Question Windows 10 Drive transfer

[murzar]

Hello, I have a Windows 10 i3 laptop with a 1tb HDD and 4gb ram.

Planning to upgrade the ram to 8gb and drive to 256gb SSD.

My question was, how do I copy the entire windows installation and all programs and settings from one drive to another?

Is there a software? Does windows have that feature? The windows installation is a OEM copy that came with the laptop.


PS - My office has a Win 7 installation that I cannot upgrade to Win 10 (legacy software), planning to add a SSD to that system to make it a bit faster to boot. Is there a method to transfer the installation of a Windows 7 copy?

 

[RLGL]

Your best option is to do a fresh install. There are many who have had cloning issues. If you are getting a Samsung SSD, use the Samsung Magician software.

 

[Ajay]

I assume you are just doing hardware upgrades on the same laptop. If that is the case, then there are no issues doing this with Win10. Maricum Reflect used to have a free edition for cloning. Check them out.

 

[murzar]

I assume you are just doing hardware upgrades on the same laptop. If that is the case, then there are no issues doing this with Win10. Maricum Reflect used to have a free edition for cloning. Check them out.

Yes.

Changing the ram from 4gb to 8gb and adding a 250gb nvme drive to the laptop. Might keep or remove the 1tb sata hdd. But I just wanted to transfer the windows installation, all apps, drivers and settings to the new drive.

 

[Ajay]

Yes.

Changing the ram from 4gb to 8gb and adding a 250gb nvme drive to the laptop. Might keep or remove the 1tb sata hdd. But I just wanted to transfer the windows installation, all apps, drivers and settings to the new drive.

Just back up windows to an external drive and you’ll be good to go.