You guys are making a lot harder then it needs to be.
Not terribly difficult to move to SSD.

Just create a migration boot disk with the software utility of your choice boot and clone the drive ( the ssd must be blank ) then shutdown, disconnect the original drive and boot to the new drive.
Then reconnect the original drive but make sure (Check BIOS) that you are booting to the SSD then, boot then reformat the original drive as use as utility or as you wish.

Still

And if you wish to do a full install (and abandon the procedure above) then the software is located here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-u...ftware-download/home

I don't know the Alienware machines at all but there's a good chance the SSD is the M.2 variety, and not a 2.5" drive. Also, is it possible that SSD is configured as a "boost"/cache drive?

When I bought my Samsung SSD it came with a utility for moving the operating system to the drive. I can't even remember exactly what I did except "follow the prompts".

Nuke and Pave is analogous to changing the oil in your vehicle, a necessary pain in the balls that you do periodically which helps the whole thing run better.

If you have a computer and it has programs you like and need, do yourself a favor and make sure you set aside the install files for everything, such that Nuke and Pave is trivial.

Further, back up your photos and favorites and other shit regularly.

This holds true whether it's a new computer, a new hard drive, or just because it's running sluggishly. Not doing so is just asking for random troubles.

Cloning partitions just to avoid Nuke and Pave is a bandaid that ought to be left for emergencies, and not considered a standard or much less a Best Practice.

quote:

Nuke and Pave is analogous to changing the oil in your vehicle, a necessary pain in the balls that you do periodically which helps the whole thing run better.

Nuke and Pave is more actually analogous to not having the technical ability to solve the problem.
However, it should be noted that in some cases this method might be most expeditious.
It is in no way a preferred alternative to block level copy aka clone.