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Like the title says I want to move my OS from my solid-state to my hard drive. Are there any drawbacks to this is don't mind the slower boot speed but will it affect anything else and is it possible to do it without losing data?

SSD: San Disk 128 GB HDD: 1TB Seagate? (I think)

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  • Cloning drive when the target drive is of the same size or bigger is an almost trivial process. Otherwise it's anything but. As always, backup personal files and do a fresh installation in the new drive. All things considered this is much safer and takes LESS time. Over the years I've seen many people obsessing over exactly what you want to do here and too many failed attempts without proper backups.
    – ChanganAuto
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 11:16
  • The comment above, obviously and wrongly, assumed the other way around. What you really want to do is absurd, period. Please read and understand the answer and comment.
    – ChanganAuto
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 14:17

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Get a bigger SSD (I suspect the limited space is your real problem).

Moving the OS to the HDD is technically possible, but very complicated and it is VERY easy to mess up completely.

But you DO NOT want the OS on the HDD. Not just the boot-process, but EVERYTHING will slow down noticeably.
Believe me: If you got used to an SSD as C: drive you'll never want to go back to a HDD. (Despite your "I don't mind the slower boot" remark. You'll WILL mind.)

Replacing the SSD with a bigger one (migration software is often included with the SSD) is a lot easier to do and will not have the "lack of performance" draw-back.

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    Just a comment to emphesize how true this is. You want your OS on the SSD no matter what. Invest in ways to move other stuff off of the SSD, but you want your OS on the SSD. The speed difference is huge, not just in boot times, but in everything, including how long it takes to start any program to click on start and wait for the menu to appear, etc... An SSD will make an otherwise slow and old system feel fast again, but just going from an SSD to HDD will make an otherwise blazing fast system feel sluggish.
    – LPChip
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 13:37
  • "(migration software is often included with the SSD)" What? I thought they typically came blank.
    – Oskar Skog
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 14:36
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    @OskarSkog Several manufacturers sell SSD's together with migration toolkits. Software is usually supplied as a download link given in the manual.
    – Tonny
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 14:43

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