New
#31
Starting here:
"You can, but you have to create 2 seperate aligned partitions on the SSD with Diskpart. That is, of course, possible, but a bit finagle because of the alignment requirement. I prefer to do things the simple, straight forward way."
Something just isn't clicking and from there on it is jibberish to me.
I've not found an imaging app myself that allows one to reimage to defined partitions, but instead it wants empty space or to delete the existing partitions for you. What am I missing here?
Hmm, That's strange. With free Macrium you can make as many images of a partition as you like and it does not touch the older images. You just get an additional file.
Here is an example of just one of my image folders. I weed it out from time to time but I have more images of that same system on 2 other disks.
I don't use Macrium, but the issue is will an imaging app allow you to reimage to a predefined (aligned) partition or does it require unallocated or free space?
Of course it will let you restore the image to a predefined partition. In the case of an SSD, it is even a must unless the image is coming from an aligned SSD.
If you dump the image into an unallocated space, you (can) get the alignment of the source. If that source was a HDD, the alignment is probably not right for the SSD. It could be even worse if you force the alignment in the freespace. If the C partition was e.g. only the second partition on the HDD, the space of the first partition will be kept free and you lose a lot of space on the SSD. Then you are aligned but have a bum deal.
I'm with Lady Fitzgerald on this one.
The articles I've read about "Advanced Format" have just been useless "technobabble".
All I need/want to know about it, is how do I install ANY OS (XP, Vista, W7, Linux distros) so that the format is maintained?
I would have assumed that a HDD image will retain its format (Old or Advanced) just like it retains the UUID.
How can you tell what your alignment currently is?
How do you know if you have successfully transferred an image (or installed an OS) to the new system (Advanced Format)?
Presumably if you are dual booting XP, you are screwed.
That is relatively easy (same for HDDs). See here: SSD AlignmentHow can you tell what your alignment currently is?