SSD on Win XP

[sintos]

Hello internet!

I am asking for help on transferring files from an old Hard Drive to a brand new SSD
Samsung 830 - 128 GB to be precise. When that's done, I have to tackle the fact that i will be running an SSD on winXP, I've heard mixed stories that it can cause problems, and slow down the SSD immensly, what can I do?

1) Cloning programs to get the old files (and operating system) onto the SSD

2) Tweaks for a better and faster experience with winXP on an SSD.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JordoR]

I have used Acronis True Image software to very succesfully transfer old files/OS from one drive to another. Personally though, I like to do a fresh install everytime... maybe I just don't trust the software enough

Good choice on your SSD you should be very happy with it. If you are interested in tweaks for your SSD, check out the sticky in the main Storage Forum section, it has some very useful tips that you shouldn't ignore.

Maybe a dumb question, but why not just upgrade to W7 since you are doing this upgrade anyway?

 

[sintos]

It's because it's for a work computer, that uses a specific software which is not compatible with anything higher than winXP.

I am not a computer genius, but I read somewhere that that the SSD drive has to be aligned properly for winXP, since it operates it's drives in a different way.

Could anyone explain that in layman terms, and eventually direct me to a tutorial?

That would be much appreciated - Thanks in advance!

 

[DHFF]

I have several SSD drives at work, all of which are running XP that was cloned from previous drives. so far no problems. like you I was concerned in the beginning about nonalignment but the only way to set the alignment is to do a clean install of XP, and from what I understand you need to hook the drive up to a Win 7 computer first and set the alignment on the new drive, then install XP. I have not done this myself so I stand corrected if I am wrong.

as for running slower, yes it will be slower by comparison to a win 7 system but even misaligned it will still blow your old HDD out of the water. consider that the average HDD reads and writes on average (and this is VERY generalized) less then 100mps where as your average SSD read/writes on average 400-500mps so even if the drive crawls at 50% due to misalignment you will still be going twice as fast as you are used to.

and I too used Acronis to clone the XP drives. been using it for over 5 years, cloned over 22 computers this year alone and I have never had a problem.