Win 7-to- Win 10 + HDD-to-SSD in what order?

I have a nice 4-year old laptop with a 7500 hybrid HDD running win7. 32GB RAM + Intel i7-4700 2.4GHz + NVIDIA graphics processor.

I'm currently using 250GB of a 1TB drive

I want to upgrade to Win10 in part, because I have an intractible error every time I create or rename a directory now:

--o-- Item Not Found
--o-- Could not find this item
--o--
--o-- This is no longer located in .....
--o-- Verify the item's location and try again.
--o--
--o-- [Try Again] [Cancel]

It's always been problematic when it comes to directory name, not refreshing with new names and now this no solution problem.

I want to upgrade the OS and the HDD to a SSD of 500GB.

Should I clone the disk and move the win7 to the SDD and then upgrade the OS to win10 or should I upgrade the OS and then clone the disk? If I clone the disk first, I always have the backup plan to just reinstall the "old" HDD and try again.

Another option would be a bare, clean install of win10 on the SSD, reinstall my programs, like MS Office, graphics, viewers, and other assorted stuff and then copy all my backed up data to the new SSD? ( I would have both a backup of everything and a clone. )

Cost is not an object. I just want smooth and reliable when I'm done.

My laptop has two drive bays. I might even put another SSD in there and clone it every week.
I assume that process ( which is already pretty easy ) would be a 5-minute chore with two SSDs. After a time, I could rotate the old HDD and an additional SSD for greater safety in case of virus/ransomware I'd have stuff that's two weeks old at all times. ( It'a also possible to store multiple .iso files on a drive, but there is a cross-contamination risk. )

Any ideas or thoughts that I didn't think of or how stupid I am are appreciated

I would use this method to activate a clean install of Windows 10 on the new SSD:
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

The problem you are having may be a problem in the underlying file/folder structure in the file system on the hard drive and may cause problems with an upgrade. Might as well start over with a fresh, error free clean install!

You can make a Windows 10 installation USB flash drive from here:
Download Windows 10

Use the "download tool now" button and just let the Media Creation Tool create the USB flash drive for you. Use the option in the Media Creation Tool to create installation media for another PC.

I would not clone the drive for backup purposes. A lot of us here use Macrium Reflect Free to make backup image files:
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free

NavyLCDR said:

I would not clone the drive for backup purposes. A lot of us here use Macrium Reflect Free to make backup image files:

OK, so although Macrium DOES offer cloning options, you are recommending that I just use a part of what they offer, right?

Would it be a good use of the other bay to stick an inexpensive small SSD in there to back up the files?

I'm kinda feeling out my SSD options. I'll spare no expense for the primary drive.

I was really leaning toward the clean install as you recommended, so thank you for that recommendation.

gmoritz said:

OK, so although Macrium DOES offer cloning options, you are recommending that I just use a part of what they offer, right?

Would it be a good use of the other bay to stick an inexpensive small SSD in there to back up the files?

I'm kinda feeling out my SSD options. I'll spare no expense for the primary drive.

I was really leaning toward the clean install as you recommended, so thank you for that recommendation.

Most people use images for backups rather than cloning. An image creates a single file containing only the used portion of the partition or drive being imaging and is compressed. So, let's say you have a 500 GB partition the OS is installed to and you have 100 GB of data and programs installed on it. The image file will be 80 - 90 GB in size. A clone will be 500 GB in size. So, if you are backing up to a 500 GB second drive, you can either save 5 images to it - or just 1 clone.

Also, the image file is less likely to get infected by a virus because the virus would first have to be able to read the image file. With a clone, the virus could infect it the same way it affects the current OS.

The only disadvantage to the image file is that in order to do a full restoration it must be restored to a different partition and/or drive to have a fully bootable and operational OS but with a clone all you would have to do is boot directly from it. Macrium Reflect VI Boot now allows you to boot an image file, but it has limited functionality.

NavyLCDR said:

Most people use images for backups rather than cloning.

Sorry, I have only done a couple of "Clone Jobs" and I was playing fast-and-loose with terms. When I said "clone" I meant .iso file. I appreciate you clarifying.

One more thing, if I may; What would YOU do with the second bay? I am planning that for the install of win10 from the thumb drive, I will swap out the existing HDD with the new SSD to receive the installation. Since there is no space issue, maybe nothing.

Any recommendations on what 500/512/525GB SSD to buy are appreciated. It's taking a long time to review these things.

I would put the existing 1TB HDD in the second drive bay. I have a similar setup. The primary drive is a 240GB SSD. Permanently installed in the second internal drive bay is a 1 TB HDD. The SSD runs a standard Windows 10 installation. The second HDD has a bootable FAT32 partition containing the Windows 10 installation files modified to boot into Kyhi's Recovery Tools. The rest of the HDD is an NTFS partition that I store bakup images and data files on.

Therefore, if my SSD should fail, I can boot into the FAT32 HDD partition and either do a clean install of Windows 10 from it, or I can use Macrium Reflect to restore an image. I make an image backup of the SSD to the internal HDD about once a week. Once a month or so I copy an image file from the HDD to my NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive so if the entire computer fails for some reason I have the external backup.

I've had good luck with SanDisk SSDs from BestBuy (currently $142 for 480GB). I also have a Samsung 850 EVO in my desktop computer that has no problems, I purchased that as New (other) from EBay.

NavyLCDR said:

I would put the existing 1TB HDD in the second drive bay. ... second HDD has a bootable FAT32 partition .....

That kinda sounds like what I outlined in an earlier post, but better.

I could partition my existing win7 installation and use the rest for the stuff that you are doing. It's an NTFS files system, so maybe you know if that's doable.

Also, I can keep any music/video files on the HDD rather than the SSD. This also has the benefit of keeping my usage percentage lower.

Yes, you can shrink the existing partition to make room for a new one. I recommend using MiniTool Partition Wizard because it will move the files that Windows disk management will refuse to move:
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

NavyLCDR said:

Yes, you can shrink the existing partition to make room for a new one. I recommend using MiniTool Partition Wizard because it will move the files that Windows disk management will refuse to move

Thank you all. I will get on this Saturday.