Windows 10 SSD Boot Drive

[ryham]

Can I install Windows 10 to my SSD (currently the D: Drive) whilst also having Windows on my HDD (C: Drive) and then set my SSD to be the boot drive in BIOS?

 

[aquielisunari]

Can I install Windows 10 to my SSD (currently the D: Drive) whilst also having Windows on my HDD (C: Drive) and then set my SSD to be the boot drive in BIOS?

As long as Windows is installed properly you can have as many operating systems as you want on other drives. Some leave other drives in during the install process which can cause issues. I have 10 on 2 other drives and Ubuntu on another one but my boot drive with 10 is an SSD without a dual boot option.

 

[ryham]

Can I install Windows 10 to my SSD (currently the D: Drive) whilst also having Windows on my HDD (C: Drive) and then set my SSD to be the boot drive in BIOS?

As long as Windows is installed properly you can have as many operating systems as you want on other drives. Some leave other drives in during the install process which can cause issues. I have 10 on 2 other drives and Ubuntu on another one but my boot drive with 10 is an SSD without a dual boot option.

So if I can install Windows 10 to my SSD whilst also having Windows on my HDD, why do people bother doing full reinstalls to migrate their OS to their solid states?

 

[USAFRet]

If you're doing a clean install on the new drive, disconnect ALL OTHER DRIVES while you do this install.

Later, reconnect the old drive and delete all partitions on it.

 

[USAFRet]

So if I can install Windows 10 to my SSD whilst also having Windows on my HDD, why do people bother doing full reinstalls to migrate their OS to their solid states?

They shouldn't. That's just a misguided procedure.
If you're going to do a clean install, migration has no place in that.

People do a migration from an old drive to a new drive to (hopefully) keep everything as it is, just on a new drive.
A clean install means starting over from Day 0.

 

[USAFRet]

Ultimately, you want only ONE OS in this system.

Have 2 identical OS's bootable is, at best, a waste of space.
At worst, major confusion.

 

[ryham]

Ultimately, you want only ONE OS in this system.

Have 2 identical OS's bootable is, at best, a waste of space.
At worst, major confusion.

So if I wanted to have my OS boot on my D: Drive SSD, while it's currently only installed and booting on my C: Drive HDD, what would be the best process I could take? I also have an empty E: Drive HDD if that's at all relevant.

 

[USAFRet]

Ultimately, you want only ONE OS in this system.

Have 2 identical OS's bootable is, at best, a waste of space.
At worst, major confusion.

So if I wanted to have my OS boot on my D: Drive SSD, while it's currently only installed and booting on my C: Drive HDD, what would be the best process I could take? I also have an empty E: Drive HDD if that's at all relevant.

2 options...either clone from the old drive to the new drive
or
Clean install on the new drive.

Both options recommend wiping th entirety of the old drive.

Which way to go requires a little bit of investigation.

Disregard "drive letters"

What size is the new SSD?
How much total space is consumed on your current OS drive?
What constitutes this space consumption?

 

[ryham]

Ultimately, you want only ONE OS in this system.

Have 2 identical OS's bootable is, at best, a waste of space.
At worst, major confusion.

So if I wanted to have my OS boot on my D: Drive SSD, while it's currently only installed and booting on my C: Drive HDD, what would be the best process I could take? I also have an empty E: Drive HDD if that's at all relevant.

2 options...either clone from the old drive to the new drive
or
Clean install on the new drive.

Both options recommend wiping th entirety of the old drive.

Which way to go requires a little bit of investigation.

Disregard "drive letters"

What size is the new SSD?
How much total space is consumed on your current OS drive?
What constitutes this space consumption?

The SSD is 250gb, OS drive is 2tb. OS drive is currently is at 1.03tb free. The majority of the space currently held is primarily steam, 3D models, various programs; nothing that couldn't be moved to my empty HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

The SSD is 250gb, OS drive is 2tb. OS drive is currently is at 1.03tb free. The majority of the space currently held is primarily steam, 3D models, various programs; nothing that couldn't be moved to my empty HDD.

For a 250GB SSD, you need to get the actual consumed space to below 200GB.
Given that, you can clone the entirety over to the SSD>

Move stuff over to the enpty drive.
Find your Steam Apps folder, and move that over.
All your personal files.
Etc, etc.

Once you get to that magic number of 200GB, clone it over to the new SSD>
Exactly like this:
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
-----------------------------

 

[ryham]

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
-----------------------------

When I reconnect the old boot drive, would it be a case of simply deleting everything in there, or would there be a better process?

 

[USAFRet]

When I reconnect the old boot drive, would it be a case of simply deleting everything in there, or would there be a better process?

Disk Management, and delete all the actual partitions.
Just "formatting it" leaves behind the old boot partition. Small and of no consequence, but you might as well start with an absolutely blank drive.