- May 21, 2013
- 11
- 0
- 10,520
I want to upgrade my Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 40Gb IDE HD with a 128Gb PATA SSD.
OS: XP Pro SP3
File System: NTFS
HDD: Hitachi HTS424040M9AT00 IDE 40GB 4200rpm
SSD: Transcend TS128GPSD320 PATA 128GB
Acronis True Image 2013 or Transcend SSD Scope cloning software
GOAL: Reduce the 6 minute boot time of the Toughbook
I bought Acronis True Image 2013 and an external HD case w/ USB interface for SSD. I read the True Image user manual paying particular attention to the sections concerning SSDs. The user manual states “The recommended offset for Solid State Drives (SSD) is a multiple of 64 KB (most commonly, 1024KB or 2048 sectors).”. TRANSCEND STATES THE OFFSET FOR THIS DRIVE IS 512KB SINCE THE NAND FLASH CHIP COMES WITH 4096 BLOCKS.
True Image indicated that cloning to a ssd would automatically set the offset to 1024 KB (2048 sectors). So I used Clone disk under Tools and utilities. I used the Automatic settings. I did nothing (formatting, partitioning) to the SSD before cloning. After cloning, I was able to boot with the SSD but when I "list partitions" under command prompt, it shows that the SSD has a 32Kb offset.
I tried to fix the partition alignment with the diskpart command. The SSD was in an external HD case connected via USB cable. I typed:
Select disk 1
Clean (THIS WIPED THE DISK TO START FROM SCRATCH AGAIN)
Create partition primary align=512
The error I received was that it was an unknown command. I then typed:
Create partition primary offset=512
The command was successful but the list partition showed that the offset was 510MB (not KB).
I also tried:
Clean
Create partition primary align=1024
But I received an error that the command could not be completed.
I then tried:
Create partition primary align=1 (thinking that the units were MB)
The command was successful but the list partition showed the offset was 32KB (yes KB).
1) Is the offset (diskpart commands) handled by XP or NTFS? After cloning will XP or NTFS just start block writing? Am I just spinning my wheels?
2) Can you explain a little about what the offset is used for and why bigger or smaller is better as it relates to HD read/write times. I understand that bigger wastes memory but I am going from 40GB to 128GB.
3) Is the goal of faster boot times unrealistic because of IDE? I remember Seagate 7200rpm IDE drives. I think the Hitachi 4200rpm drive is the bottleneck (but the lower speed results in long battery life).
4) How can I set the partition alignment offset for 512KB (or 1024KB) if necessary?
5) Was True Image 2013 a poor choice? Is the Transcend SSD Scope a better choice? Will it allow me to set offset before cloning? Is there a better utility?
Thanks in advance for your help.
OS: XP Pro SP3
File System: NTFS
HDD: Hitachi HTS424040M9AT00 IDE 40GB 4200rpm
SSD: Transcend TS128GPSD320 PATA 128GB
Acronis True Image 2013 or Transcend SSD Scope cloning software
GOAL: Reduce the 6 minute boot time of the Toughbook
I bought Acronis True Image 2013 and an external HD case w/ USB interface for SSD. I read the True Image user manual paying particular attention to the sections concerning SSDs. The user manual states “The recommended offset for Solid State Drives (SSD) is a multiple of 64 KB (most commonly, 1024KB or 2048 sectors).”. TRANSCEND STATES THE OFFSET FOR THIS DRIVE IS 512KB SINCE THE NAND FLASH CHIP COMES WITH 4096 BLOCKS.
True Image indicated that cloning to a ssd would automatically set the offset to 1024 KB (2048 sectors). So I used Clone disk under Tools and utilities. I used the Automatic settings. I did nothing (formatting, partitioning) to the SSD before cloning. After cloning, I was able to boot with the SSD but when I "list partitions" under command prompt, it shows that the SSD has a 32Kb offset.
I tried to fix the partition alignment with the diskpart command. The SSD was in an external HD case connected via USB cable. I typed:
Select disk 1
Clean (THIS WIPED THE DISK TO START FROM SCRATCH AGAIN)
Create partition primary align=512
The error I received was that it was an unknown command. I then typed:
Create partition primary offset=512
The command was successful but the list partition showed that the offset was 510MB (not KB).
I also tried:
Clean
Create partition primary align=1024
But I received an error that the command could not be completed.
I then tried:
Create partition primary align=1 (thinking that the units were MB)
The command was successful but the list partition showed the offset was 32KB (yes KB).
1) Is the offset (diskpart commands) handled by XP or NTFS? After cloning will XP or NTFS just start block writing? Am I just spinning my wheels?
2) Can you explain a little about what the offset is used for and why bigger or smaller is better as it relates to HD read/write times. I understand that bigger wastes memory but I am going from 40GB to 128GB.
3) Is the goal of faster boot times unrealistic because of IDE? I remember Seagate 7200rpm IDE drives. I think the Hitachi 4200rpm drive is the bottleneck (but the lower speed results in long battery life).
4) How can I set the partition alignment offset for 512KB (or 1024KB) if necessary?
5) Was True Image 2013 a poor choice? Is the Transcend SSD Scope a better choice? Will it allow me to set offset before cloning? Is there a better utility?
Thanks in advance for your help.
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