Replace HDD (C:\). Clone or reinstall, or..?

splee1
splee1 Member Posts: 4 New User
in 2016 Archives

I have a Veriton M4630 with HDD, Win7 64bit.

I would like to replace the HDD with a SSD, because the HDD is quite old already.

What do I need to do? Can I clone all of C:\ drive? Or use Recovery disk, or what?

Trouble is the Operating System. If I clone it would there be any problem? I do not have Win7 installation disks to start with.

Thanks in advance

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    you can clone the whole HDD if your SSD is the same or bigger size.

     

    if not, you can try to shrink the OS partition but honestly i don't like it, sometimes can create more issues.

     

    Honestly, since windows 7 has some special settings for SSD, i would prefer a new installation.

     

    if you still have the original Acer recovery partition and Acer erecovery software, you can create a recovery DVD or USB flash drive; so you will be able to re-install your OS.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • splee1
    splee1 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi,

    1) Would cloning have a problem? Because the previous storage is HDD, and new storage is SSD. How would the system/BIOS etc. handle this?

     

    2) If I use Acer Recovery Media, I suppose it only re-install the factory default OS and application. How about the applications I installed later?

     

    3) Can I use Windows "Create System Image"? This is almost the same as cloning right?

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    1) not a real issue apart some tweaks by windows 7 but you will hardly notice
    2) you must re-install your application
    3) if your able to create a system image, do it. It's a sort of cloning, remember that you still need a bootable recovery DVD or USB flash drive.
    You can create it from windows, just choose to create a recovery disk.
    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • splee1
    splee1 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thanks IronFly.

     

    1) Cloning: What tweaking will be done by Win7? Would I have problem later?

    2) Which of the 3 options would you recommend?

  • splee1
    splee1 Member Posts: 4 New User

    it is ok to do "Create System Image" and then "restore" the whole stuff to a new SSD?

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    your SSD must be the same size or bigger than your HDD, to be able to use system image.

    http://www.pagestart.com/win7bckuprstrnhd072610.html

     

    about SSD optimisation:

    http://www.disk-partition.com/kb/tips-ssd-optimization-windows7-1.html

    Trim and alignement are the 2 basic things that windows 7 tweaks during install, have a look but don't waste too much time on it, since (apart trim) you will never notice a performance boost.

    double check that diskfrag (defrag) is disable on your SSD or it will slow it a lot.

    I'm not an Acer employee.

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