Hi chaps,
I know this should be in a PC forum, but I also know there's a few IT guys around here somewhere... 😉
So, I'd like to upgrade my laptop to a solid-state drive. Its a fairly modern laptop, so we're dealing with SATA III and USB 3.0 here. I've ordered a USB 3.0 hard-drive caddy, which should be here in a few days.
My big question is, how do I transfer everything from my current hard-drive to the new one?
I was thinking of booting Linux Mint off a pendrive and then copy & paste everything across to the USB drive, which will have the solid-state drive in.
So far as I know, Linux doesn't care much what its doing to Windows files, it'll just get on with it. Sounds like exactly what I need to get this done.
The new SSD will probably be a 512Gb, which should be plenty of room. If not, I've got the old HDD in the USB caddy.
Any input much appreciated - I only know the basics.
TIA
Chris
I know this should be in a PC forum, but I also know there's a few IT guys around here somewhere... 😉
So, I'd like to upgrade my laptop to a solid-state drive. Its a fairly modern laptop, so we're dealing with SATA III and USB 3.0 here. I've ordered a USB 3.0 hard-drive caddy, which should be here in a few days.
My big question is, how do I transfer everything from my current hard-drive to the new one?
I was thinking of booting Linux Mint off a pendrive and then copy & paste everything across to the USB drive, which will have the solid-state drive in.
So far as I know, Linux doesn't care much what its doing to Windows files, it'll just get on with it. Sounds like exactly what I need to get this done.
The new SSD will probably be a 512Gb, which should be plenty of room. If not, I've got the old HDD in the USB caddy.
Any input much appreciated - I only know the basics.
TIA
Chris
Copying files won't work as the boot sector needs to be created. There are a few free cloning tools around, I've used Macrium Reflect before.
If you have an external drive (to make an image to), clonezilla will do the trick 🙂 It will even resize for you automatically. It's a while since I used it and it was pretty raw but it does the trick. You can also clone disk to disk if you can have both plugged in at once, but you need to be careful not to clone the wrong way!!
Clonezilla - About
Tony.
Clonezilla - About
Tony.
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Put your SSD into your USB caddy. Start filezilla and create a clone to the SSD from your main drive. When complete, power off, remove the battery and external power. Replace the hdd with the cloned SSD. Put your old drive in the caddy and if you need any info that didn't copy, you have it to hand. Power up your machine and there it is.
Isn't there something about 'alignment' when transferring to SSD in order to get the possible speed. It's something I've seen mentioned many times. Google SSD alignment.
If you format the SSD when installing Windows the alignment issue gets sorted out. Obviously if you clone over that newly formatted drive/partition you are then back to HDD size block which will worsen performance.
Although I suggested a clone tool, to be honest though, look at it as a good opportunity to do a fresh install of windows and only install the stuff you need.
Although I suggested a clone tool, to be honest though, look at it as a good opportunity to do a fresh install of windows and only install the stuff you need.
That's worth knowing, thanks. I'm a past master at clean installing Windows but have never used an SSD (yet 😀). CPC have some good deals at the moment on the weekly flyer.
If you boot in linux
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 conv=noerror,sync
where sda is source disc and sdb is destination disc
This will clone the entire drive, including MBR (and therefore bootloader), all partitions, UUIDs, and data.
Regards,
Tibi
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 conv=noerror,sync
where sda is source disc and sdb is destination disc
This will clone the entire drive, including MBR (and therefore bootloader), all partitions, UUIDs, and data.
Regards,
Tibi
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I'd reinstall Windows on the new drive. It can be a bit temperamental about being moved to a different sized drive.
Mac OS and Linux don't seem to care. I upgraded my Macbook Pro to a SSD recently using a Linux boot CD to clone it.
Mac OS and Linux don't seem to care. I upgraded my Macbook Pro to a SSD recently using a Linux boot CD to clone it.
Okay, so it looks like favourite is to re-install Windows, and then transfer anything I want back over.
I'm running Windows 8.1, but this laptop came pre-installed with Windows 8. I've tried both Win8 and Win8.1 installers, to find that neither will accept my product key to let me install to a pendrive.
Trying to follow the instructions here...
How to make a Windows 8.1 USB Installer - Bootable USB | Bootable USB
Product key finder below.
How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys
Thanks for all the input, chaps - I didn't expect so much input so quickly.
Chris
I'm running Windows 8.1, but this laptop came pre-installed with Windows 8. I've tried both Win8 and Win8.1 installers, to find that neither will accept my product key to let me install to a pendrive.
Trying to follow the instructions here...
How to make a Windows 8.1 USB Installer - Bootable USB | Bootable USB
Product key finder below.
How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys
Thanks for all the input, chaps - I didn't expect so much input so quickly.
Chris
Check your laptop's existing Windows installation for an option to make a USB recovery disk. Creating a USB recovery drive - Windows Help
This should result in a bootable USB disk that you can boot the machine from, and reinstall the OS, after swapping in the new hard disk.
This should result in a bootable USB disk that you can boot the machine from, and reinstall the OS, after swapping in the new hard disk.
That looks promising, thank-you very much!
There appears to be a large discrepancy between the number of pendrives that I own, and the number I can actually find. Might pick up a shiny new one - they're very cheap these days.
Any idea of what sort of size will be needed? I've seen 3Gb mentioned, but I'll probably go to 8Gb.
Chris
There appears to be a large discrepancy between the number of pendrives that I own, and the number I can actually find. Might pick up a shiny new one - they're very cheap these days.
Any idea of what sort of size will be needed? I've seen 3Gb mentioned, but I'll probably go to 8Gb.
Chris
Probably one of the best resources... well I find it so,
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO - Download or Create
Clean Install - Windows 8
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO - Download or Create
Clean Install - Windows 8
Im a big fan of clean or fresh OS install.
1) create a bootable USB stick 1st
2) gathered a 3rd party program that reads the MS Windows OEM code to automatically activate my machines OS.
3) DL my version of Windows onto a bootable USB stick.
4) install new SSD and boot into USB stick wait about 10-15 for windows to install to the new SSD
5) connect to internet and install antivirus and all OS updates.
Win 7 http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds
Win 8 Sean's Windows 8 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs
1) create a bootable USB stick 1st
2) gathered a 3rd party program that reads the MS Windows OEM code to automatically activate my machines OS.
3) DL my version of Windows onto a bootable USB stick.
4) install new SSD and boot into USB stick wait about 10-15 for windows to install to the new SSD
5) connect to internet and install antivirus and all OS updates.
Win 7 http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds
Win 8 Sean's Windows 8 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs
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And create 2 partitions, one for the OS and another much bigger one to store your data. That way you can reinstall OS whenever you want and your data is safe 🙂
yes I prefer a re-install as well, but cloning is much quicker and easier. I would say clone if the existing windows install is relatively fresh, but if you have had the machine 12 months or more a re-install will clean things up. two partitions as richie suggests is a good idea as well, but don't make the system partition too small. on my Windows7 machine I made it 100GB and I now think that is too small. I've no experience with windows 8 or 8.1.
If you have the space, make an image (using clonezilla) of the existing drive before re-installing and if things don't go well you can restore the image.
An SSD will transform your laptop, I couldn't believe how much more responsive mine was when I got an SSD!
Tony.
If you have the space, make an image (using clonezilla) of the existing drive before re-installing and if things don't go well you can restore the image.
An SSD will transform your laptop, I couldn't believe how much more responsive mine was when I got an SSD!
Tony.
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Its probably been 9 months that I've had this laptop, but there's a lot of rubbish built up.
Is a partition really necessary since I'll have the old HDD in a usb caddy?
I can't see another Windows install coming for a year or two yet.
Can't wait to get this new drive up and running, but need to hang on to let bills and rent come out of my account first... 🙁
Chris
Is a partition really necessary since I'll have the old HDD in a usb caddy?
I can't see another Windows install coming for a year or two yet.
Can't wait to get this new drive up and running, but need to hang on to let bills and rent come out of my account first... 🙁
Chris
Okay, rent and bills came out, and I've still got the money to do this.
A shiny new SSD is winging its way to me, and will be here early next week.
So far, I've created 2 bootable USB drives, one much bigger than the other via the recovery drive options. I think the smaller one just has Windows, and the bigger one has some other stuff too..?
- No idea.
Anyway, I'll be dropping this in on the 6th of Feb, which is the day of my last exam. I'm gonna need my laptop until then, so I'm not gonna mess with it just yet.
Cheers, all.
Chris
A shiny new SSD is winging its way to me, and will be here early next week.
So far, I've created 2 bootable USB drives, one much bigger than the other via the recovery drive options. I think the smaller one just has Windows, and the bigger one has some other stuff too..?
- No idea.
Anyway, I'll be dropping this in on the 6th of Feb, which is the day of my last exam. I'm gonna need my laptop until then, so I'm not gonna mess with it just yet.
Cheers, all.
Chris
Okay, so I put the new SSD into my laptop, plugged in the USB recovery drive, and...
Nothing, just an error: "unable to reset pc a required drive partition is missing".
Fortunately, the SSD came with a product key for Acronic, so I'll give that a try instead.
PS - I'm afraid that this install of Windows has no product key: its an OEM install, and so far digging out the product key has proven inaccurate/impossible.
Nothing, just an error: "unable to reset pc a required drive partition is missing".
Fortunately, the SSD came with a product key for Acronic, so I'll give that a try instead.
PS - I'm afraid that this install of Windows has no product key: its an OEM install, and so far digging out the product key has proven inaccurate/impossible.
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Cloned the disk using Acronic, and its done the job perfectly. Everything's where it always has been, passwords etc remembered.
iTunes opens in a flash, despite the pages of artwork.
From here, I suppose I could do a reset on this drive, and then transfer everything over again. That said, the "PC Refresh" option might be worth a go - from what I can tell, it keeps all your stuff, but tidies everything up a bit for a smoother ride.
Chris
iTunes opens in a flash, despite the pages of artwork.
From here, I suppose I could do a reset on this drive, and then transfer everything over again. That said, the "PC Refresh" option might be worth a go - from what I can tell, it keeps all your stuff, but tidies everything up a bit for a smoother ride.
Chris
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