two partitions - one for OS and programs, one for movie/music/picture storage (200GB/800GB)
I'm looking at getting a 500GB SSD and I would like to then use my 1TB drive with an enclosure for external storage.
I have the Win7 activation key that came with the pre-installed OS. I do not have the discs with the OS.
If I lose all of my installed programs I don't mind. I'd almost rather have a fresh start since it's been a while since I've done a format.
My question: What's the easiest option to get the OS onto the SSD? If I download a clean copy of Win7 and put it on the SSD then install the SSD, will that work? Or how would I clone only the OS partition to move over?
Also just realized it'd be nice to have the recovery partition... so maybe cloning would be the best?
I'm not familiar with the free cloning programs I see recommended and not sure of their capabilities.
Any tips and expertise appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram