Two questions before installing W10

[Compiux]

So, long story short: The current OS (W8.1) is installed in a SSD of 120 GB, partitioned in a 30GB and 90GB sections.
30GB = recovery
90GB = OS
Should I merge the partitions and forget about the 30GB win 8 recovery partition?

Also, a few days ago I had 50GB free, now I only have 36 (and in all honesty, I can't find a reason for this, low amount of space since all the software is installed in my 1TB disc). I can't at all identify where did those 14 GB go. I was tihnking to fresh install instead of update the OS to have everything in order... but is it recommendabe to wipe the unit under the aforementioned scenario?

I'm worried about the functionality of the installed software. They are in my 1TB drive but will they work without issues if Win8 and the list of installed programs are wiped?

System Spec:
Core i7 3rd gen, 16gb RAM, 1 SSD unit 120GB, 1 HDD unit 1024GB.
OS installed in SSD
All software (except terraria) installed in the HDD

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advises

 

[cygnus11]

The quickest (and probably easiest) thing to do is to just do an upgrade to Windows 10. This will require that you keep you SSD partitioned exactly as it is. Assuming all goes well, all of your applications installed on your 1TB drive should remained installed in Windows 10 after the upgrade.

But personally, I would plan to do a clean install after the upgrade and merge the two partitions on your SSD into one. It's not critical, but it seems like it would be a bit cleaner.

This is what I would do.
1. Do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 so that you get the free upgrade and your license key will get upgraded.
2. Then create Windows 10 installation media using the media creation tool that you can download. I would probably create a bootable USB drive using that tool.
3. Boot to the USB drive that you created and do a clean install of Windows 10 on the SSD. I think you should be able to merge the partitions as part of the install.
4. You will then have to re-install all of your apps again.

I haven't done a process like this for Windows 10, so if you plan to do a full clean install after an upgrade, I would recommend that you research it fully to make sure you understand how the process will work.

Good luck.

 

[Jazmac]

I would merge the two because it doesn't make sense to have both. As far as how well your programs will do, I would say most will do fine. I found one that won't and for now is a show stopper for me. Cities: Skylines game runs but the controls in the game blow so I won't upgrade my 8.1 partition right now. I can't remote into my office with Winodows 10 so until that is resolved, I'm standing pat.

 

[Compiux]

Awesome, thanx for the advises. Will do as you said

 

[Compiux]

Just wanted to update the status

Upgraded my copy of win8.1 with the media creation tool. Everything went smooth. No issues during the few hours I tested the OS. I did have to reinstall Steam, GOGGalaxy, VMWare Player and Synaptics Drive but that was all. My video driver isntalled was the manufacturer's driver and not generic driver.

Things were working so smooth that I was going to leave the upgrade as is... Only problem I had was that when I tried to free the recovery partition and expand the OS partition, I could not because they are not contiguous. In the end, I will reinstal fresh because the 21GB recovery partition can't be used.

Fresh installs are fun, my only regret is that I left the computer downloading the ISO instead of creating a bootable USB drive. The instalation will be slow