Installing an SSD and cloning the C drive

[APJ]

I fancied speeding up the boot time of my desktop so bought a 250Gb Samsung 840 Evo SSD kit.   The instructions were simple enough, clone the existing C drive using the Samsung software and the supplied USB connector, then install the drive and bingo!

 

However, reality was slightly different.   The Samsung cloning software just wouldn't complete without an error - 400110[aee] - however I tried. Phoning Samsung technical support somewhere in Europe only yeided the response "search on the internet for other cloning software". 

 

So I downloaded EaseUS ToDo Backup free which has a drive cloning facility, cloned my C drive, and installed the SSD in the PC (in addition to the existing partitioned HD).The SSD has been assigned as drive A, and shows in Drive Manager as a Healthy (Primary Partition).

 

However, setting the boot sequence in the BIOS to the SSD generated a BOOTMGR NOT FOUND error. I also cloned the small unlabelled partition shown as Healthy (Active, Primary Partition) as I figured this has something to do with windows and reset the BIOS to boot from the SSD. Now the PC boots up, but from the C Drive, which has the properties of Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition).

 

I really don't want to do a full reinstall of windows and all software as I'll never get the pc back to how I want it.   Any IT guru's point me in the right direction for getting windows cloned to the SSD and getting the PC to boot from it? PC runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. 

 

All thoughts gratefully appreciated! 

 

[Dean-]

I have always used CloneZilla and never had any issues with using it.

 

Have a go with CloneZilla - See how you get on and if you experience any issues post on here & I will give you a hand. Make sure you clear any existing partitions on the SSD before you start the clone.

[Phil-E]

I would always do a full re-install on an SSD.

 

The sectors are different and start at a different point to a conventional HDD so cloning one onto an SSD can cause performance issues.

 

Phil

[Oli3000]

I would ALWAYS do a fresh install. 

 

But, If you really don't want to then:

 

+1 for clonezilla. A lot of the cloning software doesn't copy the partition table and EFI required to label the drive as bootable. It's a pain, and clonezilla is a dos based program so it isn't particularly user friendly, but it should work in the end. If the drive sizes differ you may have to use some of the advanced settings in clonezilla to disable drive size checking, too.

Edited 20 June, 2014 by Oli3000

[Dean-]

I would always do a full re-install on an SSD.

 

The sectors are different and start at a different point to a conventional HDD so cloning one onto an SSD can cause performance issues.

 

Phil

 

I bet it would work cloning, maybe it may slow down performance.

[GentleGiant]

Your problem might be it being badged as drive A:/

 

A and B are reserved for the old obsolete floppy disk drive.

 

Try setting to C:

[aolt]

Just have a fresh install on the Hard drive, and transer files over manually.

 

It's a natural thing to say what programs you really need, and that will also help any existing speed issues you may have had before. Caused by what ever might have been installed before.

[Dean-]

Your problem might be it being badged as drive A:/

 

A and B are reserved for the old obsolete floppy disk drive.

 

Try setting to C:

 

Shouldn't matter. Its the boot record that is causing the problem.

[robt100]

Personally I'd do a fresh install and copy over, thats what I did with mine. Also make sure you set the Bios to AHCI mode for HDD interface, will make a huge difference to the speed. Currently running the same SSD as you in AHCI (and samsungs 'rapid mode') and getting 1.5GB/s transfer rate

[djswivel]

Another vote for Clonezilla. And also another vote for clean install on SSD...

[gadgetman]

Your problem might be it being badged as drive A:/

 

A and B are reserved for the old obsolete floppy disk drive.

 

Try setting to C:

That stopped being an issue when XP came along

[mannyo]

My late father used acronis truimage to copy the HDD to SDD and it booted first time, however this is a purchased product.

[GentleGiant]

That stopped being an issue when XP came along

 

Time to ditch my Differential Machine and go digital??

 

Just as well, I keep getting splinters off of the pulleys.

[APJ]

Thanks everyone for the info!!  I'll give Clonezilla a pop. 

 

As for a fresh install - how is this done?  Boot from recovery CD and install OS to SSD then have to reinstall all programs?

 

Can anyone explain the difference between the various labels for a drive ie system, active, primay, boot etc?   How can you make a primary partition bootable?

 

Cheers

[Dean-]

Thanks everyone for the info!!  I'll give Clonezilla a pop. 

 

As for a fresh install - how is this done?  Boot from recovery CD and install OS to SSD then have to reinstall all programs?

 

Can anyone explain the difference between the various labels for a drive ie system, active, primay, boot etc?   How can you make a primary partition bootable?

 

Cheers

 

APJ,

 

Make sure your Bios is configured to boot from CD drive, You will need a Windows disk and product key. Follow the prompts and you should be good to go.

 

Throughout the setup Windows will ask you where you want to install this, this is where you will create the new partition - I recommend you delete every partition on that hard drive and create a new one.

 

Once the installation is complete you will have absolutely nothing on the computer other than the standard Windows applications. You may need to obtain Drivers for your computer.

 

Ensure you get a good Anti-virus back on the machine and all windows updates are downloaded and installed, then start putting all your other applications on. 

[APJ]

Thanks sOniX

 

I download a Win7 Home Premium installation disk image from Digitalriver (genuine software but without product key) and burnt it to DVD. Booting from the DVD does indeed initiate the installation process, but then halts asking for drivers - although it doesn't specify drivers for what! Where should I tell it to look for drivers?  Or would I be better off booting from the recovery disks made when the PC was first delivered? Only concern there is that it;ll have lots of unnecessary dell stuff on it and unsure whether it would be a "clean" install.

[mbames]

I are you sure it halts asking for drivers, I had a feeling there was just a button to install "additional" drivers.

 

I would also recommend that you format/parition/reinstall with just your SSD attached, that will ensure that driver letter allocation is correct (saves faffing about altering it later if for some strange reason the SSD boot partition isn't assigned as C.

 

Partition wise, delete everything on the SSD, and then lets define the partitions for you.

 

Windows should have enough drivers to get your machine installed.  Windows update & drivers from support.dell.com should fill in the gaps / update everything afterwards.  You could use the recovery disks as a last resort.

[jrw]

Cloning is fine for ssd on 7 and above as long as os isn't full of junk. It recognises it's an ssd and adjusts trim accordingly. If you haven't got the product key run jellybean key finder on your machine to get it.

[JBD1974]

Sorry - perhaps a bit too late for you, but when I did mine last year I followed the guide on life hacker and used EaseUS Todo - all completed with no problem.  For what it's worth I also specifically avoided assigning the drive as "A", probably because my mind is still stuck in 1990 and DOS...

[Dean-]

Thanks sOniX

 

I download a Win7 Home Premium installation disk image from Digitalriver (genuine software but without product key) and burnt it to DVD. Booting from the DVD does indeed initiate the installation process, but then halts asking for drivers - although it doesn't specify drivers for what! Where should I tell it to look for drivers?  Or would I be better off booting from the recovery disks made when the PC was first delivered? Only concern there is that it;ll have lots of unnecessary dell stuff on it and unsure whether it would be a "clean" install.

 

Hi.

 

Have you changed the mode in Bios for the hard drive?

 

I have seen this before where Windows asks for a driver and changing the mode sorts this issue out. 

[APJ]

Thanks for the further info folks.  I;ve got a bit bored with it all now, so the SSD is installed, but not being used.   The process outlined in hacker seems sensible, as I think my issue is about where the MBR sits. Really don't fancy a fresh install, so if I can get the partition clone  and MBR bit working, then all well and good.  Will try when I've got some time over the weekend. 

[jrw]

Thanks for the further info folks. I;ve got a bit bored with it all now, so the SSD is installed, but not being used. The process outlined in hacker seems sensible, as I think my issue is about where the MBR sits. Really don't fancy a fresh install, so if I can get the partition clone and MBR bit working, then all well and good. Will try when I've got some time over the weekend.

A disk to disk clone will copy everything so you don't need to worry about mbr

[APJ]

Thanks jrw - but my source disk is 2TB across 5 partitions and the SSD only 250Gb - don't want to have to remove programs and data on the source disk to re-partition and get under 250Gb. 

[RobClubley]

That stopped being an issue when XP came along

 

There are still some legacy hangovers though. One of the sysadmins where I used to work created a 2k8R2 server image with a swapfile on a B: drive.

Every time Windows restarted it disregarded that swapfile. I renamed the disk to s: and the problem went away.