Installing an SSD

[AndyT]

I am trying to install a new SDD into my laptop to speed things up. The SSD came with cloning software and installation guide which says I should take a backup before performing cloning the hard drive.

I get to about 70% when the backup fails warning me I need to run chkdsk. I have attempted to run chkdsk but that get stuck on stage 4 of 5 at 11%. I left it for two days and nothing happened; stuck on exactly the same file number.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just do the clone without a backup (if that even works)

It is a pain but I am thinking of just doing a clean install, however does anyone know how I get my Windows O/S onto the new SSD which came with the laptop and Microsoft Office?

 

[oliverpowell]

Which cloning software you've had shipped with your SSD? You should seek for alternatives of cloning the entire hard drive (CloneZilla would be a better option though).

P.S. Taking backup is important as you may able to restore files if anything goes wrong.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Re: Cloning...
I have had great success with Acronis
.
Re: Transferring your OS
If you still cannot clone, and need to do a clean install,
your system restore disk(s) should serve.
Your same key as shipped with your computer is still valid with the new drive.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks guys the SSD came with Acronis. I can transfer photos etc onto an external hard drive so I'm not too worried about these. It is just restoring the operating system and MS Office that worries me.

So I should take the follow steps
1.) Back up all photos, Outlook folder and other docs.
2.) Create System Restore disks.
3.) Attempt to clone the hard drive
4.) Swap the HDD with the SSD

However if No.3 fails I restore the operating system onto my new SSD and manually load files and programmes onto it. MS Office was a Home Use Purchase - cheap for all employees of the company I work for got with their enterprise agreement. I still have the product key, so I hope it works!

Does this sound like a good plan?

 

[mrjgriffin]

Yes if number 3 does not work thats what I would do. if you keep getting errors while attempting to clone the files from your hdd to your ssd I would just back up the files you NEED (pictures, documents, music or whatever else you feel) to either a flash drive or possibly a cloud storage service. after doing that I would just swap the hdd with the ssd and manually reinstall the programs themselves after doing a fresh install of windows or whatever os you use. then load the files you backed up to your flash drive or cloud storage to your ssd. from what I gather from what you've said it sounds like your hdd itself has some horribly corrupted "blocks" preventing the data from being transfered and that is probably also causing your chkdsk to fail. I would just do flash drive or cloud backups man because a full clone could actually cause more damage to the hdd because it's much more stressful transferring those huge programs compared to just backing up the files you need. good luck