Scott P Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 I am upgrading the rig in my signature to squeeze some more life out of it. The parts are set to arrive today if the UPS truck doesn't crash in the freezing rain. I have a 240 GB Crucial M500 arriving to serve as my OS and game drive. I used Acronis to make an image of a fresh install of Windows and Office when I built the machine a while back. Can I just restore that image to the SSD, make it the boot drive and go from there? What is the actual process to get this drive into my machine and running as my primary drive? I seem to think I have to mess with the BIOS, but I don't know much other than that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Scott, before putting the image on the SSD you should read about partition alignment and how it affects the overall performance of your SSD. One of the simplest ways to accomplish this is to install the SSD and format it in Windows 7 - prior to moving the image over to the SSD. After formatting in Windows 7 you can use a 3rd party tool such as AS-SSD to confirm proper alignment of the SSD partition. If alignment checks ok (and assuming that your image fits onto the SSD) you're in good shaping for copying the image onto the SSD. Will you be removing the original HDD after you complete the migration? If you plan on leaving the HDD remember that you would be smart to format it so that there aren't any conflicts with the boot sequence of the OS. From there and as far as the BIOS settings are concerned, after you've copied the image onto the SSD, reboot, enter BIOS, set the SSD as the first boot device and you should be good to go. Afterwards there are some OS tweaks that you'll need to perform, as Windows 7 is SSD "aware" for the most part during a fresh installation. Meaning that it makes some adjustments to disk defragmentation, indexing and prefetch settings if it detects that the OS is being installed on to a SSD. Since you are cloning from a traditional drive, Windows hasn't changed any of those settings like it would during a fresh install. I've heard that if you run WEI after the SSD swap, that Windows detects the new drive speed and will make those changes regardless, but I haven't confirmed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSoprano Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Double check your bios to make sure it is set to ahci sata mode and not ide mode, probably is set right but I would double check. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott P Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I switched the BIOS to AHCI and the computer gets stuck at the Loading Operating System screen. So, this looks like it might be a problem. My Win 7 is the upgrade version that I bought during the Win 7 pre-sale, so installing it fresh is a bit tricky. I was hoping to avoid the whole mess with my imaged backup. Is there a work around or a driver I can use or am I screwed enough to do a fresh install of everything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSoprano Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 (edited) There is a registry work around where you can change it to ahci from windows that works on most mbs, or some gigabyte boards you can download a utility from their site that will do it for you, check out the gigabyte site for your board. Edited January 29, 2014 by SpikeSoprano Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott P Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I found the driver download and will install it. But, that driver was not on my imaged copy. Can I boot the SSD in IDE mode, install the driver, then switch back to AHCI? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSoprano Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 (edited) I'm sure you can boot the ssd in ide mode, but I'm not 100% about changing over to ahci, but in theory it shoud work. http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=313676 Just found this. Edited January 29, 2014 by SpikeSoprano Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 Spike, just wanted to thank you for the excellent reminder about IDE / AHCI mode and making sure that it is set properly. Nice work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaporX Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 While I understand the desire to keep the install time to a minimum I always suggest not migrating an OS and just do a clean install. A windows 7 or 8 install on an SSD is a pretty painless and quick thing. I understand the mess with the upgrade but trust me you will be happier with a clean start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I agree 100% Ed. No question that in my mind a fresh install is well worth the time invested. Unfortunately sometimes I think I'm in the minority Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 Hmm you're all making me reconsider fresh installing windows on my laptop.... Yeah, I migrated both desktop and laptop and oddly my laptop had no issues switching to AHCI but my desktop was a headache Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaporX Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I feel you brother. I am the only tech in the area that never suggests a cleanup on a system that has a serious malware infection. I tell people if the infection is serious enough that simple cleaning methods will not work then your best bet is a backup and clean install. The funny thing is my contacts at Comodo, Kaspersky, Norton and AVG all agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now