aceshigh Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 So I've been planning this for a few weeks, but thanks to a flash sale on Amazon, I just got myself a 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD to switch with my 4 year old 500 GB Sata HDD in my Win7 laptop (nope, not planning on switching OS quite yet!). First of all I would like to ask if anyone on the forums has switched to and SSD already and if they have noticed improvements in games like 2K12 or MVP. Yeah, I am still quite a noob about this kind technology and everything... anyway, I read that Samsung gives you a program that allows you to burn your previous HDD onto the new SSD, so in theory I should be able to copy everything. To speed up the process I thought about uninstalling most programs that I can easily get again (like games on Steam and Origin) and saving data like pictures and music on external hard drives. But what do you guys recommend I do with CD-Rom games, like MLB 2K12? Should I leave it installed as it is, or is it safe to uninstall it and then reinstall it after I replace hard drives (of course I would backup all the mods first)? Sorry if it's a stupid question, but like I said, I've never done anything like this, and my main fear is that the game will not reinstall because the activation key has already been used. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaSteelerz Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 An SSD is an awesome addition to the computer 100%!!! It will make your operating system fly. Load times, transfer of data, compression - all of these things will be incredibly faster. Up to 10x faster actually. I advise you to reinstall anything that you can that won't be too much of a headache. Sometimes things can get a little fuzzy if you have not done this... but that's usually when you are upgrading to a new operating system, but you are staying with the wonderful Windows 7, so I see no issue with you using the cloning software to do the work. (Copying files over from the 500gb) Anyone else? I have not cloned an HDD since the use of game keys honestly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 24 minutes ago, DaSteelerz said: An SSD is an awesome addition to the computer 100%!!! It will make your operating system fly. Load times, transfer of data, compression - all of these things will be incredibly faster. Up to 10x faster actually. I advise you to reinstall anything that you can that won't be too much of a headache. Sometimes things can get a little fuzzy if you have not done this... but that's usually when you are upgrading to a new operating system, but you are staying with the wonderful Windows 7, so I see no issue with you using the cloning software to do the work. (Copying files over from the 500gb) Anyone else? I have not cloned an HDD since the use of game keys honestly... Thanks for the quick reply! Actually I was planning to uninstall all programs and games I downloaded, since they won't be much of a hassle to get back, except for the time to redownload them all, and backup the eventual saves/mods I have (for games like Fifa), bringing my laptop to an almost new state. My only issue is with MLB 2K12, which is the only game/program I own that I installed from CD (got it at Walmart during a trip in the States and to this day it's the best thing I brought back from there lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Leave it as is and use samsung's migration tool to clone it on your ssd. this way if anything goes wrong, your hdd is still a backup of everything. it should go pretty easy as the tool is really simple. you're going to notice a huge different in boot time. game may not necessarily run any better since your chip and gpu are more important. once you go ssd, you'll never go back. you may need to re-activate some programs. when i did it, i had to re-activate Office. i've also used macrium reflect to migrate it to an ssd and didn't have to e-activate my programs. not sure if it's luck of the draw or not though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 I will look into that. I haven't received the SSD yet, so I have no idea what the migration tool even looks like. As for right now, I backed the game up on an external hard drive, but I might do a full system backup anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 it's the software that comes with the evo ssd's. it'll be on a cd. you install it on your hdd. it's here too: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html you will need something to connect your ssd as an external drive, and then the software copies it over. something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453863224&sr=1-4&keywords=external+hard+drive+enclosure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Clonezilla! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 6 hours ago, Homer said: you will need something to connect your ssd as an external drive, and then the software copies it over. something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453863224&sr=1-4&keywords=external+hard+drive+enclosure I didn't think of getting a proper docking station for it, but I did get this cable with my order. http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453888143&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+sata+cable 5 hours ago, Kccitystar said: Clonezilla! How is clonezilla better than the stock software from Samsung? Is it safer? Faster? So summing things up, you guys recommend to keep the game as it is on my hard drive and clone it on my new SSD, right? Thanks for the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 you don't need a docking station. you got the right idea and it should work. there are some drives that require external power but only way to know is plug it in. if it doesn't work, just tell amazon it didn't work and they'll return it, and you can get a docking station instead. samsun migration only works for samsung ssds. clonezilla or macrium reflect let you use it on any brand. all very powerful tools, but clonezilla has a whole lot of other options than the others. plus it's free and open source. if you use it, just read carefully so that you get the right version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Mkay, should be all clear now! Thanks guys If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaSteelerz Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 The next thing I'm upgrading is to an SSD. My birthday is coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 I'm sure it's gonna be a huge step forward but I'll let you know how it goes, once I put it in and test it out. I am expecting big things I recently upgraded to 8gbs of ram too, so I should be good for a while, considering it's a 3 and a half years old laptop with a quadcore. Keep your eyes on the daily deals on Amazon (I found it on Amazon Italy), one day mine was $170, the next it was $140 just for 10 hours, they're getting cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I will say that before you do ANYTHING, make sure you back up all of your product keys or associated keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 49 minutes ago, Kccitystar said: I will say that before you do ANYTHING, make sure you back up all of your product keys or associated keys. How do I do that, KC? And do you mean just the Windows product key or just every key? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 19 hours ago, aceshigh said: How do I do that, KC? And do you mean just the Windows product key or just every key? Windows product key, and if you have any other expensive software on the machine, back up those keys as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceshigh Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Sooooooo in the end everything worked just fine! I left the game installed and it was properly "copied" onto the new SSD, and it still works as expected. I clocked my laptop at above 3 minutes to fully boot properly with the 7200 RPM HDD, while with the new SSD the boot time is just under a minute. Unbelievable stuff. Also I just added new thermal paste and replaced my noisy fan, so this should give my laptop a few extra years of life! Thanks for your help, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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