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11751
January 29th, 2010 14:00
Installing a SSD - need help
Hello Alienware members,
I have a Area-51 desktop that is awesome. I would like to make it better by installing my 120GB Vertex SSD into it and making it my OS drive. I currently have a 640GB (61GB used) OS drive and a 750GB data drive.
Is there a way to clone my 640GB HD and restore it to my 120GB SSD? Can this be done with windows backup or clonezilla? I found this article that says you can do this to another hard drive http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19317404.aspx
Can a hard drive image be written to a solid state drive? if so, will my OS recognize my drive as 120GB instead of 640GB?
If anyone out there has any ideas, please let me know soon. I have today/tonight to work on this before I will be gone for a few days.
My system is a 9 out of 10 and I think this will hit the full 10 out of 10 if i can do this lol.
Thanks in advance to anyone that responds. I am eagerly awaiting.
Joe
evilping
217 Posts
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January 29th, 2010 15:00
Toms Hardware had an article on SSD performance and they referenced a drive cloning/imaging software package that you may want to check out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-ssd-performance,2518.html
Evil.
JoeCrab
115 Posts
0
January 29th, 2010 16:00
Thanks Evil
I am going to give it a try now. I have downloaded the trial of Acronis. Whish me luck. I will post the results.
evilping
217 Posts
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January 29th, 2010 19:00
Please do. I'm thinking about attempting the same feat. :D
Evil.
FalconW7
42 Posts
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January 30th, 2010 02:00
I did it myself with my Aurora. Replaced the boot drive with an Intel X-25M 80GB SSD. I used the cloning software from Arconis. Had a free copy with my Kingston SSD which is in my laptop.
1 problem with cloning is that it creates a partition alignment problem on ssd's when cloning from a hard drive. The optimal for a ssd is 64 sectors and on a harddisk it's 63 sectors. Windows 7 automatically does this correctly when installing on a new drive. Cloning however is not a new install. Some SSD's have more performance issues then others with the offset. Intel drives have less performances issues but it's still slower then a new install.
I myself have no problem with the slower performance, it's still much faster then a harddrive and it was the fastest way to get the computer up and running. Below is a link to the ocz forum which discusses the issues with ssd offset.
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?48309-Partition-alignment-importance-under-Windows-XP-(32-bit-and-64-bit)-why-it-helps-with-stuttering-and-increases-drive-working-life