Hello all hope one of you intelligent peeople can shed some light on a dilemma im having.
Let me start by saying i have next to no experience with computers and have managed to blunder my way through for the last few years - still struggling with OB and file management mind… but now im in a bind.
Basically i have a 128gb SSD drive as my C drive with windows 10 on it and such.
It is now however conpletely full up …/
So i have debated what to do and i thought it best to buy a larger external SSD and clone the original onto that. Bad idea? Will it significantly impact performance seeing as it will be running through a usb3 port? Or will it even work? As you can tell im utterly clueless on this and searching the web is a minefield for this sort of shit… last thing i want is to fuck my studio computer up.
Any thoughts or experience with this?
Backup your existing hard drive to an external drive, create a windows 10 reinstall usb card, buy a new ssd, i.e. 512 or 1048 Gb, take the old hard drive out, put the new one in, reinstall windows. Re.install all of your previous applications. Perform windows 10 updates as needed. Copy your backed up files back to your new hard drive. Job done.
Or just move some of your files to an external hdd to free up space on your existing SSD, but it is small, and you will continue to run out of space.
I would agree with Cosmic. Whilst you could just get an external HD and move some unnecessary files off your computer, 128GB is too small for a studio computer in my opinion (you’ll be constantly battling to find space). Bite the bullet and get a 512GB SSD, clone the original, and physically install the new SSD in the computer.
The easiest thing to do is just fit a second SSD drive inside your computer (even just another 128gb one if funds are tight).
That way you don’t have to clone anything. You can move some stuff from your original drive to the new drive if the original drive is too full to optimise correctly but leave Windows 10 on your original drive.
Another way of saving the cloning part is when you buy a new, bigger disk and add it as your primary disk to install a fresh Windows 10 on it. You can leave your current disk then as a secondary, while being able to access it as a secondary disk from your new Windows installation.
Im not sure if theres enough room internally it has two HDD’s also. I didnt want to transfer the files over to this as i thought it would slow down the OS drastically but if i can just move the files over perhaps i can move them to a HDD? Its mainly VST’s as i have an awful hoarding mentality for 'em ( especially synths!! ) would it be as simple as drag and drop ( or copy then erase from destination drive) from the SSD to the HDD? I would like to get a bigger SSD evemtually anyway so maybe its time to replace the internal one? Im sorry im really not sure how it all works!!! Thank ypu for the help 
I would recommend buying a new one and installing a new Windows 10 on it while keeping the old one as described above. You get a 500G starting at 130-150€. After that, you can even choose to boot up to both your old and new installation. Here’s a tutorial:
Instead of shrinking as described in the tut, you can simply select the new disk when running the custom Windows installation in parallel to your existing one.
You have different way to make a back up Ianh54 :
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A real clone : the software clone c: on new-hardrive exactly how c: is with no compression.
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A image disc (with or without compression) with the advantage to be an iso file, and you can save it everywhere you want on a USB3 volume for saving data (it can be also proprietary file accordingly to the backup software TrueImage : *.tib Norton Ghost : .gho etc…) and you can restore it or mount it as your request or needs
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Incremental backup witch is a full backup initially and x times of updates (regarding the initial backup it will make successive increment with all change in comparison with the initial backup content in time)
The key is what you would like to do from :
It is now however conpletely full up …/
I mean firstly you should understand that a SSD is a small capacity drive and on a 128gb SSD the key is to diminished the read/write process except from System OS and Software.
So few questions :
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How your system is working ? (except to be full) is it a healthy, no bugs, no virus etc …
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Do you want to clone the 128gb in its current state and restore it on a much larger one and replace it internally then ? (because there’s few things with windows here… could be a bit boring but don’t worry)
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Do you want to backup to keep your SSD state and make a fresh new install of your studio computer from the ground ?
You can’t just move things from one drive to another because dependent programs will not know the new location. It is OK to move photographs, videos, music, and documents as these are items which you would directly double click to open. VSTs, samples, and programs will cause problems if you are not fully aware of what you are doing and how they should be moved. Are you sure there is no room in your computer for a second SSD?
Ill have a gander inside when i get time to see if theres room internally.
Will, its free of viruses and the only issue i have tbh is that its run out of space!!! So all i want to do is have a mirror image of how it is at the mo but with more headtoom on the C drive
You can’t analyse the SSD ? (to see what things take an huge amount of space but no need to be on that particular harddrive) and see what you can MOVE on a DATA HD ?
something like :
http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/features.html
Just to locate big amount of space used by things you can move
and make a Backup as an iso file and keep it on the same HD for data ?
So maybe you can recover 50-80 gb on the original SSD 128gb ?
Like Stickhit said :
You can’t just move things from one drive to another move photographs, videos, music, and documents
For backup on PC i really like this one :
http://www.acronis.com/fr-fr/personal/computer-backup/
You probably need an SSD adapter for the new SSD you will buy (to plug it on a USB 3.0 port) Then you clone it with Acronis True Image…
And maybe after when your backup is done you can make a DIET of your primary SSD
That’s what i would do myself just to be secure… but a DIET is probably the best option
If you have a friend witch is comfortable with computer make the clone with him you will be reassured 
It’s a simple task when have done one or two times you not afraid after
You can strap a second SSD on top of the first one if necessary. There are no moving parts and they don’t generate much heat. The main requirement is a spare SATA socket on your motherboard. Fitting a second SSD means no cloning required.
If you have programs installed on your existing SSD which can be dowloaded from a web account (e.g. Ableton Live, Maschine, Komplete etc.) you can uninstall them and then reinstall them but specify the new SSD as the install location. This will free up space on your existing SSD. Sample heavy programs (e.g. Kontakt, EZDrummer) are the ones that take up a lot of disk space, whereas virtual VSTs (e.g. Sylenth, Massive) take up very little disc space.