SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

whs said:

Jeannie, Speaking of leg cramps - have your iron level checked. I had a lot of leg cramps until the Neurologist pointed to the lack of iron. Now I take an iron pill each day and I have no more cramps.

Iron levels are fine (I have to get bloodwork done every six months and just had some done early this week; the factor that needs correction now is low Vitamin D). I had some muscle damage several years ago after taking Zocor (similar to Lipitor). Adding insult to injury, I usually have low sodium levels and high potassium levels because of a diuretic I'm on and I don't like a lot of salt in my food so my sodium levels get too low frequently if I'm not careful. I usually can tell if my sodium is too low because I will get a bit nauseated, slightly faint, and slightly dizzy. Taking some salt and as much water as I can stand will usually straighten that out. Muscle cramps mean that my sodium and potassium are low; a sugar free sports drink (PowerAde Zero is the only one I can find) with some added salt will take care of it. Normally, I have to avoid high potassium foods and drinks.

Usually, I don't get the cramps unless I've been doing a lot more walking than usual (I often hit the salted PowerAde Zero prophylactically to stave off the cramps). I spent most of yesterday on my ample asset or lying in bed reading or watching TV while futilely waiting on migrations to finish so where the big fat hairy heck last nights cramps came from only God knows.

I installed the SSD in my notebook a little while ago and everything is working just fine. I was expecting to have to realign it but, no, even that was just fine. IF (a really big if) I ever have to migrate fan OS from a spinner to an SSD again, I'll just format the SSD so Macrium Reflect can find it, fire up Macrium Reflect, then set it to clone and walk away for a while.

I did a quickie bench on it:



I don't know if I will bother with RAPID or not. Definitely not before I get some fresh images.

Putting the SSD in my little Lenovo is such a joy. I have nothing but high praise for the people who designed this machine (except for the touch pad but I'll spare you that comparably insignificant rant). All I have to do is remove the battery (even that is easy), loosen some screws on the back panel (they are captive so I don't have to worry about loosing them), then gently prying it open. This what I see after opening it:



All I have to do is remove two screws at the end of the HDD cage, then slide it out of the connector and lift it out. Four little screws hold the drive in the cage (the first time I did this, I also had to remove some tape). The RAM, Wi-Fi card, CPU cooler and fan, and CPU, all I would ever need to get at, is easily accessed. Cleaning out any dust that may get in there is also easy.

Once the News on TV is over, I'm going to start a backup, then go to bed.

Is that this SSD: Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE500BW 2.5" 500GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

whs said:

Is that this SSD: Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE500BW 2.5" 500GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

That would be it except it has the wrong description. The EVOs are TLC, not MLC. I got it for only $300. I was tempted to get the extended warranty but $300 was pretty much the limit I was willing to spend on an inexpensive machine like this that doesn't receive heavy usage (it's a travel and backup machine).

You are right. That is already a lot of money for the little machine.

I am a budget buyer. Just got a 240GB Mushkin for $138. I use it in an external USB3 enclosure to run my Windows 8 and some Linux distros.

On my desktops I use 60GB models - and then I have the spinners for the data.

My desktop has a 128GB Sammy 840 Pro for the system and programs. All my data on that machine goes onto WD Black spinners (I have room for six unless I sacrifice one to make room for a longer GPU card).

I don't have that luxury with the notebook unless I removed the optical drive and put a spinner there (which I am loathe to do because I actually do use that drive). A 17" lappy with two drive bays would be too bulky and heavy for lugging around on a trip and take up too much room to easily store in a drawer at home.

Depending on the amount of data you have you could use a couple of sticks. That's what the wife does. She keeps all her data on 32GB sticks. Those cost less than $20. When we move to another location, she only takes the sticks because we have PCs at all 3 locations.

It would even be more elegant if she could use SD cards. But at our NY location her old laptop cannot read SDHC cards. So that is out.

LOL! Besides being a PITA to keep up with (not to mention I like everything in one neat package; makes life simpler), sticks would be a bit slow on USB 2.0. A couple of my programs probably wouldn't play well with sticks (MediaMonkey and caliber). I need the SD card slot available for downloading pictures from my camera when on the road.

Here is a picture of what's on my little notebook:



That's a bit much for a stick (although I will grant you it would simplify updating and transferring data).

I keep image backups on a 500GB spinner in my notebook case and, also, a cloned spinner I can pop into the machine should the drive in it ever fail while I'm on the road and image restoration won't fix it. This is the cute little transfer case I carry my backup drives in:





And the inside view:



I put the foam sheet that is off to the right between the drives. I modified this case to take two drives by cannibalizing another case for another piece of foam that had the recess to hold the drive in. This is what an unmodified case looks like:



Big as it looks, it slips neatly into my notebook case. I also keep a couple of little 2.5" USB powered docks in the case. Each one fits in a travel soap dish.

In case you haven't noticed, I have a thing for redundancy.

Maybe you are a data pack rat. Smaller storage forces you to weed out more often - and that is a good thing.

whs said:

Maybe you are a data pack rat. Smaller storage forces you to weed out more often - and that is a good thing.

LOL! More like a data junkie. I carry all my music and books with me but that is pretty much it. I also have a phone book and a few other reference files, such as emergency medical info, but they don't amount to much. if I carried all my data with me, I would need a bigger truck!