How to clone Win7 OS partition to SSD properly?

[82]

Hi, I like to clone my Win7 HDD boot partition to SSD. How do I ensure the disk has proper alignment?

Below thread recommends Macrium REflect FREE vs Aconis that I was planning to use. Any comment? Thanks.

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-St...one/td-p/47320

[thepotatohead]

Hi, I like to clone my Win7 HDD boot partition to SSD. How do I ensure the disk has proper alignment?

Below thread recommends Macrium REflect FREE vs Aconis that I was planning to use. Any comment? Thanks.

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-St...one/td-p/47320

Have a look at "Paragon Migrate OS to SSD", it's easy to use and get the alignment right.

[82]

not free

Have a look at "Paragon Migrate OS to SSD", it's easy to use and get the alignment right.

[DRonline]

not free

Depending on what you spent on a SSD $20 for software is a drop in the bucket.

[audit13]

Use your existing Win 7 rig to create the partitions. Using Win 7 will ensure that the ssd's offset is properly @ 1024 KB.

Once the partitions have been create, use a drive cloning program. Is your mechanical drive a Seagate or Western Digital drive?

Have a look at this thread: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/progr...e-ssd-1196982/

[82]

I only spend $55 on the Agility 3 from NCIX ;-)

Depending on what you spent on a SSD $20 for software is a drop in the bucket.

So I can use dispart/format under Win7 then clone the drive? Will the cloning part screwup the alignment?

Use your existing Win 7 rig to create the partitions. Using Win 7 will ensure that the ssd's offset is properly @ 1024 KB.

Once the partitions have been create, use a drive cloning program. Is your mechanical drive a Seagate or Western Digital drive?

Have a look at this thread: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/progr...e-ssd-1196982/

[audit13]

[QUOTE=82;14977368So I can use dispart/format under Win7 then clone the drive? Will the cloning part screwup the alignment?[/QUOTE]

Use dispart to create the partition. There is no need for format anything after creating the partition.

Use a program such as Acronis to clone the OS from your mechanical drive to your ssd.

What is the make of your mechanical drive?

[82]

Seagate, I can use Aconis but anything good or bad about Macrium REflect FREE? The Crucial forum post suggests Aconis may muddle with the size and screw things up...

[audit13]

Seagate, I can use Aconis but anything good or bad about Macrium REflect FREE? The Crucial forum post suggests Aconis may muddle with the size and screw things up...

I use the Seagate version of Acronis all the time to backup and restore my OS which is on an Agility 3. I haven't used Macrium Reflect for a long time. I'm not sure if it alters the offset during the restore process. I know that Acronis does not.

[82]

ok, I will use diskpart to "prep" the disk on Win7, then clone the partition from my Seagate to Agility 3. Thanks for your help!

I use the Seagate version of Acronis all the time to backup and restore my OS which is on an Agility 3. I haven't used Macrium Reflect for a long time. I'm not sure if it alters the offset during the restore process. I know that Acronis does not.

[audit13]

ok, I will use diskpart to "prep" the disk on Win7, then clone the partition from my Seagate to Agility 3. Thanks for your help!

Good luck.

I tend to load all sorts of freeware/shareware onto my machine to accomplish a particular task. Once the task is done, I prefer not to use the Uninstall function built into Win7 as it sometimes leaves traces of the program behind; therefore, I just restore a previous image to bring the drive back in time. I keep all of my data on a separate mechanical drive so restoring doesn't wipe any of my data.