Sandforce Gen 1 -> Crucial M4

[birthdaymonkey]

I currently have a Mushkin Callisto 60GB. I should be getting an M4 128GB on Monday and was wondering if anyone had any tips on the quickest way to migrate my OS and programs to the new drive while maintaining alignment. Will the latest Acronis free/trial version do it?

Last time I migrated data from one SSD to another, I used Windows' built in image backup and restore utility and it was painfully slow (as in six hours to copy 40GB), which is apparently a known bug when the drives are in AHCI mode.

 

[God Mode]

Why not a fresh OS reinstall? It doesn't take much time with an SSD. The only annoying thing for me is updating the OS which can be solved by slipstreaming the latest updates whenever you're bored.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Yes, I have considered a fresh install and might do it if there's not an easy way to migrate. This install is less than a year old though and everything is working perfectly. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[God Mode]

Acronis 2012 if you have to transfer over.

 

[groberts101]

yep.. Acronis will get you on your way again so long as you do not clone with the older 2010 version since it was known to ruin alignments.

All newer versions will work great.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Thanks! Will get Acronis. If it doesn't go smoothly, then fresh install.

 

[Engineer]

I simply connected the new SSD (two times now with different SSD's and different PC's), formatted it (using the original Windows 7 that was installed already on original SSD). This aligned the new SSD properly. I then used the FREE macrium reflect to copy the old drive to new one and have had no issues on the two systems.

YMMV and good luck.

 

[F1shF4t]

I use HDclone and bit-by-bit copy. That way you don't even have re-activate windows.

There is a free version which just limits the transfer speed, not a problem though for a 60GB drive.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Used Acronis TrueImage Home and copied the drive in about 3 minutes. Very quick and painless.

I'm now up and running, and I must say that this drive is FAST! I wasn't expecting a noticeable change over the Sandforce 1 drive, but my boot time (at least the part from Windows logo to desktop) was cut in half.