Replacing HDs with SSD. Anyone Done This yet?

[ralgith]

0

I don't know of anyone who is taking an existing install and cloning it to the SSD, just of people using them when installing from scratch. That said, it should be just like cloning between 2 standard drives as far as the software is concerned. I have a friend who just upgraded to an SSD and his computer is fully started at the desktop in 7 seconds. That right there is the main point of the SSD, lightning response from the OS and installed software.

That said, it isn't trivial to make your "data" folders (My Documents, My Music, etc...) move to another drive. It can be done, but it does require the tweakui tool from Micro$uck... or at least on WinXP you did. Seems on Win7/8 there is an easier way. See this article for that explanation.

So, all in all this should be a very straightforward operation for you. I suggest you don't delete the OS from the original drive until you have a working system, and in fact leave it disconnected while loading your system image onto the SSD. Last tip, why bother to buy an image software when there is a great one free that is used by a high percentage of the professionals... including me?

Other references:
3rd Party PowerTools for Windows Vista/7 (and Win8 according to the comments) - I will not vouch for this since I don't use Winblows myself