SSD arriving...need help transferring my OS to it

[Evilsizer]

PM was able to make the correct alignment for the SSD then move stuff over? that is if i understood what was said. i need to move my HTPC to a SSD i have had sitting around for some time.

 

[Enablingwolf]

Jammin Salmon! Glad my suggestion took the headache out of the migration.

Just make sure the SSD does not get defrag'ed. It's definitely is not needed. That technology is for spinning hardware, not solid state.

PM was able to make the correct alignment for the SSD then move stuff over? that is if i understood what was said. i need to move my HTPC to a SSD i have had sitting around for some time.

Yes, it does all that for you. It formats filesystem on the SSD, aligns it and moves the files over. Plus as Heat mentioned. It also sets the drive letter. Very simple and easy. I do believe it is a Windows wizard based GUI to make it even easier.

 

[c627627]

PM was able to make the correct alignment for the SSD then move stuff over? that is if i understood what was said. i need to move my HTPC to a SSD i have had sitting around for some time.

All you need to do is just connect SSD to any Win7/Vista and format. Then you can image onto it without messing up the offset. That's all I did when I moved my Win7 to SSD.

 

[Evilsizer]

now the weird part, Personal or Pro for PM? cant seem to figure out if Personal will do what i need then... personal is only 9.95 for this week...

 

[Enablingwolf]

All you need to do is just connect SSD to any Win7/Vista and format. Then you can image onto it without messing up the offset. That's all I did when I moved my Win7 to SSD.

I agree the NT 6.1 (Windows 7) format utility should understand it is a SSD and make it happen. Just about any modern shell filesystem format utility should do the same. Windows 7 supports SSD out of the box. Once the filesystem is there, the partition offsets. Should be also. Move the data as you like. Once it is completed. Just make sure to not alter the partition after it is formatted. Unless the software understands the SSD offset needs. Most partition/imaging/cloning software created/updated within the last year or so should.

The bonus of the Migrate OS to SSD... It does all the niggling footwork for you. The hard part is hooking up the drive(s) and getting everything squared away in the boot order. After it is done. Which if your moving the old drive out. Not much work, besides unhooking it.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

ok, I know its been said that the WEI is just a ploy to get you to buy more hardware...but here is a small issue I'm concerned about:

I did a firmware update and turned off superfetch/prefetch based on Intels Toolbox suggestions....and my SSD score dropped from 6.9 down to 5.9( what my Samsung spinpoint SATA II 1 TB drive scored before being replaced by the SSD).

Is there anything I can do to improve the performance of the SSD? Was turning off superfetch/prefetch a bad idea? Was the firmware update a bad idea? If so, what should I do?

 

[Enablingwolf]

Run an actual benchmark on the drive. See if it is within reason.

You could go as far to run Superfetch disabled. Then run it with it on. Compare speeds between the two different environment test runs.

I suggest run each test three times. Three disabled, three enabled... and average each environment's scores. Once done, compare the averages..

I will assume, the drives are fine.. It is just windows being Windows.. Indexing the drive.
My fresh install of Windows 7 has Superfetch set to manual. So it runs if needed. I think it never turns on actually. (Since going to SSD, I've never seen it running in task manager.)

Your SSD should be setup for the OS already. Windows 7 detected and configured it natively. The only caveat. Is do not defrag the drive. It's simply not needed for the drive. It actually makes it harder on the drive. For it's own built in firmware features.
Whenever you prepare for a firmware update, any firmware update. Look to see what it is fixing or improving. In most cases, it is good to update the firmware on your SSD.

 

[kayson]

ok, I know its been said that the WEI is just a ploy to get you to buy more hardware...but here is a small issue I'm concerned about:

I did a firmware update and turned off superfetch/prefetch based on Intels Toolbox suggestions....and my SSD score dropped from 6.9 down to 5.9( what my Samsung spinpoint SATA II 1 TB drive scored before being replaced by the SSD).

Is there anything I can do to improve the performance of the SSD? Was turning off superfetch/prefetch a bad idea? Was the firmware update a bad idea? If so, what should I do?

I know people say WEI is a joke, and it is, but its basically measuring your SSD transfer speed. A 5.9 means something is not right. You can run some of the more trusted benchmarks to make sure. My X25-M gets a 7.7. It might be the partition not being aligned, or it might be that you need to run TRIM. Intel has their SSD toolbox that can do it.

 

[Enablingwolf]

I know people say WEI is a joke, and it is, but its basically measuring your SSD transfer speed. A 5.9 means something is not right. You can run some of the more trusted benchmarks to make sure. My X25-M gets a 7.7. It might be the partition not being aligned, or it might be that you need to run TRIM. Intel has their SSD toolbox that can do it.

I think it's indexing happening. Which is the case on fresh installs usually. Windows detected it as a new drive, and is re-indexing it. It is sucking up resources and making for a lower disk score. Give it a few days, then re-run it.

 

[Evilsizer]

my seagate st380815AS 80gig drive gets a 5.8 in WEI using IDE mode in bios. i think the only time i scored high in WEI was with my raid-0 60gig agility setup, something like 8.xx.

 

[c627627]

You can confirm that everything is OK with your SSD by running a real benchmark. Windows Experience Index cannot be used as an indicator of the quality of your system. That is not its purpose. Its purpose is to make you feel inadequate with the goal of making you go out to spend more money on hardware you do not need.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Which benchmark is best to use? PcMark, or something else?

 

[Enablingwolf]

I use AS SSD myself. Simple and does the job.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I use AS SSD myself. Simple and does the job.

I ran this benchmark 3 times, and I think the scores look rather low.This drive advertises:
Sustained Sequential Read:Up to 270 MB/s

Sustained Sequential Write:Up to 165 MB/s

But the read and write seem low---especially the sequential write. Tell me your thoughts please.

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

 

[Enablingwolf]

If you notice the red text in the test... pciide BAD

I do believe that is your issue. The partition is aligned so your good there.

Now for the pciide BAD issue. Is your BIOS set to AHCI mode? If it is not, do so and recheck..
(That error is your machine is using the IDE driver instead of the proper AHCI driver.)


If it does not correct it:
We have two fixes available off the top of my head.. First is the simplest... Reinstall Windows, making sure the AHCI mode is enabled prior to reinstall... Yeah, this might be your route after you read the second fix.
Second fix is rather technical and not easy for a beginner. I found a tutorial on another forum. Instead of me typing it out. I give credit to Ned Slider over there for doing the typing footwork..
http://forums.pcper.com/showpost.php?p=4125801&postcount=1

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

If you notice the red text in the test... pciide BAD

I do believe that is your issue. The partition is aligned so your good there.

Now for the pciide BAD issue. Is your BIOS set to AHCI mode? If it is not, do so and recheck..
(That error is your machine is using the IDE driver instead of the proper AHCI driver.)


If it does not correct it:
We have two fixes available off the top of my head.. First is the simplest... Reinstall Windows, making sure the AHCI mode is enabled prior to reinstall... Yeah, this might be your route after you read the second fix.
Second fix is rather technical and not easy for a beginner. I found a tutorial on another forum. Instead of me typing it out. I give credit to Ned Slider over there for doing the typing footwork..
http://forums.pcper.com/showpost.php?p=4125801&postcount=1

When I enabled AHCI in the BIOS, I got a BSOD with an error code of 0x0000007B

 

[Enablingwolf]

It is you enabling ACHI that made it BSOD. (Obviously) Which I sort of expected and gave the other steps.. I think the best/quickest fix. Would be to re-install.. The second fix is older and you may have to adapt of seek out a fix that suites your setup.

Lets see if anyone else chimes in with input. About enabling ACHI without issue, post install.

edit:

This might work for you... Not sure. I never have encountered this problem, without just backup important files and re-installing. I've always set my machines to run in AHCI mode from the beginning. So I am winging it here.. At least we know the issue and it is correctable. How it suites you. Is another issue in itself. I think it will just keep creating issues hacking it.. A re-install is what I would do. (If your machine was in AHCI mode in the first place. This issue would of not occurred. So we have to deal with it now. At some level. Be it the proper fix, or hacking the reg.)

http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/

Here is a google search If this does not seem to be a fix. You can look at others experiences and attempts.
https://www.google.com/search?q=enabling+ACHI+without+issue,+post+install

 

[c627627]

Windows 7/Vista:

Before switching to AHCI, simply change the value of the following registry keys to 0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\IastorV


Windows XP is more complicated but it can be done w/o reinstall depending on your motherboard chipset. (I did it.)

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Windows 7/Vista:

Before switching to AHCI, simply change the value of the following registry keys to 0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\IastorV


Windows XP is more complicated but it can be done w/o reinstall depending on your motherboard chipset. (I did it.)

I changed those registry values to 0, but still got the same BSOD error

 

[Sentential]

Ah the joys of SSDs, honestly Id just start a new partition and call it a day; I gave up trying to image mine over when I was configuring my raid0 and I think you're pretty much at the same point.