HDD --> SSD Clone

[masteryoda34]

I just bought an Intel X-25M 80GB G2 drive off newegg. Currently, I am running Windows 7 with the OS installed on an 80GB partition on a 1TB HDD.

I want to clone the 80GB HDD partition to the SSD when it arrives. (I just reformatted and don't feel like doing it again if unnecessary.)

I have 2 Questions:
1. What is the best software for cloning the partition? (preferably free)
2. Do I have to worry about alignment on the SSD partition?


Cliffs: See 2 questions above.

 

[n7]

Any good cloning software will take care of the #2 concern you mentioned, at least unless i'm misunderstanding what you mean.

Not sure what to recommend for free stuff, as i use Acronis personally.

I've heard Clonezilla is good, but i'd also love to hear what people find best for free ones.

 

[taltamir]

AFAIK no cloning software out there can correctly align a cloned partition for an SSD. And a quick search about acronis doing so revealed some complaints about it rendering win7 unbootable. (probably has to do with win7 putting the default data in a 100MB hidden partition)

 

[pjkenned]

Just to satisfy my curiosity I used MaxBlast (free Acronis if you have a Seagate or Maxtor drive plugged in) just to check if it would clone Win 7 to SSD and halve the partition size (smaller SSD than source drive). Worked fine on the OCZ Vertex.

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: taltamir
AFAIK no cloning software out there can correctly align a cloned partition for an SSD. And a quick search about acronis doing so revealed some complaints about it rendering win7 unbootable. (probably has to do with win7 putting the default data in a 100MB hidden partition)

Hmm, sounds like I'll be doing a reformat then. Oh well.

The Windows 7 installer correctly aligns the partitions for SSD's as long as no partition already exists on it, right?

 

[zuffy]

I have used Acronis to clone SSD to SSD and HDD to SSD with no problem.

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: zuffy
I have used Acronis to clone SSD to SSD and HDD to SSD with no problem.

And the resulting partition on the SSD had proper alignment?

 

[baddog60]

I also used Acronis to clone my old Raptor to my new Agility drive. Everything worked fine; however, I later put my Raptor back in and repartitioned the Agility. My CrystalDiskMark went up about 5-10%. To be fair, this was the secondary drive and not the OS drive. I am waiting for my real copy of Win 7 to reinstall a fresh copy on the Agility. I will then be able to tell if the speed increase was related to the cloning or the fact the second set of test were not done on OS disk. Even with the performance hit of the cloned disk, it felt very fast and would be a worthwhile upgrade. From my observations, the biggest improvement was when waking up from Sleep mode.

 

[Massive Overkill]

http://www.ocztechnologyforum....showthread.php?t=61838

 

[zuffy]

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: zuffy
I have used Acronis to clone SSD to SSD and HDD to SSD with no problem.

And the resulting partition on the SSD had proper alignment?

The 100MB reserved partition went a bit higer @ 101MB so tot sure about the alignment. The SSD to SSD has the same performance after the cloning.