I'm looking to replace my C Drive and do a clean reinstall of Windows, but I'm feeling a bit lost. I've read a lot about cloning, but I'm not interested in that; I want to start fresh. My current C Drive is only 100GB, and it's tough to free up enough space to perform a Cloud Reinstall.
So, my big questions are: do I need to disconnect all other drives while I install the new one? Should I boot from a USB with Windows on it to start the installation? Does the new drive need any special setup before installing, or can I just go ahead and install Windows directly on it? Also, what should I do with my old C Drive after the new installation—is it safe to reconnect even though it still has an OS on it?
Any help simplifying this process would really be appreciated!
2 Answers
Absolutely, it's a good idea to disconnect any other drives when you're installing Windows on your new drive. This helps avoid any booting issues later. Once you have the new drive connected, just make sure your BIOS is set to boot from that drive. Then you can reconnect your other drives after the installation is complete.
If you're doing a complete reinstall and don’t care about the data on your current C Drive, you can remove it entirely and put the new drive in. It'll be empty. When you boot from your Windows install media, just select the new drive during setup, format it there, and you’re good to go! If you want to keep your old drive for any reason, you can physically move it to a different SATA slot. Just remember to set the new drive as the boot option in the BIOS afterward. You can wipe the old drive from the installation process as well, just make sure you don’t select it if you still want to keep some data.
Thank you for the detailed answer! Just to clarify, when you say to move the old C Drive to a different slot, do you mean physically moving it to another SATA port? Also, can I format it on the initial Windows installation screen? As for prepping for the process, aside from backing up files and creating a Windows USB drive, is there anything else I should consider before taking my PC apart?
Yes, moving it to a different SATA port is what I meant! And yes, you can format or wipe the drive from the Windows installation screen. Just ensure you back up any important files, and maybe check if you have all necessary drivers on hand to install later!
Thank you so much for the confirmation and help!