Dual Harddive SSD/HDD

Hi Joe, I would have to advise against this . . .

A 24GB SSD is nowhere near big enough for Windows 10

Windows itself even after a clean install and a couple of Updates will require 20GB - 25GB of hard drive Space

It is true that an SSD will improve your system performance, but if you are going to do this, please buy a larger SSD or you are going to run out of space every month when Windows does its Automatic Update thing . . .

As for, would you be able to do this yourself, that depends, the process is:

1 Download Windows 10 and make a bootable copy on a flash Drive
2 Clean install Windows 10 onto the SSD
3 Load a full set of Drivers for your System
4 Install all your applications onto the SSD

Dav,  

Thanks for the quick response.  I will watch the sales, buy a new SSD, and maybe clone my hard drive.

Hi Joe, yes you should wait and get a larger SSD - they are relatively inexpensive these days.

You will definitely see a performance boost.

As for cloning the Drive, you can do that, but I have seen that resulting in a lot of issues.

I would definitely advise on a clean install onto the SSD, yes it will be a bit of work, but it will also increase your system performance . . .

What model of Lenovo is it? What size is the HD?

MS says 32 bit Win10 needs approx 16 GB and 64 bit needs 20 GB,

Ideally, yes moving the OS and Applications to the SSD would make your system feel much more perky. BUT, we have been getting a steady stream of requests for help apply upgrades to Windows installed on small devices with 32GB drives. Although that size drive is adequate to start with, after using them for a year or two those drives are just too small for the large semi annual updates like the recent Fall Creators Update.

I am wondering if what you have is not a dual drive, but a hybrid drive. That is a large HD with an embedded small SSD. There is built in logic to automagically move frequently used files to the SSD to speed up your system.
http://www.howtogeek.com/195262/hybrid-hard-dri...

The "True" dual drive systems I've seen typically start with a 128 GB SSD's.

If what you have is really a dual drive system, with physically separate drives, I would suggest you upgrade the 24GB SSD to 128GB or larger. They are reasonably priced.

Yes, it should be possible for someone with minor skills to migrate Windows to a SSD. You have 2 options, one is to migrate your current setup to the SSD, the other is to start fresh with a clean install of Windows and your desired applications. Some new SSDs actually come with a utility to help migrate OS to the new SSD.

Here are a couple of articles about migrating Windows to SSD:

https://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-... (this article started out for Win7 but has been upgraded since)

https://www.guidingtech.com/44400/migrate-ssd-w...

http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-w...




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GREG C’S CLEAN INSTALL TIPS
Greg's Wiki is a very comprehensive set of suggestions and instructions to follow when doing a clean install.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wik...

http://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-with-wind... - ZDNet How to install, reinstall, upgrade and activate Windows 10

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-install-win... - This article has lots of pictures.

USE RESET TO RESTORE YOUR WINDOWS 10 PC - FREE DOCX/ EBOOK DOWNLOAD
http://ligman.me/29yWAAO

2017 10 00- WIN 10 DEPLOYMENT TIPS & TRICKS FROM MS IT (31MIN VIDEO)
https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-course...
At Microsoft today, we think of Windows as a service. Cloud-powered Windows Analytics have streamlined the upgrade to Windows 10 Creators Update for our employees around the world. In this IT Showcase session, listen in as Microsoft IT experts share lessons learned, best practices, and tips and tricks.

You can look into purchasing a Hybrid drive that will let you run the OS and your applications, while keeping your files and large games on the hard disk section. You can split up so frequently used games and files are kept separate.

You can then create a system image or clone it to the Hybrid drive:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/clone-move-win...

Here is an article how to partition a drive:
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/create-partiti...

Name one Partition 'Files' and the other 'Apps'.

Open the Files partition, create a folder and name it: JoelTH

Press Windows key + R
Type: %userprofile%
Hit Enter

Right click your Documents folder
Click Properties
Select the Location tab
Click Move
Browse to the Files partition we created earlier then select JoelTH folder.

Repeat the same steps for other folders such as Pictures, Videos etc.

Open Start > Settings > System > Storage
Under More storage settings, click 'Change where new content is saved'

In New apps will save to list box, choose the 'Apps' partition we created earlier.

Open Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & Features
Select any large app you have downloaded from the Windows Store
Click Move, choose the 'Apps' partition