Changing an HDD

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Tigerwarrior1

Tigerwarrior1

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Jul 8, 2017
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Hello Community!

I want to replace my current HDD with a different one so that I can use my current one with a different PC. But I don't know where to start when replacing my current one with the different one. Like how do I safety format the current HDD before I remove it?

Any steps to do this?


Thank you for your time!
 
Solution
K
You cannot format the C drive. Install the second drive so it shows up properly with a drive letter (D), then clone the C drive to the D drive. Ensure the clone boots, then boot from the clone ( it is now the C drive) and format the old drive: right click the drive icon in explorer/format.
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karenjoly

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Apr 13, 2018
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You cannot format the C drive. Install the second drive so it shows up properly with a drive letter (D), then clone the C drive to the D drive. Ensure the clone boots, then boot from the clone ( it is now the C drive) and format the old drive: right click the drive icon in explorer/format.
 
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Solution
USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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What drives are these?

Assuming the new drive is sufficiently larger than the actual consumed space on the old drive, you can migrate to the new drive.
Then, wipe ALL partitions on the old drive, and put it elsewhere.

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------
 
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