WD RAPTOR INSTALL WIN 7

[lelledge]

Hello,Alignment tool and instralling my new WD2500HHTZ - System: Windows 7 Pro 32 Bit -.Options
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My system is: WD2500HHTZ - System: Windows 7 Pro 32 Bit - Asus Sabertooth Board - 320 WD Blue and 750 black

I want to replace my boot 320 blue (The Boot Drive) with my new WD2500HHTZ - . AF 64MB cach, 10k drive.



I have read that XP requires jumper 7/8 to align other drives and my raptor: Would this also be true of 32 bit win 7 ?



Will I be able to install this drive and move system from old C drive (Blue 320 Drive) to the Raptor and if so, do I need to set jumpers to make it all work together ? If so are they the same as XP (7/8 ) or different ?



I also have external 1 TB WD USB Drive, used to store photos and music, SHLOUD IT BE RUNNING WHEN I MAKE THE CHANGE ?



I have never used the ADVANCED FORMAT DRIVES, in the past and I want to insure that I don't screw up my nearly perfect computer with this change. I'm just looking to improve photoshop usage and boot time without the expense of an SSD



Any help will be appreciated:

Leon

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

Windows 7 either recognises the advanced format drives or automatically creates all partitions which are correctly aligned (cant remember which)

If you start from scratch and do a clean install there will be no problems and what follows is not relevant

If you run cloning software to move the contents from old to new disk it will have problems going from 320GB down to 250GB

preparation
run WD hard disk diagnostics on old drive then run chkdsk

then clean out unwanted files with ccleaner , possibly clear out old restore points, (empty recycle bin)

use something like gparted or parted magic or one of several freeware programs to reduce partition size to less than 250GB
(remember disk size in GB is multiple of 10^9 according to disk manufacturers but Windows thinks it is 1024^3) so about 285GiB and 220GiB)

Then clone old drive to new drive
(I leave choice to you best to use program you are familiur with)
WD has a drive alignment utility available for download

Have you purchased the New hard disk yet ?

recently I replaced a WD Raptor 80GB 10k rpm sata I boot drive for a 120GB SSD (OCZ) the speed improvement / startup time is massive

regards

Mike Barnes

 

[lelledge]

Hi

Thanks for the reply Mike!

I may not have been clear enough in my inquiry.

My system has two current physical drives. 1. the boot, C, a older WD 320, That has 174 Gb used as OS, win 7 / 32 bit. and the rest is a second drive partition. It also contains a newer, standard format WD 750 GB, again split in two that has photos in half and music in the other, very full.

So I think the C, partition will fit if cloned to the Raptor. Assuming I do not have to move the second partition, mostly day to day stuff I can copy later to the 750/

My main concern is the result of an experience I had two years ago, I had cloned a drive and put the whole thing on a new drive. All seemed to work fine until I formated the original C to use it for storage. I could not boot from the new drive, alignment or some other issue. I had to do a full install and spend 16 hhours on updates and stuff before I had the computer, an older XP system p4/800 back up. I didn't loose anything but shortly after that I built my Sabertooth Win 7/32, which I really love.

This year I got a real deal on a Raptor 250GB (Advanced Format) 64 mb cach drive, $80.00 bucks new in retail box 5 yr warranty, no tax or shipping, etc. I could not pass it up and figured it would have to be faster than my 7400 rpm 320, which has been fine but takes 45 sec or so to boot up. Then I read that some people had alignment issues with AF and regular drives in the same computer. That brought me here.

I am using external usb drives and the 750 to build a family history presentation with music and with over 6000 pictures and hours of misic, I did not want to risk it all without advice from someome that had actually used AF and regular drives in the same machine with the AF disk as the boot.
What do you think, given the info above? Also how are you doing with the SSD ? I have a hard time trusting storage that seems to me, as old timer
from the network and imaging class, to be a magic box I can't really control much on, and from reviews, can't trust to be working for 5 years, to be a high risk.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

Some software clones hard drives ( mbr + all partitions), some only clone partitions, some can do either

A XP formatted drive consists of (at least) one partition which is easy to clone.

Vista & 7 a minimum of two partitions. first a very small hidden 100 Meg partition with the boot manager system followed by the main partition C:

I am not sure of best software to use or recommend

However WD has cloning software available for download [Acronis True Image WD Edition]


I have a XP Partition followed by a Windows 7 partitions and the boot manager system folder [ Boot ] is in the XP partition.

regards


Mike Barnes

 

[lelledge]

Thanks again Mike ! That seems to be the correct solution. WD agrees as well as Asus. I appreciate the help and now feel confident it will all work out fine. Now I just have to wait for Christmas to install the drive. My wife thinks it is not right to do that before I officially receive it.
Thanks again.