Upgrading to SSD, but keeping all programs etc. intact and usable on the current local disk

Question

I want to add a 1 TB SSD to my computer as the new local disk and do a clean Windows 10 install on it while leaving a bunch of the software, games and files on the current HDDs. I'd then delete the previous Windows files from the HDD. Would all the applications still work? Steam games would, because you can just pick the install directory, but what about programs that write data in the registry, appdata etc.?

Answer 1

I think you answered your own question : A clean install will not include data from the old registry, appdata etc.

I would suggest instead to clone the HDD to the SSD to begin with. Once everything works correctly, you may delete unneeded stuff from the HDD and move folders from the SDD to the HDD.

In some cases this would entail changing settings found inside the programs, while for others you could replace the folder on C with a Symbolic Link to the real folder on D using the mklink command.