[Ken Hutchison]

I have less than 1 GB of documents and images on my 217 GB solid state Drive C ($2,000 5-year-old desktop computer, Dell XPS 8700 with 24 GB of RAM, which I really could not afford, and still Windows 7), but the Computer folder says that I have between 0 and 60 GB available, depending on the day. (My 2 TB internal hard drive crashed, and I didn’t know the correct procedure for restoring the files to an external hard drive using Carbonite, so those files were lost. I added an external 2 TB drive after the crash. I am using that drive now for all images, podcast downloads, videos, etc. and most documents)
Questions:
1. Can I compress some folders containing program files, user data, etc. and have them still work?
2. I have not installed a hard drive in a computer for at least ten years. Would the dead internal drive D be easy to access and replace?
3. If I move my Thunderbird data files to the external USB drive J, which is slow, will Thunderbird still be usable, and will the old files be accessible? I suspect that Thunderbird’s five years of messages are taking up Gigabytes of drive C.
4. Can I install Windows 10 on an external flash drive or USB drive so I don’t have to spend a huge amount of time on moving files to a new computer?
5. Can I move everything on drive C (including the registry and hidden files0 To a bigger drive and make it drive C?
6. I have several programs (applications) from Giveaway of the Day, so I can’t reinstall them. I have to move them somehow. Is there a way to find all files and registry entries for a particular program and move them to a new computer?

[noc-admin]

Thanks For your question Ken. To sum up your question it looks like you are running out of room on your internal SSD and want to move from Windows 7 to Windows 10? I would recommend the following

1. Lets get a new internal SSD for the computer. For your case a 512 GB or 1TB Can be had for around $100
2. You can plug this in replacing the old 2TB failed drive. It should be just a few screws and 2 connectors to swap it.
3. Once it is inside you can clone your old disk to the new one using clonezilla or macrium free. By cloning you keep all your settings and applications installed.
4. After cloning remove the old SSD so it boot into the new one to verify it was successful. Once booted you can upgrade to Windows 10 on the new disk. If it fails or you don’t like it, you can always re-clone from the old SSD to the new one.
5. After you are up on the new drive I would verify your backup is backing up everything on both the internal disk and external disk.

If you just want your specific questions answered
1. Possible for some, it will be slower
2. Yes
3. It will be slower
4. No
5&6 Cloning disks

[rlkbs78]

I have a 2 TB regular internal hard drive, original to my 2 year old Windows 10 computer, that is dying. I think it is an Intel SATA drive – at least, that’s what the error message said. Can I purchase and install a 2 TB SSD to replace the old internal drive?

[Komando Community]

Hi @rlkbs78

You should be able to install a SSD with a SATA connection, but for other types of SSDs you would want to check to see what types of connections the motherboard supports. This should be in the computer documentation. If you would like to provide the model number of your PC, we can see if we can locate the information for you.

[Komando Community]

@rlkbs78

I saw you have a Dell XPS 8920. The specifications for that system indicate it has a M.2 card slot supporting NVMe. Upgrading to a M.2 NVMe drive would get you the best upgrade in performance.

[Ken Hutchison]

Thanks very much. I’m sorry that I haven’t answered before now because I have been busy doing other things. I still have Windows 7 and the same drives, so I need to do the things you said ASAP.

[Author]

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