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Help Cloning an existing partition to SSD

15057 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  aph, 
D
Hi Guys,

I have just got my OCZ 64GB SSD.
I am trying to image / clone my existing C: drive to it. My current C: is a 60GB partition off a 400gb SATA drive.

Here is what I did so far:
1. Used Acronis True Image (home version) created a full backup and restored to the SSD (which when I installed had a new drive letter I: )

2. When I make the SSD bootable priority 1, it obviously didnt work:
Error NTLDR missing : because I gotta update the drive letters and the Image restored might still think there is a I: drive.

3. I tried to restore the boot drive with repair with a windows vista DVD, which fuxored my vista activation on the install that is on the SSD, which I would rather not deal with right now.

Questions:

1. What is the best way to image my existing C: to the SSD
2. I also noticed that Acronis doesnt officially support SSD's yet, is there any alternative programs that you suggest.

Thanks a lot in advance.
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K
You can use Copywipe for windows or copywipe for dos Though you need to be able to download it and burn it to cd first.

If you cannot boot into the SSD try unplugging your other drive(s) to see if it gets recognized that way. If not you will need to boot to another OS and you can use EasyBCD. That program will let you rename your drive to C:/ or create a boot file on the hard drive if there is not one or allow you to add an OS if you are multi booting OS'es.
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U
Your problem is that you aren't using the right feature of Acronis. Instead of backup, go to the drive tools and clone your disk onto the SSD.
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S
I am having the exact same problem as the OP, and with Acronis, I cannot mirror my partition only (I have a 50gb partition on a 300 gb HD that I want to mirror to my new intel SSD).

I tried the restore option and it didn't work, claiming it doesnt have access to the disk when I boot up with SSD
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A
I tried to clone my main partition to my SSD with HDClone, and I got as far as booting and getting the desktop background, but no login appeared and I couldn't get in.

I googled to find a solution and found a long thread on HardOCP where the take away message was to install a fresh copy of the OS on the SSD and copy your documents over. Not only are there modifications that the OS makes for the SSD on install but the physical geometry is different, so a sector by sector copy (which is how cloning programs work) yields problems.

It sucked for a few hours but after I was all set up I didn't even think about it, and I felt better that there wasn't anything I could have screwed up.
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S
Thanks for the response. I guess I'm just going to wait till Win 7 officially comes out before I can use my SSD then. Oh well
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A
What does one have to do with the other? If you have an SSD and you have Windows 7, you can install it...
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eflyguy
When moving installed OS images from drive to drive, most times the boot records get messed up so the system won't load from the new drive (or array, whatever). Just insert your original OS install DVD, boot to it, and select the "repair" option. It will actually find the OS and ask if you would like to repair, say yes, takes a few seconds and then it will boot up just fine.

I have moved/copied my sig rig OS from the original single drive, to an array of 2x320's, then to 2x500's, then to 2x80GB SSD, finally back to a single SSD. Same procedure every time.

Drive letters aren't an issue. Your primary boot partition will *always* be C:, unless you have installed to, or manyally written boot.ini, to point to a different drive.
..a
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eflyguy
.. and this belongs in Hard Drives and Storage, not Intel-General..
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Quote:


Originally Posted by eflyguy
View Post

When moving installed OS images from drive to drive, most times the boot records get messed up so the system won't load from the new drive (or array, whatever). Just insert your original OS install DVD, boot to it, and select the "repair" option. It will actually find the OS and ask if you would like to repair, say yes, takes a few seconds and then it will boot up just fine.

I forgot to mention that I did a repair because it wouldn't boot at all after the clone. It was after the repair that I got the issues I posted above with the missing login screen and freezing at the desktop. Did you do any of these moves with Windows 7?
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eflyguy
No, all Vista..

I do not believe the repair option caused it, I think the cloning failed, or a drive is faulty in some way.

Repair just patches/replaces the MBR..
..a
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Quote:


Originally Posted by eflyguy
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No, all Vista..

I do not believe the repair option caused it, I think the cloning failed, or a drive is faulty in some way.

Repair just patches/replaces the MBR..
..a

That's correct, just saying that the clone didn't work with Windows 7.
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