[New Computer] Clone HDD -> SSD or Fresh Install

[J.Dre]

Hey everyone,

I have spoken with Dell about all of the hardware and have found out that Samsung supplies a lot of it for the Alienware series. In other words, they recommend you go with Samsung as well so compatibility issues are eliminated. I will be building it with a 750GB SATA 3gb/s HDD (7,200rpm) and plan to clone the drive to my NEW (in box) Samsung 830 Series SSD, and the use the HDD as an additional storage drive.

My question is this: I've heard that cloning from an older HDD to a NEW SSD can cause a decrease performance because of all the crap that you have done with that HDD. However, I'm curious if it will still have the same effects with a completely NEW HDD, one that has been booted up once. Should I spend 3 hours installing everything again or spend about 1 hour cloning? I honestly planned on cloning either way because they're both new hardware. By the way, I'll be making several videos [R4 unboxing, cloning, fresh install (if needed), and performance benchmarks]. I understand I must use the alignment feature within Norton Ghost. I'm just curious if anyone has done this before and noticed no change in performance of the SSD.

Stay tuned!

Software: Norton Ghost 15.

Thank you.

 

[J.Dre]

Update: I just spoke with a computer engineer at my university and he said it would be better if I were to reinstall the OS on the SSD, rather than cloning the HDD.

I suppose I'll be spending a few hours in front of my new PC, when it gets here - freaking awesome! ...

 

[razel]

The Samsung 830 usually comes with cloning software on a CD. I have worked with Dell laptops and desktop the past 10 years and their recovery partitions are the toughest to preserve. Most recently last year with a Dell XPS 17, several different cloning software was able to clone the partition but didn't preserve the additional partition identifiers so that the BIOS can find it and allow me to press the right buttons to boot off it. I ended up using more serious partition table software to manually replicate everything down to the GUID and surprize serial number.

In my experience, I found it best to create the recovery DVDs and then clone. If the recovery partition is unbootable, then just blast the stupid partition and profit from the extra space.

 

[J.Dre]

I've watched several videos and read many threads about this issue. People seem to be cloning their HDD to their SSD without problems. The guy I spoke to at my school said that my SSD will likely "lock me out", according to him - I assume he's speaking about the BIOS? Not sure.

Also, I've read that you may need to change the SATA to AHCI within the BIOS settings. Is this true?

 

[Nawlins]

I can't wait to see your video. Make it as detailed as possible I have a brand new Samsung 830 still on my desk. Still can't decide whether to do a clean install or use a migration software.

 

[Dark Shroud]

With SSDs it is best to format and just install a fresh copy of Windows. Make sure you use Samsung's SSD software to help set Windows to work best with the drive.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I would do a fresh install.

 

[J.Dre]

I can't wait to see your video. Make it as detailed as possible I have a brand new Samsung 830 still on my desk. Still can't decide whether to do a clean install or use a migration software.

Don't wait up for me man! The earliest I'll be able to purchase my Alienware is July 6th (waiting for my pay check). Hopefully you don't wait that long just to see what I do, ha ha. It will take at least two weeks for my laptop to arrive, but I'll do my best to make decent videos.

Stay tuned.

With SSDs it is best to format and just install a fresh copy of Windows. Make sure you use Samsung's SSD software to help set Windows to work best with the drive.

I would do a fresh install.

You're probably right. I may end up just doing a fresh install to avoid issues. I want to give the software a shot though - worst case scenario, I format the SSD afterward and install Windows.

 

[Nawlins]

July 6th

Oh yeah that is a long wait. Looks more and more like it will be a fresh install. Sigh, I just dread re-downloading all the drivers that I need.D:

 

[J.Dre]

Well, the shipping time is about two weeks, I assume...

 

[lopri]

Cloning drives are super easy once you learn. Pretty quick as well. But for a brand new SSD.. I guess there is a psychological factor to start fresh.

 

[J.Dre]

I want to give cloning a shot. Afterward, I'll run some benchmarks with the SSD and see where I'm at on speed. You can also check the SSD's bytes through the device manager, I've read that if the number is evenly divisible by 4096, then your SSD aligned properly and should run just fine. I've just got to remember to change the BIOS setting to ACHI before booting.