So first of all thanks for the comments from my other thread https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.p...kstation-gaming-purposes.382892/#post-4870399 I have gone with the recommendations and got two new Samsung 870 Evo Tb's! One for OS/apps, the other as dedicated Steam/games drive. So excited! However, there's about 30Gb of AppData, prefs and game mods on the old OS SSD. I already went folder by folder and backed up essentials onto an external drive, but that's just scratching the surface. So, if I install Windows on the new 870 Evo and boot up, can I plug in the old OS drive and access it from File Explorer? Aka, browse it just like a regular folder and copy over crucial files as needed? Other thoughts: Would I need to wait until the new OS drive is fully setup, and then restart and plug in the old one? Would it need to be formatted/initialized to be re-accessed? Is there a chance this could mess something up, lose old data or confuse Windows? I've tried Googling this but only found info on dual booting Thanks for any help!
Briefly, in order: Yes Yes No Yes (but only through user error) To expand: Install Windows 10 on your new shiny SSD and get it all set up. Then switch off and plug in your old SSD. Switch back on and it should boot from your new SSD, if not you'll just need to either change the boot order in UEFI or do a one time boot menu swap. Your new Windows installation will pick the old SSD up as a data drive for you to copy data from. I'd be careful with appdata as copying the wrong thing could cause Windows 10 to throw a wobbler, only take what you need. Don't format your old drive until you've got everything off it.
The easiest way to do this is in this order: 1. Only have your new OS drive plugged in 2. Install Windows, get to the desktop and shutdown. 3. Plug in your old Windows drive, 4. boot into your new Windows (this should happen by default), old Windows drive will show up as a data drive 5. Copy files across If you don't need your old drive for something else. You can keep it aside, plug-in and pull data off it as needed.
Awesome, feels better with multiple statements saying more or less the same thing. Everything's set up now with new Windows so time to plug in the old drive Thanks, definitely. Simple copy+paste for whole folders is tempting but I'm going to try being as surgical as possible with that. Considering it's a 120Gb old Crucial C300 SSD, I wonder if there's any usable purpose for it now.. or keep it with the old OS intact for a bit in case of needing anything?
You could just use the Samsung Data Migration tool to clone the old drive: https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/ Super easy and fast.
