If I had to replace an SSD, would I have to re-install all the programs on the HDD?

If you have the SSD backed up (full disc image) to some other media (drive) and the SSD fails, you restore the backed up disc image to the new SSD.  With this method everything remains the same and what is on the hard drive is still connected.  But, if the SSD died and you had to reinstall from scratch then the programs on the hard drive would have to be reinstalled too.  You user data on the hard drive should be OK.

Bottom line, you should be making periodic full drive disc image backups anyway, for "when" the drive fails not for "if it ever fails".  The backups to a separate drive (or 2 drives) help to simplify recovery.  I have two USB connected drives that I use for backup, using the free Macrium Reflect software.  I make a full disc backup to one drive and then the next backup I make to the other drive.  This is a "in case" option. If one of the backup drives were to fail or get corrupted I still have the copy on the other drive.  

Thanks.  The only thing holding me back from using an SSD is that I've read that it has a limited lifetime based on the number of writes made to it.  That's why I'm thinking of the worst case scenarios.  There are all kinds of tips to consider to decrease the number of writes made to the SSD.  So right now I'm trying to decide if it's worth worrying about all that.  My HDD's have served me well for many years and I've never had a catastrophic data failure before with them (I have an HDD still working fine after 10 years).  Do you think an SSD will fail sooner or later than an HDD (assuming they're both the same age)? 

For normal use the SSD should be fine. I've had my Crucial M500 SSD in my XPS 8300 running quite happily for maybe about 3 years now... It has outlasted some of the 1 TB HDDs. 

Of course irregardless it is recommended to create regular backups onto an external hard drive. I like using Macurium Reflect for this:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/backing-up-your-windows-installation-using-macrium-reflect/

Early SSD's were prone to failure.  Technology has improved in later SSD's.  I use SSD's in both my home built desktop (that I also use for my recording studio) and my Dell laptop.  

If the SSD died and I had to reinstall the operating system from scratch, then now I understand that the programs on the hard drive would have to be reinstalled too.  Would I be able to uninstall those programs if the operating system was reinstalled from scratch to the new SSD?  If not, then how would I uninstall those programs left hanging in the HDD?

Say I installed a program to the HDD but AFTER an SSD backup was made.  Then the SSD dies and I restore a disk image to a new SSD.  Would that program still work (since it was installed AFTER a backup was made)?

By the way, does that Macrium Reflect backup your drive automatically or do you have to pay for that version?

The Free version allows you to only make a Full Backup of your OS Boot Drive (and of any additional drives). The paid version will allow you to automatically make incremental backups...

So say your OS Boot Drive is C: and is a SSD and you have some programs installed on your HDD say D: You can use Macurim Reflect to make a Backup of C: and another backup of D:. If C: fails and you replace it with a new SSD and you have say for instance some separate programs such as games installed on D: then once you use Macurium Reflect to restore your image of C:\ all the registry entries referring to D:\ etc. will still be in place and as D:\ is unchanged will continue to work.

If however you are using Macurium Reflect to make an image of your original HDD and then restoring this onto your SSD then there is no need to have any of your program files etc on the HDD as they will all be in the Macurium Reflect Image and present on your new C:\ Drive. You are best to make an image of the HDD then remove the HDD, then place the SSD in your system and then restore the image and make sure you are happy with it. Then remove the SSD and replace the HDD and use something like Diskpart → Clean All to zero the drive. Then reinstall the SSD and then finally, initialise the HDD using Disk Management.

You first make images of all your drives onto an external HDD then a bootable USB which you can boot to, to restore the image.

Would this idea work:  As soon as I receive my computer and boot from the SSD for the very first time (without any of my programs installed), then use Macrium Reflect to make a disk image of that SSD (or should it be a disk clone?) to an external HDD.  This will be the only backup that I make and I will consider it a "factory restore" image.  I then install programs, some to the SSD and some to the HDD.  Then in the future, maybe something goes wrong like the SSD fails.  I then take my single backup image/clone to restore Windows to a new SSD.  I will probably have to re-install programs back on the SSD, but do I have to re-install programs back on the HDD?  

With my backup of Windows in the new SSD, will I be able to uninstall programs that I had originally installed in the HDD (with the previous SSD)?

There needs to be registry entries on the OS Boot Drive for programs to work.

Lets say you installed Microsoft Windows on your SSD and it has the drive letter C:\.

Then you make an Image of this install call it Image1 and you save it to your external Hard Drive E:\.

Then you install Microsoft Office on the D:\. This will create registry entries and program shortcuts on the C:\ Drives.

Then you make an Image of this install call it Image2 and you save it to your external Hard Drive E:\.

If you restore Image1 to C:\ the program shortcuts for Microsoft Office won't be present on D:\. You can go into D:\Program Files\... and launch the .exe but it will fail to launch as there are no registry entries for Microsoft Office on D:\ (and Product Activation issues).

If you restore Image2 to C:\ Microsoft Office will continue to work.

Thank-you Philip, that makes sense.  In your first scenario -> if I restore Image1 to C: (the image that only contains Windows and no other programs), how would I remove programs on the HDD if I don't have any other backup?  Do I manually delete the program files and folders in the HDD via Windows Explorer?  Or is there a formal way to uninstall each program?  Would these programs appear in the Control Panel of the new SSD?

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@Outlier007 wrote:

Thanks.  The only thing holding me back from using an SSD is that I've read that it has a limited lifetime based on the number of writes made to it.  That's why I'm thinking of the worst case scenarios.  There are all kinds of tips to consider to decrease the number of writes made to the SSD.  So right now I'm trying to decide if it's worth worrying about all that.  My HDD's have served me well for many years and I've never had a catastrophic data failure before with them (I have an HDD still working fine after 10 years).  Do you think an SSD will fail sooner or later than an HDD (assuming they're both the same age)? 

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I wouldn't worry too much about the lifespan of an SSD. My oldest SSD is a Kingston HyperX 240 GB drive.

Checking the drive status, it has 16800+ GB host reads and writes, and 28500 power-on hours. That's over 3.25 years of use. 

It shows that that 98% of the life is left.

There are two types of drives--those that are going to fail and those that have failed. All of my home computers back up to a NAS daily. The NAS gets backed up monthly.

Phillip, do you have an SSD guide for UPlay?  At this time, I'm using that one the most.  UPlay's save game folder is located in the same drive in which UPlay is installed and I haven't been able to figure out a way to change that location.  If I install UPlay on the SSD, then UPlay will write to it every single time I start and finish a game (due to the game syncs).  That could amount to a lot of writes which I wouldn't want for an SSD.  Any way to solve that?  It would suck to buy an SSD and then have to install UPlay on the HDD.   

You would have to delete their subfolder in the Program Files folder. They will not show up in add/remove programs unless the image is made after the program is installed (and they have their registry entries in the OS Boot Drive).

Anyway you can use the likes of Macurium Reflect every month or so to make a new image of the OS Boot Drive so you always have a new image to back up from. 

There are a few exceptions where the files in the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folder can be used such as Steam and EA Origin which can have ~100's of GBs worth of game installation files. I document Steam here (I've still to write the EA Origin guide but have the screenshots):

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/steam-game-installation-files/ 

I've never used uplay however I think you are worrying about read/write cycles too much... i.e. have been reading the type of "tech guides" usually about security etc. that try and instil so much fear in the reader that they never want to turn on their computer or connect to the internet.

Intensive read/write cycles like the continuous use of Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN which should never be used with a SSD) are problematic but for general use including gaming it's not. SSDs for instance Crucial SSDs have a warranty period of 3 years, so you can expect in the vast majority of cases most of the SSDs to last this time or longer:

http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/company-warranty 

In my primary desktop my XPS 8300 I have a 500 GB Crucial MX200 installed in about 2015 and it's been on pretty much 24/7. I have used Parted Magic to wipe it securely maybe about 20 times and probably clean installed some version of Windows probably well over 100 times given I like to test new Windows builds and write guides on Windows Installation. I have Steam and Origin installed on it. Long story short this type of usage is far more intensive than the average user and it's still running strong.

Games etc. should be installed on SSDs so they run much faster as it's the main advantage of having the SSD. The only time not to install Games on a SSD is when you have a low storage capacity SSD and don't have enough room for Windows to work comfortably (50 GB for Windows and program files).