Clone Win 10 HD to SSD on New Dell PC, & why didn't Dell put OS on SSD

Quadzilla · 14 May 2022

I recently bought a Dell XPS desktop PC that's running Windows 10 and has a 2 terabyte hard drive and one terabyte SSD drive. This desktop replaces an Old Dell XPS which was running Windows 7 and had an i7 chip and 12 gig of RAM. I have a physical disability which makes it hard to type and I use Dragon Naturally Speaking to control my PC and dictate, this is why I prefer to use faster PCs.

I'm pleased with the new Dell PC and it's a fast machine but I was surprised to see that the OS was installed on the old style hard drive instead of the much faster SSD Drive. The new pc also has an i7 chip along with a 32 GB of RAM so it too is very fast. I'm sure it will be much faster if the OS and all the programs were installed on the SSD drive and so I'm looking into cloning the entire HD (OS & apps) and installing everything on to the SSD drive and was hoping you all could provide me with info on how to do that?

I've seen some videos and articles that mention a free program called AOMEI backupper. Are you all familiar with that program? Would you recommend it? Any others that you would recommend? The easier the better of course but I also want something safe, even if I have to spend a few bucks for it. Also, info on how to make the SSD drive the boot Drive in the Bios, I've read some articles where that can be tricky. Thanks in advance for any info you all can provide!

Since I'm on the subject, can anyone explain why Dell sells their PCs like that? With the operating system installed on the slower style hard drive when the PC is being sold with a large SSD Drive already installed? Again, thanks for any info!

Dan G.

Compumind · 14 May 2022

Hi Quadzilla -

Welcome to Windows Ten Forums!

I can easily tell you that this is a Staging Error by Dell.

The OS should be on the SSD, without question and the HDD wiped.
Do you have a telephone technical support contract with Dell still in effect?

They can walk you through the procedure and download the correct version of Windows 10 for your Service Tag, just like the day it was shipped - on the SSD.

Otherwise, I can help you with it but will take quite a bit of time. Don't install any other software.

Kindly advise.

Thanks.

bobkn · 14 May 2022

That seems odd.

The advice from "Compumind" seems wise for the moment. I hope that you have no trouble understanding Dell support. You'll probably get a support person with a South Asian accent. I'm unsure how much help you'll get from them. Like other outsourced support, they're script readers. Success will depend on whether they have a standard response.

By the way, if you get things running on the SSD, you may face a little disappointment. Software loads faster from an SSD, but it may not run noticeably faster once it is loaded. Your new PC has plenty of RAM, and there may not be much disk access most of the time.

For future reference, Macrium Reflect Free supports drive cloning. I don't find a tutorial in TenForums that would walk you through that, unfortunately. I strongly recommend imaging your drives (using Reflect, or similar, and an external HDD) before attempting anything like that. You want to have an easy way to restore a working system if things don't go well.

Compumind · 14 May 2022

@bobkn -

Let's first gauge the technical level of the OP and find out how long he has the system.
Yes, you can do cloning but the OP mentions a physical disability which could be significantly challenging.

I have some ideas:

For example, Dell can FedEx him a fully imaged NVMe SSD that could be put in by a service tech, after wiping the one that came with it.
Then the HDD can be formatted for NTFS and the BIOS set to boot form the SSD.

Quadzilla · 14 May 2022

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses. First of all, I should have mentioned in my first post that I bought the PC from Amazon.Com, not directly from dell. I'm assuming that makes a difference with regards to telephone support? To compumind, I'm fairly tech savvy but no expert. I do have use of my Left hand but it's very weak, not very much grip strength. I can take but very slooowly LOL.

Do you all think it's worth my while to contact Dell about taking care of this? If so, do you have a number to call? I'm assuming I just Contact them with my service tag? Thanks again!

AddRAM · 14 May 2022

Macrium Software | Reflect Free Edition

Compumind · 14 May 2022

@Quadzilla -

When did you buy it?
I have heard instances where Amazon gets a return and repackages things.

AddRAM · 14 May 2022

Ya, you could take it back, get a refund, then, call Dell and order what you want. Don`t just buy one off the shelf. Have them build you one with the parts YOU want.
Personally, I would never buy a Dell, a HP is a much better choice. IMO

But if you want to keep what you have and put the OS on the SSD, post a full shot of Disk Management, and we`ll go from there.
Using Macrium to clone or reimage windows to the SSD is a very simple process. You will be done in less than a hour.

Macrium Software | Reflect Free Edition

Compumind · 14 May 2022

AddRAM said:

Ya, you could take it back, get a refund, then, call Dell and order what you want. Don`t just buy one off the shelf. Have them build you one with the parts YOU want.
Personally, I would never buy a Dell, a HP is a much better choice. IMO

Dell is just fine. If you buy it with USA based Pro Support you will be quite happy.

bobkn · 14 May 2022

Quadzilla said:

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses. First of all, I should have mentioned in my first post that I bought the PC from Amazon.Com, not directly from dell. I'm assuming that makes a difference with regards to telephone support? To compumind, I'm fairly tech savvy but no expert. I do have use of my Left hand but it's very weak, not very much grip strength. I can take but very slooowly LOL.

Do you all think it's worth my while to contact Dell about taking care of this? If so, do you have a number to call? I'm assuming I just Contact them with my service tag? Thanks again!

Amazon is an authorized Dell reseller, so you should be OK getting support directly from Dell. (Caveat: that assumes the purchase was from Amazon, not an Amazon Marketplace seller.)

In a perfect world, Dell would send a tech to your home to repair the machine.

In the real world, they may tell you that it's not broken. Be forceful about mentioning that it was misrepresented. (Even if they didn't explicitly state it, the normal assumption would be that the OS is on the SSD.)