Thanks for the response. My computer is a 2010 Dell OptiPlex 780 with 500GB SATA HD. The Samsung 1TB I looked at shows it being compatible.

Will I have to reinstall any software after the migration? The PC isn't getting heavy use. I just don't want to have to buy new software and I'm not interested in the newer "software as a service" yearly billing versions.

The short answer is 'no'. The idea is the migration software 'clones' the old disk (while re-adjusting partition size) so no software re-install req'd.

FYI, another option is Clonezilla since the new disk is larger than original but like I said you'll get migration software with the drive and "Samsung Magician" migration seems to work fine.

http://clonezilla.sourceforge.net/

I wouldn't do it. This is an old PC, perhaps with an inadequate amount of RAM that will slow it down, slow USB connections, a slow graphics card, you get the picture.

Your money is better spent getting a new PC.

I'm with Elmer. I kept putting bandaids on my 9-year old computer, but it only made minor improvements...and then something else got wonky. Even though the computer still "worked," it just became annoying. Your old computer doesn't have that much life left in it. In fact, you've gotten more service than one might expect out of it. I hate to get rid of something when it still functions, but with computers you just need to bite the bullet once in a while: retire the old one and buy a new box.

It's the hassle of setting up a new PC and losing my software that I wanted to avoid. I worked for a university and my IT staff spec'd my computer, set it up and installed the software: MS Office, Windows 7 Pro, now updated to 10. I only use it to surf the Net, checkbook, tracking investments, taxes and a bit of word processing.

jrb, I don't think what it's used for matters much. PCs have a finite life and this one has given you good service and has continued to do so several years beyond what would have been its expected life at the outset.

For what you do, an SSD will only speed up the boot-up time. If your PC boots slowly or responds slowly, the cause is unlikely to be hardware but rather what other hangers-on also start and load and then take up the limited RAM space you have. A faster storage device may not help that much. If the boot time hasn't changed but you're impatient for it, just leave it on.

If you want a reason to buy a new machine, this one is closer to its death than it's ever been and you risk losing your files if that happens or having to pay to have them recovered. Make sure any important files are backed up to a secondary source.

You can buy a PC directly from any of the vendors and they can load whatever software you want. These days, you can bypass the cost of MS Office by using any of several free alternatives, including Google Docs that works very well. Or, you can buy it and either have it loaded on for you or use the purchase options many machines come with.

Good luck.

At $100-$150 for something like an 860evo, upgrading to an SSD can be a very worth while upgrade, at a minimal expense, but it's really user and device dependent. If your current HD is having issues or failures (definite possibility), then a replacement drive can certainly provide you with a better computing experience. Don't expect a "brand new pc" experience, but it should be noticeably quicker at booting up your pc, and saving and accessing files than your current HDD. Also, your pc should be quieter as SSD's are silent.

File cloning software can certainly save you some time when copying data from a good drive, BUT, if there are drive failures on your current HDD which may have caused some file or OS corruption, that corruption will be copied right over onto the new SSD.

That said, as others have eluded to, the age of your pc suggest that the better bang for your buck would be a pc replacement to get some additional newer hardware to go with a new hard drive. However, if price is not a concern, if you upgraded your hd to an SSD now, you can always move that SSD to your newer computer to use as the main drive or backup drive in the future if/when yo do get a new PC so it wouldn't technically be a wasted purchase.

My pc is operating OK for now for how I use it. It's only on for 8-20 hours a day. I install all the Windows 10 updates and keep my Eset Virus program current. I don't have an issue of slow boot ups or notice any glitches with the programs I'm running.

I did notice some slowness recently when viewing some pictures and moving them around to different folders. I like the idea of "cloning" my software while it's working well and then installing it in the new PC.

Thanks for the feedback.

Not sure if I read that correctly, but as an FYI, you can't simply clone your current PC and move the drive into another new host pc down the road, like moving your current system into a new hardware shell. Windows will likely blow up if it detects significant hardware changes. You would need to re-clone the new pc to your ssd, or use it as a storage drive.

If you kept the old disks for the software, you can install them on the new pc. I put Word 03 on my Windows 10 computer and it works fine. I had backed up my documents and moved them back to the Win 10 machine.

You must have your old disks?

Jane

My employer installed Office 2010 so I don't have those. Neither do I have the disc for my Davis weather station. I didn't renew Quicken so I'm not sure how my 2016 version would work on a new PC.

Quicken might work. I used mine for years without updating. I don't know about the weather station. Office would need the disk.

That's too bad, I feel your pain.

Jane

If your box is slowed down by using the swapfile, an inexpensive improvement might be gained by buying a thumbdrive (preferably a USB3.0 if your box supports that), plugging it in, going to that disk's properties & setting it to be used for ReadyBoost. Quicker than a HD swapfile.