HDD to SSD (dual hard-drive transfer help!)

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camosoldier

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Apr 26, 2015
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Hey guys!
I've got yet another PC question that I desperately need help with. I have a 1TB HDD that I'm currently using, and I just bought a 250gb SSD I wanted to use for strictly my OS and maybe a few games and such. To be completely honest, I'm ashamed to admit I didn't build my PC at all (started to work on them now), and I don't currently have or own windows 7 key. Somebody I'm not in contact with got everything for me. I don't know how to copy the OS on my HDD to the SSD while still keeping the HDD documents if I dont have a windows key or CD to install. I tried copying the windows files onto a USB and then copying those USB files to my SSD when it was plugged in, then I was going to delete the old ones on the HDD but I can't copy those files, says I don't have privilege, I assume administrator which I've tried. Is my best bet, or only option, to buy windows 7 ultimate and get the key again and then install it when the SSD is plugged in? I looked up programs to clone the data, but obviously my 1TB can't copy to my 250gb. Idk if this is a common problem or I'm just stupid with this stuff. Please any helpful information would mean a lot, thanks guys!
 
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Yes, you've got it right. Just one cautionary note as I previously mentioned. Work with your newly-cloned SSD for a few days to make absolutely sure it boots and functions without any problems. Only then should you perform any "manipulations" on your HDD. By & by you can delete whatever files/folders you're able to re the Windows OS on your 1 TB HDD.

One thing more...it's generally best to connect your boot drive - the SSD - to your motherboard's first SATA port (data connector) which will be designated either SATA 0 or SATA 1. The HDD will be connected to any following SATA port.
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dor_nob

dor_nob

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You can clone to a smaller drive as long as the data on the larger drive will fit into it. What you need to do is partition your HDD so that the partition with your OS is smaller than the 250 GB SDD. You can then clone the partition to the new drive with no problems.
 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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A few questions...

1. There are a fair number of "product key finders" freely available on the net. Have you tried one of them to detect your Windows 7 product ID?

2. What is the total data on your 1 TB HDD including the OS + all programs?

3. Do you have another HDD handy?

4. Working with a laptop or desktop PC?

5. What's the make/model of your 250 GB SSD?
 
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camosoldier

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I haven't tried finding a key finder yet. My hdd has at least 800gb or so filled. Unfortunately I dint have another hdd handy and I was trying to refraine from buying one after purchasing the ssd. It is a desktop gaming pc and the ssd is a Samsung 850 evo 250gb.I don't exactly know what a parititon is, but ill look into it. Don't know if you mean I'd have to delete my data until it's 250gb, or u can clone a small chunck of it and copy that over
 
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ArtPog

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Probably the most practical course for your situation is to fresh-install the OS onto your new Samsung SSD. Unfortunately that will mean you have to reinstall virtually all your programs on your 1 TB HDD. And then download/install all the Windows Updates needed for your new OS installation.

I'm assuming you will be able to locate your product ID key for your Win 7 installation.

There is another possibility that you might want to explore...

Your Samsung SSD will be packaged with Samsung's Data Migration program. It's basically a disk-cloning program custom-tailored for Samsung SSDs. It's a nice, generally easy-to-use effective program when a user can clone the ENTIRE contents of his/her source drive to the Samsung destination SSD. Obviously this doesn't fit your situation.

However the SDM program does have a capability of excluding files from the source disk during the disk-cloning operation. Unfortunately many users have found the process awkward & difficult to use. But peruse its User Guide to for the process and perhaps you might want to give it a go.

There's another commercial program that claims to clone ONLY the OS from the source disk to the destination disk - Paragon Migrate OS to SSD 4.0. Newegg carries it for $14.95. I haven't used it myself although I know of a couple of users who did and they reported running into problems with that program. However, a number of responders to this forum have reported the program worked very well and did what it claimed to do.

There are probably other programs out there that also claim this type of capability but I'm not familiar with them.
 
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camosoldier

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Thank you very much everybody for taking the time to help me, I appreciate the advice a lot. And I just found out the person who built my computer didn't even purchase my OS... This is really annoying. So I will never have my key, I would rather support Microsoft by actually purchasing it but I don't have the money right now. This is a huge surprise for me and it makes this process a lot harder. I will do all the steps given. And I assume if all else fails save some money, buy the OS, and lose all my current 800gb of data? I assume my steam games can just be redownloaded later on my new os.
 
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ArtPog

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No, you won't lose your 800 GB of data. After you install the OS onto your new SSD you will connect your HDD as a secondary HDD in your system. So all the data on that HDD will be accessible to you. I assume you're working with a desktop PC. If so, you'll connect your 1 TB HDD as an internally-connected drive. But don't do that until AFTER you've installed the OS onto the SSD.
If you're working with a laptop PC then you'll connect the HDD as a USB external device.
 
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camosoldier

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I am using a desktop pc, yes. So I would purchase Windows 7, plug only my ssd in and install it. Then once the operating system is booting on my ssd, I then plug my 1tb hdd as a secondary hard drive and keep all my files. Then delete the OS on the hdd? Or should I delete the os first then install it on the ssd? I'm honestly not too familiar with operating systems, don't if you delete the os you get rid of everything assosiated with it? Which is basically everything besides games and music, pics
 
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ArtPog

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Yes, you've got it right. Just one cautionary note as I previously mentioned. Work with your newly-cloned SSD for a few days to make absolutely sure it boots and functions without any problems. Only then should you perform any "manipulations" on your HDD. By & by you can delete whatever files/folders you're able to re the Windows OS on your 1 TB HDD.

One thing more...it's generally best to connect your boot drive - the SSD - to your motherboard's first SATA port (data connector) which will be designated either SATA 0 or SATA 1. The HDD will be connected to any following SATA port.
 
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