Replacing my SSD boot drive

jimjiber

jimjiber

jimjiber

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Joined
19 Aug 2005
Posts
80
Hello

I bought a 128GB Samsung 840 Pro a couple of years ago and installed it as my boot drive for exciting quick Win7 boots. I have been really happy with it and only installed all my essential commonly-used software onto it (Adobe CC mainly).

Problem is it is getting filled up, not quite sure how. Probably just Windows Update guff etc. I regularly only have 10GB free and it worries me. So I am thinking of replacing it with a 256GB model.

Is there a relatively painless way to perform this heart transplant? Can I clone my current boot drive with special software, write it to the new drive and then make a simple swap?

Or will I end up in a steaming pile of errors? I remember it used to be that case that Windows would think you were installing it on another machine and would then fail authentication (Win XP I think). Is this going to happen?

Any advice gratefully received.
 
If you buy a Samsung 850 then I believe they come with the software to clone your current SSD, I would always do a 'fresh' install to get rid of all the crud built up over the years (you'll find yourself not installing everything you currently have on your machine as you'll find you don't need everything)
 
Maundie said:
If you buy a Samsung 850 then I believe they come with the software to clone your current SSD, I would always do a 'fresh' install to get rid of all the crud built up over the years (you'll find yourself not installing everything you currently have on your machine as you'll find you don't need everything)
Click to expand...

I totally agree about getting rid of the crud with a fresh install. I am a bit worried though as I have so much stuff that will need backing up and reinstalling - about 6 email accounts, 4 different users on this PC... I reckon it would take me at least a day!
 
850 Evo are awesome..

I'd still be inclined to do the following..

Disable system restore
Run CCleaner slim (download)
Run Disk Cleanup (in system mode)
Install Treesize Free and see where your space has gone, nvidia drivers can take up multiple gigabytes if you've had many new versions, there's a few folders you can empty...
 
use magic jellybean software to recover your xp serial,usually theres a sticker with it printed on on the side of the pc if it was a bought pc

clone with macrium reflect to the new ssd and reactivate xp
 
Thanks people!

I used PatchCleaner and managed to free up 20GB on my existing SSD, so may hold fire for a little while. I will keep this thread bookmarked for when I do take the plunge!
 
Is cloning as simple as plugging in the new SSD (my case has a slot on the top), cloning the drive then just plugging in the new drive to the same SATA cable as my old one?
 
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