Easiest way to move my Windows installation to an SSD?












42















I've taken the plunge and bought an SSD and want to move my existing Windows installation over. The current hard disk is 500Gb, but I've trimmed the contents down to about ~40Gb. I'm transferring it across to a 100Gb SSD and looking for the easiest way just to copy everything across and set the SSD up as a boot device.



I've looked at a few tools like Macrium Reflect, but they don't seem able to restore to a smaller drive. Do I need to go for something like PING to do this? I'm trying to avoid scary Linux-based boot utilities if possible, does anyone know of an easier way?










share|improve this question

























  • I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

    – Journeyman Geek
    Nov 9 '15 at 10:48
















42















I've taken the plunge and bought an SSD and want to move my existing Windows installation over. The current hard disk is 500Gb, but I've trimmed the contents down to about ~40Gb. I'm transferring it across to a 100Gb SSD and looking for the easiest way just to copy everything across and set the SSD up as a boot device.



I've looked at a few tools like Macrium Reflect, but they don't seem able to restore to a smaller drive. Do I need to go for something like PING to do this? I'm trying to avoid scary Linux-based boot utilities if possible, does anyone know of an easier way?










share|improve this question

























  • I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

    – Journeyman Geek
    Nov 9 '15 at 10:48














42












42








42


37






I've taken the plunge and bought an SSD and want to move my existing Windows installation over. The current hard disk is 500Gb, but I've trimmed the contents down to about ~40Gb. I'm transferring it across to a 100Gb SSD and looking for the easiest way just to copy everything across and set the SSD up as a boot device.



I've looked at a few tools like Macrium Reflect, but they don't seem able to restore to a smaller drive. Do I need to go for something like PING to do this? I'm trying to avoid scary Linux-based boot utilities if possible, does anyone know of an easier way?










share|improve this question
















I've taken the plunge and bought an SSD and want to move my existing Windows installation over. The current hard disk is 500Gb, but I've trimmed the contents down to about ~40Gb. I'm transferring it across to a 100Gb SSD and looking for the easiest way just to copy everything across and set the SSD up as a boot device.



I've looked at a few tools like Macrium Reflect, but they don't seem able to restore to a smaller drive. Do I need to go for something like PING to do this? I'm trying to avoid scary Linux-based boot utilities if possible, does anyone know of an easier way?







windows hard-drive partitioning ssd






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edited Mar 3 '11 at 13:41









studiohack

11.3k1880114




11.3k1880114










asked Mar 3 '11 at 13:33









Jon ArtusJon Artus

353146




353146













  • I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

    – Journeyman Geek
    Nov 9 '15 at 10:48



















  • I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

    – Journeyman Geek
    Nov 9 '15 at 10:48

















I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

– Journeyman Geek
Nov 9 '15 at 10:48





I note that as of 2015 macrium reflect free does restore to a smaller partition in manual mode.

– Journeyman Geek
Nov 9 '15 at 10:48










15 Answers
15






active

oldest

votes


















33














ImageX is a free tool that is part of the Windows 7 WAIK (download). It is what we use for imaging machines at work. It can even be used to create backups of the machine. If you're doing the C drive (you have another drive D, and your SSD is currently set to E), then it would just be a matter of booting into Windows PE, and then



ImageX /capture c: d:image.wim "bootDrive" /verify /compress fast


That will make a very large file named image.wim on the other drive. You could even map a drive, and put it on the network, which is what we do.



Then, reconfigure the drives to make sure that the SSD is now C:.



Reboot into Windows PE again, and type:



imagex /apply d:image.wim 1 c: /verify


Then, after that, it is CRITICAL to run this command, still in PE:



bcdboot.exe c:windows


that will have it make everything bootable.



If bcdboot.exe fails you might have to mark the partition you copied Windows on as active first using the diskpart utility.






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

    – MGOwen
    Jul 5 '12 at 0:02











  • I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

    – Mehrdad
    Dec 28 '12 at 5:42






  • 2





    what is windows PE?

    – user4951
    Jan 8 '13 at 2:02






  • 3





    how to reconfigure the drive

    – user4951
    Jan 8 '13 at 5:26






  • 1





    @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

    – Brian
    May 21 '15 at 12:59



















9














Windows 7's built-in backup feature makes this very easy, as long as you have another (third) drive to store the backup on.



http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/replace-your-hard-drive-using-free-windows-7-tools



I just did this this weekend, and it worked perfectly.






share|improve this answer



















  • 5





    Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

    – user33339
    Jun 28 '14 at 5:44



















9














My successful experience:




  • Attach the SSD drive and format as NTFS

  • Boot with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore

  • Check the source drive letter and destination drive letters (e.g. E: and H:)


  • Execute:



    ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files" "H:Program Files" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
    ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files (x86)" "H:Program Files (x86)" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
    ROBOCOPY "E:Windows" "H:Windows" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
    ROBOCOPY "E:Users" "H:Users" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
    BOOTSECT /nt60 H: /mbr


  • Detach the old drive and boot again with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore


  • Shutdown

  • Swap the drive, power on, select to boot from the new drive in the BIOS






share|improve this answer

































    6














    Though @Brian answer should work, i used this one and it is much faster and dont require WAIK or WinPE:





    1. Create the partitions




      • On the new drive create a 100MB partition on the beginning of the drive, mark it as active

      • Create another primary partition at least as big as the original C:

      • Mount both partitions, for instance the small one as Y: and the big one as X:




    2. Copy the partitons



      We have to copy everything, even the MBR.




      • Get a partition copy utility that works in windows 7. I used Acronis Disk Director, but i believe Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or even Seagate Discwizard should do it.

      • Copy your C: partition to the new drive X:

      • This should require a reboot




    3. Change drive letter



      You have to edit the new drive regedit so the assigned drive letter is not X:, but C:




      • Open REGEDIT

      • Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

      • Go to File -> Load Hive

      • Open X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSYSTEM

      • Choose a Key name, like "TEMP"

      • It will create a Temp folder, open it and locate MountedDevices

      • Scroll Down and rename DosDevicesC: to DosDevicesZ: (or an unused letter)

      • Finally rename DosDevicesX: to DosDevicesC:


      Be sure to rename the entry on your new drive's registry, not on the old one




    4. Create BCD



      This should do the bcdboot.exe role




      • Get EasyBCD

      • Go to BCD Deployment, chose the new drive's 100MB partition Y:

      • Install BCD

      • Accept the dialog, to open the brand new BCD

      • Go to Add new entry, select Windows, Type: Windows Vista/7, drive C: and click Add Entry.




    5. Change boot device




      • Reboot and get in your BIOS config (F1 or DEL)

      • Change HD priority, moving the new HD up




    That's all






    share|improve this answer





















    • 3





      This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

      – Joachim Sauer
      Oct 11 '11 at 10:19











    • This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

      – Steven T. Snyder
      May 2 '12 at 18:01



















    6














    I just successfully copied my Windows install over to a new SSD yesterday. I knew I wanted to use GParted, but wasn't sure what to do after that. It took me a couple hours to get the computer booting from the SSD after I copied Windows over, so I thought I'd make note of what I did.



    Here is what I did:




    • Freed up enough space on my hard drive so that what was on it would fit on the SSD.


    • Downloaded and burned a GParted live CD. It is a Linux based partition editor, but I've found it easy to use and reliable.


    • Put the SSD into the computer.


    • Changed the boot priority in the BIOS to have the SSD at the top (good to verify so you know where you're booting from).


    • Booted to GParted and resized my hard drive's partition to be smaller than the SSD. The resizing took almost an hour. Then I copied and pasted the hard drive's partition to the SSD and resized it to fill the SSD at the same time. Took about half an hour. (Go in advanced mode and consider options, such as --recover, if dealing with a defective disk).


    • I unplugged the hard drive with my old Windows install. You don't have to, but if it is unplugged, then when the computer is booted and the desktop appears, you know everything is working right. (During my attempts when I didn't have the hard drive unplugged, I once booted from the SSD when it was drive E, but the registry still referenced drive C. So I was using E:Windows from the SSD, but C:Users and C:Program Files from the hard drive.)


    • Booted to the Windows 7 install disk and opened the recovery command prompt. The drive letters needed changed so that the SSD's partition is C: like it was on the hard drive. I did this with diskpart. Something like this (the SSD is 111 GB):



    ** IMPORTANT: If partitions were cloned to new disk, you won't be able to tell them apart while having both disks connected. Simplest thing is leaving a text file in the OS partition saying which drive that is.



        X:Sources> diskpart

    DISKPART> list volume

    Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
    ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
    Volume 0 C NTFS Partition 465 GB Healthy
    Volume 1 D NTFS Partition 111 GB Healthy

    DISKPART> select volume 0
    ...
    DISKPART> assign letter=E
    ...
    DISKPART> select volume 1
    ...
    DISKPART> assign letter=C
    ...
    DISKPART> select volume 0
    ...
    DISKPART> assign letter=D
    ...

    The partition also needed to be set active:

    DISKPART> list disk

    Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
    -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
    Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB
    Disk 1 Online 111 GB 0 B

    DISKPART> select disk 1
    ...
    DISKPART> list partition

    Partition ### Type Size Offset
    ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
    Partition 1 Primary 111 GB 1024 KB

    DISKPART> select partition 1
    ...
    DISKPART> active
    ...
    DISKPART> exit




    • Executed these commands before restarting:



      bootrec /fixmbr
      bootrec /fixboot
      bootrec /rescanos
      bcdboot c:windows


      I'm not sure they are all necessary but running them doesn't hurt.



    • Booted from the SSD and everything worked. I plugged the hard drive back in.







    share|improve this answer

































      3














      Acronis True Image Home can do exactly what you ask. It allows you to restore to any partition size granted that the new partition is at least as large as the original image. Note, that sometimes it will refuse to restore to a different partition size or new hard drive/SSD. In that case, you must make the new partition on the device at least 10GB larger than the original image size (uncompressed).






      share|improve this answer
























      • FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

        – chipiik
        Dec 29 '15 at 10:57



















      2














      I was working on following the instructions in reply to paragraph 3 from Bortao about changing your drive letters when lo and behold Windows 7 would not allow me to open the System folder X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSystem (claimed it was already open) so I decided to wing it.



      I exited 'open hive' and searched for DosDevices which I located at



      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices


      I renamed





      • DosDeviceC: to DosDeviceZ:


      • DosDeviceX: to DosDeviceC:


      • DosDeviceZ: to DosDeviceX:


      After that I did a lot of registry editing to change all references to X: to C:
      When regedit would not allow the change, I ignored the problem, and rebooted.






      share|improve this answer

































        2














        I like imagex. It is file based and one can compress, check, verify, etc. among other commands. Acronis is good also. Make sure you are using a 32 bit WinPE disc for maximum compatibility. A 64 bit WinPE will require using a 64 bit imagex which only allows for imaging 64 bit systems.






        share|improve this answer

































          0














          Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or GHOST will do this as well. There is a free trial of Backup Exec System recovery Symantec BU Exec Home Page. Some SSD vendores have a tool for their drives for just this scenario. Did you check with the manufacturer?






          share|improve this answer































            0














            I just did this, and I'll be honest - Win7 installed so quickly on the SSD, I kind of enjoyed the fresh install. I'm not sure how happy the windows drivers will be with a straight up copy - the reinstall may involve the least amount of time investment.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 2





              The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

              – Shinrai
              Mar 3 '11 at 16:22











            • ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

              – Shinrai
              Mar 3 '11 at 16:23











            • Good to know this will work so smoothly.

              – Kara Marfia
              Mar 3 '11 at 20:49






            • 2





              installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

              – bortao
              Sep 14 '11 at 17:24











            • I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

              – Rob
              Sep 14 '11 at 17:27



















            0














            No need to use expensive tools. You can create a Snapshot using a trial version of DriveSnapshot to make a snapshot of your ~40 gb of data. I often used it back in the times of Windows XP and it is still great! You can make the snapshot "live" without any hassle (I think).



            Partition your SSD as needed, then just use DriveSnapshot again to extract your snapshot to the SSD.






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

              – user956584
              Feb 8 at 21:51



















            0














            I recently purchased an Intel SSD drive and could not get the included Acronis software to detect an Intel drive. So I tried Ghost from Symantec and lets just say 'Ghost isn't what it used to be'.



            I then decided to give Paragons 'Migrate OS to SSD' Software a try and it did not work either. After a nightmare trying to order the software, with German Bank charging my card, etc., I got the software thanks to a very nice person at Paragon software deciding to give me a complimentary copy out of what I can only assume was pity.



            I had already attempted to shrink my OS boot partition from 1TB to a more manageable size and did get it to around 186GB, which was not small enough to use Windows built in imaging software with my 160GB (149GB formatted) hard drive. So on to the Paragon solution.



            I downloaded, installed and ran the software. A few prompts later it was completely done. The entire image was in reality 58GB and so took about 8 minutes, if that, to complete. After swapping the boot order in the system BIOS to reflect the new SSD, the system still booted from the original OS HDD and not the SSD. The files were on the SSD—the directory structure and content was right, but the long and the short of it is that the software did not work as advertised.



            I tried checking to see that partition had not been made hidden by the software and it had not. I tried all of the above mentioned bootrec and bcdboot options and still 'no joy'. I was left with an OS that would crash on boot saying 'Autochk program not found. Skipping Autocheck.' then bluescreen for .5 seconds and reboot to the same end.



            On the birght side the fresh install took about 11 minutes. The reconfigure and data transfer has taken much longer, though I now have that 'NEW INSTALL' feel and I like it! Anyway, Migrating the OS to SSD did not work for me but may work for you. I don't know.






            share|improve this answer

































              0














              May I suggest DriveClone from the Farstone company. It is freeware. I have used this cloning software numerous times with success. The only failures were when the SSD was MUCH smaller than the source. (say, 750gig source to 90gig SSD destination) The workaround for that was to clone to a SOMEWHAT smaller mechanical drive, and then clone from that to the SSD.






              share|improve this answer































                -1














                Haven't tried it personally, but there's a free drive copy utility called EaseUS Disk Copy.






                share|improve this answer

































                  -1














                  Is no easy way, spend like 4 hours try to copy windows 7 to another HDD nothing is free, everything from google is paid and not working



                  For windows 10 you can use: snapshot.exe and then use USB windows 10 installer then run repair options and its done. Just remember to mark partition as active because snapshot only copy data



                  Windows 7
                  Clone HDD to another by this software super easy: HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe and free






                  share|improve this answer






















                    protected by slhck Jul 20 '12 at 14:13



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                    15 Answers
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                    15 Answers
                    15






                    active

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                    active

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                    active

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                    33














                    ImageX is a free tool that is part of the Windows 7 WAIK (download). It is what we use for imaging machines at work. It can even be used to create backups of the machine. If you're doing the C drive (you have another drive D, and your SSD is currently set to E), then it would just be a matter of booting into Windows PE, and then



                    ImageX /capture c: d:image.wim "bootDrive" /verify /compress fast


                    That will make a very large file named image.wim on the other drive. You could even map a drive, and put it on the network, which is what we do.



                    Then, reconfigure the drives to make sure that the SSD is now C:.



                    Reboot into Windows PE again, and type:



                    imagex /apply d:image.wim 1 c: /verify


                    Then, after that, it is CRITICAL to run this command, still in PE:



                    bcdboot.exe c:windows


                    that will have it make everything bootable.



                    If bcdboot.exe fails you might have to mark the partition you copied Windows on as active first using the diskpart utility.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • 1





                      Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                      – MGOwen
                      Jul 5 '12 at 0:02











                    • I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                      – Mehrdad
                      Dec 28 '12 at 5:42






                    • 2





                      what is windows PE?

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 2:02






                    • 3





                      how to reconfigure the drive

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 5:26






                    • 1





                      @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                      – Brian
                      May 21 '15 at 12:59
















                    33














                    ImageX is a free tool that is part of the Windows 7 WAIK (download). It is what we use for imaging machines at work. It can even be used to create backups of the machine. If you're doing the C drive (you have another drive D, and your SSD is currently set to E), then it would just be a matter of booting into Windows PE, and then



                    ImageX /capture c: d:image.wim "bootDrive" /verify /compress fast


                    That will make a very large file named image.wim on the other drive. You could even map a drive, and put it on the network, which is what we do.



                    Then, reconfigure the drives to make sure that the SSD is now C:.



                    Reboot into Windows PE again, and type:



                    imagex /apply d:image.wim 1 c: /verify


                    Then, after that, it is CRITICAL to run this command, still in PE:



                    bcdboot.exe c:windows


                    that will have it make everything bootable.



                    If bcdboot.exe fails you might have to mark the partition you copied Windows on as active first using the diskpart utility.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • 1





                      Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                      – MGOwen
                      Jul 5 '12 at 0:02











                    • I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                      – Mehrdad
                      Dec 28 '12 at 5:42






                    • 2





                      what is windows PE?

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 2:02






                    • 3





                      how to reconfigure the drive

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 5:26






                    • 1





                      @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                      – Brian
                      May 21 '15 at 12:59














                    33












                    33








                    33







                    ImageX is a free tool that is part of the Windows 7 WAIK (download). It is what we use for imaging machines at work. It can even be used to create backups of the machine. If you're doing the C drive (you have another drive D, and your SSD is currently set to E), then it would just be a matter of booting into Windows PE, and then



                    ImageX /capture c: d:image.wim "bootDrive" /verify /compress fast


                    That will make a very large file named image.wim on the other drive. You could even map a drive, and put it on the network, which is what we do.



                    Then, reconfigure the drives to make sure that the SSD is now C:.



                    Reboot into Windows PE again, and type:



                    imagex /apply d:image.wim 1 c: /verify


                    Then, after that, it is CRITICAL to run this command, still in PE:



                    bcdboot.exe c:windows


                    that will have it make everything bootable.



                    If bcdboot.exe fails you might have to mark the partition you copied Windows on as active first using the diskpart utility.






                    share|improve this answer















                    ImageX is a free tool that is part of the Windows 7 WAIK (download). It is what we use for imaging machines at work. It can even be used to create backups of the machine. If you're doing the C drive (you have another drive D, and your SSD is currently set to E), then it would just be a matter of booting into Windows PE, and then



                    ImageX /capture c: d:image.wim "bootDrive" /verify /compress fast


                    That will make a very large file named image.wim on the other drive. You could even map a drive, and put it on the network, which is what we do.



                    Then, reconfigure the drives to make sure that the SSD is now C:.



                    Reboot into Windows PE again, and type:



                    imagex /apply d:image.wim 1 c: /verify


                    Then, after that, it is CRITICAL to run this command, still in PE:



                    bcdboot.exe c:windows


                    that will have it make everything bootable.



                    If bcdboot.exe fails you might have to mark the partition you copied Windows on as active first using the diskpart utility.







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited Sep 1 '13 at 18:04









                    Christoph Wurm

                    135117




                    135117










                    answered Mar 3 '11 at 15:00









                    Brian Brian

                    2,8891318




                    2,8891318








                    • 1





                      Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                      – MGOwen
                      Jul 5 '12 at 0:02











                    • I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                      – Mehrdad
                      Dec 28 '12 at 5:42






                    • 2





                      what is windows PE?

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 2:02






                    • 3





                      how to reconfigure the drive

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 5:26






                    • 1





                      @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                      – Brian
                      May 21 '15 at 12:59














                    • 1





                      Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                      – MGOwen
                      Jul 5 '12 at 0:02











                    • I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                      – Mehrdad
                      Dec 28 '12 at 5:42






                    • 2





                      what is windows PE?

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 2:02






                    • 3





                      how to reconfigure the drive

                      – user4951
                      Jan 8 '13 at 5:26






                    • 1





                      @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                      – Brian
                      May 21 '15 at 12:59








                    1




                    1





                    Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                    – MGOwen
                    Jul 5 '12 at 0:02





                    Won't just using Vista's (or 7's) own built-in image backup tool ("Back up computer" in Backup and Restore Center) work for this? Back up old boot drive to a portable HDD then restore to the SSD using windows setup DVD? Slightly simpler, no extra tools needed.

                    – MGOwen
                    Jul 5 '12 at 0:02













                    I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                    – Mehrdad
                    Dec 28 '12 at 5:42





                    I recommend using the WIM driver from the Windows Vista AIK, not the Windows 7 AIK. It's a lot faster.

                    – Mehrdad
                    Dec 28 '12 at 5:42




                    2




                    2





                    what is windows PE?

                    – user4951
                    Jan 8 '13 at 2:02





                    what is windows PE?

                    – user4951
                    Jan 8 '13 at 2:02




                    3




                    3





                    how to reconfigure the drive

                    – user4951
                    Jan 8 '13 at 5:26





                    how to reconfigure the drive

                    – user4951
                    Jan 8 '13 at 5:26




                    1




                    1





                    @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                    – Brian
                    May 21 '15 at 12:59





                    @urig I don't do much with windows anymore, but I believe they changed the name to Windows ADK

                    – Brian
                    May 21 '15 at 12:59













                    9














                    Windows 7's built-in backup feature makes this very easy, as long as you have another (third) drive to store the backup on.



                    http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/replace-your-hard-drive-using-free-windows-7-tools



                    I just did this this weekend, and it worked perfectly.






                    share|improve this answer



















                    • 5





                      Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                      – user33339
                      Jun 28 '14 at 5:44
















                    9














                    Windows 7's built-in backup feature makes this very easy, as long as you have another (third) drive to store the backup on.



                    http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/replace-your-hard-drive-using-free-windows-7-tools



                    I just did this this weekend, and it worked perfectly.






                    share|improve this answer



















                    • 5





                      Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                      – user33339
                      Jun 28 '14 at 5:44














                    9












                    9








                    9







                    Windows 7's built-in backup feature makes this very easy, as long as you have another (third) drive to store the backup on.



                    http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/replace-your-hard-drive-using-free-windows-7-tools



                    I just did this this weekend, and it worked perfectly.






                    share|improve this answer













                    Windows 7's built-in backup feature makes this very easy, as long as you have another (third) drive to store the backup on.



                    http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/replace-your-hard-drive-using-free-windows-7-tools



                    I just did this this weekend, and it worked perfectly.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Oct 10 '11 at 19:21









                    timkingmantimkingman

                    9112




                    9112








                    • 5





                      Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                      – user33339
                      Jun 28 '14 at 5:44














                    • 5





                      Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                      – user33339
                      Jun 28 '14 at 5:44








                    5




                    5





                    Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                    – user33339
                    Jun 28 '14 at 5:44





                    Note Windows Image Recovery will NOT let you restore from a larger partition to a smaller partition even if the actual amount data is less than the smaller partition. I tried using this method to move Windows 7 off a 2TB HDD onto a 128GB SSD and despite having only 80GB of data on the drive it failed with "No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".

                    – user33339
                    Jun 28 '14 at 5:44











                    9














                    My successful experience:




                    • Attach the SSD drive and format as NTFS

                    • Boot with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore

                    • Check the source drive letter and destination drive letters (e.g. E: and H:)


                    • Execute:



                      ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files" "H:Program Files" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                      ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files (x86)" "H:Program Files (x86)" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                      ROBOCOPY "E:Windows" "H:Windows" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                      ROBOCOPY "E:Users" "H:Users" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                      BOOTSECT /nt60 H: /mbr


                    • Detach the old drive and boot again with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore


                    • Shutdown

                    • Swap the drive, power on, select to boot from the new drive in the BIOS






                    share|improve this answer






























                      9














                      My successful experience:




                      • Attach the SSD drive and format as NTFS

                      • Boot with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore

                      • Check the source drive letter and destination drive letters (e.g. E: and H:)


                      • Execute:



                        ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files" "H:Program Files" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                        ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files (x86)" "H:Program Files (x86)" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                        ROBOCOPY "E:Windows" "H:Windows" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                        ROBOCOPY "E:Users" "H:Users" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                        BOOTSECT /nt60 H: /mbr


                      • Detach the old drive and boot again with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore


                      • Shutdown

                      • Swap the drive, power on, select to boot from the new drive in the BIOS






                      share|improve this answer




























                        9












                        9








                        9







                        My successful experience:




                        • Attach the SSD drive and format as NTFS

                        • Boot with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore

                        • Check the source drive letter and destination drive letters (e.g. E: and H:)


                        • Execute:



                          ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files" "H:Program Files" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files (x86)" "H:Program Files (x86)" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Windows" "H:Windows" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Users" "H:Users" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          BOOTSECT /nt60 H: /mbr


                        • Detach the old drive and boot again with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore


                        • Shutdown

                        • Swap the drive, power on, select to boot from the new drive in the BIOS






                        share|improve this answer















                        My successful experience:




                        • Attach the SSD drive and format as NTFS

                        • Boot with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore

                        • Check the source drive letter and destination drive letters (e.g. E: and H:)


                        • Execute:



                          ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files" "H:Program Files" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Program Files (x86)" "H:Program Files (x86)" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Windows" "H:Windows" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          ROBOCOPY "E:Users" "H:Users" /MIR /SEC /SECFIX /R:0
                          BOOTSECT /nt60 H: /mbr


                        • Detach the old drive and boot again with the Windows 7 original DVD -> Restore


                        • Shutdown

                        • Swap the drive, power on, select to boot from the new drive in the BIOS







                        share|improve this answer














                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer








                        edited Nov 9 '11 at 13:09









                        3498DB

                        15.8k114762




                        15.8k114762










                        answered Nov 9 '11 at 12:59









                        PauloPaulo

                        9111




                        9111























                            6














                            Though @Brian answer should work, i used this one and it is much faster and dont require WAIK or WinPE:





                            1. Create the partitions




                              • On the new drive create a 100MB partition on the beginning of the drive, mark it as active

                              • Create another primary partition at least as big as the original C:

                              • Mount both partitions, for instance the small one as Y: and the big one as X:




                            2. Copy the partitons



                              We have to copy everything, even the MBR.




                              • Get a partition copy utility that works in windows 7. I used Acronis Disk Director, but i believe Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or even Seagate Discwizard should do it.

                              • Copy your C: partition to the new drive X:

                              • This should require a reboot




                            3. Change drive letter



                              You have to edit the new drive regedit so the assigned drive letter is not X:, but C:




                              • Open REGEDIT

                              • Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

                              • Go to File -> Load Hive

                              • Open X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSYSTEM

                              • Choose a Key name, like "TEMP"

                              • It will create a Temp folder, open it and locate MountedDevices

                              • Scroll Down and rename DosDevicesC: to DosDevicesZ: (or an unused letter)

                              • Finally rename DosDevicesX: to DosDevicesC:


                              Be sure to rename the entry on your new drive's registry, not on the old one




                            4. Create BCD



                              This should do the bcdboot.exe role




                              • Get EasyBCD

                              • Go to BCD Deployment, chose the new drive's 100MB partition Y:

                              • Install BCD

                              • Accept the dialog, to open the brand new BCD

                              • Go to Add new entry, select Windows, Type: Windows Vista/7, drive C: and click Add Entry.




                            5. Change boot device




                              • Reboot and get in your BIOS config (F1 or DEL)

                              • Change HD priority, moving the new HD up




                            That's all






                            share|improve this answer





















                            • 3





                              This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                              – Joachim Sauer
                              Oct 11 '11 at 10:19











                            • This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                              – Steven T. Snyder
                              May 2 '12 at 18:01
















                            6














                            Though @Brian answer should work, i used this one and it is much faster and dont require WAIK or WinPE:





                            1. Create the partitions




                              • On the new drive create a 100MB partition on the beginning of the drive, mark it as active

                              • Create another primary partition at least as big as the original C:

                              • Mount both partitions, for instance the small one as Y: and the big one as X:




                            2. Copy the partitons



                              We have to copy everything, even the MBR.




                              • Get a partition copy utility that works in windows 7. I used Acronis Disk Director, but i believe Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or even Seagate Discwizard should do it.

                              • Copy your C: partition to the new drive X:

                              • This should require a reboot




                            3. Change drive letter



                              You have to edit the new drive regedit so the assigned drive letter is not X:, but C:




                              • Open REGEDIT

                              • Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

                              • Go to File -> Load Hive

                              • Open X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSYSTEM

                              • Choose a Key name, like "TEMP"

                              • It will create a Temp folder, open it and locate MountedDevices

                              • Scroll Down and rename DosDevicesC: to DosDevicesZ: (or an unused letter)

                              • Finally rename DosDevicesX: to DosDevicesC:


                              Be sure to rename the entry on your new drive's registry, not on the old one




                            4. Create BCD



                              This should do the bcdboot.exe role




                              • Get EasyBCD

                              • Go to BCD Deployment, chose the new drive's 100MB partition Y:

                              • Install BCD

                              • Accept the dialog, to open the brand new BCD

                              • Go to Add new entry, select Windows, Type: Windows Vista/7, drive C: and click Add Entry.




                            5. Change boot device




                              • Reboot and get in your BIOS config (F1 or DEL)

                              • Change HD priority, moving the new HD up




                            That's all






                            share|improve this answer





















                            • 3





                              This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                              – Joachim Sauer
                              Oct 11 '11 at 10:19











                            • This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                              – Steven T. Snyder
                              May 2 '12 at 18:01














                            6












                            6








                            6







                            Though @Brian answer should work, i used this one and it is much faster and dont require WAIK or WinPE:





                            1. Create the partitions




                              • On the new drive create a 100MB partition on the beginning of the drive, mark it as active

                              • Create another primary partition at least as big as the original C:

                              • Mount both partitions, for instance the small one as Y: and the big one as X:




                            2. Copy the partitons



                              We have to copy everything, even the MBR.




                              • Get a partition copy utility that works in windows 7. I used Acronis Disk Director, but i believe Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or even Seagate Discwizard should do it.

                              • Copy your C: partition to the new drive X:

                              • This should require a reboot




                            3. Change drive letter



                              You have to edit the new drive regedit so the assigned drive letter is not X:, but C:




                              • Open REGEDIT

                              • Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

                              • Go to File -> Load Hive

                              • Open X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSYSTEM

                              • Choose a Key name, like "TEMP"

                              • It will create a Temp folder, open it and locate MountedDevices

                              • Scroll Down and rename DosDevicesC: to DosDevicesZ: (or an unused letter)

                              • Finally rename DosDevicesX: to DosDevicesC:


                              Be sure to rename the entry on your new drive's registry, not on the old one




                            4. Create BCD



                              This should do the bcdboot.exe role




                              • Get EasyBCD

                              • Go to BCD Deployment, chose the new drive's 100MB partition Y:

                              • Install BCD

                              • Accept the dialog, to open the brand new BCD

                              • Go to Add new entry, select Windows, Type: Windows Vista/7, drive C: and click Add Entry.




                            5. Change boot device




                              • Reboot and get in your BIOS config (F1 or DEL)

                              • Change HD priority, moving the new HD up




                            That's all






                            share|improve this answer















                            Though @Brian answer should work, i used this one and it is much faster and dont require WAIK or WinPE:





                            1. Create the partitions




                              • On the new drive create a 100MB partition on the beginning of the drive, mark it as active

                              • Create another primary partition at least as big as the original C:

                              • Mount both partitions, for instance the small one as Y: and the big one as X:




                            2. Copy the partitons



                              We have to copy everything, even the MBR.




                              • Get a partition copy utility that works in windows 7. I used Acronis Disk Director, but i believe Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or even Seagate Discwizard should do it.

                              • Copy your C: partition to the new drive X:

                              • This should require a reboot




                            3. Change drive letter



                              You have to edit the new drive regedit so the assigned drive letter is not X:, but C:




                              • Open REGEDIT

                              • Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

                              • Go to File -> Load Hive

                              • Open X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSYSTEM

                              • Choose a Key name, like "TEMP"

                              • It will create a Temp folder, open it and locate MountedDevices

                              • Scroll Down and rename DosDevicesC: to DosDevicesZ: (or an unused letter)

                              • Finally rename DosDevicesX: to DosDevicesC:


                              Be sure to rename the entry on your new drive's registry, not on the old one




                            4. Create BCD



                              This should do the bcdboot.exe role




                              • Get EasyBCD

                              • Go to BCD Deployment, chose the new drive's 100MB partition Y:

                              • Install BCD

                              • Accept the dialog, to open the brand new BCD

                              • Go to Add new entry, select Windows, Type: Windows Vista/7, drive C: and click Add Entry.




                            5. Change boot device




                              • Reboot and get in your BIOS config (F1 or DEL)

                              • Change HD priority, moving the new HD up




                            That's all







                            share|improve this answer














                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer








                            edited Oct 10 '11 at 18:27









                            Joachim Sauer

                            895612




                            895612










                            answered Sep 14 '11 at 7:31









                            bortaobortao

                            3952724




                            3952724








                            • 3





                              This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                              – Joachim Sauer
                              Oct 11 '11 at 10:19











                            • This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                              – Steven T. Snyder
                              May 2 '12 at 18:01














                            • 3





                              This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                              – Joachim Sauer
                              Oct 11 '11 at 10:19











                            • This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                              – Steven T. Snyder
                              May 2 '12 at 18:01








                            3




                            3





                            This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                            – Joachim Sauer
                            Oct 11 '11 at 10:19





                            This approach worked well for me (and I needed neither a DVD nor an additional hard disk). Note that I used xxclone step #2, since all other options cost money (or, in the case of Seagate Discwizard, require you to have installed a Seagate or Maxtor product).

                            – Joachim Sauer
                            Oct 11 '11 at 10:19













                            This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                            – Steven T. Snyder
                            May 2 '12 at 18:01





                            This approach didn't work for me. When I booted to the SSD, the drive letter in "Computer" was C: but in Disk Management it was still X:, and the old drive was still C:. In addition, my user profile was still being loaded off of the old C:.

                            – Steven T. Snyder
                            May 2 '12 at 18:01











                            6














                            I just successfully copied my Windows install over to a new SSD yesterday. I knew I wanted to use GParted, but wasn't sure what to do after that. It took me a couple hours to get the computer booting from the SSD after I copied Windows over, so I thought I'd make note of what I did.



                            Here is what I did:




                            • Freed up enough space on my hard drive so that what was on it would fit on the SSD.


                            • Downloaded and burned a GParted live CD. It is a Linux based partition editor, but I've found it easy to use and reliable.


                            • Put the SSD into the computer.


                            • Changed the boot priority in the BIOS to have the SSD at the top (good to verify so you know where you're booting from).


                            • Booted to GParted and resized my hard drive's partition to be smaller than the SSD. The resizing took almost an hour. Then I copied and pasted the hard drive's partition to the SSD and resized it to fill the SSD at the same time. Took about half an hour. (Go in advanced mode and consider options, such as --recover, if dealing with a defective disk).


                            • I unplugged the hard drive with my old Windows install. You don't have to, but if it is unplugged, then when the computer is booted and the desktop appears, you know everything is working right. (During my attempts when I didn't have the hard drive unplugged, I once booted from the SSD when it was drive E, but the registry still referenced drive C. So I was using E:Windows from the SSD, but C:Users and C:Program Files from the hard drive.)


                            • Booted to the Windows 7 install disk and opened the recovery command prompt. The drive letters needed changed so that the SSD's partition is C: like it was on the hard drive. I did this with diskpart. Something like this (the SSD is 111 GB):



                            ** IMPORTANT: If partitions were cloned to new disk, you won't be able to tell them apart while having both disks connected. Simplest thing is leaving a text file in the OS partition saying which drive that is.



                                X:Sources> diskpart

                            DISKPART> list volume

                            Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
                            ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
                            Volume 0 C NTFS Partition 465 GB Healthy
                            Volume 1 D NTFS Partition 111 GB Healthy

                            DISKPART> select volume 0
                            ...
                            DISKPART> assign letter=E
                            ...
                            DISKPART> select volume 1
                            ...
                            DISKPART> assign letter=C
                            ...
                            DISKPART> select volume 0
                            ...
                            DISKPART> assign letter=D
                            ...

                            The partition also needed to be set active:

                            DISKPART> list disk

                            Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
                            -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
                            Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB
                            Disk 1 Online 111 GB 0 B

                            DISKPART> select disk 1
                            ...
                            DISKPART> list partition

                            Partition ### Type Size Offset
                            ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
                            Partition 1 Primary 111 GB 1024 KB

                            DISKPART> select partition 1
                            ...
                            DISKPART> active
                            ...
                            DISKPART> exit




                            • Executed these commands before restarting:



                              bootrec /fixmbr
                              bootrec /fixboot
                              bootrec /rescanos
                              bcdboot c:windows


                              I'm not sure they are all necessary but running them doesn't hurt.



                            • Booted from the SSD and everything worked. I plugged the hard drive back in.







                            share|improve this answer






























                              6














                              I just successfully copied my Windows install over to a new SSD yesterday. I knew I wanted to use GParted, but wasn't sure what to do after that. It took me a couple hours to get the computer booting from the SSD after I copied Windows over, so I thought I'd make note of what I did.



                              Here is what I did:




                              • Freed up enough space on my hard drive so that what was on it would fit on the SSD.


                              • Downloaded and burned a GParted live CD. It is a Linux based partition editor, but I've found it easy to use and reliable.


                              • Put the SSD into the computer.


                              • Changed the boot priority in the BIOS to have the SSD at the top (good to verify so you know where you're booting from).


                              • Booted to GParted and resized my hard drive's partition to be smaller than the SSD. The resizing took almost an hour. Then I copied and pasted the hard drive's partition to the SSD and resized it to fill the SSD at the same time. Took about half an hour. (Go in advanced mode and consider options, such as --recover, if dealing with a defective disk).


                              • I unplugged the hard drive with my old Windows install. You don't have to, but if it is unplugged, then when the computer is booted and the desktop appears, you know everything is working right. (During my attempts when I didn't have the hard drive unplugged, I once booted from the SSD when it was drive E, but the registry still referenced drive C. So I was using E:Windows from the SSD, but C:Users and C:Program Files from the hard drive.)


                              • Booted to the Windows 7 install disk and opened the recovery command prompt. The drive letters needed changed so that the SSD's partition is C: like it was on the hard drive. I did this with diskpart. Something like this (the SSD is 111 GB):



                              ** IMPORTANT: If partitions were cloned to new disk, you won't be able to tell them apart while having both disks connected. Simplest thing is leaving a text file in the OS partition saying which drive that is.



                                  X:Sources> diskpart

                              DISKPART> list volume

                              Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
                              ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
                              Volume 0 C NTFS Partition 465 GB Healthy
                              Volume 1 D NTFS Partition 111 GB Healthy

                              DISKPART> select volume 0
                              ...
                              DISKPART> assign letter=E
                              ...
                              DISKPART> select volume 1
                              ...
                              DISKPART> assign letter=C
                              ...
                              DISKPART> select volume 0
                              ...
                              DISKPART> assign letter=D
                              ...

                              The partition also needed to be set active:

                              DISKPART> list disk

                              Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
                              -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
                              Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB
                              Disk 1 Online 111 GB 0 B

                              DISKPART> select disk 1
                              ...
                              DISKPART> list partition

                              Partition ### Type Size Offset
                              ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
                              Partition 1 Primary 111 GB 1024 KB

                              DISKPART> select partition 1
                              ...
                              DISKPART> active
                              ...
                              DISKPART> exit




                              • Executed these commands before restarting:



                                bootrec /fixmbr
                                bootrec /fixboot
                                bootrec /rescanos
                                bcdboot c:windows


                                I'm not sure they are all necessary but running them doesn't hurt.



                              • Booted from the SSD and everything worked. I plugged the hard drive back in.







                              share|improve this answer




























                                6












                                6








                                6







                                I just successfully copied my Windows install over to a new SSD yesterday. I knew I wanted to use GParted, but wasn't sure what to do after that. It took me a couple hours to get the computer booting from the SSD after I copied Windows over, so I thought I'd make note of what I did.



                                Here is what I did:




                                • Freed up enough space on my hard drive so that what was on it would fit on the SSD.


                                • Downloaded and burned a GParted live CD. It is a Linux based partition editor, but I've found it easy to use and reliable.


                                • Put the SSD into the computer.


                                • Changed the boot priority in the BIOS to have the SSD at the top (good to verify so you know where you're booting from).


                                • Booted to GParted and resized my hard drive's partition to be smaller than the SSD. The resizing took almost an hour. Then I copied and pasted the hard drive's partition to the SSD and resized it to fill the SSD at the same time. Took about half an hour. (Go in advanced mode and consider options, such as --recover, if dealing with a defective disk).


                                • I unplugged the hard drive with my old Windows install. You don't have to, but if it is unplugged, then when the computer is booted and the desktop appears, you know everything is working right. (During my attempts when I didn't have the hard drive unplugged, I once booted from the SSD when it was drive E, but the registry still referenced drive C. So I was using E:Windows from the SSD, but C:Users and C:Program Files from the hard drive.)


                                • Booted to the Windows 7 install disk and opened the recovery command prompt. The drive letters needed changed so that the SSD's partition is C: like it was on the hard drive. I did this with diskpart. Something like this (the SSD is 111 GB):



                                ** IMPORTANT: If partitions were cloned to new disk, you won't be able to tell them apart while having both disks connected. Simplest thing is leaving a text file in the OS partition saying which drive that is.



                                    X:Sources> diskpart

                                DISKPART> list volume

                                Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
                                ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
                                Volume 0 C NTFS Partition 465 GB Healthy
                                Volume 1 D NTFS Partition 111 GB Healthy

                                DISKPART> select volume 0
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=E
                                ...
                                DISKPART> select volume 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=C
                                ...
                                DISKPART> select volume 0
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=D
                                ...

                                The partition also needed to be set active:

                                DISKPART> list disk

                                Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
                                -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
                                Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB
                                Disk 1 Online 111 GB 0 B

                                DISKPART> select disk 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> list partition

                                Partition ### Type Size Offset
                                ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
                                Partition 1 Primary 111 GB 1024 KB

                                DISKPART> select partition 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> active
                                ...
                                DISKPART> exit




                                • Executed these commands before restarting:



                                  bootrec /fixmbr
                                  bootrec /fixboot
                                  bootrec /rescanos
                                  bcdboot c:windows


                                  I'm not sure they are all necessary but running them doesn't hurt.



                                • Booted from the SSD and everything worked. I plugged the hard drive back in.







                                share|improve this answer















                                I just successfully copied my Windows install over to a new SSD yesterday. I knew I wanted to use GParted, but wasn't sure what to do after that. It took me a couple hours to get the computer booting from the SSD after I copied Windows over, so I thought I'd make note of what I did.



                                Here is what I did:




                                • Freed up enough space on my hard drive so that what was on it would fit on the SSD.


                                • Downloaded and burned a GParted live CD. It is a Linux based partition editor, but I've found it easy to use and reliable.


                                • Put the SSD into the computer.


                                • Changed the boot priority in the BIOS to have the SSD at the top (good to verify so you know where you're booting from).


                                • Booted to GParted and resized my hard drive's partition to be smaller than the SSD. The resizing took almost an hour. Then I copied and pasted the hard drive's partition to the SSD and resized it to fill the SSD at the same time. Took about half an hour. (Go in advanced mode and consider options, such as --recover, if dealing with a defective disk).


                                • I unplugged the hard drive with my old Windows install. You don't have to, but if it is unplugged, then when the computer is booted and the desktop appears, you know everything is working right. (During my attempts when I didn't have the hard drive unplugged, I once booted from the SSD when it was drive E, but the registry still referenced drive C. So I was using E:Windows from the SSD, but C:Users and C:Program Files from the hard drive.)


                                • Booted to the Windows 7 install disk and opened the recovery command prompt. The drive letters needed changed so that the SSD's partition is C: like it was on the hard drive. I did this with diskpart. Something like this (the SSD is 111 GB):



                                ** IMPORTANT: If partitions were cloned to new disk, you won't be able to tell them apart while having both disks connected. Simplest thing is leaving a text file in the OS partition saying which drive that is.



                                    X:Sources> diskpart

                                DISKPART> list volume

                                Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
                                ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
                                Volume 0 C NTFS Partition 465 GB Healthy
                                Volume 1 D NTFS Partition 111 GB Healthy

                                DISKPART> select volume 0
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=E
                                ...
                                DISKPART> select volume 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=C
                                ...
                                DISKPART> select volume 0
                                ...
                                DISKPART> assign letter=D
                                ...

                                The partition also needed to be set active:

                                DISKPART> list disk

                                Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
                                -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
                                Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB
                                Disk 1 Online 111 GB 0 B

                                DISKPART> select disk 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> list partition

                                Partition ### Type Size Offset
                                ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
                                Partition 1 Primary 111 GB 1024 KB

                                DISKPART> select partition 1
                                ...
                                DISKPART> active
                                ...
                                DISKPART> exit




                                • Executed these commands before restarting:



                                  bootrec /fixmbr
                                  bootrec /fixboot
                                  bootrec /rescanos
                                  bcdboot c:windows


                                  I'm not sure they are all necessary but running them doesn't hurt.



                                • Booted from the SSD and everything worked. I plugged the hard drive back in.








                                share|improve this answer














                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer








                                edited Dec 26 '12 at 5:30









                                Shekhar

                                4,52032945




                                4,52032945










                                answered Nov 18 '11 at 1:40









                                Jordan MinerJordan Miner

                                29123




                                29123























                                    3














                                    Acronis True Image Home can do exactly what you ask. It allows you to restore to any partition size granted that the new partition is at least as large as the original image. Note, that sometimes it will refuse to restore to a different partition size or new hard drive/SSD. In that case, you must make the new partition on the device at least 10GB larger than the original image size (uncompressed).






                                    share|improve this answer
























                                    • FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                      – chipiik
                                      Dec 29 '15 at 10:57
















                                    3














                                    Acronis True Image Home can do exactly what you ask. It allows you to restore to any partition size granted that the new partition is at least as large as the original image. Note, that sometimes it will refuse to restore to a different partition size or new hard drive/SSD. In that case, you must make the new partition on the device at least 10GB larger than the original image size (uncompressed).






                                    share|improve this answer
























                                    • FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                      – chipiik
                                      Dec 29 '15 at 10:57














                                    3












                                    3








                                    3







                                    Acronis True Image Home can do exactly what you ask. It allows you to restore to any partition size granted that the new partition is at least as large as the original image. Note, that sometimes it will refuse to restore to a different partition size or new hard drive/SSD. In that case, you must make the new partition on the device at least 10GB larger than the original image size (uncompressed).






                                    share|improve this answer













                                    Acronis True Image Home can do exactly what you ask. It allows you to restore to any partition size granted that the new partition is at least as large as the original image. Note, that sometimes it will refuse to restore to a different partition size or new hard drive/SSD. In that case, you must make the new partition on the device at least 10GB larger than the original image size (uncompressed).







                                    share|improve this answer












                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer










                                    answered Mar 3 '11 at 14:05









                                    MetrilMetril

                                    41125




                                    41125













                                    • FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                      – chipiik
                                      Dec 29 '15 at 10:57



















                                    • FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                      – chipiik
                                      Dec 29 '15 at 10:57

















                                    FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                    – chipiik
                                    Dec 29 '15 at 10:57





                                    FYI: shrinking of original partition is not necessary with "Acronis True Image 2014" (provided with new Crucial SSD) - one can exclude folders/files when cloning drive to fit smaller one

                                    – chipiik
                                    Dec 29 '15 at 10:57











                                    2














                                    I was working on following the instructions in reply to paragraph 3 from Bortao about changing your drive letters when lo and behold Windows 7 would not allow me to open the System folder X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSystem (claimed it was already open) so I decided to wing it.



                                    I exited 'open hive' and searched for DosDevices which I located at



                                    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices


                                    I renamed





                                    • DosDeviceC: to DosDeviceZ:


                                    • DosDeviceX: to DosDeviceC:


                                    • DosDeviceZ: to DosDeviceX:


                                    After that I did a lot of registry editing to change all references to X: to C:
                                    When regedit would not allow the change, I ignored the problem, and rebooted.






                                    share|improve this answer






























                                      2














                                      I was working on following the instructions in reply to paragraph 3 from Bortao about changing your drive letters when lo and behold Windows 7 would not allow me to open the System folder X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSystem (claimed it was already open) so I decided to wing it.



                                      I exited 'open hive' and searched for DosDevices which I located at



                                      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices


                                      I renamed





                                      • DosDeviceC: to DosDeviceZ:


                                      • DosDeviceX: to DosDeviceC:


                                      • DosDeviceZ: to DosDeviceX:


                                      After that I did a lot of registry editing to change all references to X: to C:
                                      When regedit would not allow the change, I ignored the problem, and rebooted.






                                      share|improve this answer




























                                        2












                                        2








                                        2







                                        I was working on following the instructions in reply to paragraph 3 from Bortao about changing your drive letters when lo and behold Windows 7 would not allow me to open the System folder X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSystem (claimed it was already open) so I decided to wing it.



                                        I exited 'open hive' and searched for DosDevices which I located at



                                        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices


                                        I renamed





                                        • DosDeviceC: to DosDeviceZ:


                                        • DosDeviceX: to DosDeviceC:


                                        • DosDeviceZ: to DosDeviceX:


                                        After that I did a lot of registry editing to change all references to X: to C:
                                        When regedit would not allow the change, I ignored the problem, and rebooted.






                                        share|improve this answer















                                        I was working on following the instructions in reply to paragraph 3 from Bortao about changing your drive letters when lo and behold Windows 7 would not allow me to open the System folder X:[Your windows dir]System32ConfigSystem (claimed it was already open) so I decided to wing it.



                                        I exited 'open hive' and searched for DosDevices which I located at



                                        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices


                                        I renamed





                                        • DosDeviceC: to DosDeviceZ:


                                        • DosDeviceX: to DosDeviceC:


                                        • DosDeviceZ: to DosDeviceX:


                                        After that I did a lot of registry editing to change all references to X: to C:
                                        When regedit would not allow the change, I ignored the problem, and rebooted.







                                        share|improve this answer














                                        share|improve this answer



                                        share|improve this answer








                                        edited Mar 9 '12 at 10:10









                                        slhck

                                        162k47448470




                                        162k47448470










                                        answered Mar 8 '12 at 23:09









                                        user122086user122086

                                        211




                                        211























                                            2














                                            I like imagex. It is file based and one can compress, check, verify, etc. among other commands. Acronis is good also. Make sure you are using a 32 bit WinPE disc for maximum compatibility. A 64 bit WinPE will require using a 64 bit imagex which only allows for imaging 64 bit systems.






                                            share|improve this answer






























                                              2














                                              I like imagex. It is file based and one can compress, check, verify, etc. among other commands. Acronis is good also. Make sure you are using a 32 bit WinPE disc for maximum compatibility. A 64 bit WinPE will require using a 64 bit imagex which only allows for imaging 64 bit systems.






                                              share|improve this answer




























                                                2












                                                2








                                                2







                                                I like imagex. It is file based and one can compress, check, verify, etc. among other commands. Acronis is good also. Make sure you are using a 32 bit WinPE disc for maximum compatibility. A 64 bit WinPE will require using a 64 bit imagex which only allows for imaging 64 bit systems.






                                                share|improve this answer















                                                I like imagex. It is file based and one can compress, check, verify, etc. among other commands. Acronis is good also. Make sure you are using a 32 bit WinPE disc for maximum compatibility. A 64 bit WinPE will require using a 64 bit imagex which only allows for imaging 64 bit systems.







                                                share|improve this answer














                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer








                                                edited Nov 24 '13 at 9:00









                                                Community

                                                1




                                                1










                                                answered Feb 12 '12 at 20:16









                                                m130carbinem130carbine

                                                211




                                                211























                                                    0














                                                    Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or GHOST will do this as well. There is a free trial of Backup Exec System recovery Symantec BU Exec Home Page. Some SSD vendores have a tool for their drives for just this scenario. Did you check with the manufacturer?






                                                    share|improve this answer




























                                                      0














                                                      Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or GHOST will do this as well. There is a free trial of Backup Exec System recovery Symantec BU Exec Home Page. Some SSD vendores have a tool for their drives for just this scenario. Did you check with the manufacturer?






                                                      share|improve this answer


























                                                        0












                                                        0








                                                        0







                                                        Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or GHOST will do this as well. There is a free trial of Backup Exec System recovery Symantec BU Exec Home Page. Some SSD vendores have a tool for their drives for just this scenario. Did you check with the manufacturer?






                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                        Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or GHOST will do this as well. There is a free trial of Backup Exec System recovery Symantec BU Exec Home Page. Some SSD vendores have a tool for their drives for just this scenario. Did you check with the manufacturer?







                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                        answered Mar 3 '11 at 14:49









                                                        Dave MDave M

                                                        12.7k92838




                                                        12.7k92838























                                                            0














                                                            I just did this, and I'll be honest - Win7 installed so quickly on the SSD, I kind of enjoyed the fresh install. I'm not sure how happy the windows drivers will be with a straight up copy - the reinstall may involve the least amount of time investment.






                                                            share|improve this answer



















                                                            • 2





                                                              The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:22











                                                            • ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:23











                                                            • Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                              – Kara Marfia
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 20:49






                                                            • 2





                                                              installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                              – bortao
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:24











                                                            • I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                              – Rob
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:27
















                                                            0














                                                            I just did this, and I'll be honest - Win7 installed so quickly on the SSD, I kind of enjoyed the fresh install. I'm not sure how happy the windows drivers will be with a straight up copy - the reinstall may involve the least amount of time investment.






                                                            share|improve this answer



















                                                            • 2





                                                              The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:22











                                                            • ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:23











                                                            • Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                              – Kara Marfia
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 20:49






                                                            • 2





                                                              installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                              – bortao
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:24











                                                            • I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                              – Rob
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:27














                                                            0












                                                            0








                                                            0







                                                            I just did this, and I'll be honest - Win7 installed so quickly on the SSD, I kind of enjoyed the fresh install. I'm not sure how happy the windows drivers will be with a straight up copy - the reinstall may involve the least amount of time investment.






                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                            I just did this, and I'll be honest - Win7 installed so quickly on the SSD, I kind of enjoyed the fresh install. I'm not sure how happy the windows drivers will be with a straight up copy - the reinstall may involve the least amount of time investment.







                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                            answered Mar 3 '11 at 14:49









                                                            Kara MarfiaKara Marfia

                                                            1,8301221




                                                            1,8301221








                                                            • 2





                                                              The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:22











                                                            • ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:23











                                                            • Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                              – Kara Marfia
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 20:49






                                                            • 2





                                                              installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                              – bortao
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:24











                                                            • I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                              – Rob
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:27














                                                            • 2





                                                              The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:22











                                                            • ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                              – Shinrai
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 16:23











                                                            • Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                              – Kara Marfia
                                                              Mar 3 '11 at 20:49






                                                            • 2





                                                              installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                              – bortao
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:24











                                                            • I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                              – Rob
                                                              Sep 14 '11 at 17:27








                                                            2




                                                            2





                                                            The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                            – Shinrai
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 16:22





                                                            The drivers will be fine - I just moved an SSD from a 4 year old dual Xeon machine to a brand new i7 2600K rig and it booted fine. Just make sure you uninstall any proprietary AHCI/RAID drivers and just use the MSAHCI driver before you make the switch.

                                                            – Shinrai
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 16:22













                                                            ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                            – Shinrai
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 16:23





                                                            ...I should add that I endorse a clean install, though. It's sooo fast!

                                                            – Shinrai
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 16:23













                                                            Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                            – Kara Marfia
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 20:49





                                                            Good to know this will work so smoothly.

                                                            – Kara Marfia
                                                            Mar 3 '11 at 20:49




                                                            2




                                                            2





                                                            installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                            – bortao
                                                            Sep 14 '11 at 17:24





                                                            installing windows 7 is quick. reinstalling 300 programs i have installed, is not.

                                                            – bortao
                                                            Sep 14 '11 at 17:24













                                                            I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                            – Rob
                                                            Sep 14 '11 at 17:27





                                                            I find reinstalling programs to be therapeutic in a way.

                                                            – Rob
                                                            Sep 14 '11 at 17:27











                                                            0














                                                            No need to use expensive tools. You can create a Snapshot using a trial version of DriveSnapshot to make a snapshot of your ~40 gb of data. I often used it back in the times of Windows XP and it is still great! You can make the snapshot "live" without any hassle (I think).



                                                            Partition your SSD as needed, then just use DriveSnapshot again to extract your snapshot to the SSD.






                                                            share|improve this answer





















                                                            • 1





                                                              just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                              – user956584
                                                              Feb 8 at 21:51
















                                                            0














                                                            No need to use expensive tools. You can create a Snapshot using a trial version of DriveSnapshot to make a snapshot of your ~40 gb of data. I often used it back in the times of Windows XP and it is still great! You can make the snapshot "live" without any hassle (I think).



                                                            Partition your SSD as needed, then just use DriveSnapshot again to extract your snapshot to the SSD.






                                                            share|improve this answer





















                                                            • 1





                                                              just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                              – user956584
                                                              Feb 8 at 21:51














                                                            0












                                                            0








                                                            0







                                                            No need to use expensive tools. You can create a Snapshot using a trial version of DriveSnapshot to make a snapshot of your ~40 gb of data. I often used it back in the times of Windows XP and it is still great! You can make the snapshot "live" without any hassle (I think).



                                                            Partition your SSD as needed, then just use DriveSnapshot again to extract your snapshot to the SSD.






                                                            share|improve this answer















                                                            No need to use expensive tools. You can create a Snapshot using a trial version of DriveSnapshot to make a snapshot of your ~40 gb of data. I often used it back in the times of Windows XP and it is still great! You can make the snapshot "live" without any hassle (I think).



                                                            Partition your SSD as needed, then just use DriveSnapshot again to extract your snapshot to the SSD.







                                                            share|improve this answer














                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                            share|improve this answer








                                                            edited Mar 9 '12 at 1:01









                                                            Diogo

                                                            22k57132211




                                                            22k57132211










                                                            answered Mar 8 '12 at 23:39









                                                            user3001user3001

                                                            8818




                                                            8818








                                                            • 1





                                                              just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                              – user956584
                                                              Feb 8 at 21:51














                                                            • 1





                                                              just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                              – user956584
                                                              Feb 8 at 21:51








                                                            1




                                                            1





                                                            just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                            – user956584
                                                            Feb 8 at 21:51





                                                            just remember to mark partition as active and copy MBR

                                                            – user956584
                                                            Feb 8 at 21:51











                                                            0














                                                            I recently purchased an Intel SSD drive and could not get the included Acronis software to detect an Intel drive. So I tried Ghost from Symantec and lets just say 'Ghost isn't what it used to be'.



                                                            I then decided to give Paragons 'Migrate OS to SSD' Software a try and it did not work either. After a nightmare trying to order the software, with German Bank charging my card, etc., I got the software thanks to a very nice person at Paragon software deciding to give me a complimentary copy out of what I can only assume was pity.



                                                            I had already attempted to shrink my OS boot partition from 1TB to a more manageable size and did get it to around 186GB, which was not small enough to use Windows built in imaging software with my 160GB (149GB formatted) hard drive. So on to the Paragon solution.



                                                            I downloaded, installed and ran the software. A few prompts later it was completely done. The entire image was in reality 58GB and so took about 8 minutes, if that, to complete. After swapping the boot order in the system BIOS to reflect the new SSD, the system still booted from the original OS HDD and not the SSD. The files were on the SSD—the directory structure and content was right, but the long and the short of it is that the software did not work as advertised.



                                                            I tried checking to see that partition had not been made hidden by the software and it had not. I tried all of the above mentioned bootrec and bcdboot options and still 'no joy'. I was left with an OS that would crash on boot saying 'Autochk program not found. Skipping Autocheck.' then bluescreen for .5 seconds and reboot to the same end.



                                                            On the birght side the fresh install took about 11 minutes. The reconfigure and data transfer has taken much longer, though I now have that 'NEW INSTALL' feel and I like it! Anyway, Migrating the OS to SSD did not work for me but may work for you. I don't know.






                                                            share|improve this answer






























                                                              0














                                                              I recently purchased an Intel SSD drive and could not get the included Acronis software to detect an Intel drive. So I tried Ghost from Symantec and lets just say 'Ghost isn't what it used to be'.



                                                              I then decided to give Paragons 'Migrate OS to SSD' Software a try and it did not work either. After a nightmare trying to order the software, with German Bank charging my card, etc., I got the software thanks to a very nice person at Paragon software deciding to give me a complimentary copy out of what I can only assume was pity.



                                                              I had already attempted to shrink my OS boot partition from 1TB to a more manageable size and did get it to around 186GB, which was not small enough to use Windows built in imaging software with my 160GB (149GB formatted) hard drive. So on to the Paragon solution.



                                                              I downloaded, installed and ran the software. A few prompts later it was completely done. The entire image was in reality 58GB and so took about 8 minutes, if that, to complete. After swapping the boot order in the system BIOS to reflect the new SSD, the system still booted from the original OS HDD and not the SSD. The files were on the SSD—the directory structure and content was right, but the long and the short of it is that the software did not work as advertised.



                                                              I tried checking to see that partition had not been made hidden by the software and it had not. I tried all of the above mentioned bootrec and bcdboot options and still 'no joy'. I was left with an OS that would crash on boot saying 'Autochk program not found. Skipping Autocheck.' then bluescreen for .5 seconds and reboot to the same end.



                                                              On the birght side the fresh install took about 11 minutes. The reconfigure and data transfer has taken much longer, though I now have that 'NEW INSTALL' feel and I like it! Anyway, Migrating the OS to SSD did not work for me but may work for you. I don't know.






                                                              share|improve this answer




























                                                                0












                                                                0








                                                                0







                                                                I recently purchased an Intel SSD drive and could not get the included Acronis software to detect an Intel drive. So I tried Ghost from Symantec and lets just say 'Ghost isn't what it used to be'.



                                                                I then decided to give Paragons 'Migrate OS to SSD' Software a try and it did not work either. After a nightmare trying to order the software, with German Bank charging my card, etc., I got the software thanks to a very nice person at Paragon software deciding to give me a complimentary copy out of what I can only assume was pity.



                                                                I had already attempted to shrink my OS boot partition from 1TB to a more manageable size and did get it to around 186GB, which was not small enough to use Windows built in imaging software with my 160GB (149GB formatted) hard drive. So on to the Paragon solution.



                                                                I downloaded, installed and ran the software. A few prompts later it was completely done. The entire image was in reality 58GB and so took about 8 minutes, if that, to complete. After swapping the boot order in the system BIOS to reflect the new SSD, the system still booted from the original OS HDD and not the SSD. The files were on the SSD—the directory structure and content was right, but the long and the short of it is that the software did not work as advertised.



                                                                I tried checking to see that partition had not been made hidden by the software and it had not. I tried all of the above mentioned bootrec and bcdboot options and still 'no joy'. I was left with an OS that would crash on boot saying 'Autochk program not found. Skipping Autocheck.' then bluescreen for .5 seconds and reboot to the same end.



                                                                On the birght side the fresh install took about 11 minutes. The reconfigure and data transfer has taken much longer, though I now have that 'NEW INSTALL' feel and I like it! Anyway, Migrating the OS to SSD did not work for me but may work for you. I don't know.






                                                                share|improve this answer















                                                                I recently purchased an Intel SSD drive and could not get the included Acronis software to detect an Intel drive. So I tried Ghost from Symantec and lets just say 'Ghost isn't what it used to be'.



                                                                I then decided to give Paragons 'Migrate OS to SSD' Software a try and it did not work either. After a nightmare trying to order the software, with German Bank charging my card, etc., I got the software thanks to a very nice person at Paragon software deciding to give me a complimentary copy out of what I can only assume was pity.



                                                                I had already attempted to shrink my OS boot partition from 1TB to a more manageable size and did get it to around 186GB, which was not small enough to use Windows built in imaging software with my 160GB (149GB formatted) hard drive. So on to the Paragon solution.



                                                                I downloaded, installed and ran the software. A few prompts later it was completely done. The entire image was in reality 58GB and so took about 8 minutes, if that, to complete. After swapping the boot order in the system BIOS to reflect the new SSD, the system still booted from the original OS HDD and not the SSD. The files were on the SSD—the directory structure and content was right, but the long and the short of it is that the software did not work as advertised.



                                                                I tried checking to see that partition had not been made hidden by the software and it had not. I tried all of the above mentioned bootrec and bcdboot options and still 'no joy'. I was left with an OS that would crash on boot saying 'Autochk program not found. Skipping Autocheck.' then bluescreen for .5 seconds and reboot to the same end.



                                                                On the birght side the fresh install took about 11 minutes. The reconfigure and data transfer has taken much longer, though I now have that 'NEW INSTALL' feel and I like it! Anyway, Migrating the OS to SSD did not work for me but may work for you. I don't know.







                                                                share|improve this answer














                                                                share|improve this answer



                                                                share|improve this answer








                                                                edited Dec 28 '12 at 5:40









                                                                malloc

                                                                1358




                                                                1358










                                                                answered Jan 11 '12 at 19:57









                                                                MachMach

                                                                11




                                                                11























                                                                    0














                                                                    May I suggest DriveClone from the Farstone company. It is freeware. I have used this cloning software numerous times with success. The only failures were when the SSD was MUCH smaller than the source. (say, 750gig source to 90gig SSD destination) The workaround for that was to clone to a SOMEWHAT smaller mechanical drive, and then clone from that to the SSD.






                                                                    share|improve this answer




























                                                                      0














                                                                      May I suggest DriveClone from the Farstone company. It is freeware. I have used this cloning software numerous times with success. The only failures were when the SSD was MUCH smaller than the source. (say, 750gig source to 90gig SSD destination) The workaround for that was to clone to a SOMEWHAT smaller mechanical drive, and then clone from that to the SSD.






                                                                      share|improve this answer


























                                                                        0












                                                                        0








                                                                        0







                                                                        May I suggest DriveClone from the Farstone company. It is freeware. I have used this cloning software numerous times with success. The only failures were when the SSD was MUCH smaller than the source. (say, 750gig source to 90gig SSD destination) The workaround for that was to clone to a SOMEWHAT smaller mechanical drive, and then clone from that to the SSD.






                                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                                        May I suggest DriveClone from the Farstone company. It is freeware. I have used this cloning software numerous times with success. The only failures were when the SSD was MUCH smaller than the source. (say, 750gig source to 90gig SSD destination) The workaround for that was to clone to a SOMEWHAT smaller mechanical drive, and then clone from that to the SSD.







                                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                                        answered Nov 9 '15 at 12:04









                                                                        the original mike westernthe original mike western

                                                                        1,106168




                                                                        1,106168























                                                                            -1














                                                                            Haven't tried it personally, but there's a free drive copy utility called EaseUS Disk Copy.






                                                                            share|improve this answer






























                                                                              -1














                                                                              Haven't tried it personally, but there's a free drive copy utility called EaseUS Disk Copy.






                                                                              share|improve this answer




























                                                                                -1












                                                                                -1








                                                                                -1







                                                                                Haven't tried it personally, but there's a free drive copy utility called EaseUS Disk Copy.






                                                                                share|improve this answer















                                                                                Haven't tried it personally, but there's a free drive copy utility called EaseUS Disk Copy.







                                                                                share|improve this answer














                                                                                share|improve this answer



                                                                                share|improve this answer








                                                                                edited Jul 20 '12 at 14:13









                                                                                slhck

                                                                                162k47448470




                                                                                162k47448470










                                                                                answered Mar 9 '12 at 1:22









                                                                                cpugurucpuguru

                                                                                4392716




                                                                                4392716























                                                                                    -1














                                                                                    Is no easy way, spend like 4 hours try to copy windows 7 to another HDD nothing is free, everything from google is paid and not working



                                                                                    For windows 10 you can use: snapshot.exe and then use USB windows 10 installer then run repair options and its done. Just remember to mark partition as active because snapshot only copy data



                                                                                    Windows 7
                                                                                    Clone HDD to another by this software super easy: HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe and free






                                                                                    share|improve this answer




























                                                                                      -1














                                                                                      Is no easy way, spend like 4 hours try to copy windows 7 to another HDD nothing is free, everything from google is paid and not working



                                                                                      For windows 10 you can use: snapshot.exe and then use USB windows 10 installer then run repair options and its done. Just remember to mark partition as active because snapshot only copy data



                                                                                      Windows 7
                                                                                      Clone HDD to another by this software super easy: HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe and free






                                                                                      share|improve this answer


























                                                                                        -1












                                                                                        -1








                                                                                        -1







                                                                                        Is no easy way, spend like 4 hours try to copy windows 7 to another HDD nothing is free, everything from google is paid and not working



                                                                                        For windows 10 you can use: snapshot.exe and then use USB windows 10 installer then run repair options and its done. Just remember to mark partition as active because snapshot only copy data



                                                                                        Windows 7
                                                                                        Clone HDD to another by this software super easy: HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe and free






                                                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                                                        Is no easy way, spend like 4 hours try to copy windows 7 to another HDD nothing is free, everything from google is paid and not working



                                                                                        For windows 10 you can use: snapshot.exe and then use USB windows 10 installer then run repair options and its done. Just remember to mark partition as active because snapshot only copy data



                                                                                        Windows 7
                                                                                        Clone HDD to another by this software super easy: HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe and free







                                                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                                                        answered Feb 8 at 21:49









                                                                                        user956584user956584

                                                                                        297310




                                                                                        297310

















                                                                                            protected by slhck Jul 20 '12 at 14:13



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