SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

whs · 07 Dec 2011

There is nothing to check or uncheck. Just change the BIOS to boot from the SSD. And when you replugged your HDD, you can delte your OS partition and the 100MB system partition from there - unless you want to keep it as a backup.

For moving your user folders you have 2 options - for one as explained in the video tutorial. But these days I prefer another method. Create new folders for Documents, Pictures etc. on the HDD and then right click on those and INCLUDE them into the corresponding library. Then move your own use folders to there.

The advantage of this second method is that you get a clear seperation of your own stuff and the folders that are created by the system and some programs which will go into the default folders. And there will be some - especially in Documents.

jff02 · 07 Dec 2011

Hello,
Sorry if my previous post is unclear, but when running the paragon migration tool, it prompts me to uncheck the folders in order for it to fit onto the ssd. The screenshot of it taking 34% space is having everything unchecked. My question is that during that process, is there anything I should leave checked to optimize my performance?

It get's a little blurry between whats what and where the drivers are that I should migrate along with the OS. For example, there is both microsoft office in Program Files AND Program files (X86) so do I select both?

Thanks again, for all the help.

whs · 07 Dec 2011

You only uncheck your own data folders - none of the system folders. Then you make another partition on the HDD where you make new folders for your own stuff and include them as described above.

You could also first move your stuff out of the C: partition on the HDD (to a seperate partition) so that you only have the system left on C: - which should fit easily on the SSD.

jff02 · 07 Dec 2011

Okay, so is the "Windows" folder in my C partition my systems folder therefore cannot be excluded from the transfer?

whs · 07 Dec 2011

Absolutely not. Do not touch any folders that are not your own.

jff02 · 07 Dec 2011

whs said:

Absolutely not. Do not touch any folders that are not your own.

So check or uncheck? I'm sorry for these silly questions but I want to make sure.
I posted a screenshot earlier indicating all the options. They are defaulted checked in the paragon migration tool

I have yet to proceed with the migration yet

whs · 07 Dec 2011

jff, The idea is to make the data on the C: partition small enough before you migrate or during the migration so that it fits on the SSD. The actual size of the C: partition does not matter - what matters is what amount of data is in the partition. If you had Win7 only on the HDD C: partition, it should not be much bigger than 20 to 30GBs.

So the aim is to get your own user files out of the way. You could copy your own stuff temporarily to an external disk and delete it in C: or you make a "holding" partition on the HDD (if you can gain enough space on it to hold everything) and move it there.

In the first case (external disk), you can then reimport your files to the HDD into the space that in now C: after you migrated that slimmed down C: and delted the partition to use the space for the creation of a new data partition.

In the second case (where you moved it to a holding partition on the HDD right away) you can use that as is and just INCLUDE your folders into the library system of the SSD.

The other possibility is to exclude your own folders during the migration. In that case they will stay on your C: on the HDD and you can use them from there after the migration (by including them into the SSD libraries). Problem here is that you cannot easily get rid of the Win7 OS that is sitting on the HDD - that is why I would prefer one of the other solutions.

And I am sorry - I cannot read your screenshot. Too small, my eyes are too bad.

jff02 · 07 Dec 2011

Thank you so much for your patience whs, I truly appreciate it.

Originally I thought the migration tool will be enough to separate the system files from the user files, but I am wrong.

So from what you are saying now is that I should just create a partition from C by shrinking C, and naming the new partition to my main partition. Then create folders there with the same names as all my user folders and move everything besides the OS there.

Now the problem is that I am not entirely sure which files are the system files and which ones are the ones I should be moving to the new partition.

But once i figured that out and moved my files out of C to the new partition, running the paragon tool will be as easy as selecting all of C, and a few things from the new partition (lets call it F) and pick apps like microsoft office and google chrome and anti malware

here is the previous screenshot on a different web host imaging service (have you tried to zoom in the previous image?):

The two windows on the right is what shows up during the use of Paragon Migration Tool, and the bottom right image is when i UNCHECKED everything. it still shows that ~20GB of data is being transfered, so I assume that's the OS

And this is what my C partition look like (So which folders should I move to F?):

whs · 07 Dec 2011

!. I can read your pics now - thank you. Unfortunately I cannot see any sizes anywhere. Make a snip of COMPUTER - that will be more telling. Or a snip of DisK Management like mine below which shows all the size info.

2. What you should move out of C: is: Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music and possibly Downloads if you have a lot of stuff in there.

3. Run CCleaner before you start the migration. That will get rid of all the temporary files.

jff02 · 07 Dec 2011

Here you go, thanks:

And this could be small (try ctrl +?), but basically this is the step i was stuck on:
(Left side is manual, right side is program)

The yellow box states that i should NOT exclude the systems folder while migrating with the program, and the program should take care of the problem of "too much stuff in C"