HDD to SSD migration questions

[vid4763]

Hello,

Thanks for reading and any advice you can offer.

I have a Samsung NP-QX410 our college son gave us that he had left for dead. After many hours and a lot of frustration, research, self-education, freeware, and help from the experts here at 7Forums we were able to resurrect it (with recovery partition files and Samsung Recovery Data Disk) from a bad HDD and re install Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 onto an older Seagate 120G Sata 5400rpm HDD. Windows 7 is running pretty well and we are hoping to give the laptop to our 10 yr. old son as a gift in June for hard work in school and moving up from Elementary to Middle School.

The Win7 install went pretty smooth. The expected Samsung driver & MOBO issues have been addressed and all drivers and hardware are running correctly, albeit a little on the slow side for us (mainly probably bcz of older Seagate 120G HDD). We ran Windows update for the many hundreds of updates over the past 6 years to get the machine caught up to date. We also updated the BIOS.

We purchased a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO (250G) to replace the older temporary HDD (We did make sure it was compatible with the MOBO). We've been viewing online tutorials and again surfing thru the 7Forums tutorials and threads to make sure we were pretty comfortable with the process when the new SSD arrived.

While we waited for the arrival we learned it was a good idea to "clean up and streamline" the machine before we did the migration of the older Seagate HDD to the new Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Since this was a fairly recent and fresh install a few weeks ago and it has only been used getting it running and updated there wasn't much to do. We ran Disk Cleanup, Defrag, Ccleaner to wipe the free space, and I shrank the Volume.

HERE ARE MY CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS:

The new Samsung SSD comes with migration software. I have an extra enclosure with USB connection for the SSD and installed it for the migration process.

We watched some YouTube videos to understand the process. It looks pretty simple.

However when I follow the exact instructions I am not getting the same prompt screens. It is mostly what we expected, but after plugging in SSD a prompt screen appears that wants us to "Initialize Disk". The videos we watched don't show this, they instead show after plugging in, opening Disk Management (which we did), and right clicking on the "black header" of the SSD that appears in "DskMng" and a box appears with options such as "SIMPLE VOLUME" which is what they are instructing to do, at that point you should be ready and you can start the Samsung Migration Software in the DVD-rom and you're off and running. When it completes you are supposed to be able to swap the drives and boot right up like it's you old drive (but way faster!)

QUESTIONS:

-Should I initialize the Disk as prompted?? If so, will I be able to then make a "simple Volume" and run the migration software?

-Have I missed some other step?


I've attached 2 screenshots:

1 is what appears on my screen when I plug in the SSD(in enclosure case) with Disk Management in background

2 is the You Tube video screenshot showing what you're supposed to see in Disk Management when you plug the enclosed SSD in

We appreciate any advice! Thanks for reading.....

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I think you are on the right track.

Understand this: the Samsung migration software may or may not work. If it doesn't, you have to go to plan B--cloning or imaging using a third party product such as Macrium or Aomei.

But to continue with Samsung migration software:

You need to "initialize" a disc before you can create a volume on it. I'd assume the Youtube video does not show that step.

I'd proceed as shown in picture 1---initialize as MBR. When that is done, you should be immediately able to make a "new simple volume" as shown in the Youtube pic.

That's just my take. I've never used any Samsung migration software, but a drive cannot be used unless it is initialized, has a partition (volume), and has been formatted.

 

[vid4763]

IGNATZATSONIC,

Thanks for the reply and advice. I will try a bit later and post results.

 

[Layback Bear]

This tutorial from (whs) should also be helpful.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

 

[vid4763]

@IGNATZATSONIC & @Layback Bear,

Thanks for your help! Samsung Migration software was successful! SSD is my primary C:\ drive now and working great and fast!

My complete shutown/restart time went from avg 85 seconds to 35 seconds. everything responding much faster!

If either of you have a moment to look at another thread I posted in another area of the 7forum regarding this machine, I'd be very grateful. It's regarding a problem with permissions....here is the thread. Thanks again!!!!!!

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/365854-permissions-please-help.html

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It's regarding a problem with permissions....here is the thread. Thanks again!!!!!!

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/365854-permissions-please-help.html

I can't help with your permissions issue, but I'd like to see a screen shot of Windows Disk Management after the Samsung migration software did its thing, as your drives stand right now. A number of people have had problems with it doing odd non-standard stuff that ought to be apparent in Windows Disk Management.

 

[vid4763]

A number of people have had problems with it doing odd non-standard stuff that ought to be apparent in Windows Disk Management.

So far I've only noticed one "odd" thing since migration last night, that is when I tried to re-run the Windows Experience assessment (1st time since migration, HDD/SSD switcheroo)....It failed just before completion. Pop up window said a driver issue? Screenshots of Windows Experience, System Health Performance, and Disk Management below.

*update on Windows Experience, while working on this post, I ran Win Exp twice and did not get the error "failed to complete assessment - driver issue". Maybe that is working fine now?*

(NOTE, permissions issue began a week ago. In an effort to ready the laptop for migration, I frequently ran Win Update to get all updates current . After dozens of successful updates, 5 updates failed. While attempting to resolve this recurring issue with the 5 updates, working with NoelDP to fix the issues, permissions with certain folders made themselves known. I worked around some of the issues and managed to fix 2 of the 5 update issues. we're still working on the other 3 updates and now the permissions as well.)

 

[ignatzatsonic]

So far I've only noticed one "odd" thing since migration last night, that is when I tried to re-run the Windows Experience assessment (1st time since migration, HDD/SSD switcheroo)....It failed just before completion. Pop up window said a driver issue? Screenshots of Windows Experience, System Health Performance, and Disk Management below.

Windows Disk Management looks OK to me.

 

[vid4763]

@IGNATZATSONIC

Thanks for checking back. It seems to be working fine. Very well in fact, except for the Win Update/Permissions issues which I'll continue to address on the other thread.

If you get a chance later, please look for another thread i'll post regarding HDD to SSD migration of my primary Toshiba C855-S5214 Laptop. I have to run few errands, but briefly.....I also have a new SanDisk Extreme Pro 480G SSD I am trying to replace my orig Toshiba 640G with. Samsung Migration software won't recognize it and I am trying to do the migration with Clonezilla on a bootable USB.....and having some problems doing so....

THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR HELP HERE WITH THE SAMSUNG!!!