Question can I upgrade and re-use my current SSD?

t4d

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Nov 17, 2018
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thinking about upgrading my old system to the following:
  • CPU: Ryzen 5 5600
  • mobo: ASRock B550 Pro4 AMD AM4 ATX
  • RAM: 32Gb DDR4-3200
  • SSD: Inland Performance Plus 1TB 3D TLC NAND PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2
I want to use the new Inland Performance Plus SSD as my main drive. I have made a Windows 10 Install USB drive to do a fresh install of Windows 10 onto the new Inland Performance Plus SSD.
In addition, I want to re-use my current Samsung 500 Gb SSD which currently is my boot drive (and already has Windows 10 on it).

Question: Is there a correct way to do this install?
Ideally, I'd like to install the new Inland Performance Plus SSD on the PCIe4 M.2, and then install my Samsung SSD (the current boot drive) on the secondary M.2, which is PCIe3.
But, I worry about the Windows 10 install process trying to install all, or part, of itself onto the Samsung drive. Not sure if this can happen, but it would be a mess if it did.
  1. Would it be better to format the Samsung drive before removing it from my current system? Is that even possible? Can a computer format its current Windows drive to completion? Or would it only get so far and then abort?
    If the format succeeds, then install the Samsung SSD into the PCIe3 M.2, and then finish building the system. Finally, do the fresh Windows install onto the new SSD and use the Samsung as the E: drive (or something like that).
  2. Would it be better to install only the new Inland SSD, then do the fresh Windows install, get everything all set up, and then install the Samsung SSD (probably have to remove the mobo, install the Samsung and then replace the mobo), and format it at that time.
All replies welcome,
Thank you.
 

In2Photos

Golden Member
Mar 21, 2007
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Yes you can use the drive. I would do it one of the following 2 ways.

1. Only install the new drive, load windows, then add the old drive later and format it. You shouldn't have to remove the motherboard to add the drive unless you have a small form factor that's difficult to get to. Alternatively you could use a USB enclosure for your old drive and use that to connect it to the new PC after it boots and then format it.

2. Format the old drive during the Windows install. If you choose the advanced install you have the option to perform some disk operations during the process. You can format the old drive, but then still select the new drive as the install location. I've never had Windows install on a secondary drive. I believe this may be due to not creating a new partition on the secondary drive until after Windows is installed on the primary drive.
 
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Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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Yeah, easiest way to do this IMO, assuming that any important data on the 500GB drive is backed up, would be to boot from the Windows 10 install media, and use setup to delete all partitions on it. Or you could use the cmd prompt to do a clean of the drive. Then, once Windows is installed on your new Inland drive, format the 500GB Samsung.

You could also use a Linux boot environment, or another tool, to do a secure erase on the 500GB SSD. Some motherboards even have the function built in as an option in UEFI setup.
 

Tech Junky

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Jan 27, 2022
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had Windows install on a secondary drive.
I ran into some funky stuff when cloning from a G3 to G4 and wiping the G4 to do a fresh install but, the cloning copied everything including the drive UUID and when doing the fresh install W11 saw both drives and put the boot files on the G3 drive. Things can get a bit odd but, the advanced option at install is easiest to blow away both drives / format them and install W10 to the new drive. I was just trying to save myself some time of having to reinstall / update all the apps and still did by copying the PF folders to my network before starting.

Back in the day not so long ago with MBR disks this wasn't an issue but, GPT/UEFI complicates things a bit when it comes to trying to save time by cloning vs copying partitions. I've been dealing with systems for decades and this one threw me for a loop for a little while before figuring out the root issue. For some reason the CSM option on the MOBO wouldn't pick up the MBR boot and forced a conversion to GPT to use UEFI.

You could also use a Linux boot environment, or another tool, to do a secure erase on the 500GB SSD.
I use Linux to get rid of Windows as it's quicker typically than waiting on crap to load. The boot media isn't too bad though if you're just zapping partitions. A 30 second boot to Linux though w/o all of the fluff MS puts into the boot media to get to that point makes a difference. Linux is just more useful when it comes to manipulating media and fixing dumb windows issues.

Linux is also great for replication of disks of various formats and also recovering data from disks w/o worrying about windows permissions. I used it for replacing my HDD in my car with a mSATA in some odd format / filesystem QNX? IIRC that had a bunch off partitions on a 80GB HDD for the MMI / NAV system along with the music folder. Project went smooth for the most part though the intent was also to expand the music partition while I was at it but, that just consumer more time than I want to spend trying to figure out how to move partitions around with QNX which requires adding a VM to the mix to do it properly.
 
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BoomerD

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When I assembled my new build, I put in the new HDD and SSD, installed both of my NVMe drives, (one was my boot drive in the old PC) fired it up...everything fired right up...all the drives recognized, old boot drive was C:, as if the drives had never been in a different PC. No issues with Windows 10, no driver issues...nothing.
 

t4d

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Nov 17, 2018
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When I assembled my new build, I put in the new HDD and SSD, installed both of my NVMe drives, (one was my boot drive in the old PC) fired it up...everything fired right up...all the drives recognized, old boot drive was C:, as if the drives had never been in a different PC. No issues with Windows 10, no driver issues...nothing.

that is what I'm concerned about, I want the new SSD to be C:
 

t4d

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Nov 17, 2018
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The old boot drive was a 2TB NVMe ssd.

What I am concerned about is:
  • I want to install a new PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD as the new boot drive in the primary M.2 slot which is PCIe Gen4.
  • I want to install my older PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD in the second M.2 slot which is PCIe Gen3.
  • I'm concerned that the fresh Windows 10 install will get the 2 SSD's "confused" and make the older PCIe Gen3 SSD the C: drive. I do not want that to happen. The reason is that I want the new, larger and faster Gen4 SSD to be the boot drive. Also, I want the older Gen3 SSD to be used as a secondary drive (non-boot).
Seems like Tech Junky (see above) had a similar thing happen to him, where the Windows 10 install got "confused"
 

Tech Junky

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@t4d

Simplest solution just put the Gen 4 drive in and install windows and then add the other drive after. The letter assignment is just a mapping for apps. When you put the second drive in just double check the boot order in the UEFI and proceed to boot. Go into PC management and under disks to confirm drive 0 is the active one and you can delete the old partitions from drive 1 which is the Gen 3 drive. Format and proceed to sue as normal.

One thing I do is give windows a 100gb partition for it to install to and that will be a differentiator when looking at them to see which is active. Then you can use the rest of the drive for storage more safely if windows spazzes out and you have to blow it away.
 

BoomerD

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Feb 26, 2006
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What I am concerned about is:
  • I want to install a new PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD as the new boot drive in the primary M.2 slot which is PCIe Gen4.
  • I want to install my older PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD in the second M.2 slot which is PCIe Gen3.
  • I'm concerned that the fresh Windows 10 install will get the 2 SSD's "confused" and make the older PCIe Gen3 SSD the C: drive. I do not want that to happen. The reason is that I want the new, larger and faster Gen4 SSD to be the boot drive. Also, I want the older Gen3 SSD to be used as a secondary drive (non-boot).
Seems like Tech Junky (see above) had a similar thing happen to him, where the Windows 10 install got "confused"

Then, very simply, install only the new NVMe drive, install windows to that, set that drive as the second boot option in your BIOS, (leaving the first choice for a USB drive so you can install Windows) then connect your old SSD. At that point, you can harvest everything you want to keep from the SSD, temporarily store it on the new NVME, do a full format on the old drive, then move thae stored stuff back to the Gen3 data drive. (at least that's how I did it last summer when I got a Gen4 NVME drive for my old system. I have another 1TB NVMe drive coming next week. That will give me (1 ) 2TB Gen4 NVMe WD_Black SN770 (boot drive, (1) 1TB Gen 4 NVMe WD_SN770 drive, (1) Gen3 HP EX950 drive, and (1) 2TB WD_Black HDD for storage.
 

Tech Junky

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I put one of those in my TB enclosure and as secondary in my laptop.

How's it performing as a primary? I would think based on my TB testing it would be pretty good with multithread data. I found it kind of odd that it performed better than a SN850 when testing in the enclosure.