Okay so I have a simple question that I need help with.
My computer at home only has 75GB and is completely full. I have an external hard drive that I try to use, but the computer doesnt want to use it for everything. It keeps wanting to use the regular C: drive. I want to buy a new hard drive for it.
Here are the steps I would take now.
1) Copy/backup all of the files from the top of C: (Like "Program Files (x86)" and the invisible files) to my external hard drive.
2) Unplug the computer
3) Remove the hard drive
4) Replace it with a larger hard drive from Amazon
5) Turn on computer
6) Copy paste everything back onto the new hard drive??
I think the system files are on the regular hard drive... so will it even boot up if I just swap it? If not, how do I do this?
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Btw, pro tip: you can check this site for amazon price history to see if you're getting a good deal:
https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B07TBQ637W?context=search
...and PCPartPicker to see other sites' price history (sometimes not available):
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HrmFf7/adata-su760-1-tb-25-solid-state-drive-asu760ss-1tt-c
In this case, the price is reasonable. Realistically it might drop to $90 at some point but that $5 difference probably won't break the bank.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TBQ637W/ref=twister_B07XW17T26?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
I'd rather buy a 256GB one now, then a 512GB one in 2years when the price has dropped and I'm maybe(?) remotely close to that storage. Might just be me tho.
So not only is your value better if you DO use it all, your performance is better if you don't (and you have the safety of not needed another drive later).
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-move-windows-10-to-an-ssd/
You won't be able to do step 6 in your post bc there won't be an OS on that hard drive
Don't get an HDD.
@.:A-MAN:. most people don't need that much storage lol
I mean he's coming from a 75GB drive
And yes, 75. Its an old used computer from a library
Also also, I'd strongly recommend an SSD over a HDD for a more enjoyable experience. :P
The steps are generally correct, but you'll wanna use some actual disk cloning software since you need to handle things like the registry which is in the system files (do not touch those).
From there you'd back up the old HDD to the external HDD, do steps as you said, then use the software to restore the backup to the new HDD.
There's gonna be 2 gotchas with that:
1) The new HDD won't have Windows on it, so you need a restore program that can boot from USB (and you'll need a spare flash drive to put it on, obviously)
2) Once restored, your partition will be the same size as the original (75GB) so you'll have to go into disk manager and expand it to fill the rest of the drive. There's plenty of guides for this online, so you should be able to just google it.