Moving Windows to another drive | Linus Tech Tips | Page 1

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:15 PM

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I'm trying to move my windows to another drive and did so by cloning the old drive onto the new drive, however when I try to change the boot option, I select my new drive only (old drive isn't even selected) and it still ends up booting on my old drive. Does anyone know any fixes? (old drive: SanDisk SSD Plus 120GB) (new drive: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB) (motherboard: z370p d3 c f)

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 2:16 PM

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Reinstall windows

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Don’t clone windows

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:17 PM

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So should I wipe my new drive then?

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So its completely fresh

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 2:17 PM

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Make a windows bootable usb and fresh install. That will wipe it anyway

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:17 PM

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Ok but will that also wipe the old drive?

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 2:18 PM

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No

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I would recommend removing the old drive during the install tho

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Windows has a reputation for putting the bootloader on other drives for no reason

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:19 PM

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Ok so I should completely take it out of my pc then

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 2:20 PM

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Yeah

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Do you have the bootable usb?

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:23 PM

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i just got a usb im watching a video on how to create a bootable usb right now

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 2:24 PM

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Alr

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After making it you can take out your old drive

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 2:29 PM

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does the pc have to be off for that?

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 3:31 PM

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Yes

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 3:32 PM

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novel kraken Yes

the power supply also?

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 3:32 PM

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It’s a good idea, not always done tho

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 3:33 PM

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also its been stuck on 98% for like 20 minutes do i just wait or should i restart the download

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 3:33 PM

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Just wait

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 3:34 PM

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alr

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 4:00 PM

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@novel kraken its still at 98%

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 4:00 PM

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Hmmm

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Yeah I guess restart it

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 4:06 PM

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Also you should only need about 8 gb of space on the usb right?

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Mine has 14.4 gb space and it was almost full when i canceled the installation

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 5:29 PM

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@novel kraken im in the setup menu now

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 5:45 PM

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For windows?

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 6:12 PM

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novel kraken For windows?

yeah i finished the download and all

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and i got it downloaded to the new drive

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but my desktop is completely empty and all my applications are gone

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is that normal?

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 6:13 PM

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Yeah

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When you fresh install, you need to reinstall your programs

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 6:13 PM

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Already cool but the drives still show theyre half full

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 6:14 PM

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What?

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 6:15 PM

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the left is the new drive

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the 2nd is my hard disk

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and the right is the old drive

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i took the old drive out during the installation but not the hard disk

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The files are still on the other 2 drives

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Should I do a full reset?

fervent matrix Mar 31, 2024, 7:01 PM

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If you have nothing important on the old drives

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Format them

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It will clear out everything, I believe you just right click and click format

keen snow Mar 31, 2024, 7:03 PM

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windows bootloader works funny

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 7:09 PM

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You’ll have to use a Linux distribution to completely wipe the old ssd

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Windows won’t let you touch system partitions

keen snow Mar 31, 2024, 7:16 PM

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you can use the windows installer formatter

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Or if your bios has a drive eraser tool

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 7:17 PM

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novel kraken You’ll have to use a Linux distribution to completely wipe the old ssd

It let me wipe it just by clicking format

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 7:18 PM

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ancient robin It let me wipe it just by clicking format

Yeah that’s just the primary partition

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 7:18 PM

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Ohh

novel kraken Mar 31, 2024, 7:18 PM

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Disk management should show 2 other partitions

fervent matrix Mar 31, 2024, 7:19 PM

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Those are only like 100-200 mb though so I wouldn’t worry about it

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 7:20 PM

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Oh yeah I don´t think I wanna go through any more hassle to get 200 mb wiped

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Im good on that

fervent matrix Mar 31, 2024, 7:20 PM

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Yeah I wouldn’t worry about it.

ancient robin Mar 31, 2024, 7:21 PM

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Alright that takes care of all my worries thanks guys

#Moving Windows to another drive