Reinstalling Win 7 HP OEM from HDD to SSD

[xerxesaria]

Hi. I just installed and activated OEM Win 7 on an HDD. Changed my mind and want to purchase an SSD, place Win on that, and use my HDD for everything else. Will I still be able to install Win or am I too late because I activated it? Thank you.

 

[phil22]

No it's not too late, and technically you don't even need to re-install Windows. What you use is "cloning software" which creates an exact copy of your entire existing hard drive on to the new SSD, complete with all data, Windows and activation intact, including all your preferred Windows settings and any third-party applications that are installed on the existing hard drive. In a nutshell, the SSD will be an exact copy of the hard drive.

I use a commercial hard disk copy software, but this free one is very popular:
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/home-edition/

Needless to say, both drives must be visible to the cloning software, so you'll need to install the SSD either internally as a second drive, or put it into an external hard drive enclosure. Then, when the cloning is done, you swap the drives over so that the SSD then becomes your Windows boot drive.

 

[hedwar2011]

Hi. I just installed and activated OEM Win 7 on an HDD. Changed my mind and want to purchase an SSD, place Win on that, and use my HDD for everything else. Will I still be able to install Win or am I too late because I activated it? Thank you.

It should also be noted that since this is a OEM copy of Windows, it will be fully usable as long as you don't change the motherboard on the computer.

You can find more information in regards to the different versions of Windows 7 HERE.

 

[xerxesaria]

Best answer selected by xerxesaria.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

This topic has been closed by SR-71 Blackbird