How Do I Upgrade My Boot Drive to a Larger SSD?

I get your frustration! There really should be an option for moving existing Windows files to a new drive. The best way is to install Windows fresh on the new drive, then set that as the boot drive in the BIOS. After saving your needed files, you can delete the old Windows setup from the other drive. I personally recommend partitioning your drives—one large enough for Windows and another for personal files; it just makes everything a lot easier to manage.

First off, make sure your motherboard supports M.2 drives. If it does, get a good-quality one. Don't forget to back up your data, then simply replace the old drive with your new SSD, install Windows from a USB stick, and finally, restore your data. While cloning is an option, a clean installation usually runs smoother and is often a better choice in the long run.

If you want to keep your old drive as secondary storage, start by creating a bootable Windows installer on a USB drive. Swap out your old drive for the new one, boot from that USB, and format the new drive to install Windows. If you don’t have an extra slot for your old drive, you might need a USB enclosure. Once Windows is installed, you can either move your important files back to the new drive or keep them on the old drive and format it for external use.

If you're looking to clone your existing drive, a reliable option is Terabytes Image for Windows. It essentially copies everything from your smaller drive to the larger one exactly, so there's no need to reinstall your software. Other popular cloning tools include Clonezilla and Macrium Reflect.