$17 way of migrating to SSD

badrobot · 21 Sep 2014

whs said:

I wonder how that works with SSDs - concerning the alignment.

It's not mentioned but I did a post-cloning alignment with MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro and there's a pop-up message saying that the SSD is already aligned.

badrobot · 21 Sep 2014

labeeman said:

I do like a PDF manual some times the paper one is lost or of such fine print that you need a magnifier to read it.

Not a problem for me. I keep all my manuals and warranty on those IKEA black boxes on top of my PC. :)
But yours is not a bad idea.

way of migrating to SSD-wp_20140921_15_58_37_pro.jpg

strollin · 21 Sep 2014

I'm not sure when I'd ever use this device since I would always have a computer handy when trying to clone a drive so wouldn't have much use for it. I can't imagine ever needing to clone a drive on a stand alone basis.

As far as partition alignment, it wouldn't work any different than any other time you cloned a drive, regardless of the method. I've cloned a half dozen hdds to ssds and always checked the alignment afterwards, the alignment has always been fine with no re-alignment needed.

badrobot · 21 Sep 2014

strollin said:

I'm not sure when I'd ever use this device since I would always have a computer handy when trying to clone a drive so wouldn't have much use for it. I can't imagine ever needing to clone a drive on a stand alone basis.

As far as partition alignment, it wouldn't work any different than any other time you cloned a drive, regardless of the method. I've cloned a half dozen hdds to ssds and always checked the alignment afterwards, the alignment has always been fine with no re-alignment needed.

I agree. This is not for everybody.
But this is not just for cloning. I don't even need this. I can easily switch hard drives externally on my PC. Both SSDs and HDDs.

way of migrating to SSD-hardrive_trays.jpg

I just got curious plus it's so cheap. And it works like a charm. The fact that I can switch, copy and clone drives without firing up my PC or while doing something else on my PC is really a sweet thing.

And yeah, I've been cloning a lot too and the partition alignment is always fine.

whs · 22 Sep 2014

badrobot said:

It's not mentioned but I did a post-cloning alignment with MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro and there's a pop-up message saying that the SSD is already aligned.

Thanks for the info.

Wullail · 23 Sep 2014

I use an E-SATA enclosure for the same thing , I haven't had to take a drive out of a PC so far to clone it... <touch wood> yet...but interesting...

Oh....I'm no longer VIP member?

A Guy · 23 Sep 2014

Wullail said:

I use an E-SATA enclosure for the same thing , I haven't had to take a drive out of a PC so far to clone it... <touch wood> yet...but interesting...

Oh....I'm no longer VIP member?

Ping Brink, if you were before, he'll take care of you

A Guy

Wynona · 09 Oct 2014

Here it is at Newegg:

The SATDUPUE Portable SATA Duplicator with eSATA and USB - Newegg.com

jimbo45 · 09 Oct 2014

Hi there

IMO the simplest way of doing this (you need a working computer though) is simply to use a SATA==>USB connector -- plug the SSD in to a USB port with the USB connector and then run any imaging software to clone your Disk. Couple of Bucks at the most.

You can also use a bootable partition manager (for example GPARTED) to create / re-size partitions so you can create a decent OS + Pgms only partition on your SSD.

Cheers
jimbo

EvilJenius · 09 Oct 2014

I sysprep my old drive, boot with a winPE disk, create wim files for system and OS partitions saving them to the new drive. Then I setup the partitions and expand the wim files.

Using these techniques you can transfer OS installs to other computer/hardware with minimal issues.

Only cost is for the new drive and a penny for a blank cd to make the PE disk.