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Sooooo. Moving on from the upgrade / new PC thread.
Reading that I got a bit curious about maybe treating my 6 / 7 year old Dell to an SSD and maybe some new RAM. Crucial have recommended some bits and pieces for me. But I have a few questions...
What exactly do I have to do if I want to add a SSD to my system and move the OS to this drive?
1) Check I have a spare bay?
2) Use the clone / transfer tools or just install OS on new drive and wipe the old one when it's done and I've got my data backed up
3) OS was originally VISTA. I have the OEM disk. I also have the Win 7 upgrade disks. Will I have issues moving my Windows license to the new HDD?
What I am thinking really is SSD for OS. Current HDD for current data / pics etc. I also have a NAS drive accessed over Wifi which I use for my music library, backups and less frequently used data.
So many questions. I am OK with IT but never taken this sort of job on before so just need a starter for 10...
TIA
Mark
You're on the right page.
You've two options for migrating, as you say; either a clean install or an attempt to clone the old disk. There are pros and cons to each method, bottom line is it's personal preference. Note that if the data used on your existing disk is larger than the total space on the SSD then you won't be able to clone it without first doing something about that.
If you do clone it, the licence should transfer. It's a bit hit-and-miss, worst case is that you'll have to re-activate the software, but a simple drive swap [i]shouldn't[/i] trigger that. If you're going to upgrade to W7 post-install it's probably a moot point anyway.
As an aside, the one and only time I've done an in-situ Vista > W7 upgrade, everything went perfectly but it took [i]forever. [/i]I left it running overnight in the end.
I assume a clean install is preferable but more time consuming getting all the software / updates / settings etc etc etc reinstalled on the new SSD?
I think maybe the way to go is actually buy a new SSD. REPLACE the HDD with this drive. Clean install. Then worry about getting the old HDD wiped / installed later.
It's what I did when I got an SSD. Trickiest part will probably be getting all the drivers sorted.
On the upside, you can always go back to your old system temporarily if you need to check something.
Thanks. It's clearer in my head now. I've got a disk with the original drivers and once it's online can download the latest.
Not sure about PC's but on a mac you can boot off an external drive if its connected via USB with an external enclosure. If this is possible I would suggest you get an ecnlosure (cheap) and connect the SSD to it and work on installing software etc on it and when its running properly put it inside the machine and use the old HDD externally or in a spare bay. Given windows habbit of getting clogged up with stuff I would do a fresh install if you can or vene as OS upgrade.
If you do clone the disk you will more than likely need to use a windows rescue to to repair the boot sector when you first boot (you can easily create one from your working system)
You shouldn't need to as its a disk clone but I know I did.
A fresh install is always cleaner really, even if it does sometimes (not always!) take a little longer.
Use Double Driver before starting to extract a copy of your current driver setup so you can install them all on the new drive quickly and easily, then optimise for SSD and away you go 🙂
Right I've done a bit of research. Turns out my SATA controllers on the motherboard are all SATA 2 not 3.
Is the SSD still a worthwhile upgrade? Obv I guess there's no point going for a 550MB/s read / 500 MB/s write? The Crucial website is suggesting a 240GB 500 read / 240 write.
I'd get the biggest capacity and best warranty you can afford. And if you can be bothered find one without the sandforce controller.
I wouldn't worry too much about sata2 vs 3. One day you'll be on sata3 anyway.
You should gain in all aspects (apart from overall capacity of course) and noticeably access time over mechanical drive.
If you can afford it the corsair neutron gtx is good.
A SSD makes a difference over a spinning drive on SATA 2. Even at 6/7 years old, this'll make the machine almost zippy.
Upgrade windows, install your new RAM, then clone the existing HDD to the SSD. Then swap the drive order for booting so your SSD boots up. Be pleasantly surprised at the change in speed.
Clean installs are a pain. For ease, I'd go for a cloning of the current boot drive to the new SSD. When the SSD works and you have it installed you can then consider whether you'd like to waste a few hours erasing it and then installing all the things you remember you need before then filling it up more with the vital things you forgot.
Upgrade windows, install your new RAM, then clone the existing HDD to the SSD.
No.
If you are going to clone it, clone it before upgrading the OS. That way if it explodes you've got a good copy to fall back on.
If you're adding RAM as well, hold off for a week or two. Then if there's a problem and it starts crashing all over the place you're not sat there wondering which of the three changes you've just made has caused it.
Is the SSD still a worthwhile upgrade? Obv I guess there's no point going for a 550MB/s read / 500 MB/s write? The Crucial website is suggesting a 240GB 500 read / 240 write.
@Freester - good work, yes a 500 r/w is a waste of money, 250 r/w is good for you. As I posted the SSD in your machine will run a more than twice as fast as a 7200rpm HDD (I have a Western Digital Black 750gb HDD). Yes an upgrade it worth it and unless you want big capacity inside the machine then go for the SSD which will improve all round performance a lot
Based on Apple forums (so appreciate may be different) the Samsung 840 EVO is highly recommended (£90-ish) , the PRO (£130-ish) is their faster model. Crucial well regarded.
Cheers all for the advice I pressed the button last night. Crucial 240GB 500 read 250 write down to £77 last night from 84 when I looked yesterday afternoon on Dabs.
I don't need a really large HDD since I got a NAS with all my music and the only other large data I have is my photography but I only keep the last year's photography on the PC HDD for quicker access and previous year's on the NAS (all backed up of course).
Also bought an extra 2GB of RAM. Good advice about not putting the memory in straightaway tho I'm tempted to put the RAM in immediately (5 min job) leave it a few days then go for the time consuming clean install of Windows on the new disk.
[url= http://www.dabs.com/products/crucial-240gb-m500-sata-6gb-s-2-5--7mm--with-9-5mm-adapter--solid-state-drive-8LVN.html?catid=15004&src=2 ]this one?[/url]
rubs chin and contemplates the samsung n110 beside me...
That's the one.
Samsung 840's are worth the little bit extra, lowest return rate in the industry and great speeds to boot
Comes with Samsung Magician software to clone disk, although i'd recommend a clean install and then transfer files over from old drive as and when. Magician also lets you turn on Rapid mode so the 540/520 read/write can hit over 600.
You can use a bracket to fit in any 3.5" bay
or simply duct tape/elastic band/use one screw hole to hold in place, so lightweight you could even leave dangling.
Even cheaper option go for a 120gb 840 evo
I have windows on mine, lightroom, photoshop, office, couple of games and still have 50% free. Games which don't benefit from SSD speeds I simply stick on my mechanical 2tb backup drive.
@Freester nice buy, I think it will transform your machine. TBH I would go for more RAM than that, an extra 2 ? I didn't realise you could buy that little these days 🙂 I think if you are going to bother of RAM upgrade you want 8. Not sure of your setup but I upgraded GF's mac from 2+2=4 to 2+8=10 as it was cheaper than 4+4=8 (matched pairs are faster in theory but in practice you'll never notice)
Cheers jambalaya unfortunately the motherboard manual reckons it's a max of 4GB RAM. 4 DIMM slots with 2x1G in so I bought a pair of 1's(!!!) to put in the other 2 spare slots.
There is some anecdotal evidence online that the motherboard will go up to 8GB but I was a bit scared to try!
Did I read correctly you're currently on Vista?
If so, “I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” and start with a fresh W7 build on the new SSD.
Also not worth going over 4GB of RAM if you're on a 32bit OS
[url= http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7 ]http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7[/url]
Not quite. I upgraded to W7 a while back but have only got the OEM Vista disk and Win7 upgrade media.
Was trying to decide whether to do a 'clean install' by installing Vista, activating, then upgrading to W7 or whether to try and just install W7 from the off. Websites claim I can with some registry jiggory pokery but it might not be future proof.
Ah, sorry, I thought you were still on Vista too.
I've half a memory that Vista has TRIM issues with SSDs; W7 is "SSD-aware" in a manner that Vista isn't. I'd expect that after installation you'll need to use the SSD's utilities to tweak the partition.
If you can just use your W7 disc to install directly, you'll dodge that issue.
In my experience, OS version upgrades and/or imaging is never that clean a process and you can't beat a brand new install from scratch. YMMV.
I've just done this on a home machine and it took about a day to reload all my various photographist progs, settings and what not.
I'm just about to do it on a new work machine and I expect half a day of reloading misc apps that we can't image.
If you have the right license/key then this might be useful: [url= http://www.techfleece.com/2012/10/18/download-windows-7-install-disks-legally-for-free/ ]http://www.techfleece.com/2012/10/18/download-windows-7-install-disks-legally-for-free/[/url]
I haven't tried it myself.
EDIT: Though more work, a clean install is a better way to go than cloning. Just make sure that you still have access to all your licence details for each piece of software that you need to install on your new PC and a good backup of all your data. Ninite ( [url= https://ninite.com/ ]https://ninite.com/[/url] ) will save you a bit of time when it comes to installing a whole load of little bits and pieces.
Think I'm pretty much decided that's what I'll do it's not problem backing up the small amount of files on the local drive. I've done a clean install on this machine before. I've got all the disks for all the software I have.
Good advice about Vista not liking SSD it looks like MS support a 'double install' where I essentially install Win 7 'twice' to make it look like an upgrade. Which in my case is legit.
Did this recently on an old laptop, cant seem to find the guide though.
I did the following to clone the disk.
Defrag the current disk (think i did it twice cause thats obviously better;-) )
Used a free cloning tool to copy the drive.
Once cloned insert new drive into main bay and start up the system.
Turned of trim.
All worked great, till the other day when windows wouldn't boot (suspect the cheap drive) now playing with linux mint, impressed so far but struggling with installing programs (xbmc) and useing wine.
Just a thank you for the advice.
I got round to kicking this job off last night. In the end I just swapped the SATA / Power cables from the current HDD to the SSD. Once I've finished I'll plug the old HDD back in and format it.
I installed Vista from the Dell OEM disk. Installed SP1 and SP2 then used my Win7 upgrade disk to get Win7 on. Did the ball ache of getting all the Win 7 updates downloaded and installed before embarking on transferring all my backed up data from the NAS back on the SSD. Win7 activated no problem didn't need to call.
The only slight problem is on my old Dell the HDD bays are vertical mount with screws fixing the HDD to the bay with screws going in the top of the HDD. I bought a 2.5->3.5 conversion bracket but the bracket only has screw holes assuming the HDD was fixed by the holes on the side of the HDD. Nothing a bit of blu-tac won't fix (or maybe drill 2 more holes in the bracket if I can be bothered to do a proper job).
Hopefully I'll be finished tonight with all the software I use re-installed.
Checkout this guide for SSD installation and optimisation. This will give you better performance and your SSD should last more than a couple of years.
[url= http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds ]http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds[/url]
What a good link. I must admit I wasn't far off that procedure but there's a few tips in the detail that I'll check tonight. Thanks.
There's some good information on there, and some questionable.
Disabling UAC, for instance, is a really bad idea.
You should only turn off UAC, if you know what you are doing 😉
Problem is, most people think they do, and it's an area where there's a lot of misinformation kicking about. UAC is a much broader technology than "annoying dialogue boxes in Vista" and turning it off disables a lot of other security and stability features.
If there's a compelling reason to turn it off, I've yet to hear one; far better just to stick it in Quiet mode if you really object to clicking a button when elevated permissions are required.
I disable UAC when not connected to interwebs (disabled LAN) and doing CPU intensive work, such as encoding or video editing. I'll also disable AV and stop a lot of other background services. I cannot believe how much faster things run.
Agreed it is not wise to disable it so you don't have to click a button. It does a lot more than that.
Wasn't planning on disabling UAC.
Tips about page files, indexing and defrag are useful. Kind of on my should I / shouldn't I list so confirmation is good. Thanks again.
Holy Moly, after a month or so deciding on a new laptop decided to follow this thread and popped a 250GB Samsung SSD in this evening.
It came with all the cloning software so off it went cloning.
Result .. mega fast now, like having a AppleMac, no more switching on and making a cup tea while it loads up.
Deffo one of the best upgrades you can do and easy to do too.
Yup the samsung 840 evo with the migration kit is a smart purchase