- May 18, 2010
- 30
- 0
- 18,540
I'm hoping that others may avoid the relative agony that I experienced this morning replacing a 256 GB Vertex 4 with a 1 TB Samsung EVO.
Here's the process that I used and failed and then succeeded:
First my computer specs:
ASUS P9X79 Deluxe MB
Core i7-3930K processor
Mushkin 16 GB PC3-16000 DDR3 2000 MHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti SuperClocked+
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
1. I got the Samsung 840 EVO 1 TB drive from Amazon. Unfortunately although this is certainly a premium drive, the USB adapter to image my old drive to the Samsung was NOT included. Fortunately I had a USB hard drive docking station which was compatible with the new SSD.
2. I installed the Samsung imaging software and updated it. I then used the software to image my old SSD onto the new Samsung drive via the USB 3 hard drive dock.
3. Once completed, I physically replaced the old Vertex 4 with the new Samsung drive and rebooted my machine.
4. As you might have guessed from the nature of this post, the computer would not boot from this drive despite my setting this drive as the boot drive in the UEFI BIOS.
5. I then attempted to boot from the OEM Windows 7 disc I had used to register my Windows installation to "repair" the Windows 7 on the new SSD to allow booting. Unfortunately, I got the message that "The version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair."
6. I shutdown the computer, replaced the new SSD with the old SSD and booted into Windows 7. I then went to Control Panel > Backup & Restore > Create a system repair disc
7. I then shutdown the computer and replaced the old SSD with the newer Samsung SSD.
8. I then booted to the system repair disc that I had just created. When I attempted to "repair" the Windows 7 on the Samsung drive, I got the same message as before: "The version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair."
9. Next I shutdown, replaced the new SSD with the old one. I booted into Windows 7 and downloaded Macrum Reflect Free. I then imaged the new SSD again with the old one using Macrum Reflect Free. I also created a Macrum Rescue Media disc on a CD-ROM per the step-by-by step instructions. I had to download a copy of Windows PE 3 prior to creation of the rescue media. I shutdown the computer.
10. I then moved then new Samsung SSD into the SATA connectors previously occupied by the Vertex 4.
11. I booted from the Macrum Rescue Media disc. It loaded into Windows PE. Ultimately there was a way to select which drive already had Windows 7 on it. Once that drive was selected, the Macrum Rescue Disc/Windows PE gave the option of fixing common errors that may cause problems with booting. There were 4 of these, all selected by default. I clicked OK.
12. I then rebooted after removing the Macrum Rescue Media disc. Windows or the BIOS indicated that I needed to pick a boot drive. I then rebooted and entered the BIOS. I went to the Boot Menu and selected the Samsung drive as the boot drive.
13. Windows booted!!!! I was then given the option of updating the Samsung drive firmware which I did, and rebooted again. In fact, I believe there was even one more reboot, and the process was finished.
I feel like this was harder than it should have been. Many other strong-willed folks would have given up earlier than I did.
I'm not sure why Windows 7 couldn't repair itself and I had to resort to a third-party solution.
I would be interested in comments on how this process might have been easier, other than the obvious solution in that I should have started with Macrum or a similar utility to begin with.
Thanks.
Jim
Austin TX
Here's the process that I used and failed and then succeeded:
First my computer specs:
ASUS P9X79 Deluxe MB
Core i7-3930K processor
Mushkin 16 GB PC3-16000 DDR3 2000 MHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti SuperClocked+
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
1. I got the Samsung 840 EVO 1 TB drive from Amazon. Unfortunately although this is certainly a premium drive, the USB adapter to image my old drive to the Samsung was NOT included. Fortunately I had a USB hard drive docking station which was compatible with the new SSD.
2. I installed the Samsung imaging software and updated it. I then used the software to image my old SSD onto the new Samsung drive via the USB 3 hard drive dock.
3. Once completed, I physically replaced the old Vertex 4 with the new Samsung drive and rebooted my machine.
4. As you might have guessed from the nature of this post, the computer would not boot from this drive despite my setting this drive as the boot drive in the UEFI BIOS.
5. I then attempted to boot from the OEM Windows 7 disc I had used to register my Windows installation to "repair" the Windows 7 on the new SSD to allow booting. Unfortunately, I got the message that "The version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair."
6. I shutdown the computer, replaced the new SSD with the old SSD and booted into Windows 7. I then went to Control Panel > Backup & Restore > Create a system repair disc
7. I then shutdown the computer and replaced the old SSD with the newer Samsung SSD.
8. I then booted to the system repair disc that I had just created. When I attempted to "repair" the Windows 7 on the Samsung drive, I got the same message as before: "The version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair."
9. Next I shutdown, replaced the new SSD with the old one. I booted into Windows 7 and downloaded Macrum Reflect Free. I then imaged the new SSD again with the old one using Macrum Reflect Free. I also created a Macrum Rescue Media disc on a CD-ROM per the step-by-by step instructions. I had to download a copy of Windows PE 3 prior to creation of the rescue media. I shutdown the computer.
10. I then moved then new Samsung SSD into the SATA connectors previously occupied by the Vertex 4.
11. I booted from the Macrum Rescue Media disc. It loaded into Windows PE. Ultimately there was a way to select which drive already had Windows 7 on it. Once that drive was selected, the Macrum Rescue Disc/Windows PE gave the option of fixing common errors that may cause problems with booting. There were 4 of these, all selected by default. I clicked OK.
12. I then rebooted after removing the Macrum Rescue Media disc. Windows or the BIOS indicated that I needed to pick a boot drive. I then rebooted and entered the BIOS. I went to the Boot Menu and selected the Samsung drive as the boot drive.
13. Windows booted!!!! I was then given the option of updating the Samsung drive firmware which I did, and rebooted again. In fact, I believe there was even one more reboot, and the process was finished.
I feel like this was harder than it should have been. Many other strong-willed folks would have given up earlier than I did.
I'm not sure why Windows 7 couldn't repair itself and I had to resort to a third-party solution.
I would be interested in comments on how this process might have been easier, other than the obvious solution in that I should have started with Macrum or a similar utility to begin with.
Thanks.
Jim
Austin TX
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram