Clone HDD to SSD with proper alignment

[idkanymore]

I have been searching google for at least an hour now and I have seen a lot of issues with cloning their HDD to their SSD and making it have the proper alignment so the SSD will perform optimally.

I am running Windows XP and while I would love Windows 7 since it makes full use of SSD with TRIM, my motherboard is no longer supported with drivers for windows 7. I purchased a 80GB intel SSD and I want to start using it but this alignment issue is preventing me from doing that. I have Acronis true image 2010 but it doesnt align the ssd properly if I were to clone my current hard drive. I would have thought it would be a no-brainer to have software out there that clones a drive to SSD and creating the proper alignment while doing so.

There were some threads I found in google that helped a little bit but the process seemed a bit complicated and werent very specific. I was hoping one of you had a good solution for this problem because I would like to start using my SSD.

 

[EarthwormJim]

What do you mean your motherboard won't work with Windows 7? You don't necessarily need drivers direct from your manufacturer. Windows 7 includes quite a few chipset drivers as it is.

I have heard that the newest version of Acronis properly formats SSDs. You should ask (or search) on their forums: http://forum.acronis.com/

 

[Hacp]

The intel 80gb doesn't really differ much in performance unalligned. You lose maybe 9% on random writes. Not a big deal.

 

[skid00skid00]

I used Western Digitals Data Lifeguard Tools to clone my XP HD to my X25. It's not a sector-by-sector clone, so the alignment from your partitioning is not affected.

 

[idkanymore]

What do you mean your motherboard won't work with Windows 7? You don't necessarily need drivers direct from your manufacturer. Windows 7 includes quite a few chipset drivers as it is.

I have heard that the newest version of Acronis properly formats SSDs. You should ask (or search) on their forums: http://forum.acronis.com/

This is what the site says about my drivers. "Windows 7* Driver Availability for Discontinued Intel® Desktop Boards. Intel does not currently plan to develop and offer Windows 7 drivers for any of the discontinued desktop boards listed below."

That's why I'm thinking I can't get windows 7 but I could be wrong.

I could try out the acronis forums but I was wondering if there was another tool or any tool out there to achieve the alignment issue. I'm sure plenty of people are having this issue so i'm surprised the information isn't readily available and easy to find.

Other posters, I would really like to have it aligned properly even if its only a 9% loss.
I think the lifeguard tools will copy it just fine but the problem is if my partition doesnt have the correct alignment, it will just copy over the wrong alignment to the new ssd. It has to be right in the first place before I worry about cloning affecting the alignment.

 

[EarthwormJim]

This is what the site says about my drivers. "Windows 7* Driver Availability for Discontinued Intel® Desktop Boards. Intel does not currently plan to develop and offer Windows 7 drivers for any of the discontinued desktop boards listed below."

That's why I'm thinking I can't get windows 7 but I could be wrong.

I could try out the acronis forums but I was wondering if there was another tool or any tool out there to achieve the alignment issue. I'm sure plenty of people are having this issue so i'm surprised the information isn't readily available and easy to find.

Other posters, I would really like to have it aligned properly even if its only a 9% loss.
I think the lifeguard tools will copy it just fine but the problem is if my partition doesnt have the correct alignment, it will just copy over the wrong alignment to the new ssd. It has to be right in the first place before I worry about cloning affecting the alignment.

I honestly don't think you'd have any problems running Windows 7, what processor and board are you running? Vista drivers do work for Windows 7 too.

Back to your question, check out this post on the OCZ forums: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...E-amp-RESTORE-IMAGE-MY-FOOL-PROOF-VIDEO-GUIDE

I've only used Acronis, never any of the free imaging programs. I'm sure they're not very different though, and the same process as described in the link would be relevant.

If you look through the Anandtech SSD reviews though, Intel drives really do not suffer any loss in performance from an improperly partitioned format (Hacp also mentioned this).

 

[idkanymore]

I honestly don't think you'd have any problems running Windows 7, what processor and board are you running? Vista drivers do work for Windows 7 too.

Back to your question, check out this post on the OCZ forums: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...E-amp-RESTORE-IMAGE-MY-FOOL-PROOF-VIDEO-GUIDE

I've only used Acronis, never any of the free imaging programs. I'm sure they're not very different though, and the same process as described in the link would be relevant.

If you look through the Anandtech SSD reviews though, Intel drives really do not suffer any loss in performance from an improperly partitioned format (Hacp also mentioned this).

You are awesome! That looks like exactly what I need from a quick scan of the post. I will def read through it and follow the instructions and follow up with how it went.

Thank you!

out of curiosity, how did you find it? I just wanted to know what search terms you used or what method you used. Good for future reference.

 

[EarthwormJim]

You are awesome! That looks like exactly what I need from a quick scan of the post. I will def read through it and follow the instructions and follow up with how it went.

Thank you!

out of curiosity, how did you find it? I just wanted to know what search terms you used or what method you used. Good for future reference.

"SSD acronis alignment" without the quotes in google.

2nd link had a forum post that led to the OCZ post.