I've got a 2TB HDD with Windows 10 and all my programs on it, and it's gotten slow. Now I picked up a Samsung 870 QVO SSD and I'd like to copy everything over 1:1 without having to reinstall Windows. What software is best and most reliable for that?
Forget the Windows copy function, it doesn't work right for that kind of job. Samsung usually includes cloning software with the 870 QVO (Samsung Data Migration or Magician), and that's perfect for your setup and free - you can clone the entire drive directly with it. If it doesn't come with it, Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper are also reliable, but you'd need the paid versions for clear guarantees. Important: get an external enclosure for the SSD, check BIOS/UEFI for Legacy mode if it won't boot, and then go into BIOS and set the SSD as the primary boot drive.
Samsung Data Migration from Samsung itself is a solid choice, but honestly? Macrium Reflect Free works better if your new SSD is smaller than the old hard drive. In your case it's 2TB to a 870 QVO - you need to check first how much space you actually need. If the usage is below the SSD capacity, any tool works. If not, you need something with partition shrinking.
My tip: download Macrium Free, the tool automatically makes a full clone and boots from it without issues. You put the old HDD in, new SSD in, make it bootable, done. This thing is more reliable than a lot of "pros" think and you don't have license drawbacks like with some others.
One important thing beforehand - make a backup, and set your old hard drive to slave in the BIOS beforehand if you have both in at the same time. After cloning, remove the old HDD, put the Samsung in the right place, boot up and everything else runs like before. Windows usually reactivates itself automatically because the hardware stays pretty much the same.
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