Has anyone installed a SSD Drive before?

lister · 24 Sep 2010

Hi - has anyone cloned their HDD and then re-installed on a SSD HDD with/out issues?

Should I expect issues?

thanks!

myzr7 · 24 Sep 2010

You may find some info that you want in this thread. SSD Tweaks and Optimizations in Windows 7
Or this from the tutorial section. Good luck to you.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

whs · 24 Sep 2010

If you follow the instructions above, you should have no problems. The most important actions are to align the SSD before the installation/cloning and to shut off disk Defrag after the installation ( usually the Win7 installer does that). If you do not use hibernation, it saves disk space to delete the hiberfile. All the rest of the recommendations are kind of optional. Some are even counterproductive - e.g. to shut off Superfetch, to move the pagefile to another drive, etc.).
If you need more details on the above, post back and ask.

lister · 02 Oct 2010

thanks for that.

So you should never defrag a SSD?

madtownidiot · 02 Oct 2010

exactly.. it's completely unnecessary to defrag a SSD, and in fact the defrag service is disabled by default when you install windows 7.. if you're cloning to a ssd, you should disable the defrag service and turn off the pagefile, but I would strongly advise you to do a fresh windows install when upgrading to a SSD

karlsnooks · 03 Oct 2010

lister said:

Hi - has anyone cloned their HDD and then re-installed on a SSD HDD with/out issues? Should I expect issues?
thanks!

Yes.
No.

Issues can arise if you have more bits being actually used presently than you have space for on the SSD.

Post a copy of your present DiskManagement.

HOW TO POST A SNAPSHOT OF DISK MANAGEMENT DISPLAY

Run disk management:
WIN | type DISKMGMT.MSC | ENTER
WIN is the key with the wavy flag.

Maximize the output of Disk Management:
ALT Spacebar key combo | X key
Drag the field separators (such as between Status and Capacity) to show entire field.

Make a snapshot:
WIN | type SNIPPING | ENTER
Click the New button.
Drag the cursor around the area you want to snip.
File | Save as | select save location and name | Save button

Post the snapshot:
Screenshot - How to post

lister · 03 Oct 2010

Thanks a lot for your replies.

As you can see from the screenshot, I think it is possible to clone my hard drive and re-install onto a SSD - but it is going to be difficult.

The reason I think that is because the partitions are a mix of NTFS and ext4, (which is for linux....)

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

(The machine I would like to clone is a dual boot that shares a media folder, which is the D Drive)

whs · 03 Oct 2010

Just like to remind you again that you have to align the SSD before you clone stuff onto it. I just posted this little tutorial that may help SSD Alignment

With your mixed setup it may be the best to clone the Win7 partition first onto the whole drive and then shrink the resulting C partition to define additional partitions for the rest. You may have to use BEST FREE Partition Manager Software for Windows supports all 32-bit & 64 bit Windows No-server OS. to do that because Disk Management will not let you shrink the C partition enough to gain the required space.

Bare Foot Kid · 03 Oct 2010

Have a look at these tutorials at the links below for an out-line on the uses of the free Partition Wizard program.

Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

Dual Boot : Create Partitions Using PWBD

Partition : Recover Space Used by an Older OS

lister · 03 Oct 2010

Great thanks again guys, your assistance is invaluable. I will let you know how I get on....

Thanks -