Best way to clone a standard (mechanical) drive to an SSD

[Mr Davo]

Hi Everyone,

I am running a Windows 7 desktop computer and I would like to replace the standard (mechanical) hard drive with a Solid State Drive. I am not interested in reinstalling Windows, Drivers, Software & data - instead I want to "clone" my existing drive.

I do have a little experience in this area when using standard drives. Previously I have used the xxclone program, however it can't copy certain low level hard drive identifiers and I have experienced problems with Windows Updates after swapping drives (usually these come in the form of an update asking for a non-existent "Microsoft Installer" (.msi) file).

I have heard that a Norton Ghost disk can be used to clone hard drives. If so are there any known issues, such as problems with Windows Updates, that are known to be a challenge?

Any advice on best practises and / or techniques for drive cloning (particularly when going from mechanical to Solid State) will be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Davo

 

[mjf]

This does it
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html
Note the Paragon migration tool for $20 if you want things very simple.