Hi,
I need some help finalizing my upgrade plan. I would think this type of upgrade is common and am hoping that some folks here have already been down that road and are willing to give me some direction.
Here's what I have.....
A new XPS x8900-3756 with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed on a 2TB HDD. It also has a secondary 32GB SSD installed in another drive bay. FWIW I'll try to include a screenshot of the config in Disk Management.
Here's what I plan to do......
1 - Install a new Samsung EVO 250GB SSD drive in the M.2 slot on the motherboard
2 - Clone Windows from the HDD to the new Samsung SSD M.2 using Acronis 2017
3 - Leave the 2TB HDD and the 32GB SSD connected and in their existing drive bays
4 - Reformat the 2TB HDD and partition it with 6 logical drives, leaving the 32GB SSD as-is to use as cache.
I believe I'll have no trouble with the cloning operation. And I shouldn't have a problem reformatting & partitioning the 2TB HDD since I've done these things several times but with older systems. Once the cloning operation is complete I plan to boot using F12 so I can confirm the cloning was successful and that Windows can boot from the SSD. But that's just a one-time boot!
My problems begin between steps 3 and 4 when I'll need to address subsequent boots in the UEFI firmware's boot order sequence so Windows will boot straight from the SSD without needing to use F12. This used to be easy before UEFI, but despite reading dozens of articles and posts on the subject I still cannot formulate a plan for the steps I need to take in the firmware. I don't like going into firmware settings and taking guesses, having a plan in place ahead of time is a best practice IMO.
My questions at this time are.....
a) Once I boot with F2, what are the specific steps I need to take in the firmware to change the boot order sequence, and is there an order in which the steps should be performed?
b) Once I know the cloning was successful and the SSD will boot Windows, at what point should I reformat the 2TB HDD? It's not clear to me if the Windows OS that remains on the 2TB HDD would create a conflict once the boot order sequence for the M.2 SSD has been set in the firmware.
Thanks in advance,
Frank