ive got a 1 tb HD and thinking of getting a 750 gb SSD
how easy is it to transfer my win 7 from the HD to the SSD
the HD isnt full still got about 300-400 gb left
ive got steam and some games, i guess they would need to go on there, ive also got origin and bf3 and bf4 on a 120gb ssd
does anyone know a safe and easy(ish) way to do it and how long it could/would take
Simply googling it showed quite some good guides that said it didn't require any reinstalling but instead made use of the system repair function.
I would say this would take you an hour maybe two.
If games are untouched you can move them by uninstalling them via steam and installing them in a new Library that you can make in Settings > Downloads.
Select a directory on the SSD drive and next time you install a game you can choose on which drive you want them. The time you need depends on your download speed I suppose.
Not all games need to be moved to an SSD, I would only move those where loading times are lengthy.
Origin also has the ability to move its game folder to another directory, I don't recall if it requires re-installing though.
You can find the settings under Installations and saved games.
Not so easy.
You'll need a program such as Acronis or Norton Ghost for such thing. Because you will need to copy entire partitions, make the new system one bootable and get rid of the previous one on the MBR. Then pray nothing wrong will occur which frankly would not be the method I would have used.
I would advise you to install a new system partition from scratch on your new SSD, then use a jumper to force your old HDD to be a slave, and then try to recover what you can from there. Not only would it be faster, it would also ensure you that the install scripts can do their job properly.
Normally, you'll need your OS cd or USB and a good free afternoon to install your new machine properly (as in letting the Windows Update crap make its job)
this is what im thinking of getting
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/crucial-m...64-cr.html
now if my entire c: drive partition is only 500 gig (i cant remember im sure ive done 2 partitions on the 1tb)
surely its a case of some kind of clone/transfer prog
and then choose to boot from the ssd as main boot device
is that easy to do?
Moving system from HDD to HDD is relatively easy with the right tools, like mentioned before Acronis True Image can do the job
https://kb.acronis.com/content/56610 just create a bootable USB (it works even from trial version, well at least it did few years ago) and then its pretty streight forward, just select which HDD you want to clone to which HDD *** EXTREME CAUTION HERE - POSSIBLE DATA LOSS *** if you select it the wrong way.
But I would not suggest this approach when moving HDD to SSD, as I have bad experience with it.
Fresh OS install never hurts, I would definitely go that way. There are installation scripts, that set things up according to drive type, different for HDD and SSD.
As for Steam games, you do not need to download them again on new PC, just use the backup&restore function, it will pack your game and you can restore it somewhere else with ease.