SSD vs HDD Reformatting.

Hi, I have an XPS 13 Ultrabook on the way with the 128 G SSD. I usually reformat a couple of times a year and did not realize how complicated the SSD reformat was until now.

My ultimate goal: Set the PC up the way I want it, then make an image back up so I can easily reformat in the future.

I'm thinking of using Macrium Reflect Free. The XPS has several partitions, so I guess I just select all of them when making an image with Reflect.

Then us HDDErase to erase drive. Then (I'm still lost on how to use Reflect, as their instructions are not very clear for a layman)...but hook up external HDD and select image restore.

Will that work properly? I keep hearing about alignments and stuff. Do I need to take a crash course on how to align the drive as well? Or will the above work well?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows of any good step by step tutorials, from start to finish, that would be awesome.



PS Not that I want to go this route, but I assume that using the factory image restore thing in Windows 7 is not a good idea on an SSD?

 

Sure, I suppose. I just use Windows backup, but that program sounds fine too.

Don't(!!) use HDDErase! You can wipe a SSD by using Secure Erase (several programs, such as Intel's SSD Toolbox and others) can do that, or you can find other programs out there. Wiping a hard drive is completely different from wiping a SSD; whereas with a HDD you write a bunch of zeros to the drive multiple times, with a SSD all you have to do is mark the NAND chips as empty (what Secure Erase does, in a nutshell). Writing several passes of zeros onto a SSD will eat up its write cycles, shortening the lifespan of the drive.

As for restoring an image, that's one way to do it.

With Secure Erase, it will work properly. Windows 7 is SSD aware and it should auto-align itself properly, though you could always check later if you think there might have been a problem (performance drops like a rock after restore).

Are you talking about whatever crapware is on your laptop that acts as a backup program? I'm not sure, never used one before. Probably be best to use Win7's native backup.

 

Thanks for the reply Jar Head.

So...

I can back up all drives and partitions with Windows 7 "Create a system Image".

Then download Intel's SSD Toolbox and wipe the drive (I assume this will be self explanatory).

Then hook up external HDD... Then how to I restore at this point? I don't think the XPS will come with a boot disk, as there is no optical. Will I need to make some kind of boot partition on my external HDD or a thumb drive?

If so, do you know of a place to download one for free?

Again, thank you very much.



Edit: I'm pretty sure the SDD in the XPS 13 is not an Intel. Will the Intel SSD Toolbox still work?

 

I think that Intel's SSD Toolbox only works with Intel drives, so I'd check to see what Dell is using and/or see if Dell offers SSD management software for your computer.

Here's one way to restore without a DVD drive.

Personally, I never bother with restoring images. I do keep a system image backup just in case, but typically I clean install from a fresh Win7 disc, reinstall applications, and then copy/paste data from my backup drive instead of using restore software. It's just how I do things .

 

You can secure erase using Parted Magic booted via flash drive. You may have issues with BIOS locking the SSD, so you may have to boot into PM with the SSD removed, then insert it.
start – Parted Magic

 

Thanks for the reply. There has to be any easier way to do this. Your response is pretty much the manner of every bit of information I am finding, "You can do this, but it might not work, or freeze, etc..."

So basically I'm going to have to spend hours and hours and try program after program to find something that will work...and hope and pray that I ever get the computer up and running again.

You shouldn't have to remove the SSD to reformat. I'm not saying you are wrong; I'm saying the process is too complicated.

I think I may just sell the ultrabook and get something with an HDD. I HAVE to be able to reformat. I should have done more research on SSD. I just keep hearing how awesome they are. Is all the praise form people who are either advanced users or people who don't ever reformat?

People, when praising SSD's should preface with, "They're great, if you never plan on reformating or have a degree in computer science..."

 

No, the process isn't "too complicated". As already mentioned, reformatting a hard drive is not the same as an SSD. Actually... lemme expand on the post from pvtjarhead...

Reformatting a drive does not write zeroes to every sector on the platter. A reformat is pretty much the wiping clean of the master file table. The address book, if you will. All of the data on the platter drive is still there, but the MFT has no idea. If you reformat the SSD, the same thing happens. The MFT is wiped, but the NAND sectors are still assigned their varying 1's and 0's until written over again. \​

Reformatting an SSD does not bring it back to its original speeds, just like reformatting an HDD does not actually erase the data.​

The process you're trying to do... a Secure Erase... is the process that writes 0's (at least once) to every sector on the drive. This isn't good for SSD's. So... you have to jump through special hoops. Really... the hoops are only slighly more elaborate than those for HDD's. You cannot Secure Erase a boot drive. It's easiest handled when it's placed in an external enclosure and an OS is loaded from a different source. This goes the same for HDD's.

You misunderstand what "freezing" means in BIOS. When BIOS locks a drive, it means that a SE cannot be performed until the drive is unlocked. Drives are locked when in the machine (primary slot?) upon startup. So... remove the drive, boot into OS via other source, insert drive and attempt SE. If no workie... try again.

Freezing/locking is NOT the same as bricking.

Yes, the only reason that all of the reading you're finding involves a lot of work is because it does. But, like I said, it's not really that difficult at all. I've done it at least twice in the past 2 years.

EDIT - depending on the SSD you have and how aggressive its Garbage Collection feature is, you should need to reformat twice a year.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that -to do it right- I will need to crack open the XPS and remove the SDD and install it in an enclosure every time I want to reformat?

I know it must sound like I'm being a baby, but I travel all the time and use my PC for work all day long.

In the last 6 months, I have reformatted my current PC twice. Currently, I can be on the road, sitting at McDonalds using their wifi, run into a problem...30 minutes later my HDD is reformatted.

There's no easy way to just plug an external portable into the USB, wipe the drive and re-install?

I don't mind doing the extra steps...at all. I just simply cannot find a clear definition of what those steps are. Like the first reply here...the process will only work with an Intel drive, and so on. According to Dell, the XPS has a "Dell Mobility Solid State Drive".

I have searched and searched and I'm not finding any instructions for that drive.

I do, however, keep hearing instructions to use HDDErase to access Secure Erase, but now I'm hearing to not use that program.



In short: I read one process in one place, then find information advising against in another place. In other words, every piece of information I am finding on the extra steps is contradicted some place.

I cannot find the steps to do this. I'm going on 10 hours of research on this thing.

 

Ok, first and foremost... WHY do you feel the need to reformat an SSD so frequently? WHY have you been reformatting your HDD so frequently? Are you using Windows 7? With proper defragmenting/optimizing freeware, as well as a single partition to separate your OS from your data storage, you should never experience a slowdown that requires a reformat. There are two camps when it comes to partition, so let's not have that discussion on religion here.

Are you telling us that you reformat your HDD so regularly and then restore from a system image or actually reinstall your OS and restore backed up data? Either way is old school thinking if you're using Win7. I take my friends' slow laptops from them and give them back, a day later, a machine that runs as fast as the day they bought it and a promise that it will never get that slow again.

WHEN you get your SSD, yes it will slowly experience a slow down over time. This comes when blocks must be marked empty before writing to and what not. The Garbage Collection feature of the newer SSD's is to decrease/prevent this from happening and keep the drive running at optimum levels.

In the event that you do have a measurable slow down, as captured via benchmarking tools AND coupled with the reality of your machine being noticeably slower, THEN you may be interested in a Secure Erase. You should never need to do a SE so frequently that you'd need to do one while on the road. Even a slow SSD is remarkably faster than any HDD.

If you must do an SE, the Intel SSD Toolbox only words on Intel SSD's. If yours is not Intel, then look elsewhere. Parted Magic does have a tool that can perform an SE.

Like I said before, you cannot Secure Erase any drive when it is the boot drive. You must boot from USB. It's truly easiest when you remove the drive, place it in an enclosure and connect it to a different machine, as an external drive, to perform the function. If you cannot do this, then you can use Parted Magic, but run the risk of the program telling you that BIOS has locked the drive. In this case, the drive must be removed, the system rebooted from USB, then the drive replaced. The actual Secure Erase function is carried out in mere seconds.

These are the only steps that I approve of and are the easiest I've figured to carry it out.

I honestly think you need to shift the way you look at storage media and how they perform under newer operating systems. You should never, ever, have to reinstall except for in cases of major unresolvable issues.

 

Pretty much everything you have said thus far is spot on. Parted Magic seems to be the best way to go, but some people are saying that they do receive the mentioned freezing issue.

I like to reformat because it is just so easy (in the past). I know this sounds like a cover for "I download a lot of pron" but it isn't. A side job that I have requires me to go online 2-3 hours a day and load all sorts of webpages from game sites, pron sites, spam sites, etc... I end up loading hundreds of pages in an hour.

(Side note. It is very honest work. I'm no spammer. I love the net and the idea of free exchange of info and would never muck it up).

I run malwayrebytes and AVG, and only do the above in a separate browser (Firefox), but still, it make me nervous.

So I kind of need to reformat. But even if I quit this job (I could be doing so in the near future) I still like to reformat. If you haven't noticed by now - I am the world's most foremost over thinker.

In other words, if my system acts funny...Murphy chimes in and tells me it's a virus and I avoid online banking until I reformat. Yeah, I'm a little off upstairs [shrugs].



But I simply cannot travel with a spare PC in case I need to reformat. Even if I could, that completely negates every advantage of having an SSD or even an Ultra. Plus, I understand getting to the components in these ultras can be very involved. Heck, the RAM is soldered on.

I am just hoping that I can do this without having to remove the drive. If it does it successfully the first time, does that mean it should every other time?

Thanks for all of your help Anseio. I really appreciate it.

 

Two solutions to your p0rn problem.

1 - if you have the processing power, run the naughty broswer in a virtual machine. That will keep whatever you do in the VM completely separate from everything else.

2 - Get an external drive for use as a backup. Use it to make a system image regularly and be sure to always have a copy of your Windows 7 System Repair disc. Keeping this system image updated and handy allows you to restore from it in the event that something does go awry.

Oooh... better yet. Get your system EXACTLY the way you like it and make a system image. Whenever you have the itch to reformat, simply restore from that perfect image. This works best when you've got a seperate partition for all of your user data that will not be affected by restoring from an image.

When I get the itch to start over with Windows, I restore from an image I made last year. Even crazier... if I have a program that I'd like to be added... I could make an image of my current system, restore from my starting image, install the program, make a new starting image, then restore from the current image. Of course, this involves storing multiple images and naming them accordingly.

In the event that something bad happens, or you worry of something bad, you should look to system restore first, THEN restoring from an image, THEN completey reformatting and starting over.

Since you're not secure erasing for the want to restore the SSD to best possible speeds, you don't need to bother with the whole process. Just keep a system image handy to restore from.

 

Hold on, I can restore from an image without having to do all of this secure erase stuff?

That would be perfect. I have no burning desire to wipe the drive, I just read that you should on SSD's.

So I get the system how I want it, make an image on the external HDD...then get a virus (from not-pron)...now how do I restore from that image without reformatting?

That would be perfect.



Edit: I'm looking into the VM as well. That thing could prove to be a real game changer. Glad I ran into you my friend.



Edit: It looks like tutorials are in abundance for the virtual machine. Why didn't I know about this years ago? Someone should start an online PC course, teaching these kind of things to mid ranged skilled users such as myself.

Like an "Everything You Should Know About the Net and Your PC" class and the first one is free. Of course, just like Hollywood does, you show them all of the awesome stuff in the preview, making them more likely to purchase the rest.

 

HAHAHA!

Press Windows Key > Type "Backup and Restore" and select it > Select Create a system image.

You can restore from an image in one of two ways: either from the Backup & Restore control panel, or by using the System Repair disc that you'll be asked to create once you've finished making the image.

System images work best when your user data is kept seperate, as it does completely overwrite whatever is on the partition. You'll need to figure out a backup solution that works best for keeping your user data up to date and safe.

If you have Win7 Pro, it comes with the native ability to install a virtual machine. There's always a hack , *cough cough, for that as well. If something goes wrong in the VM, you just wipe it and start a new one.

If it makes life easier for you, I do accept credit cards.