HDD to SSD swap guide i165

Hi guys.

I did my research, and I know how physically and what type of SSD should I change.

But I can’t find any guide how to proceed with the software and the data during the swapping.

How to swap hdd to ssd without reinstalling Windows?

I have some games and programs on hdd - will it work if I just uninstall it all, switch off the hdd from device manager, swap the disks, and switch on the machine?

I don’t want to reinstall the whole system. Is it possible at all?

Or should I use Acronics True Imag or Samsung Magician software for imaging? Never used it myself btw.

Your help would be much appreciated.

If you're talking about swapping the 2.5-inch HDD for a 2.5-inch SSD, then you should not have to worry about Windows at all. The OS is installed on the other drive in the system, the M.2 NVMe SSD behind the GPU. The HDD is just a storage drive.

The HDD-to-SSD change is easy -- took me about ten minutes in my i160 (which I think is the same hardware layout as the i165). Just open the top of the machine, remove the fan, remove the two screws to open the side, remove the HDD bracket, swap the SSD into the bracket, and then reverse the process.

If you want to transfer programs from the HDD to the new SSD, you'll have to image the HDD somehow. Or, if you have the space, you could just copy the HDD files onto the M.2 NVMe SSD, since that's staying, and then transfer them to the 2.5-inch SSD once you have it installed. (I've done some partitioning since I made the change, but I think the original setup was the NVMe SSD as Drive C and the HDD as Drive D.)