Windows 10 installation on SSD ("transition" from hard drive)

Hello Community,

I own an Acer Aspire E5 571g 560y device with preinstalled Windows 10 on, (which was provided by the manufactorer before I purchased it). I didn't get a DVD with Windows on it, just on the hard drive.

It was a few years ago. Now I would like to remove the hard drive (on which Windows was preinstalled) and change it for an SSD.
Can I put it in the place of the hard drive, or just on the slot of the DVD ROM?

Can I somehow copy the license of Windows 10 from the HDD and save it onto the (installable) SSD? (I'd like to use the operating system on SSD on order to speed improvement.)

Is it legal to change the part of hadware on which Windows is? Motherboard would be the same, and to say: it can be considered the same notebook which I purchased with preinstalled Windows..

Thank you!

Accepted answers

aphanic

I'll try to address all of those questions:

Yep, you can remove the drive and install an SSD in there (you need to look for 2.5'' SATA SSDs like a Samsung 860 for example). There are caddies for the place the DVD drive is located so you can put a secondary drive in there, but that interface is usually slower (think... SATA II instead of SATA III). You'd want your SSD to be in the prime real state.
If Windows 10 came preinstalled with your laptop, the license is baked into it, there are no longer stickers with licenses or anything like that. When reinstalling Windows the installer will pick it up and install the appropriate version already. Upon connecting to the internet you'd be legally activated again, just as you are right now.
And yep, a change of hard drive is not considered change enough to invalidate a license. Even if you changed the drive, RAM and WiFi card it wouldn't trip the activation failure (and then calling a toll free number to Microsoft that would appear would set you right without paying a dime).

I did a guide not long ago on how to cleanly install Windows 10, which would prove useful to you after you replace the disk (unless you'd want to clone it that is, but I'd go for a clean installation). Follow the PDF because some things were corrected or better worded vs. the thread: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/893916/#Comment_893916

EDIT: The old hard drive you could still buy a caddy for it (search for SATA caddy in eBay, AliExpress, Amazon, etc.) or pop it in a SATA to USB enclosure and you'd have a portable drive to be used for backups for example.

Commodore_1995#

Hi! You can install this windows10 too:

https://youtu.be/cCmAOwRYNwY
In addition, you can install a 9.9.0mm caddy as the colleague aphanic said. See a list of compatible ssds as well: https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Acer-Aspire-E5-571/6503
The serial is recorded in the bios.

aphanic

Yep, concretely the machine OEM licensing part lies in the SLIC and MSDM ACPI tables, which are part of the firmware of the machine in the motherboard.

You can read those tables if you want, from Windows you could use something like RwEverything to see the ACPI tables, but even if you get the key it's worthless for you on its own. OEM validation requires a manufacturer certificate and all for the key to work, but all of that is in those tables. As long as the machine came with Windows preinstalled, it's up to the manufacturer to populate those areas.

For example, my machine didn't come with Windows, I have Acer's SLIC in my firmware but there is no trace of an embedded key nor an MSDM table = no OEM activation for me. If you had one like that and wanted to use Windows you'd have to buy a license for it (and again, once activated, since now licenses are converted to digital ones, you could reinstall without inputting any key and as soon as the machine connects to the Internet it will be licensed again).

As for getting a 2.5 SATA SSD, that's because it matches the form factor of the disk you have there; there are no other storage ports in the laptop you have so that's your only option; but one that I highly recommend. Even 10 year old computers feel like a new one when their mechanical hard drives are replaced by SSDs, the speed difference is quite notable.

This was 8 years ago, things have improved even further, but you get the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j84eEjP-RL4

And special tools... nope, none that I can think of. Technically one of those grounding bracelets for static electricity protection, but I've done *many* things without them and nothing happened (treat it as anecdotal though). You'd just need a screwdriver, probably a usual Philips #1? and something made of plastic to pry open the top part of your laptop, an old credit card would do.

This guy seems to detail the procedure for your model:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7tLQ4Cjvak

aphanic

levsz said:

If I put my recent HDD to a SATA to USB enclosure then can my notebook read it despite the fact that it has 2 partitions on it? One of which contains now Windows 10 system and documents, and the other just different types of files.

Yep, no problem at all, that's something that's usually done when diagnosing PCs in repair shops and you can mount any kind of partitions (in fact it has more than 2 for sure, but the other one(s) are hidden by default

). It used to be a problem back in the day with older Windows versions, so your question wasn't unfounded.

levsz said:

And isn't it a problem if I won't delete that - mainly - Windows partition (because I'd like to keep those additional files)?
Won't that seem that it is a duplication of my Windows 10 system, which could lead to preventing me from activating my Windows on the freshly installed SSD (in the future)?

Duplication won't hurt activation either (I have had several disks all activated with the same license when testing things, it is possible because it is the same machine).

However it would be nice if you copied anything you wanted to preserve to your newly installed internal SSD (temporarily? they could return once the external one is cleaned) and format the external one to have just one partition there that you can fully utilize for whatever you want.

I find it easy to do with DiskPart, although it is not a graphical program, but there are many options (the native disk management and 3rd party software too). I'll detail DiskPart here.

Open it by typing "diskpart" into the Start Menu:
List the disks currently connected to the system, you'll see I have plenty but if you only have the internal one and the external connected through USB you should only see 2:
Locate the old one by selecting it (the #0 is generally the internal one by the way) and showing its data for confirmation:
You can list its partitions to be sure if you want to too:
Clean the disk (that is, remove every single partition there is):
Convert the disk to MBR, there's no need for GPT in an external disk, just in case:
Create a new primary partition:
Quickly format it as NTFS and that's it, you're done:
If you needed to (because it didn't appear in This PC at this point) assign it a letter:

And that's it, the external hard drive would be cleanly formatted and empty, you could now begin copying things to it.

All comments

aphanic

I'll try to address all of those questions:

Yep, you can remove the drive and install an SSD in there (you need to look for 2.5'' SATA SSDs like a Samsung 860 for example). There are caddies for the place the DVD drive is located so you can put a secondary drive in there, but that interface is usually slower (think... SATA II instead of SATA III). You'd want your SSD to be in the prime real state.
If Windows 10 came preinstalled with your laptop, the license is baked into it, there are no longer stickers with licenses or anything like that. When reinstalling Windows the installer will pick it up and install the appropriate version already. Upon connecting to the internet you'd be legally activated again, just as you are right now.
And yep, a change of hard drive is not considered change enough to invalidate a license. Even if you changed the drive, RAM and WiFi card it wouldn't trip the activation failure (and then calling a toll free number to Microsoft that would appear would set you right without paying a dime).

I did a guide not long ago on how to cleanly install Windows 10, which would prove useful to you after you replace the disk (unless you'd want to clone it that is, but I'd go for a clean installation). Follow the PDF because some things were corrected or better worded vs. the thread: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/893916/#Comment_893916

EDIT: The old hard drive you could still buy a caddy for it (search for SATA caddy in eBay, AliExpress, Amazon, etc.) or pop it in a SATA to USB enclosure and you'd have a portable drive to be used for backups for example.

levsz

Dear aphanic,

Thank you so much for your detailed answer! It is a life saver for me!

Where is the license "baked"? On the motherboard?

Do you think that I should buy a SATA III compatible SSD for my device?

Do I need special tools to open the device?

Thank you very much!

levs

Commodore_1995#

Hi! You can install this windows10 too:

https://youtu.be/cCmAOwRYNwY
In addition, you can install a 9.9.0mm caddy as the colleague aphanic said. See a list of compatible ssds as well: https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Acer-Aspire-E5-571/6503
The serial is recorded in the bios.

aphanic

Yep, concretely the machine OEM licensing part lies in the SLIC and MSDM ACPI tables, which are part of the firmware of the machine in the motherboard.

You can read those tables if you want, from Windows you could use something like RwEverything to see the ACPI tables, but even if you get the key it's worthless for you on its own. OEM validation requires a manufacturer certificate and all for the key to work, but all of that is in those tables. As long as the machine came with Windows preinstalled, it's up to the manufacturer to populate those areas.

For example, my machine didn't come with Windows, I have Acer's SLIC in my firmware but there is no trace of an embedded key nor an MSDM table = no OEM activation for me. If you had one like that and wanted to use Windows you'd have to buy a license for it (and again, once activated, since now licenses are converted to digital ones, you could reinstall without inputting any key and as soon as the machine connects to the Internet it will be licensed again).

As for getting a 2.5 SATA SSD, that's because it matches the form factor of the disk you have there; there are no other storage ports in the laptop you have so that's your only option; but one that I highly recommend. Even 10 year old computers feel like a new one when their mechanical hard drives are replaced by SSDs, the speed difference is quite notable.

This was 8 years ago, things have improved even further, but you get the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j84eEjP-RL4

And special tools... nope, none that I can think of. Technically one of those grounding bracelets for static electricity protection, but I've done *many* things without them and nothing happened (treat it as anecdotal though). You'd just need a screwdriver, probably a usual Philips #1? and something made of plastic to pry open the top part of your laptop, an old credit card would do.

This guy seems to detail the procedure for your model:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7tLQ4Cjvak

levsz

Thank you very much for your great help!

If I put my recent HDD to a SATA to USB enclosure then can my notebook read it despite the fact that it has 2 partitions on it? One of which contains now Windows 10 system and documents, and the other just different types of files.

And isn't it a problem if I won't delete that - mainly - Windows partition (because I'd like to keep those additional files)?
Won't that seem that it is a duplication of my Windows 10 system, which could lead to preventing me from activating my Windows on the freshly installed SSD (in the future)?

Thank you!

aphanic

levsz said:

If I put my recent HDD to a SATA to USB enclosure then can my notebook read it despite the fact that it has 2 partitions on it? One of which contains now Windows 10 system and documents, and the other just different types of files.

Yep, no problem at all, that's something that's usually done when diagnosing PCs in repair shops and you can mount any kind of partitions (in fact it has more than 2 for sure, but the other one(s) are hidden by default

). It used to be a problem back in the day with older Windows versions, so your question wasn't unfounded.

levsz said:

And isn't it a problem if I won't delete that - mainly - Windows partition (because I'd like to keep those additional files)?
Won't that seem that it is a duplication of my Windows 10 system, which could lead to preventing me from activating my Windows on the freshly installed SSD (in the future)?

Duplication won't hurt activation either (I have had several disks all activated with the same license when testing things, it is possible because it is the same machine).

However it would be nice if you copied anything you wanted to preserve to your newly installed internal SSD (temporarily? they could return once the external one is cleaned) and format the external one to have just one partition there that you can fully utilize for whatever you want.

I find it easy to do with DiskPart, although it is not a graphical program, but there are many options (the native disk management and 3rd party software too). I'll detail DiskPart here.

Open it by typing "diskpart" into the Start Menu:
List the disks currently connected to the system, you'll see I have plenty but if you only have the internal one and the external connected through USB you should only see 2:
Locate the old one by selecting it (the #0 is generally the internal one by the way) and showing its data for confirmation:
You can list its partitions to be sure if you want to too:
Clean the disk (that is, remove every single partition there is):
Convert the disk to MBR, there's no need for GPT in an external disk, just in case:
Create a new primary partition:
Quickly format it as NTFS and that's it, you're done:
If you needed to (because it didn't appear in This PC at this point) assign it a letter:

And that's it, the external hard drive would be cleanly formatted and empty, you could now begin copying things to it.

levsz

Thank you, Aphanic, for your answer.
It's a great idea!

levsz

I followed your pieces of advice written in the pdf as preparation for Win 10 clean install.

It's been really useful!

Double Driver collected and backed up much more drivers to the USB than wireless drivers, e.g. video drivers in addition to those.

It resulted that approx. 1,5 GB space remained on my USB flash drive (of the approx. 7,5 GB). Won't that be a problem during the installation process?

I already bought the hadware, too:

This SSD:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-500GB-NAND-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B

And this as an esclosure:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-C-Gen2-Screwless-inch-enclosure/dp/B07YP3P6VK

So I'm quite eager to put hands on my freshly baked system after the installation.

aphanic

levsz said:
Double Driver collected and backed up much more drivers to the USB than wireless drivers, e.g. video drivers in addition to those.

Yeah... if left to its own devices it will back up all extra drivers that didn't come with a clean installation (even if they were installed afterwards by Windows itself via Windows update, they're considered foreign). I'm not surprised it to be 1.5 GB, graphics and audio drivers specially are the offending ones haha. For example, the folder where I keep all of my current drivers for the machine weighs 3.38 GB uncompressed.

levsz said:
It resulted that approx. 1,5 GB space remained on my USB flash drive (of the approx. 7,5 GB). Won't that be a problem during the installation process?

Not a problem, as long as the USB flash drive has Windows and the storage drivers it's more than fine to fill the rest with whatever you want. You could even put programs you use in there to be installed later

. I just detailed a simpler version of Windows + Storage + Network (or all) previous drivers; but anything goes.

levsz said:
This SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-500GB-NAND-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B

And this as an esclosure:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-C-Gen2-Screwless-inch-enclosure/dp/B07YP3P6VK

So I'm quite eager to put hands on my freshly baked system after the installation.

Good choices! Although the enclosure is a bit of an overkill haha, a mechanical hard drive isn't going to be able to reach the full potential of what USB 3.2 Gen2 can do.

Speaking about the ones I have around here that are less expensive and work a treat, in case you wish to return that one and get another (since you bought it off Amazon):

Ugreen 2.5'' SATA to USB 3.1 (I believe it would also reach Gen2 if the appropriate cable were to be used), it is built atop the ASM235CM chipset, which is a relatively new thing, efficient, made of metal on the outside and sleek looking in my opinion. Most importantly, ASMedia controllers (the chip that converts SATA to USB) do a good job with SSDs if you ever wanted to put one in there:
- USB Type-C to Type-A cable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Enclosure-External-Thunderbolt-Tool-Free/dp/B07Y81R1JM
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Enclosure-External-Thunderbolt-Tool-Free/dp/B07Y825V4N
ORICO 2.5'' SATA to USB 3.1 (this one too can get to Gen2 speeds when paired with the proper cable and an SSD inside), it is built on the VIA VL716, another very interesting chipset with great support. Although this one is not made out of metal, being transparent made it a looker for me haha: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORICO-Enclosure-Transparent-Zoll-Type/dp/B079K7S81R
Blueendless 2.5'' SATA to USB 3.1 (same as the others): This one is fully made of metal, I have its big brother, the one for disks out of desktops and it's awesome because it helps with the cooling, it uses a JMicron chip, either the JMS576 or JMS578 depending on if the plug in the enclosure is Type-C or Type-B. The problem is that I don't think there's any importer in there to get quick shipping, it'd come out of China and you'd get better prices at AliExpress probably then. https://www.amazon.co.uk/YCDZ-STORE-Enclosure-Blueendless-Interface/dp/B07W4V2GTX
Another plastic+metal one, the Inateck 2.5'' SATA to USB, I don't know the chip this one uses because I have an older model but it was ASMedia based. Their support is good too, they're in Germany I think: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Aluminum-Drive-Enclosure-Hidden/dp/B089W85NCK

Really, any enclosure would do (even the ones that cost 8 quid), it's for a mechanical hard drive after all. Most of the problems appear when the disk inside is an SSD, because they don't advertise that fact (except ASMedia it seems) and Windows treats them as if they were regular disks. Which is not bad, you can access the disks and all, it's just that TRIM commands wouldn't be sent in a timely manner to indicate to the disk that it's OK to free up X space because you deleted some files for example.

I'm also eager to see you running completely in your new system, you'll see the difference it makes

levsz

Thank you for the reinforcement!

I just linked a wrong enclosure:
It is the one which a bought: https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/710255/ewent-usb-31-gen1-usb-30-screwless-25-inch-sata-hdd-ssd-enclosure-zwart.html

I linked firstly Amazon because English is our mutual language of communication. But it isn't sold there.

I'll come back to testify!

aphanic

levsz said:
It is the one which a bought: https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/710255/ewent-usb-31-gen1-usb-30-screwless-25-inch-sata-hdd-ssd-enclosure-zwart.html

Aha! That price is more like it!

I'd only expect enclosures to be in the ~30€+ when they're for big hard disks, desktop hard disks, because those need external power and the enclosures must come with a power adapter too which adds to the price. Even a full-metal 2.5'' enclosure with a decent controller shouldn't be much more than 20-ish

levsz

Dear Aphanic,

Thank you very much for your great help!

I've just came back from vacation, that's why I didn't come back to testify before.

In the end the computer service where I had my notebook cleaned out inserted my new SSD into the device - free of charge!
So just the installation part was my job, during which I applied your pieces of advice.

It's really good that my Acer has become much faster than it was!

So I'm glad with it.

Thank you again for your help!

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