Need Help Installing a new SSD drive
Hello,
On my laptop I have a 320Gb SATA drive which I would like to change to a 240 Gb SSD drive due to the better performance of the SSD drive. On my laptop, I have only used 185Gb of the 320Gb drive.
In order to do the swap, I have Acronis 11 and a 1 Tb external USB drive that I use for storage. My laptop is Windows 7. Is there a way of cloning the SATA drive given that it is larger than the SSD drive?
I clicked on clone disk and then it said someing about deleting partitions and I backed off. I do not want to lose any of the data from my external 1 Tb USB hard drive. Would I be losing data if I go down this route?
Any help is much appreciated!
Thanks!
Ok, thanks! I created a Windows 7 System Repair Disk and made a system Image to my external hard drive. The image is 119Gb. Therefore, it should fit on the new 240Gb SSD drive.
Now what should I do? I am yet to take the SSD drive out of the box :-) If I put the new SSD drive into my laptop will I be able to use my system image from my external hard drive? My laptop came with Win 7 pre-installed on it and I don't believe that I have the disk for it (was over 5 yrs ago).
Ok, thanks! I created a Windows 7 System Repair Disk and made a system Image to my external hard drive. The image is 119Gb. Therefore, it should fit on the new 240Gb SSD drive.
Now what should I do? I am yet to take the SSD drive out of the box :-) If I put the new SSD drive into my laptop will I be able to use my system image from my external hard drive? My laptop came with Win 7 pre-installed on it and I don't believe that I have the disk for it (was over 5 yrs ago).
Your 240Gb SSD drive should work.
If the Repair Disk and system image are Windows, then you need to create an Acronis Bootable Media. Here's a link on how to create the media.
https://kb.acronis.com/content/14737
You will then need to create a "Disk View" backup of the HDD. Here's a link.
https://kb.acronis.com/content/13450
Once you have the "Disk View" backup complete, shut down your laptop and install your SSD. You will then boot from the Acronis Bootable Media and restore the Disk View backup to the SSD. Here's a link.
https://kb.acronis.com/content/18255
On step 5 from the link above, You will select "Recover whole disks and partitions"
On step 6 the whole disk should be selected.
Continue to follow the directions on the link.
Once the restore is complete, you should be able to boot from your SSD.
Let me know how this works.
Regards,
FtrPilot
Thanks for replying! Is a "Disk View" different than the image that I previously took that was 119Gb?
I created the Acronis Boot Media, but am having problems :-(
When I turn on my machine with the SSD drive in, I hit F12 with the "Win 7 System Repair Disk" in and it then ask me for the recovery image.
I connected my external USB with the 119Gb image on it. It finds it, but then says that there was a failure and can not proceed.
When I created the image it said that it was created successfully, so I am not sure what the problem is.
Then I was going to try the "Quick Disk View", but did not see an Option for it. I went to "Tools" -> "Clone Disk". Am I in the wrong area? Do I need to do this since I already have the 119Gb image?
Thanks!
Is a "Disk View" different than the image that I previously took that was 119Gb?
Did you create your previous image using Acronis True Image 2011? Or did you use Windows to create the image?
Based on an earlier reply, I get the impression that you used Windows to create the 119Gb image. That image will not work with Acronis. You need to use Acronis to make the image.
If you used Acronis, then did you use Partition Mode or Disk Mode? Picture 1 below is out of the ATI2011 user manual. The user manual refers to Disk Mode and not Disk View...sorry for the confusion. The preferred method is to use Disk Mode. In the upper right corner of the image shows where to click to select Disk Mode. If you are not sure, then I recommend performing a Disk Mode Backup.
I created the Acronis Boot Media, but am having problems :-(
This needs to get resolved. There is no way to proceed without the Acronis Boot Media. If you followed the directions in the link, and the DVD just doesn't boot, then the problem could be in your BIOS setting. You need to set the DVD as the first boot device.
When I turn on my machine with the SSD drive in, I hit F12 with the "Win 7 System Repair Disk" in and it then ask me for the recovery image.I connected my external USB with the 119Gb image on it. It finds it, but then says that there was a failure and can not proceed.
When I created the image it said that it was created successfully, so I am not sure what the problem is.
The paragraphs above lead me to believe you are using Windows for the backup and not Acronis. F12, Win 7 Repair Disk are not part of Acronis.
Then I was going to try the "Quick Disk View", but did not see an Option for it. I went to "Tools" -> "Clone Disk". Am I in the wrong area? Do I need to do this since I already have the 119Gb image?
I don't know anything about "Quick Disk View".
Acronis does have a Tools -> Clone disk. If you have the ability to connect your old boot disk to your laptop via USB, then this is the preferred way to proceed.
The EZ Dock 3, see link below, has the ability to connect 3.5 and 2.5 drives through USB.
http://www.kingwin.com/storage/docking-stations/ezd-2537u3/
So, the first thing you need to sort out is the Acronis Boot Media.
Let me know when you have the Acronis Boot media operational.
Regards,
FtrPilot
Hi,
Yes, the image was done using Windows. I first tried using Acronis Tools -> Clone Disk. However, It says "The Destination Drive you have chosen has some partitions that may have useful data". The Disk needs to be empty. Therefore, I did not proceed. My external drive contains a clones from my desktop CPU and wife's laptop.
I believe the Acronis boot media is ok. Just need an Acronis Image now.
Delroy,
With the Acronis media working, we can proceed.
Can you attach the old HDD through USB using a USB sled or some other type of USB connector? If you can, then clone is the best option...In this scenario, the new SDD is installed in your laptop. The old HDD is connected via USB. They are the only 2 disks connected to the computer.
If you cannot attach the old HDD through USB, then you should:
1. install the old HDD back into your laptop
2. Connect the 1 Tb external USB drive
3. Set boot priority for DVD first
4. Boot from the Acronis media DVD
5. Perform a "Disk Mode" backup of the 320Gb SATA drive...target for the backup is the 1TB USB drive
6. Once the "Disk Mode" backup is compete, which could take a couple of hours, shut down the computer and install the SDD.
7. Boot from the Acronis Media DVD.
8. Perform a disk recovery, as described in paragraph 4.1.3 of the user manual. If you haven't downloaded the user manual, I suggest you download it and as a minimum read all the way through paragraph 4.1.
9. After you have successfully recovered from you Acronis image to your SDD, your SDD should now be a boot disk.
10. Remove DVD, Set Bios to boot from the SDD.
11. Reboot.
12. Log back onto this blog and let me know you are successful...or any error messages you encounter.
Regards,
FtrPilot
Hi,
I booted from the Acronis Media DVD just fine, but I still have the same question regarding losing my data on my external drive. Am I not Cloning the disk?
Am I just backing up the data? From my very first post you replied:
Delroy,
DO NOT clone from the 320Gb SATA drive to the 1 Tb external USB drive...it will wipe out all data on the 1 Tb external USB drive.
Therefore, I have not, but am having trouble getting around that. I still can not find this "Disk Mode" you are referring. Is it just selecting Backup -> My Computer when using the Acronis Boot Media?
Thanks!
Delroy,
You are wise to be cautious. If you are unsure, then don't.
The problem is I am using ATI 2014 and reading the ATI 2011 user manual to make sure I give you the proper information.
Here's the difference between a clone and a backup.
A clone goes from a source disk directly to a target disk. All data on the target is erased and the target disk becomes functionally "identical" to the source disk.
A backup converts the source disk into an "image" file. And that image file is stored on an intermediate disk...in this case your 1TB External USB drive. Then, that "image" file is restored to your SSD.
So, I am going to boot using my 2014 recovery media and take a couple of pictures with my cell phone. Unfortunately, they won't be screen grabs, so they may be a littly fuzzy. I will then show you what buttons I would push in 2014 to make a disk mode backup.
If you could boot with your recovery media and take a picture of the main menu page, I can tell you what buttons to push.
Pictures in about 20 minutes.
FtrPilot
Delroy,
I have some ATI2014 images. My hope is ATI 2011 is similar enough that you can find the correct menu items to select.
Rescue 1 (picture below) shows how to navigate to the Disk and partitions backup page.
Rescue 2 shows shows the Disk and partitions backup page. On the page, you can see a check box titled Disk 1, with a checkmark to the left of it. Note that there are three items below Disk 1 and all of them have checkmarks. Click on the box next to Disk 1 until there is a checkmark in Disk 1 and all items below Disk 1.
Your menu should also show a Disk 2. Disk 2 and all of the lines below Disk 2 should be blank.
Sometimes, the disk numbers can reflect the wrong disk. For example, in your case, Disk 1 might be the 1TB external disk and Disk 2 might be your 320GB HDD. If that were the case, you would click on the checkbox next to Disk 2. Also, on the left side of the picture, highlighted in white are the Menu "What to Backup"
You have to make sure you are selecting the correct disk to backup.
Once you have checkmarks in all of the boxes, in my case Disk 1. Your case could be different. Click on the "Next" button, lower right portion of the screen.
That should bring up a menu page that looks like Rescue 3. In this case, you would hit the Browse button and navigate to the desired folder in your 1TB disk.
Then click "Next" on lower right portion of the screen.
That should bring up a confirmation page. Once you have confirmed all of your settings, you would hit the "Proceed" button.
Rescue 4 a picture of how to navigate to the Clone menu, so you can have confidence you are going through the correct menus.
Please let me know if these pictures are similar enough to ATI 2011.
Let me know if you have enough confidence to proceed with the backup.
Regards,
FtrPilot
Ok, all backed up and on to recovery :-) I am at the final screen before hitting 'Proceed', but I am not sure this looks right. Seems like the sizes do not match. Keep in mind my old SATA drive is 320 Gb and my new SSD is 240 Gb. Attached is a picture
It looks right to me...should work.
Let me know when you boot from your new SSD!
FtrPilot
All booted up on my SSD drive now! Thanks so much for your assistance! Using Windows explorer, I am trying to find things like 'My Documents', which I can't find. Is everything buried? Looks a bit different than my how the SATA drive was. I am sure I can find things on my external USB drive and copy them over, but I thought things would have been setup the same.
Delroy,
Congratulations...However, all of your files should be in the same place on your new SDD.
Keep your old HDD. You will be able to put it to good use. If you are having problems locating some of your old files, they should still be on the old SDD.
Do you have a way to attach your old HDD to your laptop through USB?
FtrPilot
What is weird is that looking at the .tib file on my external drive, it looks exactly like what is on the SSD drive. Very confused :-( It looks nothing like what is on my old SATA drive. The date on the .tib file looks correct. Almost looks like it is the wrong drive. How can this be? When I did the backup I wrote comments on it to say that this is the backup of my migration to the new SSD drive and when I did the restore, I saw the same comments. Not sure what went wrong here. Any thoughts?
Delroy,
Something is definitely wrong.
Do you have any way to connect your old HDD using USB? Such as an adapter cable:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/r…
Or a HDD docking station:
http://www.kingwin.com/storage/docking-stations/ezd-2537u3/
I believe that this would be the best way to proceed. With either the cable or the docking station, you would be able to perform a clone.
Other than that, your only option is to perform another restore.
Let me know what you decide to do.
FtrPilot
I guess I will go out and buy the cable. What will I need to do then? Still confused as to how the backup got muffed...On the image that I sent you it referenced drive C:, which I only have one drive for my laptop... Any Thoughts?
No worries. After expanding a few folders I found my data, so things are good now. Thanks again for you help!
.... Still confused as to how the backup got muffed...On the image that I sent you it referenced drive C:, which I only have one drive for my laptop... Any Thoughts?
Delroy,
I am just as confused as you are, which is why I think the best way to proceed is with the cable and performing a clone.
The money spent on the cable is not wasted. You will be able to put the cable and old HDD to good use. Once you have the SDD up and running, you will be able to periodically perform a clone from the SDD back to the HDD....perhaps once a month. That way, if your SDD goes down, you will be able to get up and running very quickly by installing the HDD back into your computer.
So, for now, if you haven't already done so, put the HDD back into your laptop and make sure it boots and all the files look right.
Once you have the cable, let me know....the process will be:
Remove HDD from laptop.
Install SDD into laptop.
Connect HDD to laptop using your new USB cable.
Boot using rescue media.
Then select Tools and Utilities -> Clone disk
Here's is where you need to pay close attention...if you accidently reverse the source and target, you will wipe out all of the data on your HDD. I will set up a clone operation on my laptop and take some pictures. I will post NLT tomorrow morning.
Regards,
FtrPilot
No worries. After expanding a few folders I found my data, so things are good now. Thanks again for you help!
If you are happy, I am happy...glad I could help.
Please disregard my previous post. Except, you may want to still buy the cable and use your old HDD as a cloned spare.
Regards,
FtrPilot