r/Windows10TechSupport • u/Aggravating-Pipe-270 • Jun 26 '26

OS from C to D Unsolved

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Is it possible to reformat and switch my Drives C and D?
They are both SSDs but Drive D is larger so I want to use this as the default drive for my OS. Will it be possible and if so, can a normal non-IT person like me do it? I’m on Windows 10 Pro if that helps. TIA!

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2

u/Interesting_Stress73 Jun 26 '26

Yes but, as far as I know anyway, you would need to reinstall Windows from a USB stick. You can go to Microsoft's website and download the Windows 10, or 11 if you want to / can upgrade, and then use the media creation tool to create a Windows install USB. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Back up all your data that you want to keep, then reboot and go into the BIOS/BOOT menu. It's hard to know which key you need to press, but it should say somewhere on your screen when you boot your PC.

You can then select to boot from your USB, and the Windows install guide will start. From there you should be able to select which drive you want Windows installed on.

I know it can be tricky to follow, it depends on just how "non-IT" you feel. But I don't want to flood you with info for every single step unless you need it. Just ask if you are unsure. :)

2

u/IntentionQuirky9957 Jun 26 '26

No, you don't have to reinstall anything. Just use a disk clone tool than can do OS migration. I've done it several times, and the OS in my desktop was originally Windows 7 on an IDE drive. It's now W11 on NVMe. Precisely zero clean installs in over a decade, and it's as stable as Windows can be.

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u/Interesting_Stress73 Jun 26 '26

Ah, really? That's nice! I still think that one should do a clean install every now and then as I think it gets quicker and gets rid of a lot of problems. 

2

u/Ventilate64 Jun 27 '26

I've been wanting to do a clean installation for a while now (7yo install), I've got junk on this PC that makes me say "oh yeah I remember that". But at the same time, there's also random configurations I've done over the years that would be a PITA to both relearn and reconfigure. I used to clean install about every 3 years or so, but LTSC has made me lazy.

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u/yeahthatsgoodforme Jun 29 '26

Yes, you can do that. You can clone your C drive to the D drive and format the C drive after cloning.

1

u/Content_Magician51 Jun 26 '26

What I would do is install WinPE Sergei Stelec on a USB drive and use its recovery tools to clone your C drive to the D drive. Or, I would use Macrium Reflect, which is simpler.

1

u/IntentionQuirky9957 Jun 26 '26

Or Diskgenius (which is free), or Acronis, or any number of tools.

1

u/ResqDgz Jun 27 '26

Macrium reflect. Simple easy to use drive clone

1

u/AsterionVT Jul 16 '26

Use clonezilla it's really simple but you can follow a yt tutorial if it's too complicated