moving to a SSD boot drive - clone suggestions?

[davephan]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

three are freeware, so that isn't the problem. there seems to be great confusion regarding size of partition vs size of drive. I have a 1TB HDD, but the boot partition is only 60G. My SSD is 90G. The people who have used MS built-in image with W7 claim that partition size is all that matters. My concern is one of a hardware issue, as I have tried everything possible regarding software; Dispart, naming, activating, etc etc. Internet info is spotty and hard to find, as most people clone whole drives as opposed to boot partitions. Then there is that 100mb hidden partition...

That may be the problem then. It's always a bad idea to partition a OS/boot/programs drive. Partitioning the OS/boot/programs drive can introduce contention for resources when the storage partition is used at the same time and can introduce recovery problems. I never partition OS/boot/programs drives.

Maybe a program like Partition Magic can be used to the 1 TB drive that was partitioned and make it only have one partition the full size of the drive, then image or clone it. Or, maybe that could be done with Windows 7.

Another thing you could try is to take a partition image of the drive instead of a disk image.

Dave

[panteragstk]

All of these issues are why I initially said it would be less painful to just install Windows from scratch. You could have already been finished. I'm starting to think your trouble is going from a larger disk to a smaller one. Most cloning software out there is usually prepared for going from a smaller disk to a larger one, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work the other way (other than your troubles).

[BobPhoenix]

The only problems I've had with Acronis Disk Director is that the drive doesn't have a proper windows boot code in the MBR (on MBR partitioned disk) and whatever on a GPT partitioned disk. I then load the Windows 7 setup disk and do a startup repair and I'm up and running. I've even gone from larger partition to smaller. My laptop was 250GB and I put in a 120GB SSD. I had 4 partitions on it: 1) system reserved partition 100MB, 2) Drive C ~162GB, 3) Drive D 80GB (install), 4) laptop restore partition 8GB. On my 120GB SSD I have: 1) system reserved partition 100MB, 2) Drive C ~82GB, 3) Drive D 20GB compressed, 4) laptop restore partition 8GB. I used Disk Director to copy and resize the partitions. I've found out the hard way on earlier clones that I have to do something like this from a boot CD because when I've done this from the windows session it still boots from the original drive.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

The only problems I've had with Acronis Disk Director is that the drive doesn't have a proper windows boot code in the MBR (on MBR partitioned disk) and whatever on a GPT partitioned disk. I then load the Windows 7 setup disk and do a startup repair and I'm up and running. I've even gone from larger partition to smaller. My laptop was 250GB and I put in a 120GB SSD. I had 4 partitions on it: 1) system reserved partition 100MB, 2) Drive C ~162GB, 3) Drive D 80GB (install), 4) laptop restore partition 8GB. On my 120GB SSD I have: 1) system reserved partition 100MB, 2) Drive C ~82GB, 3) Drive D 20GB compressed, 4) laptop restore partition 8GB. I used Disk Director to copy and resize the partitions. I've found out the hard way on earlier clones that I have to do something like this from a boot CD because when I've done this from the windows session it still boots from the original drive.

so when you partition the new SSD, it's done GPT? As one big partition, letting the imaging software divide it up? And do you activate it before leaving the desktop environment before re-imaging? I tried the startup repair, and it failed.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

All of these issues are why I initially said it would be less painful to just install Windows from scratch. You could have already been finished. I'm starting to think your trouble is going from a larger disk to a smaller one. Most cloning software out there is usually prepared for going from a smaller disk to a larger one, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work the other way (other than your troubles).

agreed - just trying to avoid the endless amount of tweaking - HD-PVR drivers, 1394 setup...etc etc etc

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

so when you partition the new SSD, it's done GPT? As one big partition, letting the imaging software divide it up? And do you activate it before leaving the desktop environment before re-imaging? I tried the startup repair, and it failed.

The only reason I meantioned GPT was because I didn't know if yours were done that way. On my laptop it was MBR for both the HDD and the SDD now. I booted from acronis rescue CD and copied the partions from my 250GB HDD to my SSD. Then ran startup repair from the Win7 CD and I was booting from the SSD. It took 30+ minutes I suppose. Just a little less time that installing from scratch and applying all the windows updates (if downloads are speedy). I did it this way because all settings on my laptop are kept and I don't have to reinstall any apps. When I did this on my SageTV servers (SSD boot drive) I did it from scratch since I only had to setup SageTV.

[gplasky]

Did you clone the drive or clone the partition? Just clone the partition. If you think you need that 100mb partition clone that too. I think Windows 7 will create the 100 MB automatically if you just clone the boot partition.

Gerry

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

The only reason I meantioned GPT was because I didn't know if yours were done that way. On my laptop it was MBR for both the HDD and the SDD now. I booted from acronis rescue CD and copied the partions from my 250GB HDD to my SSD. Then ran startup repair from the Win7 CD and I was booting from the SSD. It took 30+ minutes I suppose. Just a little less time that installing from scratch and applying all the windows updates (if downloads are speedy). I did it this way because all settings on my laptop are kept and I don't have to reinstall any apps. When I did this on my SageTV servers (SSD boot drive) I did it from scratch since I only had to setup SageTV.

the SSD drive is SATA III. My system is only SATA II - could that be a problem? I was led to believe the new drives are backward compatible

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Did you clone the drive or clone the partition? Just clone the partition. If you think you need that 100mb partition clone that too. I think Windows 7 will create the 100 MB automatically if you just clone the boot partition.

Gerry

I cloned each partition individually. And yes I copied the 100mb partition. With a little work you can force windows install to NOT create a 100mb partition. I mistakenly did this on my 40GB SageTV server SSD OS install drives. Wanted all the space I could get but system restore didn't work well if at all without the partition.

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

the SSD drive is SATA III. My system is only SATA II - could that be a problem? I was led to believe the new drives are backward compatible

I suppose it could be. I had to setup one SageTV server on a bigger SSD and was having all kinds of problems with BSOD's. Tried changing to SataII SSD and thought I had it fixed because it worked longer. Eventually found that it was the memory upgrade I was trying to do on it at the same time. My ASUS P5Q-EM board was picky on the memory refresh it wanted. As soon as I down graded to 4GB of the correct memory it has been working BSOD free since. So long story short for me it wasn't a SataIII drive that caused my problems but since I didn't put it back in I don't know if I had two problems or not.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

the SSD drive is SATA III. My system is only SATA II - could that be a problem? I was led to believe the new drives are backward compatible

I have a SSD Sata 3 running fine in a Sata 2 system. Shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure your system board BIOS is flashed with the latest.

Gerry

[tvmaster2]

ok, I gave up...doing a fresh install. lol

sigh...sooo many things to remember and re-install. any advice? I suppose if someone has what they consider the best link in this forum for moving to a new drive, I'd appreciate it. There are always ones that I can find, but recommended ones are always better
thanks

AND - I would like to NOT destroy my old HDD installation until the new SSD is up and completely stable. Can I re-install SageTV with me serial number on the new machine...aka the install doesn't call home to mother anymore, does it?

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Can I re-install SageTV with me serial number on the new machine

Yes. If this is a SageTV server you will not be able to use one server as a network encoder for the other. You you may also have problems connecting a client to two different servers with the same serial - but I'm not positive about this. If this is a SageTV client you will not be able to have two clients connect to one server without rebooting the server between connections if the clients have the same serial. I usually try to make sure when I transfer not have SageTV running on each computer at the same time. If this is a server transfer I usually rename the computers to be the same when I take down the original so that I don't have client problems except a reboot.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Yes. If this is a SageTV server you will not be able to use one server as a network encoder for the other. You you may also have problems connecting a client to two different servers with the same serial - but I'm not positive about this. If this is a SageTV client you will not be able to have two clients connect to one server without rebooting the server between connections if the clients have the same serial. I usually try to make sure when I transfer not have SageTV running on each computer at the same time. If this is a server transfer I usually rename the computers to be the same when I take down the original so that I don't have client problems except a reboot.

I would never have them running at the same time, so that will be good