What would i have to do? Current HDD to SSD

Nocky24 · 26 Nov 2009 at 20:34

At the moment i'm considering an SSD drive as a future upgrade large enough for the OS and a few games to be installed on. However at the moment i've got my OS installed on my F3 drive and all the other programs/apps i use. How would i go about getting my OS onto the new SSD drive and using the F3 just for storage?

I've had very little experience messing around with HDD setups so forgive me if its something simple lol

ChileanLlama · 26 Nov 2009 at 20:52

Disconnect your F3. Install the SSD and then use your Windows 7 DVD to re-install windows, then apps, drivers, updates, tweaks etc. Reconnect your F3 and move any data across that needs to be on your C:\ drive.

You can also use a program like Acronis to make an image of your Windows partition on to the SSD and keep all your data and programs intact. But Acronis won't align your drive for best performance, and it's likely you will have to mess with your install to make it fit onto a (I'm guessing) smaller SSD.

mdovey · 26 Nov 2009 at 21:03

You could use Macrium Reflect rather than Acronis which is better as regards partition alignment - http://support.macrium.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1919

If you go this route, you'll need to move enough data/programs from the F3 such that the amount of space used on the F3 is less than the size of the new SSD. The defragment the F3, and then shrink the partition on the F3 using Windows Disk Manager. You need to shrink the partition to a few GB less than the size of the new SSD.

Then use something like Macrium to create an image and "restore" the image onto the SSD. Then set the SSD as the boot drive in the BIOS.

Overall, it is easier to reinstall Windows 7 on the SSD. Remember to change the boot order in BIOS so that it has priority over the F3 - otherwise you can end up with Windows installing the OS on the SSD but the boot files on the F3!

Matthew

Nocky24 · 26 Nov 2009 at 21:13

Thanks for the responses- great information

Yeh i'd probably just do a fresh install as i backup all my files on an external anyway.

mdovey said:
Overall, it is easier to reinstall Windows 7 on the SSD. Remember to change the boot order in BIOS so that it has priority over the F3 - otherwise you can end up with Windows installing the OS on the SSD but the boot files on the F3!

Would it be easier to connect the SSD to the first sata port im using for the F3, remove the F3 drive completely, install Windows 7 and then just reconnect the F3 drive in a different sata port afterwards or would it still be conflicting? Either way its no big deal just changing the boot order, was just a thought

Also where do the OS files, etc go/show up when you reconnect the F3 drive just to use as storage?

mdovey · 26 Nov 2009 at 21:58

Nocky24 said:
Would it be easier to connect the SSD to the first sata port im using for the F3, remove the F3 drive completely, install Windows 7 and then just reconnect the F3 drive in a different sata port afterwards

Yes. Although once you connect the F3, check the BIOS to ensure that it is still set to use the SSD as the boot device!

As regards the files - you'll still have the Windows directory (etc.) on the F3 although they will not be being used (and show up as d:\windows). If you check Disk Manager you may also find a (hidden) 100MB partition which windows 7 uses for booting. On the F3 this would no longer be used. Leaving these intact however, would enable you to boot the machine off the F3 should something happen to the SSD.

Matthew