Windows 10 hard drive swap

useful info
21

I’ve got a Samsung EVO 850 in my MBP and it’s been good. I wish I could have justified spending the extra money on the 1TB but it was just way too much $$$.

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I’m surprised nobody has given the obvious solution - nuke and pave.

Whenever I do anything like this I just wipe everything and start again. Everything I have that is important is backed up and it means I only install the programs I know I need. It takes me about half a day, but most of that is unattended.

23

So, it’s like sex?

1 Like
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I have no install media for Win10

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Nobody does.

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I do
(Filler)

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You’re one cold cowboy

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Try this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

I didn’t have any install media either, but I have created a USB install disk (I think it was following these instructions).

Before you do any moving / repaving, read this: Windows 10 reactivating after hardware change

1 Like
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Did the swap today. I used Macrium Reflect to clone and resize the partitions, then powered down and got out the screwdriver.

Snags:

  1. The mounting holes on the new drive didn’t match up with the holes in the bracket/shield from the computer, so I was only able to get 2 in. Not a big deal.
  2. Dakwife does not have a Microsoft account, so I linked the computer with mine for licensing/activation purposes. When I brought the system back up, I had to log in with my MS account credentials, not her local account. After a brief panic, followed by "ok, I guess I’ll just create a new account and copy everything over, I realized that the account’s home directory hadn’t changed and then found that I could switch it back to a local account.
  3. This shouldn’t have happened, but I was startled on first boot by the silence. I figured the little chirping noise that the PC made was from the PC itself, not the hard drive I’d just taken out.
  4. Replacing the maintenance panel was a PITA. Having a tool-less way to get into the machine’s innards is nice, but it took me 5 minutes to close it up vs. the 5 seconds to open it.

No duplicated devices in Device Manager, no crazy surprises in behavior after the switch, I’m calling it a success. Thanks to @GC8005 for the software rec, it was pretty painless to get the drive cloned.

2 Likes
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ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

4 Likes
31

Dak,
Glad to hear it was a painless upgrade!
What are your startup times?
I’m getting about 10 second to login screen.

Go Patriots!!!

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I’ve only booted it twice and didn’t time it. It’s a hell of a lot faster than it used to be, but it’s hamstrung by being almost 5 years old and running an AMD CPU.

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Yeah, my Hackintosh boots so fast it’s scary. Spends more time in BIOS/Clover than actually booting.