Windows 8 to SSD from HDD

I have recently gotten a Lenovo U530. I want to swap the HDD with an SSD, but how do I transfer the OS system to the SSD?

I currently have a USB stick for a bootable USB, although I cannot find an ISO for Windows 8 NOT Windows 8.1. I will upgrade to WIndows 8.1 once I do a clean install on the SSD.

Does anyone know how to do this? I also have CD Key to use for the install of the Windows 8.

Although I have heard a lot of people are doing a bootable USB for Windows 8 and when they type in the CD Key it is saying an "error" regarding that this key will not work saying "This product key cannot be used to install a retail version of Windows 8", even though the CD Key is exactly the same as the CD key on the HDD at the time.

Does anyone know how I can do this without any problems, and will I lose dragon speak and everything if I do a clean install on the SSD?

So where do I get an ISO for Windows 8 and will I be able to successfully install this OS onto my SSD without any errors when typing in the CD Key?

 

There's two different things happening here. Let's clear it up.

-

This right here, this is done through (a) an external SATA device and (b) software for it. Such as this:
Apricorn EZ Upgrade Notebook Hard Drive USB 20 Enclosure Kit by Office Depot

You would simply connect the new drive with this, clone your old drive to it, and done.

-

This point here is absolutely, 100%, the opposite of the first one. You're not transferring anything, you are simply doing a clean OS installation. I don't believe there's any secret MS repository for Windows 8, you are on your own with that. Once you get that, you can make a USB stick install from it and then incorporate an ei.cfg file to tell it it's for OEM installs: Windows Setup Edition Configuration and Product ID Files (EI.cfg and PID.txt)

Determine which you want to do and then take the appropriate path.

 

To be more precise:

Technically, Microsoft has tons of secret repositories for Windows 8, but you need to belong to the appropriate target audience in order to access any given one. Off the top of my head, there's MSDN, TechNet, Software Assurance, Dreamspark, and Product Key Card Only SKUs...

 

O ok, well I was wondering on how to do a clean install? I do not really want to spend a $30 to transfer everything over. The computer is brand new I just wanted to switch to an SSD on the computer. I have the CD key for Window 8 that the computer came with. How would I go about doing a clean install? Well this means I lose all the drivers, and I would have to update it on the website I believe so correct?

Thanks for the response S.SubZero!

 

although i was running a different OS, i simply cloned my OS directory into my ssd using norton ghost. to do that you'll just install the ssd on lour laptop, get an external USB hdd case (or better yet a 2nd hdd cad in place of your cd rom drive) and boot from a usb flash disk with norton ghost. If you really want a clean install i would recommend just starting from scratch with the SSD but don't alter original hard drive just yet so you still have the option to clone it if you were not bale to recover all the drivers and updates you need.

 

I'm having the same problem. There seems to be no way to install Windows 8 onto a new SSD without buying a Windows license.

I bought an Asus Q550 laptop from Best Buy. Asus provides no software to create recovery DVDs or USB key, so I made a recovery USB key using the Windows "Create a Recovery Drive" application. That's the one that puts your recovery partition onto the USB drive.

But when I put in the SSD and booted up, it didn't give me any option to install onto the new drive. When I tried to do a "reset" it said that the required partition wasn't found. Really? What's the point of putting the recovery data onto the USB key if you still need it on the hard drive? Did Microsoft just not think this through?

Is there some way to make this work? The other option would be to download a Windows 8 image, put it onto the USB key, install fresh, and HOPE I can get the drivers installed properly in the right order. Except there is no way to legally download Windows 8 like there was with Windows 7 and Vista...

It would have been great if ASUS had included software to create recovery media like Sony does. Do they really intend for you to never install a new hard drive? BTW, ASUS doesn't even acknowledge the existence of this laptop and provides no driver downloads or manuals. All I have is what came on the hard drive. Thankfully there is a folder with the drivers.

 

Dunno if I'm pointing out the obvious here, but you can't enter a W8 key during the start of the installation of W8.1.
You need a generic key to start the installation (or add an ei.cfg file), and then enter your personal key when the installation is finishing.

For W8.1, remember to disable all network connections during installation, otherwise it will force you to use a MS account (there are other workarounds as well).

 

Hi:

I just transferred today Win 8.1 from HDD to SSD, I bought Samsung 840 EVO 250GB,,The HDD was 750GB, Samsung Cloned The SSD in about 30 minutes in USB 2.0 drive enclosure, booted right up no problems, windows activated ect,,stick the majors on this Samsung Clone Program only works with Samsung ssds, More on my new laptop build later... My drive enclosure-usb 2.0 cost about $8- Rosewill.

You may want to try Macrium Reflect free, Paragon-free,,EaseUS Free-says they can clone a drive too to an SSD or other paid cloning software-Acronis,Paragon ect.

Macrium Reflect-Free is what I'm using for backup and restore, it can image and clone as well, differential , ect Choice of Linux or Win PE rescue disk, I'm using Win PE-auto updated to Win PE 4.0 .,,,,Since win 8.1 is not backup and restore friendly from an optical drive with images ect-Like Windows 7.

EaseUS(read there faq's,,I think you have shrink the HDD to match the SSD for Todo backup--no problem really)

Migrate system to a solid-state disk without reinstalling Windows with EaseUS Todo Backup software

Cheers
3Fees

PS My Samsung 840 EVO comes with 3 yr warranty,,got an email from Samsung after registering the warranty for 3 yrs, they added another 3 months for free,,39 mos warranty now..

 

Have you ever heard aomei partition assistant?
About transfering the OS system to the SSD, you can use it with "migrate OS to SSD".
uh ,win8 ,usb, bootable? Have you ever heard "windows to go"?
Windows To Go is your own fully manageable, corporate image installed on a bootable certified USB drive. It is a new feature of Windows 8 Enterprise available to customers with Software Assurance to help businesses address a wide range of mobility and travel light requirements.
The partition assistant has a function named "windows to go creator" if your OS are not Enterprise Edition.
I wish I could help you.

 

Yes I tried Aomei back up free with clone,,interface looks nice, It seen and copied all partitions,,yet my ssd would not boot,,used samsung data migration, booted 1st time..

Cheers
3Fees

 

Sorry for my english ... SDD is better than HDD? It is faster right? juegos friv

 

how did you finish cloning process. I get stuck around 64% because it says there was an error when defragmenting the disk. The thing is my disk is 0% fragmented when i check using windows utiliies so it does not need to be defraged.

 

Yes Much Faster,, They Cost more yet they faster all the way around

My Western Digital HDD that came with my laptop did read/write 100MB/s,, My Samsung EVO 250GB SSD, 460 MB/s Read and 800MB/s Write

4x faster read / 8x faster write....

Cheers
3Fees

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 Shizuku Edition x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 99.194 MB/s
Sequential Write : 97.442 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 36.325 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 44.768 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 0.432 MB/s [ 105.6 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 0.967 MB/s [ 236.0 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 0.427 MB/s [ 104.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 0.961 MB/s [ 234.7 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 6.6% (44.0/672.1 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2013/12/26 8:52:32
OS : Windows 8.1 [6.3 Build 9600] (x64)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 Shizuku Edition x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 466.241 MB/s
Sequential Write : 816.139 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 397.622 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 699.720 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 26.516 MB/s [ 6473.5 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 111.333 MB/s [ 27180.9 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 170.692 MB/s [ 41672.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 104.288 MB/s [ 25460.8 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 21.7% (44.5/204.8 GB)] (x3)
Date : 2013/12/31 10:08:07
OS : Windows 8.1 [6.3 Build 9600] (x64)