Windows 7: SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

Introduction

If you never owned an SSD, you have missed something. Yes, they are not cheap, but Dollar per Dollar there...

It's taken blood, sweat & tears (and a lot of Googling) but I've got it pretty much sorted now.



I'm having to re-instal quite a few apps, the shortcuts & start menu items mostly have gone, but if I do it as I need them it won't be too bad. Got the vital ones already - GOM player, WinAmp, IrfanView, Skype & PowerDVD.

But I'll finally declare this one totally closed.

Just wanted to post a very quick thank you note to Mr. whs for his awesome tutorial!

I initially went the "Geeky" route, feeling fairly comfortable I would be able to complete the process without a hitch. However, after getting about 60% of the way through, got cold feet since I am running an OEM version from an old Dell PC that I have already gotten an exception for when I rebuilt from mobo up, and no longer have the case for (I assure you, it's a 100% legit copy - just made the bonehead mistake of tossing the old case w/ the sticker still attatched :O ) I ended up taking the easy way out via Paragon's tool and the prog worked like a charm - caveat being my C: drive was only 1/2 of my SSD and didn't have the 100mb partition concern either - not sure if/how that played a part in the ease of migration.

Either way, for those on the fence about the tool, I would highly suggest getting it if you are in the least bit concerned you may screw something up along the way. 20 minutes from install of the prog, all files had been cloned and I was adjusting my BIOS options. Only slight hiccup I had was due to user error and misreading the directions - I changed to AHCI in BIOS prior to changing in Windows (herp derp), but swapped back to IDE, followed the simple instructions on how to manually adjust in regedit, and it was smooth sailing from there

Thanks again, whs and sevenforums! This isnt the first time you have helped this guy out immensely, and would venture a guess it won't be the last!


P.S. Just as a quick note, and something I do not think was covered in the tutorial, I made sure I updated my SSD's firmware prior to initiating the cloning process based on recommendations I read on other sites. Not sure what impact that may make on the installation process, if any, but based on my results it certainly couldn't hurt



Edit: Oh, I also wanted to mention that a quick search for "Paragon Migrate coupon code" on Google resulted in an instant 25% savings through one of the sites they run ads on, Google Ad Sense I would assume. Either way, only had to pay $15 and some change... \o/

Thanks for your kind words. The coupon idea is excellent. I did not even know about that.

The firmware update is a two edge sword. Not all updates are recommended. On my Crucial M4 SSD I still run on FW 0309 which is backlevel. The last 000F has had several bad reports.

Thanks for your great tutorial whs.

After reading all the replies I decided to use Paragon Migrate OS to move my Windows 7 Home 64-bit OS from my old 500GB HDD (Dell Studio XPS 1340) to a new Samsung 256GB SSD.

However, I think I already successfully moved Bootmgr to C:\ (I noticed that something changed as my laptop turns off after I close the lid, opposed to previous sleep mode).

How do I undo this change if I need to do it before my new SSD arrives as I plan to use Paragon Migrate OS and I might not need it anymore?

Thanks.

If your bootmgr is on C now, I would leave it there. The 100MB partition will be only in your way.

However, if you really want to move it back to a 100MB partition, you have to define such a primary partition with Disk Management, give that 100MB partition a drive letter and move the bootmgr there. Just make sure you change the drive letter to that of the 100MB partition as the picture shows.

Thanks, I'll keep it on C if it will not interfere with a move to a SSD.

I finally was able to get the Paragon software to run to completion, after downloading a developmental version. I can now boot from the SSD. Most software works as it should, however, Windows Live Mail won't start and Windows Update won't run. Paragon decided something is wrong with my Windows installation, although it checks out fine, and everything works when booting from the HDD. Looks like I'll have to do a clean Windows install on the SSD eventually, maybe after Win 8, if I decide to "upgrade" to it.

I got lazy and initially tried the Paragon migrate but it played havoc with my Reliability Monitor. I ended up just doing an image restore to aligned partitions. However, the tool seems to work fine for most.
In your case I'd be tempted to do a clean install of Windows 7. I don't know about waiting to upgrade to Windows 8

Hi, I'm trying to do this the geeky way, and have hit a small speed-bump. When creating a new C partition on the SSD using Disk Management, how is this done?

Hello Gaine, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Please go ahead and post a screenshot of your Disk Management showing the full layout of the SSD first so that we can be sure to give the proper advice.