Okay, I feel like this is one of those things I should have mastered about 30 years ago, but -- I didn't.
I'm upgrading my main computer this weekend. (If Newegg is "closed for staff party", I'm why.) New motherboard, new CPU, new graphics card, new RAM, new SSD, fresh OS.
Because I don't want you computer voyeurs to go unsatisfied:
- ASUS AM4 TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi) ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, Dual M.2, 12+2 with Dr. MOS Power Stage, HDMI, DP, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Aura Sync RGB Lighting
- AMD RYZEN 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 65W 100-100000071BOX Desktop Processor
- XFX RX 5700 XT THICC III ULTRA 8GB BOOST UP TO 2025 MHz GDDR6 3xDP HDMI Video Card
- G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16S-16GVK
- WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB Internal SSD - SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5"/7mm Solid State Drive - WDS500G2B0A
- WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10EZEX
(Some of the old parts will go into a spare case/PS/coupla old HD's I have and get sold to a friend, which will not only help cover the cost of the upgrade but get the damn extra case out of my office! YAY! The rest of the parts are staying, like the PS and the current HD's.)
In the past I've always sort of lumbered through re-installing all the programs I use, which seems to be approximately one metric bleepton of 'em. I'm thinking there must be a far better way, which probably involves maybe ... cloning the current disc? One complication may be that programs are spread out across both the OS SSD drive (some programs just frickin' insist on being on that drive ...) and the D: drive. Or will that get handled when the registry gets cloned? At what point do I install the new OS? Or am I doomed to a day of "Do you REALLY want to install this?" Yes, really. "REALLY, REALLY?" YES! "LIKE TOTALLY FOR REALS?" *throws something*
Can I clone part of a disc? (That seems unlikely to me ...) What software does one use to do this if this is, in fact, a productive path to follow?