You probably know how hard it is to install an external hard drive in a Windows 10 PC. Basically, you turn off the Windows 10 computer, plug the USB or eSATA cable into your computer, turn it on … and you’re finished. But, what if you need to install a second internal hard drive on your Windows 10 device?
Yes, external hard drive manufacturers have fancy software. No, you don’t want it. Windows knows all the tricks. If you install one additional hard drive, internal or external, you can set up File History. Install two additional drives, internal or external, and you can turn on Storage Spaces. None of the Windows 10 programs need or want whatever programs the hard drive manufacturer offers.
Installing a second internal hard drive into a Windows 10 PC that’s made to take two or more hard drives is only a little bit more complex than plugging an external drive into your USB port. Almost all desktop PCs can handle more than one internal hard drive. Some Windows 10 laptops can, too.
Here’s how to install a second internal hard drive on a Windows 10 computer:
If you have three or more drives in or attached to your PC, consider setting up Storage Spaces. It’s a remarkable piece of technology that’ll keep redundant copies of all your data and protect you from catastrophic failure of any of your data drives.
Changing Your Windows 10 C: DRIVE
Whoa nelly! If you’ve never seen a Windows 10 PC running an SSD (solid-state drive) as the system drive, you better nail down the door and shore up the, uh, windows. Changing your C: drive from a run-of-the-mill rotating platter to a fast, shiny new solid-state drive can make everything work so much faster. Really.
Unfortunately, getting from an HDD (hard disk drive) C: to an SSD C: ain’t exactly 1-2-3.
Part of the problem is the mechanics of transferring your Windows 10 system from an HDD to an SSD: You need to create a copy (not exactly a clone) that’ll boot Windows. Part of the problem is moving all the extra junk off the C: drive, so the SSD isn’t swamped with all the flotsam and jetsam you’ve come to know and love in Windows.
Most of the drive cloning/backup/restore techniques developed over the past decade work when you want to move from a smaller drive to a bigger one. However, replacing your HDD C: drive with an SSD C: drive almost always involves going from a larger drive to a smaller one.
The LifeHacker website has an excellent rundown of the steps you need to take to get your old hard drive removed and have everything copied over to your new SSD, using a backup program called EaseUS Todo Backup Free. It’s not a simple process.
The standard process of installing Windows 10 on a new hard drive
When it comes to installing an operating system, the most recommended way on forums and Google searches is the clean install. But it's usually too difficult to follow the whole procedure from downloading the ISO files and burn it to the pointed hard drive for home users who don't acquire much IT knowledge. They simply don't know where to start. Why not take a look at the basic steps and decide whether you could handle this project independently?
Step 1. Create a bootable media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for installing Windows 10 (8 steps/10-60 minutes estimated)
Step 2. Perform a clean install of Windows 10 (13-15 steps/12-30 minutes estimated)
Tip - 'Windows 10 can't create a recovery drive' is one of the most commonly occurred errors while creating the recovery drive to install Windows 10.
In fact, there are multiple ways to install Windows 10 operating system on a new blank hard drive. But this page comes with a unique method, it is not about a clean install through a Windows recovery drive or a Windows installation media. Instead, it is the easiest for Windows 10 installation on a new hard drive among all, by transferring system with EaseUS Windows backup software with a few clicks.
Easiest: Install Windows 10 on A New Hard Drive
Prepare what you will need
1. A Windows 10 computer/laptop.
2. Download EaseUS Todo Backup on your Windows 10 machine. 3. Connect your new hard drive to the computer and make sure that it's correctly recognized by the computer. 4. A USB storage device with enough free disk space for keeping the system image.
With all the necessary materials prepared, now let's begin.
Step 1. Create an emergency disk on a healthy computer
To save your time and energy, we'd like to suggest you create an emergency disk to a USB or external hard drive rather on a healthy computer with EaseUS Todo Backup.
Reinstall Windows 10 To New Hard Drive
1. Connect an empty USB flash drive or external hard drive with over than 100GB space to your PC.
2. Run EaseUS Todo Backup and click 'Tools > Create Emergency Disk'.
3. Choose USB as the disk location to create the emergency disk which will help you boot computer when it fails to boot or restore the system to dissimilar new PC.
4. Click 'Proceed'.
Step 2. Create a Windows system image backup for restoring to dissimilar hardware
1. Run EaseUS Todo Backup on the healthy computer and click 'System Backup' on the left pane.
2. Choose the Windows OS and specify the USB flash drive which contains the emergency disk as the destination disk to save system image. If you are worried about data loss issue by saving the system image to the emergency disk drive, you may also save system backup to another empty external hard drive with over 100GB free space.
This will help you create a full backup of the whole Windows system and all installed programs, applications on your C drive to the selected device.
3. Click 'Proceed' to start creating a system backup image to the target device.
Step 3. Boot the dissimilar hardware/computer from EaseUS Todo Backup emergency disk
1. Connect the USB flash drive or external hard drive with emergency disk and system backup image to the new computer.
2. Restart PC and press F2/F8 to boot into BIOS. 3. Change boot drive and set the computer to boot from the EaseUS Todo Backup emergency disk. Then you'll enter EaseUS Todo Backup main interface.
Step 4. Transfer and recover the system to dissimilar hardware or new computer
1. Prince george's county blog. On EaseUS Todo Backup main window, click'System Transfer'.
2. Select the system image on your drive and click 'OK' to continue.
3. Specify the disk to save system image and tick 'System Transfer' in Advanced options, click 'OK' to save changes.
Then click 'Proceed' to start transferring system and even some installed programs on system C: drive to the new hardware computer now.
Step 5. Restart PC with transferred system
1. Change boot sequence in BIOS to set the computer to boot up from the drive with the transferred system. 2. Save all changes and restart your computer. 3. Update all drive drivers and programs to ensure all things will work just fine on the new computer.
Here you can directly back up Windows 10 OS on your computer with EaseUS Todo Backup.
Reinstall Windows 10 to a new hard drive
If you activated Windows 10 with a Microsoft account, you can install a new hard drive to your PC or laptop and it will remain activated. There are a number of ways to move Windows to a new drive, including using a recovery drive:
Applies to All Windows 10 Versions
I recently bought a new hard drive for my Windows 10 PC because the previous one stopped working. I was able to create a system recovery USB before the old hard drive failed completely. However, after installing the new hard drive, I was unable to re-install Windows. Here’s how I managed to re-install Windows 10 to my new hard drive.
If you decide to change a hardware component of your Windows 10 PC, you should not run into issues with your PC’s digital entitlement (also known as a digital license). Your Windows digital license is the unique signature that is given to your PC by Microsoft and stored on Microsoft Activation Servers. If you upgraded from a previous Windows version (Windows 7 or Windows 8) to Windows 10, the license you were previously running is exchanged for a diagnostics product key. If you are a current Windows 10 user and you want to upgrade your PC’s hard drive, you should be able to do it without any issues with your Windows 10 digital license.
I happened to find a Microsoft answer forum that offers a detailed explanation of Windows digital licenses. The only issue you may run into with swapping out PC hardware is if you change the motherboard. The motherboard is the only part of your PC that if changed will invalidate your Windows digital license. Therefore, you shouldn’t run into any issues when you change your hard drive. Just be sure to back up your PC before you replace your hard drive.
Here’s what you need to do to backup your Windows 10 PC.
After backing up your Windows 10 PC to a USB or other storage device, it is time to install your new physical hard drive to your Windows 10 PC. Obviously, you will need to disconnect the power from your PC to complete the hard drive installation. After you correctly installed your new hard drive to your PC, it’s time to restart and restore your device back to Windows 10.
Pending any unforeseen issues, you should be able to plug in your recovery drive (How to create a Windows 10 recovery drive) and power up your PC to reinstall Windows 10. The recovery drive will restore Windows 10, but you will have to re-download all third-party Windows 10 apps and games (Steam, Bethesda Launcher, etc) once the Windows 10 reinstallation is complete.
It is important to evaluate what option works best for you before you attempt to replace your hard drive. Other options available include How to restore your PC from a Windows 10 system image, How to download Windows 10 ISOs without the Media Creation Tool, and Download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. It’s important to note that replacing PC hardware is only recommended for advanced Windows users. If you feel unsure about whether or not you can do it, err on the side of caution and take your Windows PC to someone that knows what they are doing.
Further reading: Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 10 PC
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