Clean install Windows 10 on new SSD with new Motherboard

Hello everyone,

I'm getting new Motherboard (Gigabyte GA-ZA170 Gaming K3-EU) and new SSD (SanDisk 120GB) tommorow.
I've had Windows 10 x64 installed on my HDD until now and I'm planning to clean install it onto my SSD and remove it from HDD and use my HDD for pictures, videos and other files that do not benefit from SSD speeds that much.

I'm not sure how I should do this, I've installed Windows to HDD many times but I've always had only 1 HDD and now I'll have 1 HDD and 1 SSD so that's the first thing that I'm not sure how to go with. Can I have both, SSD and HDD, plugged at the same time and just format my HDD and create 1 partition on it and then select the unallocated space of my SSD and just click Next to begin the installation or how should I do it?

And for the second thing that I'm not sure about is the motherboard which has UEFI, I've never had motherboard with UEFI before so I'm not sure if that changes anything? What should I select in Rufus when making bootable usb? Also is there something that I should change in UEFI settings for SSD or not? Because I searched on some forums and found this: https://i.imgur.com/vG2eETA.png I'm not quite sure what that does and whether or not should I do it?

cereberus said:

Create bootable usb stick using this link and it will handle uefi automatically.

Windows 10

Boot from usb and install to ssd. Do not have hdd plugged in at same time or you will tangle things up.

I'm doing it with torrented iso and using rufus for creating bootable usb, that's how many people told me to do and that's how I've been doing it before for HDDs, they told me to set "GPT partition scheme for UEFI" and set FAT32, but idk how to set SSD to GPT and whether or not it will set it automatically that way

If I don't have HDD plugged at the time of installation do I just format it afterwards within Windows or...?

Rufus is completely unnecessary. Here's the way to get you a good, clean, universally bootable USB flash drive:
Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive

At step 9 make sure to use FAT32 file system to be compatible with UEFI firmware (as well as legacy bios):
9. To format the partition, type format fs=fat32 quick, and then click ENTER.

For step 12, mount the Windows 10 installation ISO file and copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the USB flash drive.

Disconnect the HDD, boot the computer from the USB flash drive with only the SSD connected. Select the custom install option in Windows setup. It should show the SSD as unallocated space. If there are any partitions on the SSD, delete each one until you get to one big unallocated space. Select the unallocated space to install to and let Windows setup everything.

When Windows installation is done on the SSD, then you can reconnect the HDD. I like to use MiniTool Partition Wizard Free:
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

Backup whatever you want to save from the HDD, and use MiniTool Partition Wizard Free to wipe the HDD, convert it to GPT, and make whatever partitions you want on it.

The reason you disconnect the HDD when you install Windows to the SSD is because Windows setup will detect the boot files existing on the HDD and modify the existing files instead of creating new boot files on the SSD. Then when you wipe the HDD to use it for storage, you will also erase the boot files and your computer won't boot.

NavyLCDR said:

The reason you disconnect the HDD when you install Windows to the SSD is because Windows setup will detect the boot files existing on the HDD and modify the existing files instead of creating new boot files on the SSD. Then when you wipe the HDD to use it for storage, you will also erase the boot files and your computer won't boot.

But what if I leave it plugged in and just format it once I boot into USB drive before selecting SSD for installation?
Since I already made a backup of stuff that I need from it to an external hard drive I can format/wipe it on installation screen, will the problems of boot files be avoided that way?

Superfly said:

That should be OK, I have that setup on my lappy - and have both SSD and HDD bootable ( viz. as backup.. should the first fail, change boot disk from bios)

You misunderstood me, I don't want my HDD to be bootable, I want it to be completely wiped and empty after installation is done, I just want to avoide unplugging and plugging hdd back in after installation by formating it once I boot into USB via installation screen.

Relax said:

I'm doing it with torrented iso and using rufus for creating bootable usb, that's how many people told me to do and that's how I've been doing it before for HDDs, they told me to set "GPT partition scheme for UEFI" and set FAT32, but idk how to set SSD to GPT and whether or not it will set it automatically that way

If I don't have HDD plugged at the time of installation do I just format it afterwards within Windows or...?

You are confusing what you were told to do to make a Rufus USB Drive Bootable and what you need to do when you install Windows which is nothing... Windows 10 will set the disk GPT and install the 4 partitions it needs on a clean SSD with no partitions. (Delete all partitions when given the chance if you make some already.

It is best just to unplug the power to the HDD during win10 install , then plug it back in and simply Format the Drive in Win 10 if that is what you want to do , you are after all building a new system so the case is already open etc and it's not a big deal to do and it can avoid many hassles.

Why are you Torrenting an ISO when you can simply download a Clean Win10 Iso from Microsoft with no fear of Virus's or similar ?

KB

Relax said:

But what if I leave it plugged in and just format it once I boot into USB drive before selecting SSD for installation?
Since I already made a backup of stuff that I need from it to an external hard drive I can format/wipe it on installation screen, will the problems of boot files be avoided that way?

You still have the chance of the boot files getting put onto the HDD if the bios/UEFI is still set to boot from the HDD first. You can leave the HDD unallocated, install to the unallocated space on the SSD, and then when you boot into Windows look in disk management and see if there are any partitions on the HDD - there should not be. Then you can create partition(s) on the HDD and format them. If you see a partition on the HDD that Windows setup created, that is probably where the boot files ended up and you'll have to go back into bios/UEFI and set the SSD as the first boot device and either move the boot files over or re-install Windows.