Upgrading from HDD to SSD on Dell T7500

[Molds2014]

Hello all;
I want to breathe a bit of new life into this old workhorse, and wonder if it can be done.
1. Approximate cost
2. Level of difficulty & time.
System: Xeon W5580 @3.2GHz (twin CPU's); RAM: 12GB; W7 Pro 64 bit, SP1; WinExp index: 7.1
Owner: SolidWorks junkie

 

[countzero]

0. can be done
1. 80-180$
2. easy, 6 hours installing windows and software.

buy an intel ssd to be on the safe side, dell, hp are picky. 535 or 730 series 120-240GB

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Time and difficulty dependent on whether or not you would also do a clean install when you move to the SSD.

You could simply "clone" the existing system to the SSD without doing a clean install.

Or you could "image" the existing system to the SSD without doing a clean install.

Clone or image can be done at no charge with free tools.

There's some learning curve involved in using these free tools, so from a time standpoint you may be just as well off to do a clean install. If you knew how to use the tools, you could image the HDD system to the SSD in no more than an hour.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Best way to improve an install is switching to a ssd
Doubt brand makes a diff but Samsung evo even crucial mx100 are good and pretty cheap for a 250-256gb. 100.us

I would install as a clean install and not transfer for less garbage transferring to the ssd
Start fresh for best results

Install times well that will depend on your install media having sp1 on the install will reduce time a lot.

 

[Molds2014]

Hi,
Best way to improve an install is switching to a ssd
Doubt brand makes a diff but Samsung evo even crucial mx100 are good and pretty cheap for a 250-256gb. 100.us

I would install as a clean install and not transfer for less garbage transferring to the ssd
Start fresh for best results

Install times well that will depend on your install media having sp1 on the install will reduce time a lot.

Thank you, Trashzone;
I originally learned about this forum when wanting to migrate from XP to W7, and was more than thankful for all of the support from everyone involved. The experience was pure fun and I LOVE this place.
On to my project & a bit more history:
1.The machine has recently had a clean install, and is working perfectly.
2.Is there a way to take a system image, create a rescue disk to go with it and move the opsys over to the new SSD while leaving all of the data on the HDD?
3.The goal is to continue using this system for another year and think about a new platform.

Keeping all of this in mind, I could really make use of some detailed instructions.
All the best, Steve

 

[ignatzatsonic]

1.The machine has recently had a clean install, and is working perfectly.
2.Is there a way to take a system image, create a rescue disk to go with it and move the opsys over to the new SSD while leaving all of the data on the HDD?

Did you see my earlier post in this thread regarding imaging and cloning?

There are tutorials on this site about both.

Your situation would be complicated by wanting to leave the data on the HDD.

Is your data on its own partition? Or is it on the same partition as the OS--the C partition.

How you would proceed would depend on your current partitioning scheme, which would be revealed by Windows Disk Management. So you might want to post a screen shot of that.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
ignatzatsonic is a pro at this sort of process plus a lot more
I'm sure he can guide you

 

[countzero]

i've seen problems with non intel ssds in hp and sompermicro worksations.
compatability lists of gear like this are full of intel, micron ssds.
just my 2 cents.

 

[Molds2014]

1.The machine has recently had a clean install, and is working perfectly.
2.Is there a way to take a system image, create a rescue disk to go with it and move the opsys over to the new SSD while leaving all of the data on the HDD?

How you would proceed would depend on your current partitioning scheme, which would be revealed by Windows Disk Management. So you might want to post a screen shot of that.

As you can see, there is not a lot of data on the disc at all :

 

[ignatzatsonic]

As you can see, there is not a lot of data on the disc at all :

Yeah, but your data is all on C, which complicates things.

You could make an image of C, which would include data.

Or you could move data to another partition and then your images of C would not include data and would be smaller.

Either will work.

 

[Molds2014]

As you can see, there is not a lot of data on the disc at all :

Yeah, but your data is all on C, which complicates things.

You could make an image of C, which would include data.

Or you could move data to another partition and then your images of C would not include data and would be smaller.

Either will work.

Thank you, ignatzatsonic and countzero;
I just put one in my Amazon cart. (Intel 535 Series Solid State Drive 240GB 240 2.5-Inch SSDSC2BW240H601) Are there any cables needed, or mounting gadgets as well?
After that, I would love to learn about what kind of partitioning scheme you might choose if this were your own machine.
Over to you for comment.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I just put one in my Amazon cart. (Intel 535 Series Solid State Drive 240GB 240 2.5-Inch SSDSC2BW240H601) Are there any cables needed, or mounting gadgets as well?
After that, I would love to learn about what kind of partitioning scheme you might choose if this were your own machine.
Over to you for comment.

That looks to be a 2.5 inch drive with no mounting brackets and no cables, which is fine.

Good brand, good tools downloadable for it.

Whether you need "mounting gadgets" depends on your case.

Some cases include brackets to convert a 3.5 inch drive bay to 2.5 inch to accommodate SSDs.

Other cases don't include such brackets.

Other cases have special 2.5 inch drive bays intended to hold SSDs.

I have no idea what kind of case you have.

Worst case scenario: your case has no special 2.5 inch drive bay and no brackets to help you.

That would mean you'd have to do one of 2 things:

1: buy mounting brackets at Amazon or Newegg for 5 or 10 bucks.

2: ignore the whole bracket thing and just tape the drive in your chosen location with duct tape or something like that. Works fine. Did it myself for a year or so until I changed cases.

Cables: SSDs use standard SATA cable just like any regular hard drive. You can use the cables from your hard drive or buy spares if you need them.

Partitioning scheme:

Typically, you'd just make the whole drive a single C partition and store your data somewhere under C:\users.

Or you could use the SSD for JUST Windows and applications and store all data on a regular hard drive. This is what I do.

It all depends on your individual requirements.

Normally, there's no reason to partition an SSD into C, D, E, etc. SSDs are relatively small and if you start splitting them up like that you risk filling up a partition sooner than you figured and then you've got a problem.

 

[countzero]

**** mounting brackets. gaffa tape all the way.
or just cram it anywhere. ssds don't weigh anything, don't get hot. no hazard.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Depending on your case you might be able to fit one of these items in it
Amazon.com: Vantec 2.5-Inch Dual Bay Trayless SATA III - 6G Mobile Rack (MRK-225S6-BK): Computers & Accessories

 

[Molds2014]

OK !!
I got it installed, assigned it a drive letter (I) and did a simple read/write test which worked fine.
This is what I bought:
($119.99) Intel 535 SeriesSSDSC2BW240H6R5 2.5" 240GB SATA I
Also got a bracket "Sabrent 2.5SSD to 3.5" bracket ~$10.00.
The install was a snap.

Now, on to the BIOS & opsys:
On bootup, I hit F12 for boot options and selected my usual drive from old & went on from there.
My system is currently set up with the 2 physical drives set up in a raid 0 configuration.
Here is what it looks like:


And here is the end of my knowledge base.
The end goal is to move the entire contents of the old drive (C) to the new drive (I) and start booting/operating entirely from the new SSD and use the old HDD for data.
FYI:
I did create a backup to an external drive and selected 'create system image' and made a rescue/repair disc. So theoretically, I could restore the opsys to the new drive? Then swap letters through some tomfoolery? Simply do a SATA cable swap? Then, of course there is the ubiquitous SAS6ir utility during bootup.

What is the best path forward?

Thanks for the patience and kind help.
Steve

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Normally, you'd just image or clone from the old OS drive to the new OS drive.

Or do a clean install.

But you are off in RAID land, so I'll bow out.

 

[Molds2014]

Normally, you'd just image or clone from the old OS drive to the new OS drive.

Or do a clean install.

But you are off in RAID land, so I'll bow out.

Anybody out there in RAID land feel like jumping in?

 

[ThrashZone]

Yep better bring a big can