Which folders get migrated to an SSD ?

Mike99 · 08 Mar 2014

I have a single HDD on my Windows 7 PC. I realize it will be impossible to migrate everything over to a smaller SSD. That I’ll have to backup folders such as documents, movies and music to another drive & then delete them from the HDD in order to fit on the SSD.

But other than all the stuff in the Users folder, what else should be off-loaded to another drive? And what should be migrated?

My system has 12 folders under the C: drive. Program Files, Program Files (x86), & Windows would get migrated to the SSD.

But what about the ProgramData or PerfLogs folders? Are these considered data or part of the OS?

I also have SYSTEM.SAV & MSOCache folders & a one with long name consisting of 24 alpha & numeric characters. Do these stay with the OS?

bigmck · 08 Mar 2014

If you are going to try and pick and choose folders to transfer, you are taking a big risk. If you miss just one, you PC won't work. If you take all of Documents, Moves, Music Etc off you will be OK. Taking anything else off and you are taking a big chance. It is wise to partition your drives so that your OS is on the C: drive and your Docs are on a D: drive. You won't have this problem next time.

Mike99 · 08 Mar 2014

Migrating to an SSD would be one way to go. But even if I do a clean install I'd like to get some idea how big of an SSD to get. I'm not sure a 120GB SSD will do the job. It will hold the OS but I'm not sure what else would or should end up on the SSD. IOW a 60GB SSD will hold the OS, but does a 120GB provide enough of a safety margin for misc stuff thet the OS or programs need? Or is a 240GB the way to go?

Ztruker · 08 Mar 2014

How much data is on the 1TB drive? Would it all fit on a 250GB SSD?

bigmck · 08 Mar 2014

Mike99 said:

Migrating to an SSD would be one way to go. But even if I do a clean install I'd like to get some idea how big of an SSD to get. I'm not sure a 120GB SSD will do the job. It will hold the OS but I'm not sure what else would or should end up on the SSD. IOW a 60GB SSD will hold the OS, but does a 120GB provide enough of a safety margin for misc stuff thet the OS or programs need? Or is a 240GB the way to go?

I have a 120 GB SSD, with a 68 GB partition for my C: drive. I have my programs and OS on it and it only takes up 34 GB of the 68 GB. I probably don't have as much as others here, but hopefully that will give you an idea of the space needed. == The 240 GB have gotten pretty cheap, under $150.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=-1&isNodeId=1

whs · 08 Mar 2014

A fresh system installation of Windows 7 is appr. 20GB. If you have a very large RAM, it might be bigger, but that can be corrected by eliminating the hiberfile and reducing the pagefile to 2GB.

If you migrate an installed system, it depends on the amount and type of programs you have installed. With 'normal' programs, it would be difficult to exceed 30 to 40GBs. But with large games, the sky is the limit.

If you still have too much data on C after you moved your user data, do this:

1. get rid of the hiberfile, the command is powercfg -h off

2. reduce the pagefile to 2 GBs

3. Uninstall the biggest games (if any). Those you have to reinstall with the SSD system and direct the installer to put them on the HDD

4. Run CCleaner to get rid of all temporary files.

5. purge the shadowstorage. The command is:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=1%

After all that, any system should easily fit on a 120GB SSD - in fact there should be ample freespace (minimum 10%) for the SSD controller to do proper garbage collection.

ignatzatsonic · 08 Mar 2014

Mike99 said:

Migrating to an SSD would be one way to go. But even if I do a clean install I'd like to get some idea how big of an SSD to get. I'm not sure a 120GB SSD will do the job. It will hold the OS but I'm not sure what else would or should end up on the SSD. IOW a 60GB SSD will hold the OS, but does a 120GB provide enough of a safety margin for misc stuff thet the OS or programs need? Or is a 240GB the way to go?

I've got an 80 GB SSD and never wished I had a larger one, given current prices.

I have Windows 7 Home Premium and all of its folders, fully updated, and about 55 applications installed. Total space used is 32 GB. It's creeping up, but very slowly---maybe 2 GB per year.

I don't keep ANY data on it. All data (about 575 GB) is on a separate 1 TB HDD.

I wouldn't think you'd need a 240 GB SSD in most situations. Exceptions might be if your personal data is maybe no more than 100 or 150 GB and you want to keep all data on the OS drive. Or if you have large gaming installs. Or if cost is not a factor. Or if you are so obsessed with speed and benchmarks that you want to take advantage of the somewhat higher speeds found on larger SSDs. None of those exceptions apply to me. They might to you.

With any luck, I won't have to buy a larger SSD for my OS for 5 or 10 years. I'm hoping that 2 TB SSDs will be relatively cheap by the time I have to replace my current 1 TB data HDD.