Best way to upgrade from 8.1 to 10 and move system to a SSD

I have a brand new Dell XPS 8700 with Win 8.1 Home installed, 1 TB hdd.

I want to update to Windows 10

I have a 120GB SSD that I would like to use for the system

So seeking general guidance and the order in which things should be done.

Are there updates to 8.1 and related that should be done before upgrading to 10?

Should 8.1 be installed on the SSD before upgrading to 10? I have ordered the 8.1 install/re-install disks from Dell and they should be here in a few days if needed for this exercise.

Or if it is better to upgrade to 10 on the existing hdd, how do I re-install it on the SSD

So I am putting all the issues I can think of out there for guidance on how the above might best be done, and am grateful for any advice.

This is what I would do:

1. Using MiniTool Partition Wizard Free, shrink the system partition and make a new partition big enough to hold all the used space of the system partition:
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

2. Use Macrium Reflect Free to copy an image of your system partition saved to the new empty partition you created:
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

That way if the upgrade goes bad, you have an image you can go back to.

3. Upgrade the Windows 8.1 (you don't need to do any updates to Windows 8.1 first) to Windows 10 using Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. Make yourself a USB or DVD of Windows 10 Home, probably 64 bit, to do the upgrade from because you will need the USB or DVD later:
Windows 10
You will just insert the completed USB or DVD with Windows 8.1 running, and run setup.exe from it. Do NOT boot the computer from the USB or DVD because that will do a clean install and we want an in place upgrade.

4. Make sure the Windows 10 is activated.

5. Replace the 1TB hdd with the SSD. Do NOT reconnect the 1TB hdd.

6. Boot the computer from the Windows 10 USB or DVD you made and do a clean install of Windows 10 to the SSD. When it asks for a product key, click "skip" or "do this later".

7. Check that the newly installed Windows 10 is activated.

8. Reconnect the HDD as the secondary storage drive - make sure bios is still set to boot from the SSD! Do whatever you want with the 1TB HDD.

Chrunos said "... I think your best shot is tomigrate Windows 8.1 to SSD. And then upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 on SSD. If anything goes wrong with windows 10, you still have the windows 7 on your hard drive...."
Good idea! Backups are good!
I did this by Ghosting to the SSD.

I hope by Ghosting you mean cloning. Unfortunately Norton Ghost doesn't work properly for cloning Windows Vista or later. The clone might work but may also give a BSOD. Fortunately there are newer and better tools that successfully clone Windows Vista and later. In these forums many say about Macrium Reflect. I would also recommend Clonezilla. It is an ISO that you burn on a CD-ROM and boot from it. Then select source and target drives and proceed. Careful not to clone the wrong way and miss all your data! Clonezilla is good that it can be used for Windows, Linux and even Mac OS partitions, while other tools can only clone Windows (FAT32 & NTFS).

You can download offline installer for W10 from MS website. Put it on a DVD or USB. So you have an installer.

Do the automatic upgrade to W10 on your same 1TB hard drive. This will activate W10 for you.

Now that your system is activated, clear your OS. Back up important files, and wipe relevant drives. Such as using a nuke tool.

Now use your offline installer to install W10 onto your SSD. Don't forget to keep your system disconnected from internet when you install W10 as you don't want it accessing the internet until you feel it's safe.

When you get to the screen asking for your product key, use your previous product key from W8.1. Your W10 will be installed, but not activated.

(Note: Never use the express setup. Make sure you go through all the options on the custom setup thoroughly as advised on this website.)

Install your proper antivirus, firewall, and make your proper configurations to prep your system for safely accessing the internet.

Once you feel it's safe to connect your PC to internet, and you get online. Go to the settings section for activation. There is an option to activate. You can use the option to activate, and it will access the internet to activate you.

W10 installed clean on SSD. And activated.

spapakons said:

I hope by Ghosting you mean cloning. Unfortunately Norton Ghost doesn't work properly for cloning Windows Vista or later. The clone might work but may also give a BSOD. Fortunately there are newer and better tools that successfully clone Windows Vista and later. In these forums many say about Macrium Reflect. I would also recommend Clonezilla. It is an ISO that you burn on a CD-ROM and boot from it. Then select source and target drives and proceed. Careful not to clone the wrong way and miss all your data! Clonezilla is good that it can be used for Windows, Linux and even Mac OS partitions, while other tools can only clone Windows (FAT32 & NTFS).

Noo, I mean using Norton Ghost! I have to run a Windows repair on the Ghost'd disk, but it works from XP to Win 10. I've done this literally hundreds of times, however, not with GPT disks!
You are right tho, there are better tools out there, thanks for your suggestions.
The cloning motto, "Check twice, image once!"

Thanks for all the guidance. Very helpful!

chrunos, you said, "And then upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 on SSD. If anything goes wrong with windows 10, you still have the windows 7 on your hard drive." Please confirm that this is a typo as I only have 8.1. If not a typo, please elaborate. Thanks.

There's no reason to clone anything or do anything like that. As long as the SSD is empty, and wiped clean, all you have to do is a clean install of W10 onto the SSD. The other drive can be used strictly for file storage. Meaning the OS on the other drive can be completely wiped from it.

Thanks for these two very different solutions.

Crimson, I do not understand this alternative. How does the new install of Ten on the SSD know how to find the license key. I do not have a key for Ten, only for 8.1.

Odysseus said:

Thanks for these two very different solutions.

Crimson, I do not understand this alternative. How does the new install of Ten on the SSD know how to find the license key. I do not have a key for Ten, only for 8.1.

To simplify Crimson's method a little bit:
1. Use Media Creation Tool to create a USB or DVD Windows 10 Installation Media. Just make sure to get the exact match of Windows 10 version for the Windows 8.1 you have now. You will use the second option of the Media Creation Tool, "create installation media for use on another PC" or something similar to that.
Windows 10

2. With your Windows 8.1 running from the old HDD, insert the USB or DVD just like you were going to save or retrieve files to/from it. Run setup.exe from it. This will initiate an upgrade of the Windows 8.1 on the HDD to Windows 10. I recommend you make an image of the Windows 8.1 using Macrium Reflect Free first - just in case something goes wrong. The upgrade should NOT ask for a product key. If it does, you probably downloaded the wrong version of Windows 10.

3. After the upgrade, make sure your Windows 10 is activated. When the upgrade activates it will automatically store the Hardware ID of your computer to Microsoft Activation servers for later retrieval.

4. Remove the 1TB HDD and leave it removed, install the SSD.

5. This time boot the computer from the Windows 10 install USB or DVD. Click install now, follow the prompts to do a clean install to what should be the blank SSD. If you select custom install, you can verify the SSD is blank and erase anything that is there before the install.

6. When Windows 10 asks for a product key, do NOT attempt to enter a Windows 8.1 product key, it will not accept it and may hinder future activation. Click on "skip" or "do this later". After the install, Windows 10 will automatically find the Hardware ID that was saved to Microsoft Activation servers in step 3 and activate itself.

7. Now you can reinstall your 1TB HDD and do what you want with it - just make sure that bios is still set to boot from the SSD.

The down side to this is that if you don't make an image first it is possible that you won't be able to go back to Windows 8.1 if you want to - and 100% true that you won't be able to go back after 30 days from the upgrade or if you erase the 1TB HDD.

There is an alternative to upgrading the Windows 8.1 on the 1TB HDD here:
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First - Windows 10 Forums