Desktop HDD is 221 GB, thats what came with it, and it's getting full only a gig left and it's time, well, past time.

90%+_ of the items on the HDD are software, OS, Office, few others Adobe, etc. Not much stored on it, biggest file is the ost file for outlook since it has many years of emails preserved and it's archive file.

All data is stored on a 4tb external HDD with a second drive as a backup.

Dell Inspiron 3670 w/32 Ram, max drive capacity is 2tb which is much more than needed.

Ordered a WD Blue 2TB drive off of Amazon, it's specs fit the machine, inexpensive enough, and decent enough reviews.

Question I have is what is the best way to setup the new drive, 1) do a fresh install of Windows OS 11, upgrade it to Pro, install Office fresh, then move over the files needed, 2) use software to transfer from old drive to new drive basically putting everything back to stock.

IF doing option 1 whats the best way to get the OS installed and get it to recognize that I have a key so I don't have to buy windows again.

if option 2 WD has Acronis for free, to clone the old drive

IT's going to be close to 100 degrees outside this weekend, everyone but me is at the beach so a good time to do this uninterrupted.

or, the PC will host a 512 GB SSD, so I could get one of those, and use ACronis to transfer the old disk, or install new Windows on it, make the SSD the boot drive, should see extra speed as well.

Price is about the same for either drive.

If you were running a Unix variant, I'd be happy to give you explicit instructions. I can't help if you are running any of Microsoft's operating systems. Generally, I find that installing a new OS on a new drive, then making it "your system" gives more predicatble results that trying to "clone" and existing system (mostly due to the anti-piracy measures put in place by various software publishers).

WRT this weekend being the "perfect time," I'd question that if you live in an area where the power becomes spotty when temps are high. Losing power in the midst of a low-level drive clone/copy (the fastest way to do it) risks losing the content of both drives.

If you are using a file system that supports putting the drive metadata on an SSD, or a RAM disk (remember those?) you will see significantly increased speed.

My last thought on this is that, rather than do a drive-for-drive clone, this would be the right time to upgrade your whole mass storage infrastructure, e.g. with a RAID array, preferably with SSD cache and intent volumes. Perhaps move to NVMe controller+drives. Huge strides have been made in the storage arena in the past few years, a straight single- or multi-drive SATA setup is pretty much obsolete today. OK, in re-reading the OP, I see that the decision to stay in the 20th Century has already been made. ;-)

Also, if you are installing a new drive, give some thought to drive monitoring, e.g. via S.M.A.R.T. This becomes increasingly important as the number and capacity of drives in a system increases.

Yes, the decision to remain a troglodyte is mainly because that is the restrictions of the system, ultimately moving forward is going to be the plan but for the short term, $150 will allow me to upgrade the system, get past the storage restrictions on the main OS drive and get back some speed.

The pc in question doesn't do massive data crunching or digital photography, gaming, basic use is Outlook, Excel, Access and internet.

Current storage is dual USB drives but I agree a NAS Raid system is in order, one step at a time.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
IF doing option 1 whats the best way to get the OS installed and get it to recognize that I have a key so I don't have to buy windows again.

if option 2 WD has Acronis for free, to clone the old drive

Assuming you have a Microsoft account, Microsoft registers the digital license for Windows 11 to that specific hardware. You can then replace the drive and do a clean install of Windows 11.

I've used Acronis to clone a SSD and it was a pain in the ass. Not intuitive and the instructions sucked. Next time I have to do it I plan on trying Macrium Reflect.

Good decision to go to SSD. It will speed up your system.

WD may have a cloning utility on their web site. Samsung's Data Migration utility works great, but may require the destination drive to be Samsung. I've done this many times to extend the life of an old system, so if you need a hand, my email is in my profile.

Keep in mind that when SSDs go bad, they can just die. So I'd keep your backups up to date or get a backup SSD to clone to every week or two.

Having migrated quite a few systems in my IT business, I would say if you are having no issues other than needing more space and a faster drive then clone the drive.

If you are having other issues and do want to install, reinstall software and migrate the data just know it can be a long drawn out process.

Is is better? No - only do it if you are otherwise having issues.

Most all the SSD manufacturers have a clone software or use Acronis as mentioned is good.

^^^ What he said, emphatically. If it ain't broke, don't break it.

Upgraded an old PC by using Macrium Reflect to clone a small C: drive with Windows on it to a SSD 4 times larger. Very simple process to keep the cloned drive as a single volume by expanding the partition to use the entire drive. Physically swapped the drives after cloning and everything booted successfully with the new C: drive four times as large. Figured I’d leave the old drive in the PC as a swapable backup in case the SSD experienced infant mortality (it didn’t).

I have an old laptop that has the free macrimum reflect on it. I keep that laptop just to use it to clone disks whenever i need to upgrade the main drive.

my current laptop came with a 256gb ssd boot drive. i bought a tb one and cloned the os to it. swapped it in and it booted fine.

this might still be free
https://www.majorgeeks.com/fil...ct_free_edition.html

Since you aren't on a Mac and have Time Machine available, if you can clone your drive and more everything over, that would be the best bet.

To reiterate & add to smschulz, if you aren't seeing issues other than a full HDD, cloning is the easiest.
Acronis & Macrium are what I have used on Win7 & 10 for free & it was easy.

I would add that if all you have is programs & the largest file you can find is the .ost, you have something eating space on your HDD - likely windows updates & other crap.
Since you already ordered a SSD, I won't suggest you try & 'not upgrade', because the SSD will be a benefit & your HDD will eventually die. I would suggest you trim the fat to keep the time to clone down.

1. Run Disk Cleanup (start>search disk cleanup). Click 'clean up system files', either OK the Admin nag or enter your admin password. I haven't run it in a while & went from 6.3 GB to 9.8GB to trash when I clicked 'clean up system files'. Windows Update files was the 3.5GB, most of the other 6GB was recycle bin. If you haven't run it for years, it will be much more.
2. I have 10+ years of work outlook .ost/.pst files and it's still not 100GB - compressed, they are less than 30GB. Something isn't right with your HDD usage.

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
I have an old laptop that has the free macrimum reflect on it. I keep that laptop just to use it to clone disks whenever i need to upgrade the main drive.

my current laptop came with a 256gb ssd boot drive. i bought a tb one and cloned the os to it. swapped it in and it booted fine.

this might still be free
https://www.majorgeeks.com/fil...ct_free_edition.html

There are multiple (free) ways to clone a machine while using it, no need for a separate machine. From just running a program to booting from USB. Your way works too, but don't fret about an old laptop croaking just as a backup/restore solution.

i have the old laptop with a bunch of software that i bought but can't find keys to move to the new machine so i just keep it around for backups, recovery, audio recording etc. lol
i have brought it to work many a time to recover flash drives for coworkers.

Appreciate all the advice, got the SSD delivered this AM, waiting on the HDD,

Thinking of making the SSD the primary boot drive with windows and programs only on it.

Going to have to research file size on the PC, ran the disk clean up, 52mb was all it cleaned.