Installing a ssd as my primary

[togaines1960]

I am in the process of purchasing a ssd to use as my primary drive.I have read other listed advice articles about re-installing winpro7. I was wondering since I have Acronis and I have image/copy my existing HHD..My question is...Can I copy that existing HHD image onto the SSD with no problems? Please advise the steps I need to take. The existing HHD I will use to store the rest of the files for other program. I just want to installed program I use frequently.

 

[dingo07]

you can IF the image of the HDD will fit on the SSD

if the SSD is 240GB (space avialable) and the HDD image is more, then you need to resize the HDD partition to 240GB

this is not recommended - you should install fresh on the SSD including all drivers, then all windows updates, then programs

 

[togaines1960]

My HHD is partitioned. I have winpro7 on c :drive and and other programs and files on d:. If I just image the C:drive to the SSD will that be ok. Now after that, how to I remove the OS from the HHD or do I need to.

 

[geofelt]

I would try it.

If the space used on your hard drive will fit, then cloning is a possibility.

Acronis clone has worked for me before with no problems.

If your current sata mode is AHCI, then you should be OK since you will have trim support drivers.
It is the only driver that is of importance.
Otherwise, it requires a registry hack to change from IDE to AHCI.

If your new ssd is Intel, download their ssd migration tool which is a modified version of acronis clone. It is not clear to me if the modification does anything necessary, or only restricts it's free use to intel ssd's. Their migration tool has worked for me also.

If, for whatever reason, it does not work, you still have the original hard drive to fall back on.

 

[dingo07]

I have not used Acronis so I'm not sure if you can image "just the C partition" - normally the entire drive is the image

after, you can just delete the windows directories on the HDD... it's better if you have another drive to move the data onto, then wipe the HDD clean and replace Only the data

 

[geofelt]

My HHD is partitioned. I have winpro7 on c :drive and and other programs and files on d:. If I just image the C:drive to the SSD will that be ok. Now after that, how to I remove the OS from the HHD or do I need to.

You don't need to.
But, if you want, just delete all the files.

But, another issue arises.
If your apps on "D" have registry entries, there might be some issues.

 

[yoji]

this is not recommended - you should install fresh on the SSD including all drivers, then all windows updates, then programs

Yes... "not recommended" by people who are just covering their arses and dont want to man up to giving advice other than "the safe option".

I did exactly what you are asking about... I moved from HDD and moved (with acronis) to a SSD
I was able to do the move and it all worked very well
Note...As Dingo Says... the actual data used on your original drive must fit the SSD... but as long as that is the case - Acronis was able to move the data/image to the SSD
I assume you have Win 7 - as that has TRIM support native... dont go ahead without that.
My move went very well.... but

Cheers

 

[togaines1960]

Great guys I appreciate the advice. The next thing to do is "DO It" I have backed up my HHD on a external 3tb drive. The new drive is : OCZ Technology 256GB Vertex 4 Series SATA 6.0 GB/s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) With Industry's Highest 120K IOPS And 5-Year Warranty - VTX4-25SAT3-256G.
If you all think of anything else I need to know.... I'm listening

 

[nukemaster]

Just want to add to this that you will also want your system reserved partition to be cloned as well. It tells windows to boot.

For testing, after cloning you should remove the hard drive(unplug its sata cable) just to make sure you re booting fine with the SSD. If you have files on ddesktop and personal files, you may have issues when you log into windows, This is not an issue as once you get the hard drive back in, you should be good to go.)

Now sometimes you may run into an issue after cloning with some software. The issue is that the windows boot loader is looking for the hard drive and it is gone. If this happens you will get a boot error.

The fastest way to fix this is to just use the windows 7 DVD to do a start-up repair and it will fix you right up.

Just to let you know what I have done in the past for HDD to SSD

Clone my system reserved and c: to SSD. Files(docs/desktop/media center recordings) stayed on the dit was a partition in this case)

powered down and removed the hard drive sata cable and booted off the sata cable. boot error.

Windows 7 DVD -> Start-up repair

Boot windows it loads and is all good. Can not even open my computer because it is looking for stuff that is on d:

Power down and replug the hard drive and boot up all fine on the SSD.

Shrink the windows partition as small as it goes on the hard drive then remove its drive letter from the SSD copy of windows. Now if i ever have SSD issues, I can still boot from the hard drive as its system reserved + windows partition are still on the drive.

End result is I get a faster(and quieter without all the hard drive noise since it runs much less) system and more space for files.

The software I used was EaseUS Todo Backup Free for the partition copies and EaseUS partition master for the partition adjustments(FAR better then windows built in).

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm
http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

I was looking to try free software

With software like Acronis(paid), you do not need to take the windows repair step(or at least I never have).