Pls. Help me get Things in Right Order - Making New SSD Primary Drive

ignatzatsonic · 25 Aug 2012

Aderes Devorah said:

Many thanks, ignatzatsonic

As a provider of speedy, succinct and well laid out advice you are a rare and valuable beast indeed.

Have a great weekend.

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Thanks Aderes.

One question: I notice you have an Overclockers UK PC.

Another guy from the UK on this forum is a newbie and is thinking about buying from Overclockers.

Do you find Overclockers to be reliable, trustworthy, etc?

Can you recommend any other online UK sources for parts and PCs other than Amazon UK and Ebuyer?

COMPUTIAC · 25 Aug 2012

ignatzatsonic said:

COMPUTIAC said:

The new SSD will have a recovery partition on it after the OS is installed on it, correct ?

Why can't I reboot with the old HDD, up-date it, then reboot back to the SSD ?

Wrong to your first question. A clean install does NOT include a recovery partition.

Recovery partitions are found on store-bought PCs such as HP or Dell because they are put there by HP or Dell. They are NOT part of an ordinary clean install.

As to your second question, I suppose you could do it, but why bother with such a clumsy and time-consuming method? You can restore an image of the SSD within 15 minutes or so with no updating. You can make a new image file every day if you want to, although most would regard that as excessive.

OK, now I understand about the recovery partitions.

First install clean OS on new SSD, make image of the SSD with Acronis, wipe old HDD and use for other programs instead of putting on the SSD.
Future back-ups go to External HDD.

ignatzatsonic · 25 Aug 2012

COMPUTIAC said:

First install clean OS on new SSD, make image of the SSD with Acronis, wipe old HDD and use for other programs instead of putting on the SSD.
Future back-ups go to External HDD.

Couple of minor points:

Nearly everyone would tell you to install ALL programs on the SSD if they will fit. Otherwise, you are losing the primary advantage of the SSD---access time when loading programs. Games can go on a regular HD if they are too large to fit on the SSD, with no decline in performance.

Many would tell you to look at Macrium Reflect rather than Acronis. Maybe a little less confusing. But if you understand Acronis and have used it successfully, carry on.

Don't rely on images for your data backup. Do rely on images for your system backup unless you are perfectly willing to clean reinstall and configure instead of restoring an image.

gregrocker · 25 Aug 2012

Programs should be installed to the SSD to benefit from the improved speeds. Only if the SSD runs out of space for OS and Programs would I uninstall and then reinstall lesser-used Programs to the HD.

User Folders are best linked from the HD as I explained above, unless you have a large enough SSD that everything can fit on it.