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As we all know, SSD performance is better than HDD. If you buy an SSD and install the operating system on it, you will find that the boot speed is extremely accelerated. However, considering the price, you could buy a small capacity SSD like 125GB, 250GB or 500GB.

Obviously, such a small capacity is very impractical. Considering performance and price, you can use SSD and HDD at the same time. The SSD is used to install the operating system and some programs on it, and the HDD is usually used to store data. If your computer is a laptop, you can also use SSD and HHD at the same time by just buying a hard drive box for your old HDD.

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Many hard drives can be installed in a desktop computer, the number of which is determined by the number of reserved interfaces on the mainboard. Laptop computers are usually only designed for one hard drive. To avoid the waste of the old hard disk, you can use a hard disk box.

What is a hard drive box? Its purpose is to protect a hard drive from physical damage. It enables the hard disk to be connected to the computer via a USB or Firewire data interface, thus realizing a mobile hard disk function. In addition, their price is relatively cheap.

However, the small-capacity SSD is always easily full, which sequentially degrades the computer performance. In addition, the lifespan of SSD is shorter than that of HHD. So some of you may be wondering how to move files from SSD to HDD as below example.

So I have a 500GB SSD and a 1TB HDD and I really only want to keep my OS and games on my SSD. how would i do that I have like 3 Steam games, 1 Uplay and Minecraft. What would I need to do to transfer all the other files?

— Tom’s Hardware Forum

Do you know how to move files from SSD to HHD? If not, you can read on to know the transfer methods.

Why do you prefer SSD? That’s because you want the higher performance that it brings. However, if the SSD is full of files, it could be a disaster. And you need to move files from SSD to HDD. But first, what files should be moved from SSD?

You may want to transfer all files from the SSD to the HDD except for the operating system and some program files (like games). How to move Windows 10 files from SSD to HDD, please refer to the methods below.

Method 1: Cut and Paste

The cut and paste function is perhaps the first tool that comes to mind. You simply cut the file from the original location and paste it to the destination location. However, if you want to move many files to disk, it will take a lot of time. Also, you may encounter various permissions issues if you do not log on to the computer as an administrator.

Note: Even if you own the computer, you may encounter a permissions error due to a security issue.

But if you want to move files from C partition to HHD, you actually need this method. You can move all document and program files from SSD to HDD. If you encounter permission issues, you can follow the steps below to solve them.

Step 1: Open Local Group Policy Editor.

• Press Windows + R keys to open Run
• Type gpedit.msc and press Enter

Step 2: Enable admin rights.

• Navigate to Computer Configuration >Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security options.
• Highlight Security Options and scroll down to find the following two User Account Controls
• Right-click them and select Properties to activate them one by one.
• Save the changes.

Step 3: Enable the administrator account.

• Right-click on this PC and select Manage.
• Navigate to System > Local Users and Groups > Users.
• Right-click Administrator and select Properties.
• Uncheck Account is disabled and click OK.

Step 4: Restart the computer.

After that, you can easily move files from SSD to HDD. But you should be careful to avoid moving important files incorrectly.

Method 2: Copy Partition Function of MiniTool Partition Wizard

Compared to cut and paste, MiniTool Partition Wizard Copy Partition function is more convenient when you move many files. You can use this function for free if the partition is not a system partition.

How to move files from SSD to HDD with MiniTool Partition Wizard? Here’s a guide.

Download for free

Step 1: Enable the Copy Partition feature of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

• Download and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to get its main interface.
• Right-click on a partition on the SSD and select Copy.

Step 2: Choose a destination to copy the partition to and click Next button.

Tip: The target location must be an unallocated space. Otherwise, the Next button is grayed out.

Step 3: Adjust the size and position of the new partition by dragging and click Finish.

Step 4: Preview the new partition and click the Apply button if it is ok.

And then you can format the original partitions except the system partition C.

How to move installed apps & can move programs from SSD to HDD

Some of you may find that something is wrong with the programs that have registry after you just moved their files to disk (especially your games). Typically, you cannot open them by clicking their icons on the desktop after you transfer them.

Some people suggest you to reinstall them. But you may think that this is a waste of time because there are so many programs and some programs are very big. Then how to move program files from SSD to HDD without reinstalling? You can follow the following method.

With this method, you can move the program files one by one, so you can still keep some necessary programs on the C partition.

Note: All operations should be performed when you log in as administrator.

Step 1: Copy the entire folder to a partition on the hard drive and delete the original folder.

Tip: If you use the Copy Partition feature of MiniTool Partition Wizard to copy C partition, you can copy the files without administrator rights .

Step 2: Create a soft link (connection) using the mklink command.

• Remember the original installation path of the program and the location where the program folder was copied (e.g.: C:\Program Files\Steam).
• Open the Command Prompt window and enter a command like the following: mklink /j ” C:\Program Files\Steam ” ” F:\Steam”.

Note: The first path is the original installation path and the second path is the location on the hard disk where the program folder should be copied.

Step 3: Create a new shortcut of the program on the desktop.

• Delete the original shortcut of the program.
• Open the file folder and find the program icon.
• Right-click on it and choose Send to Desktop.

Actually, you can move all program files from SSD to HDD in the same way. You can copy the C:Program Files folder to a partition on the hard drive. And then use the mklikn /j command to create a link between the original path and the new path.

Why does an SSD fill up quickly?

Generally, some of you buy a small capacity SSD because of the price. The SSD can easily become full due to incorrect OS installation and improper partition management, which also leads to computer performance problems.

Usually, when you get a new SSD, you can use one of the following three methods to install OS on it to enjoy high speed: disk cloning, OS migration, and OS clean install. Using any of these methods, you can easily get a full SSD. However, there are still some subtle differences between them.

Clone Disk: It is used when you want to replace the old hard drive with another hard drive. Disk cloning clones all the data on the old disk, including the operating system, to the new disk, so you can boot from the new disk and format the old disk for other purposes, e.g. B. to sell, store other data, etc.

However, if you clone the old hard drive to your new small capacity SSD, the SSD will fill up quickly because the other data like programs and documents are all cloned to the SSD. However, you can use this method if you have few personal files.

How to clone disk, for the specific steps to clone disk, you can refer to this post Clone Hard Drive to SSD in Windows 10/8/7 read. Note, however, that you must set the firmware to boot from the new hard drive.

OS migration (recommended): It is used when you boot the computer from another hard drive and want to keep the old hard drive for storing data. Only the partitions required by the system can be migrated to the new disk. Other data partitions will be left on the old disk.

If you use this method, you don’t need to move files from SSD to HDD except your C partition is a mess and filled with various program files. Click Migrate Windows 10 to SSD without reinstalling OS for specific steps.

Clean installation of operating system: Choosing this method means abandoning your previous operating system and all files in partition C. This may be a waste of time, but it can ensure your C partition is relatively clean and tidy. You can click How to install Windows 10 to know each step.

Comparing the above three OS installation methods, it seems that OS migration is a relatively neat OS installation method as it neither clogs the SSD easily nor requires reinstalling apps.

Last but not least, SSD can easily become full if you manage SSD badly. For example, save all files (including programs, documents, videos, etc.) on partition C or allocate partition C too little space.

Besides, a small capacity SSD is best not to be divided into more than 2 partitions, and the storage size of partition C should be more than 100GB or even up to 200GB to ensure stable computer performance.

If your SSD is full, you need to move files from SSD to HDD using above methods to free up space.

Here are methods to move files from SSD to HDD, including program files.ClickClick to Tweet

Bottom line

Did this article help you to transfer files from SSD to HDD? Or have any confusion about transferring files from SSD to HDD? Please leave a comment below. We really need your feedback. Surely, if you have any problems, you can also email [email protected] for help.

How to move files from SSD to HDD?

• Cut and paste the files.
• Copy the entire partition to HDD.

To move files from SSD to HDD, there are two methods for you:

How to move program files x86 from SSD to HDD?

• Log on to your computer as an administrator.
• Copy the entire program folder to a partition on the HDD and delete the original folder.
• Create a soft link (shortcut) using the mklink command.
• Create a new shortcut of the program on the desktop.

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