Cloning question

[buf]

Can't find my guru. Bought an SSD and want to copy the contents of my presently installed HD to the SSD and install the SSD in it's place. What steps should I take to do this and as usual, TIA.,

[Midknyte]

What is the make/model of the hard drive and the SSD? Did the SSD come with transfer software?

If not, you should use an app that is SSD aware. I prefer Acronis True Image. There are free versions depending on the brand of hard drive you have.

[buf]

Many thanks Midknyte for replying. The installed hard drive name is unknown and because of physical conditions I cannot open the tower. The drive is a 500GB Sata drive and it has only used 74 Gigs. This HDD is in the Compaq Presario. The SSD is a Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive. And I plan to use Acronis Home 2010 for cloning.

[fink]

At some point you'll need to be able to access the inside of the computer to install the hard drive. You could do a clone using USB & adapters but a: it would be very slow and b: you'll still need to eventually install the drive to an internal sata port as I said.

Also TrueImage 2010 is not capable of dealing with SSD's. You'd need to upgrade to 2012 or later or use the cloning software that comes with pretty much all new hard drives (and is usually a recent version of TrueImage cloning software).

[jdc2000]

You may be able to use either Device Manager or something like Belarc to get the make and model of the current hard drive.

[Midknyte]

Like Fink said, Acronis 2010 is NOT SSD aware. TI2011 and higher are.
https://kb.acronis.com/content/2699

If you can get us the HD info, we can direct you to the free versions of TI (WD or Seagate).

The Kingston drive should have come with cloning software as well.
http://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/ssd_faq

Can I transfer data or OS from an existing HDD to a new SSD?
Yes. Kingston offers SSD drives in upgrade kits that include all the necessary items required to replace a notebook or desktop HDD with a Kingston solid-state drive, including software to easily transfer the OS and important data.

[buf]

Thanks for each reply. JD, I had already tried Belarc for my HDD name but I didn't see an answer but Device Manager gave it to me:
ST350041 8AS SCSI Disk Device. Thanks for your input.
Midknyte I may have received cloning instructions with the SSD. I have never opened the bubble envelope because I thought I may be returning it. Since I am now nearer to cloning my HDD, I will open the envelope and see what I have. Also, I have the CD for Acronis 2012 so I should be OK there. Just got to be sure it is installed my PC. Oh, one other thing, the HDD is a 500GB drive with only 75GB stored on it and the SSD is only 120GB.

[Midknyte]

ST350041

That's a Seagate drive.

Oh, one other thing, the HDD is a 500GB drive with only 75GB stored on it and the SSD is only 120GB.

That's fine. TI can clone to a smaller drive.

If you have an external hard drive, you could save an image backup (.tib) on the external, swap out the HD for the SSD, and then do a restore from the .tib.

[buf]

The reason I can't open my tower is because of 3 fractured vertebra and I prefer to give additional time for healing. I do not want to aggravate them and I surely don't want an operation. Once I have a recent backup of my HDD, I will then remove the HDD, install the SSD and finish the cloning process. Am I on the right track? Thanks for all your input.

[Midknyte]

Once I have a recent backup of my HDD,

What kind of backup? Did you use Acronis TI 2012 to create the backup?

I will then remove the HDD, install the SSD and finish the cloning process. Am I on the right track? Thanks for all your input.

So you really mean you are reimaging. That's a good plan. I think of a drive-to-drive copy when I read "cloning".

[buf]

I will be using Acronis 2012 to make a full backup to an external drive and clone the external to the SSD when I am physically able to install the SSD.

[SpywareDr]

Cloning is a sector-by-sector copy.

Backup is a copy of files and folders.