Migrating to SSD

[The_Traveler]

I am about to buy a Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB SSD to migrate from my current C: on my desktop.
I have ~150 GB on the C: currently with no data of any sort.

Are there any issues I should know that an experienced person would know (and I clearly don't)?
I am OK with routine HD installs, part replacements, etc but this is an entirely new field for me.

 

[SnappingShark]

SSDs are fine. They're fast, zippy, and reliable (no moving parts).
You say you have no data, but your C is likely to hold system files etc. (unless you custom installed to D or elsewhere)

So, given windows 7 will take about 15gb, windows 8 even more so - be careful. You're already down to about 220gb after formatting the drive and installing your OS.
Then add on your favorite apps.

anyhow, you shouldn't have any problems at all with SSD - you will love it. Boot time is quicker, as are load times. Saving files and opening them, also.

Your machine will still be limited by CPU / Memory, so it won't enhance every aspect of your computing life.

But anyway, enjoy it

Oh, and be sure you get an SSD with a data transfer kit included. you'd hate to wait for it if you don't have the right cable to transfer if you're migrating, rather than rebuilding.

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks for the response.
My pc is physically configured in an unfortunate way that I have to remove the CPU cooler to get to the third drive bay so I'm debating how deeply into this renovation I want to get.

I plan on discarding the existing C: after this (I keep a system image on a partition in a second drive) so the biggest challenge I have is doing the move while the ssd is uninstalled physically. As fate determines, I will probably need cables that I don't have.

 

[SnappingShark]

Sometimes, such as when I bought my Crucial M4, it came with a cable which when connected via USB, would clone any drive onto it from your system.

The cables only cost about 10 bucks
USB > SATA cable is what you need - and you'd be good to go.

 

[The_Traveler]

I already have a USB3<> SATA which should work fine.
What about power to the ssd>

 

[SnappingShark]

Should get it from the USB - like a regular external drive would.

 

[robbins.photo]

I am about to buy a Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB SSD to migrate from my current C: on my desktop.
I have ~150 GB on the C: currently with no data of any sort.

Are there any issues I should know that an experienced person would know (and I clearly don't)?
I am OK with routine HD installs, part replacements, etc but this is an entirely new field for me.

Lew, odds are good a lot of the 150 gb you currently have can be kept on your current hard drive, a lot of it won't really need to be put on the SSD when you install it. My recommendation would be that when you install the SSD you put a fresh copy of the operating system on it. A lot of them will come with utilities that allow you to copy the partition off your original drive but I think you'll find the system will be more stable and it's better in the long run if you just install the SSD and reinstall the OS to it.

During this process I recommend you disconnect your current physical drive so the system cannot see it at all - then once you have the SSD with the fresh OS install in place, shut down and reconnect your original "C" drive, then you can start deciding what to move to the SSD and what not too - but by disconnecting the current drive first you remove any possibility that Windows will get confused and format the wrong drive during the install.

One thing I recommend with SSD's, if you have the space run a full backup once you have the OS installed and all your software reinstalled. Then update the backup on a fairly frequent basis. The newer SSD's have a pretty good meantime to failure rating and will likely last for years, but the one big difference between an SSD and the older physical drives is that normally when an older physical drive is about to fail it will give you several warnings first. When an SSD fails often it is working one minute and gone the next, so frequent backups will help you avoid any data loss should this happen.

 

[robbins.photo]

If your not planning on keeping your current C drive then I'll make a second recommendation, buy yourself an inexpensive external USB case for it. Put your current C drive in that, and then use that drive bay to install your SSD so you won't have to remove the CPU cooling unit at all.

 

[TheSSDReview]

Hey guys.... Got this thread through a link and thought I might join and jump in since I am a bit of a camera buff (6D w/ sev lenses). Looking outside of the computers speed increase alone, the difference in using Photoshop or similar software is like night and day, simply because of the speed in which files can be moved and manipulated. If I can help you guys along with anythingb at all, please let me know here or simply find my e-mail and send me an e-mail. For the OP< and i hope the site doesnt mind...here is something to get you started and help you along...speaks to many of your questions... AS far as installation, it is no different than a HDD

 

[Garbz]

Are there any issues I should know that an experienced person would know (and I clearly don't)?

It's just like a normal harddisk. Oh except for partition alignment.

SSDs have data laid out in addressable blocks. If you can write one block in one go great. If you need to pad blocks and split your data up into multiple writes it takes extra time. Now the problem here is that if your partition table starts with an incorrect offset that's not a multiple of the block size you absolutely butcher your performance. I did this once with a windows XP install. Ended up getting 90MB/s write performance to the disk. After fixing the alignment with a partitioning tool I got just over 300MB/s write performance.

Other than checking the partition alignment, you can effectively treat it as another drive.

 

[Braineack]

So, given windows 7 will take about 15gb, windows 8 even more so - be careful.

Who in their right mind would willingly install win8?

 

[bratkinson]

I built a new computer from the ground up about 18 months ago and went with SSD as the C: drive (Windows 7, current documents, current photos in process, LR and other program work files...nothing else). I consistenly get 25 seconds or less from power on to my Windows desktop on the screen.

My first step was to Google 'SSD drive installation' and read up as much as I could from knowledgeable computer techhies and tech web sites. This is the instructions I followed:
Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs
It's quite detailed. Be sure to scroll beyond the advertisements in the middle of the text. Hopefully, you'll understand some of the technical mumbo jumbo. I'm a computer geek myself so it all made perfect sense to me. If you're transferring Windows from your C: drive to the SSD, I think that site has directions for it. If not, Google 'SSD drive installation' and you will find what you need.

One more thing...most, if not all SSD drives are SATA. Although you could use a USB to SATA adapter, you'd be largely killing the high performance of an SSD.

 

[Braineack]

and you want a 6 gb/s SATA port on an SSD.

 

[robbins.photo]

I built a new computer from the ground up about 18 months ago and went with SSD as the C: drive (Windows 7, current documents, current photos in process, LR and other program work files...nothing else). I consistenly get 25 seconds or less from power on to my Windows desktop on the screen.

My first step was to Google 'SSD drive installation' and read up as much as I could from knowledgeable computer techhies and tech web sites. This is the instructions I followed:
Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs
It's quite detailed. Be sure to scroll beyond the advertisements in the middle of the text. Hopefully, you'll understand some of the technical mumbo jumbo. I'm a computer geek myself so it all made perfect sense to me. If you're transferring Windows from your C: drive to the SSD, I think that site has directions for it. If not, Google 'SSD drive installation' and you will find what you need.

One more thing...most, if not all SSD drives are SATA. Although you could use a USB to SATA adapter, you'd be largely killing the high performance of an SSD.

Probably an important thing to note here - not all SATA is the same. There are different classifications of SATA - and in order for you to get the most out of your SSD drive you'll want to make sure you get a SATA III drive, have a SATA III port on your motherboard and a SATA III cable to connect the two - If any of these are rated as SATA II then the whole system will run at SATA II speeds, and while this is still faster than a physical drive it's slower than SATA III.

A lot of folks will buy the drive and connect it to a SATA III port but they don't stop to think that the cable between the two matters as well, I've seen plenty of installs where the guy that put it together used a Sata III drive and connected it to a SATA III port on the motherboard using an old SATA I connector.

 

[Big Mike]

I built a new computer from the ground up about 18 months ago and went with SSD as the C: drive (Windows 7, current documents, current photos in process, LR and other program work files...nothing else). I consistenly get 25 seconds or less from power on to my Windows desktop on the screen.

That doesn't sound very fast for an SSD. My new (low end) laptop with a regular drive is faster than that. The IT guy at my last job, build himself a computer with an SSD and he said that from start to being on Google was something like 7 seconds (although, I'd guess that slows down over time).