Cloning a Partition

Discussion in 'Tech Talk' started by Rubius, Nov 7, 2011.

  1. Rubius
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    If I get an SSD, is there a way to clone my current OS partition onto the SSD? Note, that my OS partition is on a RAID array, so Ghost 11.0 won't work (as it doesn't have the drivers for either the SSD or the RAID array), and any Ghost version above 11.0 is completely different, and won't allow cloning.
     
  2. Deadend
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    Think you need a program for that but I'm not sure what it's called or if you even really need one. I know Kingston sells SSDs with upgrade kits that include one but they are Sandforce drives.
     
  3. EniGmA1987
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    You dont want to do that. Especially if you are trying to clone a RAID array onto a single drive.




    There is a 99% chance that your current hard drives use 512 byte sectors and are aligned to cylinder 63 of the drive, as that is default for all drives more than a year or two old. SSDs *must* have a sector offset of a power of two, preferably 64. But that is different depending on the drive and if it is in RAID0 or not. RAID0 tends to work best with 128 or 256 alignment, especially with a 128k stripe size.
    If you clone a partition to the SSD then all it will do it clone all the crap that gets in Windows to your new drivew and bog it down from the start.

    best case scenario with cloning a drive of old format onto a new one: you get extra writes to the drive and less performance from sector overlap

    worst case scenario from clone a drive with old format onto a new one: BSODs and other random issues you will never be able to pin down.


    Just do it the easy and best way and install it fresh. Its not worth the headaches
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2011
  4. Rubius
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    Thanks for the advice. It's probably safer to go with a fresh install then.