# Help needed on how to convert new SSD into W10 boot drive



## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

As can be seen from the system spec summary below I have purchased a newer and faster (used) desktop style computer for my everyday use. It came with a sizable HDD and I quickly upgraded to W10, but I'd like to remove a 120 Gb SSD from my laptop and install it additionally into this new computer and make it my primary, boot drive for faster loading and other speedier performance applications with the SSD.

I've purchased the adapter bracket and cable for installing the SSD to fit into the desktop computer, but I definitely would appreciate some step by step instructions on the entire process of how to convert the SSD into being the desktop computer's boot drive. Both drives currently have Windows 10 installed on them and I don't think I'll have any difficulty with the physical SSD re-installation, but I definitely need guidance on how to handle the Windows 10 issue. Can I leave both OS systems installed, for instance? Another issue is how can I transfer (a copy of?) W10 from the SSD onto my old laptop HDD which I'll now be re-installing into the laptop. It may be that I'll have to transfer (not a copy) W10 from my SSD onto the laptop HDD, and then transfer the newer computer's W10 onto my SSD. I say that because it may be the case that each upgrade is on file with Microsoft as being associated with a specific computer identity. This is definitely an area with which I need some help.

I've never used two internal storage drives before, but I'm assuming I'll be able to choose which drive to store each type of file. Such being the case, I would also appreciate some advise on which type files you suggest should best be stored on each of the drives.

Looking forward to hearing some comments....thanks for your interest.




Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Count: 8
RAM: 8066 Mb
Graphics Card: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000, -1984 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 476142 MB, Free - 447000 MB;
Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard, 3397
Antivirus: Zone Alarm


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

*Please read carefully including links before starting and post back with any questions.*

1. The drive from the laptop will of course have all the registry entries and drivers - from the installation on the laptop installed.

2. Therefore it will not run successfully on the desktop without a lot of work and difficulties

3. The easy way, depending on what is included on the Windows 10 installation on the desktop ORIGINAL hard drive, that cannot be easily reinstalled, eg apps
(programs) is to CLEAN INSTALL Windows 10 on the SSD with it in the desktop. *HOWEVER please see point 8 below*

4. That is done by downloading the Windows 10 install media from this link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

5. The desktop computer already having Windows 10 installed will have been registered on the Microsoft servers for the hardware and product key
YOU should therefore not have to insert the product key - as of course you do not have one. It being an upgraded 10.

6. You install windows on the SSD without the existing hard drive connected.

7. When you have completed that task and windows 10 is running on the SSD post back and we will guide you through the procedure of setting up the existing desktop hard drive to use it as a data drive.
DO NOT please make any changes to the existing desktop hard drive until we further advise.

8. The laptop SSD with Windows 10 should be cloned to the original laptop HDD *BEFORE the install of 10 on the SSD on the desktop*
using free cloning software such as Easeus
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

and here
http://www.todo-backup.com/support/tutorial/clone-hard-drive.htm

9. *DO NOT Boot the desktop with both Windows 10 installations connected CLONE the SSD from the laptop to he original laptop mechanical HDD FIRST*

10. When you reply I will start by guiding you through the CLONE

Finally for this post before you even start on the procedure of the clone ensure any important data on the laptop SSD is backed up. It is unlikely that any will be lost, but without a backup - it is too late after the event.

I clone using a WinPE or Linux disc boot with Easeus Todo installed on the disc
http://kb.easeus.com/art.php?id=10024

but you can clone with Easeus installed on the drive - the source drive you are cloning from


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

To: Macboatmaster

Wow!......I may have bitten off more than I intended to chew. I hope all this will be worth the trouble and efforts for the limited speed advantages gained by the installation and use of an SSD. If you have your doubts about this, please don't hesitate to say so now.

First of all, let me say thank you for such a comprehensive reply. Perhaps it would be less intimidating for me if we approached this in wee small bites so that I don't screw anything up. 

That being said, let's discuss the cloning of the laptop SSD first. It looks like I should download and install the EaseUs (free) program to both my laptop and my desktop computers....but I have a question on that already. I noticed in their pitch to at least sell me the home edition it touted that one of it's additional benefits is that it would be transferable to a different computer. Already I'm questioning whether I need to buy this basic home edition to use the software on both computers, or as I think is the case, I can install the free editions on both computers without any difficulties? 

Getting back to the backup and then the cloning of the laptop SSD, I'm assuming that this will be done to a CD and then after the mechanical drive is reinstalled, I can transfer the clone via disk to the HDD? That leads me to ask.....if I remove the SSD from the laptop and install the HDD, then what will I be using to boot the laptop in order to transfer the clone data to the hdd? Is the creation of a boot CD part of the cloning process? As you can see, I'm back to needing some hand-holding even on some of the fundamentals.

I'll await your next reply....


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

1. You do not need to buy the edition. The free edition will work perfectly I have used it a number of times on here and for jobs I have done for friends and relatives.
2. You do NOT clone to a CD it is of course only 750MB. Even a DVD is only 4.2GB - you clone disk to disk as shown here on the link I sent


> The laptop SSD with Windows 10 should be cloned to the original laptop HDD *BEFORE the install of 10 on the SSD on the desktop*
> using free cloning software such as Easeus
> http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm
> 
> ...


the second link - the tutorial
To do this you connect the SSD in the laptop and you connect the traditional hard drive to the laptop in an enclosure to a usb port
Average cost of an enclosure £10-15 UK pounds.

Please read the tutorial and then come back with questions

In answer to the general question - yes it is quite involved but reasonably simple to follow and Easeus more or less does the job for you.
You just have to ensure you click on the correct item for source and destination disk etc.

Is it worthwhile - SSD no moving parts - unlikely to fail as is the possibility with mechanical hard drives
Faster access
Only you can really decide if it is worth the effort


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Looks like I need to come up with an enclosure for my mechanical laptop drive. That's going to take some time because I don't have a vehicle and will most likely have to order it online, so I won't be replying for a few days. Thanks for you forbearance....


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Cheers
OR with the hard drive in the desktop - that has windows 10 installed on it - the mechanical drive, connect the laptop SSD and the laptop HDD they do not have to be in the bays just make sure they are properly supported.
Boot the windows 10 desktop
install Easeus
clone the laptop SSD to the laptop HDD
After the clone is completed take out both the laptop drives
Put the mechanical hard disk drive in the laptop boot it and see what happens
All you will need to do that is spare sata data connections for drives and of course sata power connectors from the psu


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Macboatmaster......I'm baaaack!...

Shortly after your last reply when I was ready to go online to by an enclosure it dawned on me that I probably already had one for a 2.5 disk I used for an external hard drive some years back. Problem was I wasn't able to quickly locate it, but after a couple days of persistent searching I finally did find it.

As for your last idea, unless I'm mistaken, I would need two sata/usb connections for both the ssd and the hdd of the laptop to connect to the desktop......correct? I only have the one removable connection on the external drive that I mentioned above, but the idea surely makes sense and would be the simplest solution.

I'll wait to hear back from you again and then I'l get started on this project finally.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Sorry I missed your post
If you have the enclosure connect the original mechanical drive in the enclosure and the SSD from the laptop of course in the laptop and then clone following the guide in the post above
using Easeus free edition

The other method would NOT have required usb connections only SATA but now you have the enclosure that is the easier method
When the clone has finished DO not reboot with both drives connected
Take out the SSD and from the enclosure connect the mechanical HDD


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Macboatmaster said:


> Sorry I missed your post
> If you have the enclosure connect the original mechanical drive in the enclosure and the SSD from the laptop of course in the laptop and then clone following the guide in the post above
> using Easeus free edition
> 
> ...


No problem on the delay....Things have gotten hectic around here as well, so it may be a day or so until I have an opportunity to get started on this project, but I am truly grateful for your thorough instructions.

In the meantime I'm about to post another problem issue that's popped up which I think is a network issue. I can print documents sent from my computer to the printer, but when I try to scan a document from my printer to a computer file it says it can't detect a computer on the network...? I'm just mentioning this in passing...not requesting a reply.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I will leave that for someone else I am too busy to take that as well


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Macboatmaster said:


> Sorry I missed your post
> If you have the enclosure connect the original mechanical drive in the enclosure and the SSD from the laptop of course in the laptop and then clone following the guide in the post above
> using Easeus free edition
> 
> ...


Despite the fact that I could not locate the original laptop 250Gb hdd, I went ahead and cloned the ssd onto an 0lder 100 Gb 2.5" hdd that I did find and installed it into the laptop......which seems to be working fine....albeit much more slowly.

Now I'm ready to connect the ssd to the desktop but I'm still uncertain as to the order and particulars of the process. Namely, I want to transfer as much data from the ssd into the desktop hdd (I think) before doing a clean install of the (desktop?) Windows 10 onto the ssd. When you suggest doing a clean install of Windows 10 onto the ssd, I'm not sure what that means (installing from what source?). I'm also questioning whether to do both of those tasks via USB connection prior to an internal installation of the ssd into the desktop, or after the internal installation.

Looking forward to hearing back from you Macboatmaster. I hope you still have time to work with me.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Just got in the house from 0600 this morning
Evening meal and then about 2130 I will post


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

When you reply please type your reply in the box that appears when you open the topic
Please do not reply by clicking reply on my post, as you can see that quotes back to me all I have posted
Please only quote anything in my post you wish to highlight

Before we actually start on the desktop job to install 10 on the SSD that came from the laptop please clarify this


> Namely, I want to transfer as much data from the ssd into the desktop hdd (I think) before doing a clean install of the (desktop?) Windows 10 onto the ssd


I thought you had the data - I presume you mean personal data on the laptop - from that SSD
I presume you also have data on the mechanical hard drive in the new desktop that was upgraded to 10
So what data is it you want from the SSD transferring to the desktop computer please
I obviously wrongly presumed that you simply wanted 10 on the SSD and the data remaining on the mechanical 500GB hard drive

Please explain what you want from the SSD and then we will proceed


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Sorry if I'm making this unnecessarily confusing for you. The data I want to transfer from the laptop ssd to the mechanical drive of the desktop is virtually everything that I have on file.....documents, pictures, videos, program .exe files....in other words, pretty much everything but Windows 10. I guess I should just hook up the ssd drive by usb and drag and drop or cut and paste everything I want to keep from the ssd to the desktop hdd, and then we can proceed with a clean install of Windows 10 onto the ssd. Does that make sense? And just to clarify, I did clone all that data already onto the laptop hd, but I still want most of it on the desktop as well.

As for W10 being the only thing on the ssd, perhaps I wrongly presumed there would be some other regularly sourced data that could be installed as well so that repetitive retrievals would be quicker than with the mechanical drive, but I was unclear in my mind as to specifically what that would be. Perhaps I should confine the ssd to W10 only .....would that be your suggestion?

P.S. - I didn't get a forum email notifying me of your last post...just your earlier post. I just signed a few minutes again for a look see and there it was.....hmmmm......I wonder what happened.


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Macboatmaster ~ I want to apologize, but I just now noticed your entry above asking me not to click on the reply beneath your post...not sure why I didn't see that before. I got an email notice of your post saying that you'd respond later in the evening, and then I inadvertently signed in later and saw your post about your being a bit confused by my remarks......but I never saw the request you made just before your last post. I'll be happy to comply with your request.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

No need to apologise at all. It is just that keep on quoting back all I have said is unnecessary and actually makes it harder to read
You cannot copy program files from the SSD to another drive the programs will not work
To install programs - apps, lets say Office you need the installation media.
Connect the SSD by USB
Boot the computer
Windows will open on the desktop hard drive
The SSD will be seen in computer
ON the SSD follow this procedure
see the screenshot please


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

I'm a bit confused now myself. In an earlier of your posts you made the following remark; "9. *DO NOT Boot the desktop with both Windows 10 installations connected." *Just above, however, you direct me to attach the ssd to the desktop via usb and then to power up the desktop......? Am I missing something here, or are those comments in conflict with one another? When I cloned the ssd all the information remains intact, so Should I format the ssd or do something else to delete all it's data before connecting it and booting the desktop while it's attached, or does the fact it still has W10 installed not make any difference?


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

Let me add a couple isolated remarks. 

When I referred to downloading programs I meant only downloading their .exe files....not the installed programs. 

I have completed extraction of all files from the ssd that I wanted to transfer to the desktop hhd, so the only question left is what to do with the ssd at this point.....with all of it's data still intact. Should that data all be removed before doing a clean install of W10?


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

1. This


> 9. *DO NOT Boot the desktop with both Windows 10 installations connected." *


referred to the procedure whereby you were going to clean install Windows 10 to the laptop SSD with that drive connected in the desktop - after you had cloned it to the laptop mechanical hard drive.

It was in reply to your first post and BEFORE you made any mention of wanting to transfer anything from the laptop drive to the desktop hard drive.

However now you are connecting the SSD by usb to copy the data you want to the mechanical hard drive and as such you can boot from the internally installed mechanical hard drive and the usb connected SSD and transfer data

2. In reply to the


> When I referred to downloading programs I meant only *downloading their .exe files*....not the installed programs.


I am unsure as to what you think you are achieving here. If you have a program installed on the SSD you cannot by a simple copy, as you have done with the pictures etc., copy that program, as for it to work all the relevant entries in the registry and many other places must also be present. It cannot be done by a copy.
Copying (although you said downloading) the exe file - will not make the program work on the desktop computer.

Additionally depending on what the programs are and their licence conditions, then if it is installed on the laptop there is every chance it cannot be installed on the desktop as well.
If of course they are free programs you simply install them on the desktop

If however they were purchased programs either by download or installation media, then despite the fact they cannot, as stated, be copied from one drive to another, whether they can be installed on both computers depends on the licence conditions.

CLONING a drive is a different issue, as that simply copies ALL files, entries etc in all places on a drive to another drive.

3. Are you certain please you have ALL you wish from the SSD copied and WORKING OK on the desktop hard drive.
If so when you are ready, please post and we will proceed with the next step.


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## hhannam (May 23, 2005)

With respect to the copying of program .exe files.....I never assumed I could transfer installed programs, as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I simply wanted to copy and transfer the .exe files to the desktop so that I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of downloading them again from whatever source. And yes, most of them are free programs that I use with varying degrees of frequency and wish to also use on the desktop.

Where we are now is that I have the ssd, which has all it's original contents still in tact, I have extracted all the info I need, and I would like to know if I have to erase all that information, including and especially Windows 10, before I power up the desktop with it attached.....whether by usb or internally installed. I was under the impression that was a no-no, and quite frankly I'm still uncertain, so it would be helpful to me if we addressed that particular issue first. Do I have to clear the ssd of all data (especially the W10) before attaching it to the desktop to do a clean install of W10?


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Download from Microsoft the Windows 10 applicable to the desktop installation
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

make the install media on dvd or usb
check that it will boot the computer
using one time boot option at post
IF YOU one time boot option lists the DVD drive twice and one of those is prefixed UEFI that is the one you want

With the SSD connected usb open an admin cmd prompt
at the prompt type
*diskpart*
when that loads
type
*list disk*
when that loads identify the usb connected drive by its number eg disk 1
then type
*select disc ? *(where ? = the number from the cmd above)
then you will receive the message
disk ? is now the selected disc (where ? = the number)
then type
*clean*
WARNING there is no second chance ensure you have the SSD drive before you type clean

Exit cmd prompt
shut down the computer

Open the case disconnect the mechanical hard drive
connect the SSD in the bay adapter to the same SATA port that the mechanical hard drive was connected to.
Boot the computer check that the SSD is shown in the firmware
The message on booting will be no operating system is detected

Insert the DVD/USB from the download above
install windows 10 to the unallocated space on the SSD
The install will sort out the partitioning of the drive

post back at that stage


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