Swapping a dying drive to an SSD vs a fresh Windows install on the same machine, which do you actually do for customers?

Jake White · 2026-09-16T16:30:04.203603+00:00

Had a client's old Dell Optiplex 3020 in Brooklyn last week with a failing 500GB spinning drive, and I cloned it over to a $40 SSD in about 25 minutes with Macrium. The other tech in our shop swears by wiping and doing a clean install instead, says clones drag malware and old junk along with them. I get his point, but cloning saved me 2 hours of driver hunting and the customer kept all their bookmarks and QuickBooks data without a fight. What's your rule, clone it and pray or nuke it and rebuild?

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Swapping a dying drive to an SSD vs a fresh Windows install on the same machine, which do you actually do for customers? | Computer Technicians - Free To Speak