How to make SSD boot only

[nwo]

Hello fellow forum members,

Let me begin by introducing myself first; I am a complete newb when it comes to storage.

With that said, I recently purchased a 256GB mSATA SSD for my laptop because I couldn't deal with the 10 minute boot up times anymore. I still have the 500GB HDD in there with all the data and I want to use the SSD as a boot only drive and perhaps add a few commonly used programs on there. What is the most simple and retard proof way to go about doing this?

Thank you for your time and input.

 

[Morbus]

The easiest way would be to clone your current HDD into the SSD, and after that you'd move everything you don't want in the SSD back into the HDD.

But since you probably have more than 250GB on your HDD, that probably won't work.

The next simplest way, and the most advised, is to make your SSD your primary boot device and install your operating system on the SSD. The you can import/install the stuff you have on your HDD into the SSD and Bob's your uncle!

Also, 10 minute boot up? You're not, by any chance still using Windows XP are you? Because if you are, friendly advice: do NOT. It has problems with SSDs (and loads of other newer technologies) and will drop off extended support in April.

 

[nwo]

Thanks for the quick response.

OK, maybe I exaggerated a little with the 10 minute boot up. I am using Windows 7 64 bit. But realistically, it takes about 3-5 minutes from the moment I flip the switch until everything loads and the HDD utilization light is no longer lit up. And that's after I deleted a bunch of crap, defragmented the HD, and cleaned up the system with malware bytes.

I can manage to cut my HDD storage down to 200GB or less because it seems like cloning would be simplest way to do it. Are there any free cloning utilities you would recommend? I have Acronis true image backup, but it's the WD version which isn't the full/pro version so I am not sure I can clone my drives with it.

 

[Old Hippie]

A simple Google search would have brought you to Gizmos Freeware cloning utilities.

Good Luck!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I can manage to cut my HDD storage down to 200GB or less because it seems like cloning would be simplest way to do it. Are there any free cloning utilities you would recommend? I have Acronis true image backup, but it's the WD version which isn't the full/pro version so I am not sure I can clone my drives with it.

Macrium Reflect Free Edition is a respected tool. Paragon and EaseUS also make these types of utilities. However, I'd probably make an image file of C and then restore it to the new SSD, rather than clone. Cloning is another method that might work, but in my experience it is more prone to problems than imaging. Cloning does not make an image file and is instead a real-time transfer of the OS to another drive.

The WD version of Acronis probably does not clone, but it does make and restore images. Problem is, I'm not sure if it will restore an image to a non-WD drive. So, I'd probably go with Macrium, although you could certainly try the Acronis/WD app.

Imaging would require that you temporarily store the image of C on some partition other than C. The image file would be perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the occupied space on C. Do you have or can you make another partition to store the image file--on the 500 GB drive or elsewhere? What's the total occupied space on the 500 GB drive?

Regardless, back up your personal files before starting as imaging or cloning can both be problematic. Always be prepared to do a clean install if it comes to that.

 

[Cerb]

With such a HDD boot-up time, just do a clean install, IMO. An aged Windows 7 install can, short of crap left from old drivers, easily be <1 minute, with a slowish HDD, from power on, assuming POST doesn't take more than maybe 10-15 seconds. You still want the SSD, but that is a bogged down install, if it takes 3 minutes.

 

[nwo]

I have an external WD drive. I think it is 750GB but only about 250GB free. So it should be sufficient. I will try with Acronis first which I think is only good for making an image. I will try making an image onto the external drive and restoring it to the SSD.

Total occupied space on the 500GB HDD inside the laptop is just over 200GB since I already moved most of my personal files onto the external drive (videos, photos, and music).

Thanks for recommending Macrium. I could have googled for free apps myself, but I'd rather get a recommendation from someone on the forums since often times sites/reviews can be biased.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If you want to use imaging, in your situation I'd make a new partition of maybe 150 GB on the 500 GB drive and then use Macrium to make an image of C alone. Store the image file on the new partition. If you have about 200 GB occupied on C, the image file would be less than half that size--maybe 80 GB or so. I'm reasonably sure you COULD use the external if you want to, but I'm not positive--and the new partition on the internal 500 GB drive would be faster and be less complicated.

You'll have to be able to boot your PC without using C in order to restore the image. The typical method is to make a Linux boot CD disk within Macrium, although you could use a USB stick. If you cannot boot without C for whatever reason, you can't restore. When you make the Linux boot disk, you should immediately test it to make sure it is bootable and that you can see all partitions on the 500 GB drive--as well as the new SSD.

Macrium Free is here:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

It's up to you to decide whether to image, clone, or do a clean install. Macrium can image OR clone and it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to get familiar with it even if you do a clean install as it can be very useful to get you out of a bad situation. It takes me about 6 minutes to image my C partition of 34 GB--it would probably take 30 to 45 minutes in your case of 200 plus GB.

 

[spdfreak]

WD/Acronis will indeed clone if one of the drives is a WD. I just cloned 4 HD's with it for some identical systems we are building.

 

[nwo]

I used WD Acronis for cloning but it was not successful because Windows would not boot up from the cloned SSD partition.

I have an external WD which is all I need to use the program, none of the internal drives are WD.

Should I try making an image, a different cloning utility, or should I just do a clean install?

 

[Old Hippie]

I used WD Acronis for cloning but it was not successful because Windows would not boot up from the cloned SSD partition

An image is not a clone and it's never bootable because you can't copy a working OS.

You need a clone.

Any of the programs mentioned or listed in my link will work.

 

[nwo]

An image is not a clone and it's never bootable because you can't copy a working OS.

You need a clone.

Any of the programs mentioned or listed in my link will work.

Alright, thanks, I will give one of those a try now.

Paragon backup and recovery does not have a clone option. Only backup. I am downloading Macrium now.

 

[Old Hippie]

Good Luck and let us know the outcome.

 

[nwo]

It seems like Acronis did clone the drive successfully

I thought that the new cloned (SSD) partition was causing the boot errors, but it seems like my HDD partition was giving me an error when I tried to boot up from it.

My boot times and laptop responsiveness have improved significantly but everything else is a mess. Some applications do not work, I am low on free space, etc. I am afraid to make any changes (uninstall/delete files/programs) on either one of the drives because I have no clue what's going on. But, I think I'll keep it like this for a while now until I have the time and patience for a clean install.

Besides, my laptop doesn't get much use anyways since I have desktops in the office and at both homes. Will get some use to it in a few months once I travel

The mSATA SSD definitely made a huge difference, even though it is very low on free space. It makes using my laptop a pleasant and enjoyable experience just like it used to be when I first bought it (before desktop SSDs spoiled me).

 

[Morbus]

Low space SSDs should always be accompanied by a large-ish HDD... If your latptop can't handle two hard drives, you'll need to shift your paradigm... It wasn't too long ago when having 320GB of space was considered more than enough. And it still is: if you don't store HD movies and loads of DVD images and whatnot.

 

[nwo]

I only store a couple of videos, but music and pictures are probably around 50GB alone. Along with some random files in the mix, easily up to 100GB. Which doesn't sound too bad, I have no clue what the heck is occupying the other 100GB of space though, I think the only game I left on my laptop is D3, but I do have a bunch of programs.

I have a 256GB mSATA SSD and a 500GB 5400rpm 2.5" HDD in my laptop. I originally bought a 2.5" 240GB Seagate SSD, but I did not want to give up the storage space of the HDD.