Adji
Max Output Level: -82 dBFS
- Total Posts : 443
- Joined: 2009/03/30 11:57:14
- Location: Sunderland, UK
- Status: offline
Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
Hi all, I've read what I can on hard drive cloning.
Here is the situation:
My C: drive (windows and main programme drive) is getting full. its a 250 gig SSD and I've used 230 gig. I want to clone this and replace it with a 500 or more gig ssd. The question I have. If I clone it will everything 'magically' work? Will I have to reinstall or redirect any software that is stored on that drive or will it be as if that was always my C: drive and there should be no issues?
It needs doing ASAP but I'm in the middle of a few different projects and could do without a week of down time as I reinstall everything from scratch again.
Thanks as ever guys.
Sonar Professional Windows 8.1 Intel Hex Core i7 5820k 32Gig DDR4 RAM
|
Karyn
Ma-Ma
- Total Posts : 9200
- Joined: 2009/01/30 08:03:10
- Location: Lincoln, England.
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/08 08:54:07
(permalink)
I can't speak for other manufacturers, but the Samsung EVO series that Beagle and myself both use comes with a clone utility that works perfectly.
You connect the NEW SSD to a usb port (with the supplied adapter if you buy the upgrade kit) and the clone utility does the rest for you.
When its finished, you rip out your old C: drive and replace it with the new SSD and your computer knows no different.
Mekashi Futo. Get 10% off all Waves plugins.Current DAW. i7-950, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, 12Gb RAM, 1Tb SSD, 2x2Tb HDD, nVidia GTX 260, Antec 1000W psu, Win7 64bit, Studio 192, Digimax FS, KRK RP8G2, Sonar Platinum
|
DrLumen
Max Output Level: -78 dBFS
- Total Posts : 621
- Joined: 2005/07/05 20:11:34
- Location: North Texas
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/08 21:36:01
(permalink)
Most drive kits come with some type of mirroring/cloning utility. I too have used the Samsung drives and clone from magnetic hard drives. Even those worked with no issues. You can connect the new drive with the SATA connection too.
Like Karyn said, after it is cloned, put the new drive on the SATA cable as the old one. You may have to remount the drive in Windows but it should work fine. After you have confirmed all is ok, format your old one and use it for your temp files and additional storage.
-When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Sonar Platinum / Intel i7-4790K / AsRock Z97 / 32GB RAM / Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB / Behringer FCA610 / M-Audio Sport 2x4 / Win7 x64 Pro / WDC Black HDD's / EVO 850 SSD's / Alesis Q88 / Boss DS-330 / Korg nanoKontrol / Novation Launch Control / 14.5" Lava Lamp
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 07:00:58
(permalink)
I've had zero luck with cloning. I've used the program that comes with Samsung SSD drives, Macrium Reflect (paid pro version) and another cloning program that I forgot its name. NONE worked for me. With the Samsung program, I cloned my Win 8.1 drive to a new 500GB Samsung EVO850 SSD and it would not boot. With Macrium and the same drives, it got to the point of "configuring Windows" but never got any further. We had a long discussion on the Windows 8 forum about this and the software "guru" there tried it and he had mostly failures - he did get one clone to work out of many.
After many clone failures, when I switched from conventional hard drives to SSD's for the OS drive, I used Macrium Reflect and made an "Image" of my hard drive. I restored that to the new SSD and no problems.
Consider with a "clone" you are making an exact copy of the old drive including defective sectors, unused sectors and corrupted data. With an Image you only use the actual hard drive data.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
Starise
Max Output Level: -0.3 dBFS
- Total Posts : 7563
- Joined: 2007/04/07 17:23:02
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 09:06:39
(permalink)
It seems like there have been mixed results when cloning drives. There may be some unknowns not accounted for in cases that didn't work. If your C drive is clean with no errors and is not partitioned I would give it a shot. JMO. The worst thing that can happen is you temporarily need to still use the old drive. The clone utility that comes with the drive should work...I mean...this is why they give it to you. I'm not saying it will but chances are high that it will be ok.
Maybe someone else can comment on this- Does Windows ID your hard drive? In some cases the OS can recognize foreign hardware that wasn't there before and flag it. This is usually a security measure to assure that someone isn't attempting to use a licensed OS on another setup. In the case of hard drives I'm not sure if this is an issue or not. I wouldn't think so. I have read that motherboard changes can be an issue.
Intel 5820K O.C. 4.4ghz, ASRock Extreme 4 LGA 2011-v3, 16 gig DDR4, , 3 x Samsung SATA III 500gb SSD, 2X 1 Samsung 1tb 7200rpm outboard, Win 10 64bit, Laptop HP Omen i7 16gb 2/sdd with Focusrite interface. CbB, Studio One 4 Pro, Mixcraft 8, Ableton Live 10 www.soundcloud.com/starise Twitter @Rodein
|
tlw
Max Output Level: -49.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2567
- Joined: 2008/10/11 22:06:32
- Location: West Midlands, UK
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 10:46:14
(permalink)
☄ Helpfulby Starise 2016/01/11 11:36:35
The C drive can be recognised as changed, Windows used to use it as part of the check that it hadn't been installed on a different computer so changing the drive meant re-authorising Windows. I think, though I'm not sure, that the key component for more recent Windows versions is the motherboard - as far as Windows is concerned a new motherboard = a new PC. Even if Windows doesn't reference the initial installation drive other software might, so stuff might need re-authorising or even reinstalling if the C drive is changed. There's also the question of whether the MBR, boot sectors and the hidden partition Windows creates nowadays are in some way dependant on the C drive being the original - e.g. the Windows boot system relies on sector based partition sizes and locations to work correctly. Personally I'd put in the new C drive then do a fresh installation to it and only reconnect the old C drive after that, having made sure BIOS sees the new drive as the boot one. Then copy any data wanted off the old C to somewhere else and reformat the old C to use as a data drive.
post edited by tlw - 2016/01/09 10:59:06
Sonar Platinum 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit, I7 3770K Ivybridge, 16GB Ram, Gigabyte Z77-D3H m/board, ATI 7750 graphics+ 1GB RAM, 2xIntel 520 series 220GB SSDs, 1 TB Samsung F3 + 1 TB WD HDDs, Seasonic fanless 460W psu, RME Fireface UFX, Focusrite Octopre. Assorted real synths, guitars, mandolins, diatonic accordions, percussion, fx and other stuff.
|
mixmkr
Max Output Level: -43.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3169
- Joined: 2007/03/05 22:23:43
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 11:15:45
(permalink)
I used Acronis to swap my C drive and it worked great. I also use Acronis to make backup images as well. I didn't even install the program, but just use the disk that you buy, when you get the program. It will boot your computer off the disk and let you select from their menu what you want to do at that point. Copy, make image, etc...
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 12:44:57
(permalink)
I switched from convention hard drives to SSD's on 4 systems, using the "disc image" procedure and they all were successful. One was Win 10, one was Win 8.1 and two were Win 7.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
kitekrazy1
Max Output Level: -40 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3524
- Joined: 2014/08/02 17:52:51
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 13:48:42
(permalink)
Since most boards have 6 Sata ports wouldn't it be better to install the new SSD and leave the old HHD in and then copy? I've had the same problems at times with transferring HDDs and they would not boot. I used this http://www.lazesoft.com/ and it works.
Sonar Platinum, W7 Pro 32GB Ram, Intel i7 4790, AsRock Z97 Pro 4, NVidia 750ti, AP2496 Sonar Platinum, W7 Pro, 16GB Ram, AMD FX 6300, Gigabyte GA 970 -UD3 P, nVidia 9800GT, Guitar Port, Terratec EWX 2496
|
JonD
Max Output Level: -39 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3617
- Joined: 2003/12/09 11:09:10
- Location: East of Santa Monica
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/09 19:12:00
(permalink)
fireberd
I've had zero luck with cloning.
...
After many clone failures, when I switched from conventional hard drives to SSD's for the OS drive, I used Macrium Reflect and made an "Image" of my hard drive. I restored that to the new SSD and no problems...
This was my experience as well when I recently moved from HD to SSD - couldn't get cloning to work. I also resorted to an image backup and restore, and that worked like a charm.
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
|
ston
Max Output Level: -71 dBFS
- Total Posts : 965
- Joined: 2008/03/04 12:28:40
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/13 09:52:06
(permalink)
I'm stepping out into this minefield tomorrow. Based on the information I've found on these forums and the bewildering amount of confusing 'information' on the internet (as well as some rather vociferous conversations with work colleagues), I've gone for a Samsung Pro SSD (both for the decent warranty period and also the bundled migration software). I think my system drive is starting to fail as my PC is having boot-up issues, right around the time that the boot drive would need to be accessed. Hopefully this upgrade will resolve the matter (or at least eliminate this as a candidate).
|
Beagle
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 50621
- Joined: 2006/03/29 11:03:12
- Location: Fort Worth, TX
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/13 10:27:41
(permalink)
after using the Samsung migration tool, almost all of my software was functioning correctly. I did have a couple of hiccups I had to overcome with 32bit plugins and I had to reauthorize a few things (but not reinstall). overall I'd say it was a very smooth cloning experience. and I went from a 1T magnetic drive to a 500G SSD Samsung EVO. I was very happy with the results.
|
ston
Max Output Level: -71 dBFS
- Total Posts : 965
- Joined: 2008/03/04 12:28:40
- Status: offline
Re: Cloning / Replacing C: Drive (SSD)
2016/01/15 02:51:39
(permalink)
Using the Samsung migration tool software was astonishingly easy and pain-free. I used a USB 2 connection to clone the drive so it took a little while (about 3 hours), swapped the SSD for the system hard drive and it just worked!  Then I went and terrified myself for a while as the Samsung Magician was saying that the drive would work better in AHCI mode. I went into the BIOS, changed the drive mode to AHCI (3 options; IDE, RAID and AHCI) but then Windows was blue-screening every time it started up. Also, it was no longer possible to enter the BIOS using the del key! My BIOS is some kind of weird 'Hybrid EFI' thing. I noticed that one of the start messages was saying something like, "only works with disk drives". So I swapped the original system drive back in, was then able to boot into Windows without blue-screening, restarted and then was able to re-enter the BIOS and change the setting back to IDE. Put the SSD back in and decided to leave it well alone from that point on. The only issue I've found thus far was that I had to re-register the ARC2 software. The system still sometimes hangs at the BIOS splash screen at start-up though, so it wasn't the drive after all. No idea what's causing that to happen yet.
|