Fix SSD alignment on work computer

[birthdaymonkey]

I just discovered that the alignment on the computer provided to me by my employer is off (AS SSD reports "BAD"). I assume that the reason for this is that the OS was installed from an image over the network using PXE rather than with the Windows 7 installer.

What's the easiest way to fix it? I'm thinking: backup image with Acronis, secure erase drive, partition and format with a Win7 install disk (but abort clean install after), then restore image. Will this work? Is there a simpler way?

 

[j3SeCh6d]

I used GParted to align my Crucial M4 64GB SSD.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I used GParted to align my Crucial M4 64GB SSD.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

How did you do it?

 

[davelpg]

When I used GParted to align my M4, it left it unbootable, so I found......

http://www.partitionwizard.com/products.html

The home edition is free and it worked fine for me.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

When I used GParted to align my M4, it left it unbootable, so I found......

http://www.partitionwizard.com/products.html

The home edition is free and it worked fine for me.

Nice. Is it as easy as clicking align+apply and then rebooting to let the utility do the resizing?

How long does it take?

 

[j3SeCh6d]

1. Burn a disc to create a bootable GParted media.
2. Set your computer to boot off the dvd/cd drive.
3. For safety reason, unplug all your drives leaving just the mis-aligned SSD.
4. Click on all default settings to start GParted.
5. Follow this instruction:

http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-...ned-for-optimal-solid-state-drive-performance

6. You can move/resize to 1, 2, or 3. I set mine with "3".

7. The only thing I will add is select "Align to MiB" & run it once only! You don't need to run it twice.

8. Let it complete it's run, mine took about 15 minutes for a 64GB SSD.

9. Exit the program. Remove the GParted disc. Set your bios to boot off the main SSD. Let Windows adjust itself. Plug back all your other drives. Done!

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Thanks for your help, guys. I ended up using the free Partition Wizard and it was really easy. Just took about 15 minutes and was pretty much a three click operation - I didn't even have to make a boot disk. My write speeds are now more than twice what they were before in AS SSD. And my overall "Score" nearly doubled.