Solved Reinstallation on SSD, how much GB needed for clean install?

[gregrocker]

You can download the latest ISO as discussed in Step 1 of Clean Reinstall Windows 7.
This will save over an hour of updating.

You can put your data on the SSD if you have enough space, then move it off later to the HDD when you need the space. Be sure to keep your data backed up in another location, even the cloud. One method is here to Sync, Backup and Store your Files to the Cloud with OneDrive which offers 15 free gb storage and now has an offer for 100gb free for 2 years for Bing Rewards members.

 

[AddRAM]

Greg there is no reason for him to keep data on the ssd, this goes against everything we are trying to tell him.The 1st thing he needs to do is recover the data he Accidentally deleted from his storage drive, If he hasn`t already done that.

 

[gregrocker]

I have a 256GB SSD; which has 117GB of FREE space available.

It ONLY has my Windows installation on it, and a few other key applications, while the bulk of my other apps and games are on a HDD via Steam Mover.

I see no reason why he needs to keep his data separated to another drive based on what he says above. Why leave half an SSD empty to put data on a slower drive?

I have an SSD half that size which fits everything.

Our advice doesn't have to agree, sometimes it's good to get other opinions.

I am trying to help him recover his deleted partition in his other thread Accidently deleted/recreated HDD Volume, did NOT format, need recovery but he has skipped the obvious and simple solution Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard you first gave him and I gave him an hour later in that thread, and gone directly to data recovery which never works as well as simply undeleting the partitions.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

The data recovery is currently going through the ChkDsk process after a reboot, I suspect it will likely take much of the night.

Once it finishes and Windows boots backs back up, I'll see what the HDD looks like and if its all good, then I'll finish up the new PC build tomorrow, and come back here to go through the recommended steps on getting my Windows set up on it.

I apologize if I've seemed, irritable, in some of my responses...

Its been a frustrating day.

I do appreciate the advice you've all given.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I have a 256GB SSD; which has 117GB of FREE space available.

It ONLY has my Windows installation on it, and a few other key applications, while the bulk of my other apps and games are on a HDD via Steam Mover.

I see no reason why he needs to keep his data separated to another drive based on what he says above. Why leave half an SSD empty to put data on a slower drive?

I have an SSD half that size which fits everything.

I'm also a member of Overclock.net, and I originally followed the instructions from their SSD expert on getting my SSD set up and configured. It was, advised... that the more free space you can leave open on an SSD, the more efficient it might run. Hence I try to keep at least 100gb's of space free on it, and all the other applications, program, games, video and music files all on the HDD.

On occasion, I'll use Steam Mover to temporarily move a game back into the SSD for faster and more efficient online play.

 

[gregrocker]

Would you please look at your other thread Accidently deleted/recreated HDD Volume, did NOT format, need recovery
because you have chosen a solution which rarely works and ignored the obvious solution which works here all the time to undelete a partition because you said it costs money which it most certainly does not!

 

[AddRAM]

So in case the drive dies you don`t loose your data, why would I even have to explain this ?
SSD`s are for windows, hard drives are for data, believe me, there is nothing slow about doing it this way.I suggested he use PW to recover his partitions, not sure how he`s doing it though.

 

[gregrocker]

I'm also a member of Overclock.net, and I originally followed the instructions from their SSD expert on getting my SSD set up and configured. It was, advised... that the more free space you can leave open on an SSD, the more efficient it can run. Hence I try to keep at least 100gb's of space free on it, and all the other applications, program, games, video and music files all on the HDD.

Absolutely absurd, keeping half of the SSD free so it runs better. Now I understand better why you deleted your entire data drive instead of formatting a flash stick, and how you fumbled the simple free undelete tool that's worked here every week for five years.

Overclock.net - a forums for a bad practice? Well you are at the top tech forums on the web now, so stop wasting our time and start following the specific steps given before your data becomes irretrievable.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Would you please look at your other thread Accidently deleted/recreated HDD Volume, did NOT format, need recovery
because you have chosen a solution which rarely works and ignored the obvious solution which works here all the time to undelete a partition because you said it costs money which it most certainly does not!

Yes, I aw the other thread.

But I cant stop the chkdsk process at this point.

If I reboot, it will just start back up again.

If, after Windows comes back up, and it hasn't worked, then I'll try the partition wizard again, perhaps I selected a wrong option on it or something, cause it did ask me to pay $69 for an "upgraded" version in order to "recover more then 1gb of data"...

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Overclock.net - a forums for a bad practice? Well you are at the top tech forums on the web now, so stop wasting our time and start following the specific steps given before your data becomes irretrievable!

Why, yes.. OCN is the top tech forum on the web; heralded as such by countless other tech sites out there; but they're top for hardware.

When it comes to Windows issues, they're completely useless, so I come here for that.

So, since chkdsk is still in the process of running, and will just start up again if I reboot...

What do I need to do to get it to stop; since its been running for the past 3 hours now... so I can start over with this Partition Wizard?

 

[gregrocker]

Why, yes.. OCN is the top tech forum on the web

Never heard of it.

These forums get more traffic than all others combined. The issue you're experiencing has been handled literally thousands of times before here.

Next time watch the video so you actually run Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help instead of Data Recovery which normally wants to charge.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

So in case the drive dies you don`t loose your data, why would I even have to explain this ?
SSD`s are for windows, hard drives are for data, believe me, there is nothing slow about doing it this way.I suggested he use PW to recover his partitions, not sure how he`s doing it though.

I used Active Partition Recovery, which was recommended by someone else here on this website, to another member of this website, on another thread... which I found while doing a google search last night, for a solution to my problem.

It found all my data, I reviewed it all and all the files were there, and it recovered it all but then it said that if it all was not visible in Windows Explorer then I would have to reboot and let the computer run through chkdsk, which is where I'm at now.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Why, yes.. OCN is the top tech forum on the web

:roflmao:

Next time watch the video so you actually run Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help
instead of Data Recovery which wants to charge.

At the time I started Active Partition Recovery....

No one had responded to my other thread... and I was losing my patience.

By the time ADDRam had responded to it, I had already gone through the process with Active Partition Recovery and was running chkdsk...

I also haven't been sitting here all day, had to go out for awhile and came back.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Ok, so again, what do I need to do to get this chkdsk to stop running, and prevent it from starting again after rebooting... so I can try this other method... which actually was not recommended to me until roughly 12 hours AFTER the incident originally occurred?

No one responded to my posts on an older thread I found with the EXACT same problem, when I posted on it late last night.... so then I started my new thread earlier today, and waited... and waited..

Then I guess you eventually posted on it, an hour later, while I was away and had already started the Active Partition Recovery program...

 

[gregrocker]

Wait for the Disk Check to finish and then run Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help
exactly as shown in the tutorial. You can try the Quick scan first to see if it can easily recover the partitions. If so select and Recover them as shown in video.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Alright.

I suspect this chkdsk will continue through the night... its nearly 2am my time.

I'll start the Partition Recovery Wizard sometime in the morning, after some sleep, and repost here first thing.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Messing with this last night, at 4 in the morning was my first mistake, I was too tired to pay attention to the fact that I was deleting the volume off the wrong drive.... so starting over fresh tomorrow will be best.

 

[DavidE]

This is what I've got, and I'm presuming its a retail copy...

There is nothing on it that says anything about it being an OEM.... and I've got another copy of Home Edition that IS, an OEM which I bought for another PC... and it actually does state that it is OEM...

But this Ultimate version, is in a plastic box that opens like a book, which in turn is slipped down inside this black cardboard sleeve.

If you want to be sure of the version you have, run a MGADiag report.
Instructions are here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-...ne-activation-issue-posting-instructions.html

 

[Nyarlathotep]

It seems to have worked, all my files are restored back to the drive, they're all accessible and thus far as I can tell, all the programs and applications are functioning properly.

For the record, this is where I came up with the program that I used - click - an old post here on SevenForums that I never posted on, just found in my initial desperation of google searches at 5am Saturday morning after it first happened. Found it again on google.

The ONLY thing different, being that the root folders have a small padlock over them, denoting some sort of ownership/inheritance issue, yet all the content within these folders are all just fine.

Also confirmed that the junctions are functioning properly after using Steam Mover to temporarily transfer one of the applications back to its original location within Program Files on the SSD, launching it to see if it still works, then closing it and then transferred it back onto the HDD, which interestingly made the little padlock on that particular folder disappear, and restored all the ownership permissions... and again, launched it to confirm it still worked properly.

Also, I went through the Partition Recovery Wizard video, as directed, and followed its directions up to the point where I can select the partition and double click on it to preview the contents. The program could not find the partition as "lost/missing", it instead said the one I wanted was already existing and active.

So for now, everything seems to be restored and working properly.

I'll continue to poke through the folders and if I find any problems then I suppose if they're possible to resolve then we'll work on that if necessary, but so far only major isssue I've come across is some picture files (jpg, bmp) needed to be re-associated with an application to open them; two clicks and they're open

My two ferrets are thoroughly excited that their pictures and videos have been restored!

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Well everything is back up...

New motherboard and new CPU are in, and the Paragon Active Restore went flawlessly...

I had to install a few drivers off the DVD for the new motherboard, and that was it.

Only now Windows is reporting that my product key has to be reactivated and that I have 3 days to call Microsoft; it reports that the activation server is now rejecting my current product key because "hardware changes" ...



I thought, retail copies of Windows 7 weren't supposed to have this problem?