Have an HDD with windows but want an ssd for boot

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Nssa97

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Mar 12, 2015
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Hi everyone I decided to buy an 500gb ssd to load my windows faster and games , but I already have a 1TB HDD witth windows, and after looking at some posts on the internet i still dont know if is possible to acess my hdd filles , this post as some info:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2706269/install-ssd-boot-drive-leave-hdd-files.html?xtor=EREC-8889&_ga=1.102526337.1482444315.1476420680

okay it says that I will be able to copy files but not programs but for example , a steam game , I install steam on my ssd , the i go to hdd and copy the gta v folder to the steam ssd directory , will I be able to play it? or have to download it again ? I only attend to do this with games because they are heavy , other programs like skype and light softare i will donwload it again
 
Solution
USAFRet


OK
You have 2 options - Clone or clean install

1. Clean install
This is a brand new install of the OS on the new drive. Always works.
This also means that you'd need to reinstall all of the drivers, applications, etc.
Always works, but more PITA.

2. Clone
This is a direct copy of your current C drive to the new SSD.
This requires that the total used space on the current drive be well below the size of the new SSD.
For a 500GB SSD, it really needs to be below 400GB or so.
This usually works.


So, if you are considering the cloning operation, you have some pruning to do.
Investigate exactly what is on that drive?
doc/music/video...those can take up a lot of space.
Then look...
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, Nssa97.

First on the SSD and HDD question. The best case scenario would be to make a clean Windows installation on your SSD (remember to have all other drives disconnected from the motherboard during the Windows installation process). Once you've installed the OS and everything is OK, you can shutdown the computer and connect the HDD as well. You could go to your BIOS just to make sure that your SSD is the first choice in the boot priority menu, so that you are sure that you'd boot to Windows by using it instead of the HDD. Once you've booted to Windows, you should be able to access the HDD's content just as with any other secondary storage drive (although you might have to assign it a new drive letter via Disk Management in case Windows does not do that automatically).

Now for the Steam part. You should be able to move the steam installation and games from your HDD to the SSD by following this tutorial: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129. Note that since Steam was installed while using a different OS, it would be better if you backup all save data beforehand. If anything messes up, you could try to make a fresh installation of Steam and move the games to the new library directory and after that verify the files so that you don't download them from scratch by following this guide: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
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Mar 16, 2013
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First question:
How much total used space is on the current 1TB C drive?
 
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Nssa97

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Mar 12, 2015
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Already used more than 650gb
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,442
17,907
184,590


OK
You have 2 options - Clone or clean install

1. Clean install
This is a brand new install of the OS on the new drive. Always works.
This also means that you'd need to reinstall all of the drivers, applications, etc.
Always works, but more PITA.

2. Clone
This is a direct copy of your current C drive to the new SSD.
This requires that the total used space on the current drive be well below the size of the new SSD.
For a 500GB SSD, it really needs to be below 400GB or so.
This usually works.


So, if you are considering the cloning operation, you have some pruning to do.
Investigate exactly what is on that drive?
doc/music/video...those can take up a lot of space.
Then look at what is hogging space in your downloads folder
Finally, look at games. What old crap is in there that you played out and is just sitting there?

What OS is this?
 
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