Moving to SSD

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by Lenster, Apr 1, 2010.

  1. Lenster

    Lenster MDL Novice

    Jul 26, 2009
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    I have Win 7 installed on a 300G Raptor. Partition 0 is the boot partition (without the 200mb recovery partition). The drive also has multiple other partitions for data, programs etc.

    I am waiting for a Kingston 64G SSD to arrive and I will make that my boot drive. It will only have the Windows partition on it. I currently use Acronis TI 2010 to backup all my partitions individually and have read all the verbage about partition alignment if I try to restore only the Win 7 partition to the SSD, so I will opt for a fresh install. My question is; Do I have to install Win 7 on the SSD and allow it to create the recovery partition or can I partition the entire SSD with one partition only which will prevent the creation of the recovery disk. And oh by the way, is anyone using Acronis to image an SSD and can verify that the restore works?

    Thanks

    Len
     
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  2. Rosco

    Rosco MDL Addicted

    Oct 29, 2007
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    No - you don't have to create the hidden system partition - I am not even sure it will try to as I can't remember if I installed to free space or a partition - suffice it to say mine doesn't have the hidden system partition.

    Yes, Acronis successfully images SSDs and restore works - you can verify for yourself by creating system backup and converting to a Windows backup on another drive, use Acronis boot manager function to add the Windows backup image to your start menu and boot from the image file - it runs like a regular system but a bit slow
     
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  3. Lenster

    Lenster MDL Novice

    Jul 26, 2009
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    Thanks.
    As far as I can tell, if you install to free space, you get the recovery partition. If you install to an existing partition, you don't.

    About Using Acronis, I read that if you make an image of a Win7 partition (not a whole disk)
    on an HDD and try to restore it to an SSD, you wind up with an alignment problem which has a significant impact on performance. But I would guess that you could make an image of an SSD Win7 partition and restore it to an HDD it would be alright.
     
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  4. Rosco

    Rosco MDL Addicted

    Oct 29, 2007
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    If you install Windows 7 to free space on a hard disk it will create the 100 mb system partition. I thought I installed to free space on my SSD but can't be sure - but windows recognizes SSDs now and it might not create the system partition - I can't be sure and I'm not gunna trash my system just to check it out.

    I would definetely clean install to an SSD.

    Restoring the image works fine - I stuffed something up last week on my system but had an image of the system just before I broke it - restored the system to the SSD fine..

    The trick of booting from the VHD image created when you convert an Acronis image is worth doing to ensure you have a good backup - save the image to your other drive and use Acronis to add it to your boot menu and test it - if it boots to a working OS you know youi have a reliable backup.
     
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  5. Lenster

    Lenster MDL Novice

    Jul 26, 2009
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    Thanks very much
     
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  6. ahyanglf

    ahyanglf MDL Novice

    Apr 2, 2010
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    I only use Acronis to partition.

    but ahout image ,I suggest that windows its-slft can do it !
     
  7. Smorgan

    Smorgan Glitcher

    Mar 25, 2010
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    Since you guys use SSD's is there a seeable difference between a raid or 2 drives and 1 SSD....
    Cause I'm thinkin about getting one I just wanna know if it is worth the expense....
     
  8. alextheg

    alextheg MDL Expert

    Jan 7, 2009
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    With SSD as your OS drive boot time is around 15 - 20 seconds, id say its worth the expense. :D
     
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  9. Rosco

    Rosco MDL Addicted

    Oct 29, 2007
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    #9 Rosco, Apr 2, 2010
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2010
    A good SSD is so much faster than any raid setup you'll wonder why you ever thought raid was a good idea.

    The read and write speeds of a SSD are much higher - usually double of any mechanical drive BUT it is the access time that is the real killer - SSD are like 70 - 100 times faster at accessing data (0.1 millsec or less versus 7 milliseconds for a good mechanical drive) - combine that with the speeds and mechanical drives simply can't keep up.

    Make sure you get a second generation one though or you'll be disappointed - read up on which ones to get.
     
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  10. Smorgan

    Smorgan Glitcher

    Mar 25, 2010
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    Ok thanks for the info cause I was going back and forth on a SSD and Raid hmmm raided ssd's maybe when I have the money lol
     
  11. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

    Aug 13, 2008
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    This pertains to Windows 7 specifically how???? Misplaced post, or ???
     
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  12. Michelle68

    Michelle68 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 16, 2009
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    TRIM baby TRIM

    Windows 7 has this special feature built into it but I'm sure you already knew this.

    BTW,how many people do you know that bought an SSD to use with a different OS?
     
  13. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

    Aug 13, 2008
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    #14 911medic, Apr 3, 2010
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2010
    Mac and Linux?

    maybe this should be in the hardware thread...that was my point..
     
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  14. caquito1100

    caquito1100 MDL Novice

    Jan 6, 2010
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  15. poedoom

    poedoom MDL Junior Member

    Sep 15, 2007
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    ahci must be enabled in your bios for trim support to work also make sure your ssd has the latest firmware update m8 ive been running ssd for a while now and could never go back to normal hdd,s....Note if you enable ahci in your bios and get a bsod while installing w7 then this is more than likely you ssd firmware when you update the ssd firmware it also updates your ahci controller on your ssd well this is how it worked for my samsung anyroad i used to get a bsod b4 the firmware upgrade hope this info helps if you run into any probs
     
  16. Smorgan

    Smorgan Glitcher

    Mar 25, 2010
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    This is not a lottery forum for goodness sake....
    Please do not post ads on it its here for providing answers and knowledge....

    Getting on with it I don't think I can get an SSD simply because of the price point....
    It cost about 100 dollars to 120 dollars to Raid a couple of 500 GB drives...
    And the cost of a SSD is about 120 and thats just for the 40 GB model....
    Maybe when it gets down a reasonable amount I'll give it a shot sadly enough