I just finished my new pc a-little ago and the only thing I need to add is my new SSD. Been using an old HDD and it's time to upgrade. I just went out and got a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD and want to replace my old HDD with it, but the thing is that I want to do a data transfer of some sort to keep all my stuff off of it. Been reading and talking with some people about it (since this really isn't my area of expertise), and they say just fresh install it. I don't really want to do that since I have afew things like programs that are kind of expensive and only had one install use on them. Is there anyway I can do this properly? Maybe cloning it?
It is possible to clone your hard disk drive to an SSD, but generally it is not recommended. It's best to do a fresh installation directly to the SSD, then migrate your data to it. If at all possible, find your installations and keys for programs. You will be much happier if you do this.
What programs specifically are you talking about?