SSD Drive - which one?

It was on sale for $34.00 off so I went ahead and snagged the 840 Pro as well as Windows 8.1. The first thing I will do when I get them installed is install the Classic Shell for Windows http://www.classicshell.net/

Had to cancel the Windows off the order since it wasn't Windows 8.1 PRO.

I'm gonna get the PRO version instead

 

Finally got a SSD (Toshiba Q 256GB) to pimp my oldtimer Gaming Rig again. Wow, that took Ages! My 6yrs old WD 750GB Disk already has plenty of Disk Errors, which i repaired successfully every here and then with some HDD Tools.

Now i have to find a best solution to migrate my OS (Win8.1) from my HDD to the SSD. Never did this before. Actually i could make a fresh install, but i really don't have the time to reinstall all the applications again.

There are two options so far, which sound quick & easy for me:
1) Clone the System Partition incl. rebuilding the Bootloader, then deleting the system partition on the old disk
2) Create Backup-Image, do a fresh OS-Install, and then restore System with the Backup.

The first option seems to be faster one, but i heard there could be some performance problems due to Partition "Alignment" Issues. Another thing i wonder is, if i really can access all my applications from the old HDD (as secondary Disk) or is it still necessary to reinstall apps?

Anyone did this before and can give some tips for a clean stable OS migration?

 

Thx for the quick response. I read those articles already, and also some others. The best i find is this tutorial:

http://www.techfeb.com/how-to-clone-windows-8-1-to-new-hard-drive-tutorial/

But since i haven't done this before, i would like to have some hints for what definitely works perfectly without needing to reinstall applications from my old disk, which i want to use as a secondary disk.

 

ok, that's true. Need to use Easy BCD if necessary.

So you had no problems with apps directly accessible after migration?

 

Successfully migrated my System with that Tool from that Tutorial. Everythings fine. Boots like the original OS. Wow, it only took less than 10 Minutes and also had the Option to align for Perfomance Optimization. Now writing from my cloned OS. Also not necessary to reinstall Apps, unless if Performance is needed. What is the case for some Games.

Next is reinstall MWO on the SSD.