![\"ssdclonepic\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/ssdclonepic.jpg\" "\\"ssdclonepic\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If the thought of reinstalling Windows and all your favorite apps has kept you from upgrading to a Solid State Drive (SSD), we\u2019re here to help. Read on as we show you how to migrate Windows 7 to a speedy new SSD without reinstalling everything.<\/p>\n
A casual Google search will reveal that geeks across the web are deeply divided about whether or not you should copy an existing installation or start with a fresh installation of Windows. There\u2019s very little conclusive evidence that cloning your existing HDD onto an SSD causes any issues and certainly not enough evidence for you to kill an entire day (or even a weekend or longer) installing everything from scratch and tweaking all your applications and settings. Your time is valuable, far too valuable to waste redoing all your work chasing a phantom increase in performance. At the How-To Geek office we\u2019ve been using the a cloned SSD for some time with no ill effect (and none of the headaches that come with wiping your system and starting from scratch). Migrating is an enormous<\/em> time saver.<\/p>\n So what do you need to get started with our guide? You\u2019ll need a few things, all of which are free (save for SSD which, alas, you still won\u2019t find for less than a dollar a GB). Here are the things you\u2019ll need:<\/p>\n A backup of your data.<\/strong> We can\u2019t stress this one enough. It\u2019s completely foolish to start messing around with your HDD without a backup of all your important data. Before proceeding you need to backup your data, preferably to a location that will not be connected to the computer you\u2019re working on (a network drive, a USB drive you can unplug, etc.). Back your files up to a virtual hard drive,\u00a0 backup to Windows Home Server, or even get backup tips from fellow readers.\u00a0 While you\u2019re at it make sure you\u2019re backing up the right files from your Windows installation. Whatever you do, though, make sure your files are backed up!<\/p>\n A copy of <\/strong>Defraggler<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>CCleaner<\/strong><\/a>. We\u2019re going to do a little tidying before we clone.<\/p>\n A copy of Clonezilla<\/a> or EaseUS Parition Manager<\/a><\/strong>. Read through the guide to determine which is the best fit for you.<\/p>\n An SSD installed in your computer case<\/strong>. We\u2019re not going to cover physically installing your drive.<\/p>\n A Windows 7 system repair disk.<\/strong> This is a just-in-case tool. On the off chance that you\u2019re Master Boot Record gets corrupted, you\u2019ll be able to pop in the Windows 7 repair disk and fix it in a matter of minutes. Read how to create one here<\/a>. Don\u2019t forget to print off a copy of our guide to repairing the bootloader<\/a> so you\u2019re ready to fix it if you need to. No really. Do it. Burn that CD and print that article\u2014having it on hand will save you the hassle of finding another computer to create the boot CD on if you need it.<\/p>\n Before we start the cloning process there are several key cleaning steps we need to go through to prepare our hard drive for the migration. We\u2019ve already said it, but we\u2019ll say it again. Backup your data before proceeding.<\/strong><\/p>\n Par back your files.<\/strong> If you have a packed 200GB HDD and a new 120GB SSD, there\u2019s no physical way to fit all that data onto the new drive. You need to do some trimming. Copy big media files to a secondary drive, archive large projects just sitting around in your My Documents folder, look to see if there are any large applications you\u2019re no longer using (games are notorious space hogs, uninstall games you\u2019re no longer interested in). If you\u2019re feeling ambitious, now would be a good time to set up symbolic links to move your My Documents folder to a secondary drive<\/a>.<\/p>\n SSDs operate better with extra space (their wear-leveling algorithms can operate at peak efficiency with space to spare) so aim to trim your HDD contents back to about 80% of your future SDD\u2019s capacity\u2014if you have a 120GB SSD, try to trim your HDD contents back to 90GBs or so).<\/p>\n Run CCleaner<\/strong>. After you\u2019ve removed files, uninstalled apps you no longer use, and otherwise swept out data that was wasting precious disk space, it\u2019s time to run CCleaner. For the unfamiliar CCleaner is a system cleaning tool that deletes all manner of unneeded files (recycling bin files, old temp files, cache files, etc.) that clutter up your system. It\u2019s not unusual, on a heavily used system, for CCleaner to find 5GB+ to clean out.<\/p>\n Run Defraggler<\/strong>. Once you\u2019ve deleted as much as possible (both manually and with CCleaner) it\u2019s time to finish tidying the disk. Defraggler, another free app from the same company that produces CCleaner, is a powerful disk defragmentation tool. We\u2019re going to give Windows one last defragmentation for the road. Once you switch to using an SSD defragmenting will be a thing of the past. None the less, we want to clone a drive with as little fragmentation as possible. Fire up Defraggler and defragment your primary disk.<\/p>\n SSDs are, technologically, the new kid on the block. Several of the earliest generation SSDs had various bugs and issues which were only banished with significant firmware updates. Each drive company has their own technique for updating firmware\u2014some require you to reboot with a special CD to flash the firmware and some allow you to flash the firmware from within Windows if the drive is not the primary OS drive. OCZ, the manufacturer of the drive we used for this tutorial, has one of the aforementioned in-Windows tools (seen in the screenshot above). Visit the the website of your drive manufacturer to read more about your drive and how to update the firmware. Now is the absolute best time to update the firmware as there is zero risk of data loss (the drive is completely bare).<\/p>\n At this point you should have your data backed up and you should have your files backed up, the crud cleaned out by CCleaner, and the disk defragmented by Defraggler. Now it\u2019s time to perform the most arcane part of the whole process. Traditional hard disk drives have platters inside (physical disks that spin). These hard disk platters are divided into sectors. There are no platters (or even moving parts) inside a Solid State Drive but Windows continues to use the sector-based organization, regardless.<\/p>\n If you install Windows 7 directly onto an SSD (instead of cloning, as we\u2019re doing) the installation program makes sure that everything is aligned properly and that the outmoded sector-based system works fine on the SSD. If you clone<\/em> onto an SSD from a HDD, however, there is a very high probability that the alignment will be off. What this means, in practical terms, is that you will radically increase your SSD read\/writes and decrease performance because of the poor alignment. You\u2019ll be wearing out and slowing down the drive, all over something as tiny as data misalignment.<\/p>\n Many early adopters cloned their disks and then, post cloning, found out that the alignment of their drives were off. Once you\u2019ve gone to all the trouble of copying your data, the only good way to fix the alignment is to use the GParted Live CD to do so. We\u2019re going to make life way easier and cut down on the hassle and number of reboots necessary by setting up the partitions and alignment before<\/em> we clone.<\/p>\n Before you continue, you need to be sure you have your SSD properly installed in your computer. If so, it\u2019s time to fire up DISKPART. To properly use DISKPART, we need to open up a command prompt in Windows 7 with elevated privileges. To do so navigate to All Programs \u2013> Accessories<\/strong> and right click on Command Prompt<\/strong>; select Run as administrator<\/strong> (alternately you can type cmd<\/strong> in the run box and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER<\/strong>).<\/p>\n Once the prompt is open type in the following commands, in the following order. Read the commands and the accompanying notation very carefully or you will erase the wrong disk.<\/strong><\/p>\n Diskpart<\/strong> Exit<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now your SSD is ready to rock; it\u2019s properly set up and aligned.<\/p>\n There are two easy and free techniques you can use to clone your SSD drive. When it doubt, use the second technique.<\/p>\n My primary partition is smaller than my SSD.<\/strong> If your SSD drive is bigger than the operating system partition you\u2019re cloning (i.e. you\u2019ve got a 120GB SDD and you\u2019re going to clone a smaller partition onto from your current OS disk) then Clonezilla is a great open-source choice. Rather than rehash how to use Clonezilla, we\u2019d recommend you check out our very detailed guide to using it here<\/a>. Read the whole guide but pay special attention to the Local Device to Local Device cloning; that\u2019s the technique you want to use to clone your HDD partition to your SSD partition. It\u2019s as easy as rebooting with the Live CD, clicking a few items, and then waiting for a couple minutes while everything copies. No fuss.<\/p>\n My primary partition is bigger than my SSD.<\/strong> If your SSD drive is smaller than the operating system partition you\u2019re cloning, Clonezilla won\u2019t play nice (it, very strictly, will only go from bigger to smaller and has no tools for shaving down a too-large partition). In this case, since we\u2019re already working in Windows, we can use EaseUS Partition Master, a free and simple to use cloning tool\u2014you can use this application whether you fit into either the former or latter partition situation we just outlined, by the way. Partition Master will resize partitions as necessary, the only requirement is that you have a small enough volume of data to fit onto the new SSD. So, for example, you can clone a 200GB partition with 80GB of data onto a 120GB SSD with no problem; Partition Magic will dynamically resize the partition during the cloning process.<\/p>\n To get started run the application and highlight your current OS disk<\/strong>. Select Copy partition<\/strong> from the left-hand navigation panel. This will launch the Partition wizard which will in turn prompt you to select which disk you want to copy your OS disk to. Select your SSD. Double check your selection before pressing Next<\/strong>. Click through until the end of the wizard until you reach the Finish button. Back in the main window click the Apply <\/strong>button in the upper left corner. Your computer will reboot and the cloning process will take place.<\/p>\n Once the cloning process has completed, boot down your machine and unplug your original HDD (the source of the clone). Reboot your computer (this is the point where you may need to use the Windows recovery CD if the Master Boot Record has been corrupted). On some motherboards you may need to plug the new primary drive into the exact same SATA port the old primary drive was on\u2014we didn\u2019t, but you may.<\/p>\n Once you are back into Windows, running off your brand new SSD of course, it\u2019s time to go through and toggle a variety of settings. When you do a fresh Windows 7 to SSD installation Windows toggles these settings for you. Ideally Windows 7 should detect the SSD and make the proper changes but we\u2019re not going to take any chances when it only takes a few minutes to check. You can re-run the \u201cWindows Experience\u201d program to toggle some of the settings but doing so takes just about as many clicks as checking those settings yourself.<\/p>\nCleaning House Before the Clone<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/a2011-11-01_002158.jpg\" "\\"a2011-11-01_002158\\"")
<\/p>\nUpdate Your Firmware<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/2011-11-01_134314.jpg\" "\\"2011-11-01_134314\\"")
<\/p>\nAligning The Sectors on Your SSD<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/a2011-11-01_150634.jpg\" "\\"a2011-11-01_150634\\"")
<\/p>\n
\nList disk<\/strong>
\nSelect disk n<\/strong> (where n is your SSD\u2019s number as provided by the previous command)
\nCreate partition primary align=1024<\/strong>
\nActive<\/strong><\/p>\nCloning Your SSD<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/2011-11-08_144450.jpg\" "\\"2011-11-08_144450\\"")
<\/p>\nBooting Back Into Windows and Tweaking Your SSD<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/ssdcloneheader.jpg\" "\\"ssdcloneheader\\"")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/2011-11-01_175124.jpg\" "\\"2011-11-01_175124\\"")
<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/2011-11-01_171819.jpg\" "\\"2011-11-01_171819\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\n