Cloning and Transferring my OS : Effects on Other Drives

Hello everyone!

I feel like this is a dumb question but I just want to be sure, so please be gentle on me, OK?

I have a plan on buying an SSD, and the main reason is to make it my OS drive. And, by doing this, I cloned my current OS Drive (which is in an HDD) as back-up and preparation for it. Currently, I have 2 physical HDDs: one with the OS (250GB) and the other (2TB) with the installed applications and personal files. The question is: If I will do the plan, will the installed applications in my 2TB drive run or not? If possible, can you explain it?

Thanks, and BTW, don't forget that I'm a newbie. :)

The applications on the 2TB drive should run because you did not change the links.

What program did you use for the cloning ?? I hope you did not forget the 100MB system partition.

Here is some more info that might be useful:

SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

Thanks for the reply, whs.


I don't buy an SSD yet, I just want to verify if it will be affected. I just started to read some threads here about SSD, the one written by you, and gain as much knowledge as possible before initiating my plan. Just a preparation. :)

Anyway, I used the Macrium Reflect to clone my OS drive. i learned about it here.

BTW, thanks for the link you provided, sir.

EDIT: What do you mean by "should"? Is it not proven yet?

By "should" I deduct from my own experience. I moved data folders to another drive before I moved the OS and that worked perfectly. It is not exactly the same as program folders, but similar enough that this should work too.

If you use Macrium, make sure you do not forget to also image and restore the 100MB system partition - else your system will not boot from the SSD. Alternatively you can copy the bootmgr from the system partition to C and then you can forget about the system partition. Makes the job easier.

Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD

The ultimate solution for a laze like me is to use the Paragon Migration Tool (link in my tutorial). Only downside is that it costs $19.95. But it does the complete job with 3 clicks - no image required.

Oh, thanks for reminding me of that one important thing! I do clone the C: but not the system partition that you're talking about, but I know something about that. I'll find it myself and make a clone of it. But, do you think it's OK if I have a separate clone of my System Partition and the C: Partition or it is necessary to be in one clone file? I'm really not a techie guy, so sorry about that. :)

Since you are not a techy guy, I highly recommend to transfer the bootmgr to C and make a new image after the bootmgr transfer. Still easier is the Paragon tool.

Making seperate images of C and the system partition is OK, but your troubles start after that. You now have to define 2 seperate partitions on the SSD - a primary, active, aligned 100MB partition and one partition for the rest of the SSD to accomodate C. Then you have to transfer the 2 images to those partitions. But the system partition you cannot drag and drop during the restore because then you make a mess with the alignment.

But if you think you can master the transfer of the 2 partitions, go ahead. It is a good experience where you will learn things.