SSD Thread of Magic and Wonder

[Didzo]

Looking around the computer section, I couldn't find any SSD discussion threads, so I figure that this is a good opportunity to start one. With magic and wonder.

--------------------------------------

I just ordered a Samsung 840 250GB drive for $150 (not to be confused with the 840 Pro), which I figured was a pretty good deal since I only have a SATA II motherboard and don't need a flagship SSD in my desktop. Comes out to $0.60/GB.

However, I will need some help in setting up my new SSD. I would like to use it for Win7, Steam, and maybe a couple of other programs. I would like to know what the best way of doing this is. Rilnac pointed me to this guide, but it's clear from reading the comments that there are a whole lot of different opinions on what should be done and how people should do it.

[Evil Cheese]

Do you want to clone your system image and move it over or do you want to do a fresh install?

The methods in that tutorial are for cloning your current running Windows installation and moving it over to the SSD. If you want to do a fresh install you should be able to use it just like a normal HDD if you are using Windows 7.

Personally, I'm getting one of those same models as well and I need to do a new system installation anyway so the choice is simple for me.

[Vlambo]

Fresh installs man.

Fresh installs

[HeK]

Fresh installs man.

Fresh installs

^This.

It takes a bit of planning to properly migrate from a running HDD install to a SSD. It's easier and even faster to start fresh. Shrinking your partition sizes and sector alignment/resizing can be a headache.
Only suggestion is to verify that your firmware is up to date before re-installing. Once you have re-installed windows, you can re-attach your HDD to copy all your files back over.


The Samsung 840 is one of the best value drives on the market and it still performs quite well. While it's not as quick as the 830, it drops the cost of ownership down a lot and is several times faster then a hard drive.
What will hurt you the most is your lack of 6gb/s Sata.

[Didzo]

[quote author=Vlambo link=topic=6678.msg258498#msg258498 date=1355585710]
Fresh installs man.

Fresh installs

^This.

It takes a bit of planning to properly migrate from a running HDD install to a SSD. It's easier and even faster to start fresh. Shrinking your partition sizes and sector alignment/resizing can be a headache.
Only suggestion is to verify that your firmware is up to date before re-installing. Once you have re-installed windows, you can re-attach your HDD to copy all your files back over.


The Samsung 840 is one of the best value drives on the market and it still performs quite well. While it's not as quick as the 830, it drops the cost of ownership down a lot and is several times faster then a hard drive.
What will hurt you the most is your lack of 6gb/s Sata.
[/quote]

Alright, so step 1) is check firmware and update if needed and step 2) is a fresh install of windows.

However, this is where I start getting lost. After this is complete, how do I go about removing Win7 from my HDD (and is this even necessary)?

Also, I'm not sure if after this point I should be reinstalling everything fresh, or if there is some way I can copy over specific programs or folders from an existing drive. For example, how would I best deal with Steam? Reinstall it completely on the new drive and re-download the games I play, or use Steam Mover (or another program) to relocate specific games to the SSD? Or are there other, better methods?

Also, what other common programs (Skype, Firefox, Chrome, Windows Office, etc.) would benefit from sitting on an SSD and would I be able to move them from an HDD somehow or have to reinstall them as well?

[Mission Difficult]

[quote author=HeK link=topic=6678.msg258511#msg258511 date=1355593707]
[quote author=Vlambo link=topic=6678.msg258498#msg258498 date=1355585710]
Fresh installs man.

Fresh installs

^This.

It takes a bit of planning to properly migrate from a running HDD install to a SSD. It's easier and even faster to start fresh. Shrinking your partition sizes and sector alignment/resizing can be a headache.
Only suggestion is to verify that your firmware is up to date before re-installing. Once you have re-installed windows, you can re-attach your HDD to copy all your files back over.


The Samsung 840 is one of the best value drives on the market and it still performs quite well. While it's not as quick as the 830, it drops the cost of ownership down a lot and is several times faster then a hard drive.
What will hurt you the most is your lack of 6gb/s Sata.
[/quote]

Alright, so step 1) is check firmware and update if needed and step 2) is a fresh install of windows.

However, this is where I start getting lost. After this is complete, how do I go about removing Win7 from my HDD (and is this even necessary)?

Also, I'm not sure if after this point I should be reinstalling everything fresh, or if there is some way I can copy over specific programs or folders from an existing drive. For example, how would I best deal with Steam? Reinstall it completely on the new drive and re-download the games I play, or use Steam Mover (or another program) to relocate specific games to the SSD? Or are there other, better methods?

Also, what other common programs (Skype, Firefox, Chrome, Windows Office, etc.) would benefit from sitting on an SSD and would I be able to move them from an HDD somehow or have to reinstall them as well?
[/quote]

Check the firmware on the drive (should be labeled on the packaging somewhere or possibly the drive itself,) you might not have to update anything. For Steam the best thing to do would be to use the Steam game backup feature to put the games you want on an external drive/server/nas and then reinstall from there. Make sure you do a backup of saved games for titles that don't utilize cloud sync. Another feature to be aware of is that games on Steam that use the new content system can be installed on drives other than the one where Steam lives. Games using the old content system (such as TF2) can only be installed to the default steam directory.

What you put on your SSD will depend on how large it is and how frequently you access those programs and if they are launched once on boot or more as your day progresses.

[HeK]

Most apps store their data in C:\Users\<yourprofile\AppData\

After you reinstall, copy that folder, your documents, etc from your old HDD to your SSD.

Advantage of a fresh install migration on new media is that you can copy what you need from your old drive as required.

[Didzo]

I finally got this stuff to work.

What I have learned:

1) Windows has hundreds of updates that it wants to install sequentially.

2) FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO A CLEAN INSTALL OF STEAM AND DON'T LISTEN TO THE STEAM SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOVING THE INSTALL. Shit doesn't work right. You only want to copy over 100+GB of game data once if at all possible, so just do a clean install and then move all your data.

[CaffeinePowered]

2) FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO A CLEAN INSTALL OF STEAM AND DON'T LISTEN TO THE STEAM SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOVING THE INSTALL. Shit doesn't work right. You only want to copy over 100+GB of game data once if at all possible, so just do a clean install and then move all your data.

Ive just copied the whole folder, has worked for 3 PCs

[Eightball]

[quote author=Didzo link=topic=6678.msg258761#msg258761 date=1355891815]
2) FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO A CLEAN INSTALL OF STEAM AND DON'T LISTEN TO THE STEAM SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOVING THE INSTALL. Shit doesn't work right. You only want to copy over 100+GB of game data once if at all possible, so just do a clean install and then move all your data.

Ive just copied the whole folder, has worked for 3 PCs
[/quote]

Yeah, tried to use the Steam Backup feature to move the games to my external hard drive, then reimport them on the new PC. Sat around and waited for over an hour, transfer shat itself at 15% to go. Set it up again and immediately left for lab, come back and it shat itself at 70% to go.

Copied the "common" folder over instead. I would say it's slower, but you know, it actually worked.

[HeK]

Ive just copied the whole folder, has worked for 3 PCs

Ditto. Then ran the steam installer afterwards.

[Didzo]

[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=6678.msg258771#msg258771 date=1355918983]
Ive just copied the whole folder, has worked for 3 PCs

Ditto. Then ran the steam installer afterwards.
[/quote]

Steam wouldn't run if I didn't run it as administrator, and running the installer after didn't fix it. Steam wasn't listed in the programs so I had trouble uninstalling it as well so I could do a proper reinstall.

So after a clean reinstall, I just copied SteamApps over. Seems to be working.

---------------

So Samsung SSD management software than came with my 840 is great. It lets you do most of the SSD optimization tricks that people recommend with just one or two clicks. Very convenient.

[Didzo]

http://lifehacker.com/5467758/move-the-u...-windows-7

Consider this if you intend to have an SSD and HDD in the same compy.

Moved here from elsewhere.

[FlyingMongoose]

[quote author=FlyingMongoose link=topic=6734.msg260927#msg260927 date=1359168272]
http://lifehacker.com/5467758/move-the-u...-windows-7

Consider this if you intend to have an SSD and HDD in the same compy.

Moved here from elsewhere.
[/quote]

Yeah I should read more.

[Elder]

i think im gonna buy one with my tax return