Changing Boot Drive

[Mathew Steel 151]

I've recently installed my SSD and I want to set it as my boot drive. Currently, it's empty. Let's say I cloned my files from my old HDD onto my new SSD, what else would need to be done?

 

Would I have to remove the OS from my old HDD?

 

I'm aware I can change the boot order of drives but from what I've heard it isn't as simple as that, since my SSD isn't the C drive. What else would have to be done?

 

Thank you! :)

[EaglePrince 230]

As for what I know, changing the boot order of drives should do it, though I never tried something like that... I also think that removing the OS from the old HDD shouldn't be necessary - it should look at it just like at any files, but still, this may not work as I would think it would be logical... :| And yes, I am the guy who gave power which was meant for the HDD into the plug which was dedicated for the floppy drive, so don't listen to me much, thus gave too much power where one must not to it. :rolleyes:

Edited October 13, 2015 by EaglePrince

[TheDitchy 5]

To set your SSD as the main bootdrive you will need to go into the BIOS on your motherboard and change the default boot device to the SSD (or move the SSD to the top of the boot list so it boots first instead of your hard drive). If you are not sure on how to do this, just give me the name of your motherboard and I can help.

 

Also make sure that the HDD is fully cloned to your SSD as any little missing data or anything will cause it to either not work or be corrupted. Just dragging and dropping the files onto the SSD is not enough either. Use a software like macrium reflect free to clone the drive first. I would also strongly recommend doing a backup in case anything goes wrong and do a separate back up of personal documents and things just in case you need to do a clean install of windows.

 

That should be all that needs to be done but make sure the files you are cloning aren't bigger than the SSD. You WILL NOT be able to only move the OS as this will affect program file paths and registry entries.

 

Here's a link on the macrium reflect software: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

Oh and if you would prefer to learn it yourself and follow a video, here's a helpful video for that:

 

If you need anything else just give me a shout. Although I'm actually English, I just type words and splurge them all over the screen so if I don't make sense then just say :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

Disk cloning shouldn't be a problem as I have an Acronis True Image disk which works fine.

 

From what I've read, having the OS on two different disks will cause the PC just to run from the default C: drive. Which is the HDD.

 

Am I wrong in saying that I'll have to:

- Clone the HDD to the SSD

- Go into the BIOS to boot the SSD first

 

And I'm done?

 

Or am I missing a step?

 

Also, apart from performance is there a visible way I can make sure the OS is running on the SSD and not the HDD? Will disk management be able to provide me with this information?

 

Thank you for the help! I though you'd be able to give me a thorough answer after reading your post on RAID systems ;)

[Mathew Steel 151]

By the looks of things, the computer automatically swapped the letters. Thank you so much for the help! :)