Looking to transfer my Windows install to a new M.2 SSD. Best way to do it?

[redBadger]

I got a new SSD and its faster than my current one. I'm looking to keep the old SSD for misc storage but want to migrate the Windows install over to the new SSD. What's the best and safest way to do it.

[Aide]

Isn't it recommended to use a image of windows and migrate that way?

[redBadger]

Dunno - that's why I'm asking

I'm not afraid to start completely fresh - I have backups of everything and my games are entirely on separate drives already. Only thing I would have to do would be to reinstall some work applications.

[R E D L I N E]

Is it by any chance a Samsung one? They have a tool for doing just that which worked well enough for me, if not here's something that doesn't look like malware at the first glance

[LordyLord]

If you have the knowhow, couldn't you just use software like Clonezilla? Make image, clone over, all is well. I've never used it though.

EaseUS mentioned above is a good program too that I actually have used for stuff, but they aren't super clear on what you need to pay for vs what is free which can be annoying. I downloaded one thing from their website and had to pay to do anything, downloaded something different from the same site and it worked fine. I either can't read or it really isn't that clear.

[[EG] Pepper]

yeah, easeus is a bit weird like that but you can do it to clone the drive. Just keep an eye on your partition sizes as i have had it make the 100MB boot partition balloon to 70GB before.

[redBadger]

Yeah it's the 970 EVO. I'll try that software - thanks!

[yakui]

I use Macrium Reflect, it's free

[Michael haxz]

It's hit or miss, if i remember correctly it won't work unless it's the same size of drive. You might be able to force it using CMD.

That being said a reinstall would be the best solution.

[Zero-Point]

My Windows 10 installation boots from end-of-BIOS to Windows Desktop in <10 seconds on average. On an SSD connected to a SATA III port, it took <20 seconds, so I guess it effectively halved my loading time (but then I also upgraded to/from AMD/Intel, DDR4/DDR3, and GTX1080Ti/GTX770 on top of that, not sure how much more difference that makes.
Plus it's super compact. We're talking 500GB on something with roughly twice the surface-area of a stick of chewing gum, no wires, just bolts straight into your motherboard.