Q: Upgrading to SSD and cloning from HDD

Details:

Samsung R480 Laptop
HDD: Standard 5400rpm Samsung 500gb HDD
Planned upgrade to: Samsung 840 EVO 120gb SSD
Planned cloning software: AOMEI Standard 2.0 Freeware

Questions:

1. If I am to clone the entire C: drive only (which has windows in it), and leave the recovery area / recovery partition on my previous HDD, will it boot up?

2. If I leave the recovery partition in my previous HDD and connect it via eSATA or USB 2.0, can I still use it for system recovery in case something goes wrong?

3. Can I still access the system recovery partition by pressing F4 on bios while the old HDD is connected to USB/eSATA?

4. Can I just use the recovery partition on my previous hard drive for restoring windows (via bootup) on my new SSD instead of cloning the entire C: drive? Re-installing programs are OK.

Thank you.

 

Yes, no, no, no.

How much data do you have on the hard drive currently? Can it even fit in that tiny SSD?


Just do yourself a favor and go with a clean install (and a larger SSD).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I agree 99% with alexhawker - a clean install is the way to go, no matter what.

I think that even 1) is a no though; without the tiny boot manager partition I don't see Windows booting up just cloning C:\ drive (unless the OEM install you're cloning managed to bypass that Windows default setting).

 

Not out of the box, but with a Windows repair disc or install disc, you should be able to put the necessary boot files on the C:\ partition. It's not something I'd advise though, but it can be done. I've done it before because I had a moment of stupid and forgot to disconnect my data drives when I installed Windows on my desktop. As a result, the boot files were on one of the HDD which happened to be the one holding my media libraries and that particular drive was gonna get replaced first, so I moved the boot files to my SSD.

 

Thank you for the replies.

I am planning to use my current 500gb HDD as an external drive for media/data, so 120gb should be sufficient for the OS and programs (browser, photoshop, office, etc.)
So I guess the best way to benefit from the SSD is to make a recovery disc, download a windows 7 home premium factory image, make a bootable DVD/usb flash drive with it, (I do not have a physical copy of Windows 7 that came with the laptop) and reinstall everything from scratch?
Also, If I am to download and burn a factory image, will these work? Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River
I am planning to download the 3gb media refresh version of home premium SP1 so I don't have to do the very exhausting windows updates. Will my Home Premium OEM keys work with it?

Another issue: The product key on the COA sticker is different from the one I see using Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool. Which should I use?

Thanks again.

 

Will 120Gb be enough when you consider SSDs perform best over time when not full (and over-provisioned)? If you do not know what over-provisioning is, do some googling - tiller has discussed it to death on these forums.

 

Go here: Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.

Download, install, update. It will open in your browser.

Belarc Advisor will tell you the product key. Look under "Software Licenses"