The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Samsung 830 SSD Purchase Advice

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by lilone21804, Sep 21, 2012.

  1. lilone21804

    lilone21804 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I'm looking into purchasing my Samsung 830 today. I know that the laptop upgrade package comes with Norton Ghost. Does the the regular hard drive package come with Norton Ghost or just the upgrade kit. There's only a $20 difference between the two. I don't mind the price difference because $20 isn't going to break the bank, but is it with it? FYI, I just ordered a new M18X with a regular 500 Gb hard drive, so I plan on swapping it out once I receive it and using the Samsung as the primary. Meaning cloning the information from the other drive to it. Thanks in advance
     
    lilone21804, Sep 21, 2012
    #1
  2. Jocelyn84

    Jocelyn84 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    106
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    MZ-7PC256B - Bare drive (no kit or Norton Ghost)
    MZ-7PC256N - Notebook kit (comes with laptop transfer kit & Norton Ghost)
    MZ-7PC256D - Desktop kit (comes with 3.5 to 2.5 adapter & Norton Ghost)

    Same thing applies to other sizes :)
     
    Jocelyn84, Sep 21, 2012
    #2
  3. davidricardo86

    davidricardo86 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    2,376
    Messages:
    1,774
    Likes Received:
    109
    Trophy Points:
    81
    As nice as Samsung is to include Norton Ghost, its really a hit or miss. I've read people having bad luck with the application and not getting the results they expected. I'd much rather do without it and perform a fresh Windows installation versus cloning the HDD over to the SSD. Another route you could take would be to make a Factory Recovery Disk (usually from a pre-installed application on your system) and re-install your OS the way as it comes from Alienware. When I bought an M11X, they gave me a Windows/Drivers DVD, same difference.

    Be sure to gather all your system specific drivers before doing this (from you "C:/" drive or Alienware drivers/support site).
     
    davidricardo86, Sep 21, 2012
    #3
  4. miro_gt

    miro_gt Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    433
    Messages:
    1,748
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    56
    or the better way - download the trial of Acronis True Image and get the job done without any issues.
     
    miro_gt, Sep 21, 2012
    #4
  5. lilone21804

    lilone21804 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30

    Thank you for clearing that up, lol I always wondered what those end letters stood for.



    If I was to use the DVD, wouldn't the current drivers be already included? What if I was to create a Recovery DVD after I received my M18, would I still need to download the drivers? Also would there be a performance loss by using a recovery DVD created with a regular HDD over a SSD?




    Does Acronis True Image work better than Norton Ghost?
     
    lilone21804, Sep 21, 2012
    #5
  6. davidricardo86

    davidricardo86 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    2,376
    Messages:
    1,774
    Likes Received:
    109
    Trophy Points:
    81
    The dvd might include the original drivers or some updated ones, who knows. Even if the drivers included are current at the time, there could always be new ones released at any time, again who knows. You'll have to download newer drivers eventually. Perfomance loss from installing from an hdd vs ssd? No, just slower installation time maybe. I don't think that's going to matter a whole lot.

    Sent from my SPH-M580 using Tapatalk
     
    davidricardo86, Sep 22, 2012
    #6
  7. Kryspie

    Kryspie Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    fresh install over cloning to reduce the risk of SSD failure due to "improper realignment" of your HDD sectors......
     
    Kryspie, Sep 22, 2012
    #7
  8. Jocelyn84

    Jocelyn84 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    106
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    This is simply not true. If the drive being cloned is aligned, then the new cloned drive will also be aligned.
     
    Jocelyn84, Sep 23, 2012
    #8
  9. Kryspie

    Kryspie Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    keyword....IF
     
    Kryspie, Sep 23, 2012
    #9
  10. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

    Reputations:
    7,588
    Messages:
    10,023
    Likes Received:
    1,077
    Trophy Points:
    581
    You can also align the drive manually and clone or even use cloning software that will take care of alignment. I prefer a clean install, but it has nothing to do with alignment.
     
    tijo, Sep 23, 2012
    #10
  11. TMastPrecision

    TMastPrecision Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    16
    +1 on the fresh install. It took me like 20-30 min to install win7, then install the drivers and some programs. I'd say prolly 60 to 90 min total. Fresh installs are always the way to go, gets rid of the years of junk and problems the OS has picked up. Backup all your favorites, thats always the thing I forget to do. lol
     
    TMastPrecision, Sep 24, 2012
    #11