old HDD as 2nd disk drive for storage laptop

badboi_gail07 · Oct 24, 2017

i bought a caddy for my HDD so that i could fit it inside my laptop and use it as a 2nd disk drive for storage and i wanna know how pls. because when i tried to put both in my laptop. it boots my HDD instead of my new SSD. and im kinda scared of trying to wipe out the HDD coz i might end up wiping also my SSD. what do i do? what are the steps? should i just load in the HDD in and erase it in there or?

hang-the-9 · Oct 24, 2017

Go into the BIOS and set the SSD as the primary boot drive. You can remove that second disk totally from the options to boot from if you want.

JoeMomma · Oct 24, 2017

badboi_gail07 :

Step 1: Make sure the SSD is the boot device in BIOS as Hang-the-9 said.

Step 2: Prepare the SSD to put Windows on it.
You probably will not be able to copy your HDD to SSD unless the SSD is same capacity or bigger than the HDD. You may be able to copy the laptop's recovery partition from the HDD to the SSD or to a USB stick. I like to use EaseUS Partition Manager. Copy the small recovery partition and make an empty Windows partition.

Step 3: Re-install Windows.
IMPORTANT! Make sure you have your license key ready and unplug the HDD before installing Windows.
Windows installs work better when there is only one drive in the system. Install Windows from the Recovery partition or from a fresh USB stick. Then plug the HDD back in.

Step 4: Putting things back to normal:
a. You probably should find a SSD tweaker program to make sure that Windows is properly setup to use the SSD.
b. You may be able to copy some software over to the SSD:\Program Files folder, but it's best to reinstall everything.
c. Go into the HDD:\Users\username folder and move Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, etc. to the HDD:\ root so it's easy to find. Then go to Windows Library and point your Library to your HDD:\Documents folder instead of the SSD:\Users\username\Documents folder. Do the same with your pics, music and video libraries.
d. Now it's Okay to delete the Windows & Program Files folders from the HDD. (but wait until you need the space)

ArtPog · Oct 24, 2017

1. Can we assume that the "caddy" you installed was one that was installed externally on the laptop in place of the bay where the optical drive would normally be installed?

2. The caddy was *not* installed internally in a second drive bay the laptop is possibly equipped with, right?

3. We'll assume 1. above is the situation.

4. So when the SSD is the ONLY drive installed in the laptop, the system boots to the OS and functions without any problems, right? Right?

5. But if you install the HDD in the caddy the system will boot to the OS on the HDD? You're sure of that? And at that time the SSD is performing as a SECONDARY drive and you're able to access its contents, right?

6. Have you ever attempted a boot with ONLY the HDD installed (no SSD)?

7. Obviously the HDD contains a viable OS if you've correctly reported the situation. By any chance did you originally clone the contents of the HDD to the SSD or did you fresh-install the OS (which is?) onto the SSD?

8. You're sure that when you power-on the laptop you do not inadvertently select the HDD as the boot drive from any boot priority menu that the laptop may provide?

9. Could you send in a screenshot of Disk Management when both drives are connected? And also mention the make/model of your laptop?

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