Transferring Win8 OS from HDD to SSD

Hello,

I just purchased a Lenovo Ideapad 410p ( IdeaPad Y410p High-Performance 14" Multimedia Laptop from Lenovo | Lenovo (US)). This laptop has an "ultrabay" (swappable drive bay) which allows you to take out the CD drive and replace it with a second HDD or SSD.

Knowing this I ordered a "caddy" which fits a either a HDD or a SSD, and this is what I will place in the ultrabay instead of the CD drive (Most of the time al least).

The PC will come with Windows 8 installed on the original HDD.

Here's what I want to achieve:

I want to replace the original HDD (inside the PC) for my SSD (250GB) so that this SSD is now my permanent "Primary drive".

The original HDD would be placed onto the ultrabay, so that it becomes a secondary "Storage Drive" which I will be able to take out whenever I need to switch it out for the CD drive.

Here's the thing:
Since my SSD will now be my permanent "Primary drive" obviously the OS (Windows 8) will have to be installed on it, which means I somehow have to transfer Windows 8 from the original HDD to the SSD. I don't know how to do this however.

I have never done anything of this sort before, and I am very confused as to what I should do first. I would like to know if anyone could guide me thorough a step by step process on how to achieve my plan, i'll admit i'm a bit scared and don't want to mess thing up.

The PC should arrive sometime next week, but I want to start reading up on what I'll need to do.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would *strongly* suggest doing a fresh install of W8 on your SSD, instead of cloning it from the HDD.

The install from the spinning drive will NOT be optimized for the SSD, and may require quite some tweaking in order to perform optimally.

I don't know whether IdeaPads offer the option of creating the recovery disks from the hard drive - you may want to look into that - and that would be the easiest way to install the OS on the SSD. ThinkPads do, that I know for a fact.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

 

Actually I just found out my school has a partnership with Microsoft which allows me a free download of Windows 8 Pro.

Knowing this, what you're suggesting for me to do is:

1. Start the PC as is, and Insert the SSD into the Ultrabay.
2. Download Windows 8
3. Install it onto the SSD
4. Turn off the PC and switch the placement of the HHD and SSD (SSD goes "inside" the PC and HDD goes into the ultrabay.)
5. Turn on the PC with the Windows 8 running on the SSD
6. Delete the original Windows 8 from the HHD since I won't have need for it anymore

Does this sound correct? What's your opinion?

 

Not quite.

1) Download the W8 on your current hard drive

2) Burn the ISO file from it

3) Swap the HDD with SSD

4) Install the W8 on the SSD

5) Verify that you have a *working* OS on the SSD once all is said and done

6) Install the HDD in the ultrabay and wipe it.

Good luck.

 

Ok, i think I understand,

Just making sure I understood everything correctly, on point #2:

Using the CD drive, I should burn the Windows 8 ISO to a regular CD?

and then use this same CD to install Windows onto the SSD using the BIOS?

 

I presume that given the file size you'll need a DVD and not a CD, but you got the sequence correctly.

Freeware like ImgBurn will do fine if W8 gives you grief with burning the media in the proper format...

The Official ImgBurn Website

Good luck.

 

Alright, just oooone more question.

I have here in my house a virgin DVD-R with 4.7 GB of capacity, I don't think this will be enough to hold the Windows 8 ISO, or will it?

If not, I have a 8 GB Flash Drive, will it be possible to use this?

Should I just look for a higher capacity DVD?

What do you recommend?

 

Look at the file size prior to downloading it...I would think that 4.7 should be enough...but am not certain...

 

I did some research and it seems the ISO should fit the DVD-R just fine.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

Just wanted to give a +1 to ajkula's advice.

Just one note, make sure everything is working before you wipe the HDD, as it is possible to pull drivers off of it. Also, make sure you have all your data copied over.

 

I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by "possible to pull drivers off of it". Do you mean I could render the HDD useless if i format it? I really only want to use as a Storage drive, what should I do?

As for "making sure I have all my data copied over". Everything is brand new, so I don't have any files anywhere on these drives that I need to keep. Is that what you were warning me about? or was it something else i'm missing?

 

Formatting the HDD will not render it useless. It will wipe it though. Right now it has a working install of Windows on it. This includes drivers and software Windows needs. For example if there was a special sound driver you needed but couldn't find, then you might be able to pull it off the Windows install that is on the HDD.

Personally, I would not format the drive. I would keep it as is, and just put my data in different folders. Then if the SSD died or crashed, or got a bad virus, you could pull the SSD drive out and put the HDD where it was and boot the computer. Then later if space gets tight you can then delete the Windows directory, and the other non-data directories.

You are right on the data, I meant your data, i.e. your documents, videos, photos, etc. If you haven't used it then you have no data to worry about.

 

You raise a very good point, I think you're right, I shouldn't completely wipe the HDD. I have some questions however:

1. Would you recommend me to partition the HDD so that one partition has the windows install, and the other partition use as storage?

2. In case there is a driver on the HDD that I need, How would I find it so that I can install them on the primary SSD? Will I literally find some .exe files waiting to be installed?

I appreciate your help

 

Whatever driver you end up needing - hopefully none - is available on Lenovo's website...so I wouldn't stress too much over that aspect of the story.

Good luck.

 

If you want to keep the drive bootable it is best to leave it as is and not partition it. You should be able to see how much space is used right now. That may help you decide if you want to go this way.

As ajkula says, it is unlikely you won't be able to find a driver on the internet some where. And the odds are the one you find will be the latest version. But to answer your question, no there is no exe file. Which means installing special software would not be easy. But drivers don't need a exe. Often you can go into device manager and tell it to update the driver, then tell it to look for a new driver on the HDD, in the Windows directory, and then in one of the system directories.
Any way, I wouldn't worry too much about drivers. I fear I may have over complicated things by mentioning it. I was just suggesting a delay before formatting...

 

Alright Thank you both, I decided no to wipe the HHD, since it is has a 1 TB capacity, I think that windows installation can hang there without problems.

As for the drivers, I'll look online should I need any

Thanks again!