Starting W10 Pro with a new SSD and related queries!
Starting W10 Pro with a new SSD and related queries!
Hello everyone, just placed a 250GB SSD to swap in for the old spinning drive. It’s intended for Windows 10 Pro and a few other programs. Most of the data, especially Steam game files, will stay on the old drive. I’ll do a fresh setup using the Media Creation Tool with the Win10 image. The current setup looks like this: C: contains Windows & everything else—including Steam games on the spinner. The new setup should be: C: contains Windows [SSD] and D: holds everything else—Steam games on the spinner again. I had some doubts, so here are my thoughts: Should I deactivate Windows 10 before moving it to the SSD? Since my license is tied to my MS account, do I need to unlink it from the old drive before installing? Or can I just plug in the SSD and install Windows normally, with re-activation as usual? Would it be okay to run Steam on the new SSD, pointing it at the games on the old drive? That way, I won’t have to re-download all those files. Also, should I disconnect the SATA cable from the old drive before installing Windows 10 on the SSD? It’s a way to signal the PC that this is now the boot drive. Once Windows 10 is installed on the SSD, the system will have two drives—both bootable. If anything seems off, let me know how to fix it; I want to avoid getting stuck. Thanks!
1: It should work without any changes
2: Correct
3: You might need to create a fresh Steam installation and copy files, no full redownload required
4: Ensure your SSD isn’t plugged in during Windows 10 setup on the SATA drive, then connect it later. If Windows doesn’t start automatically after install, adding your Microsoft account should resolve the issue.