Backing Up to Switch to SSD

[Call Me Surely]

So I went out and bought a 128 gb Samsung 840 Pro on the spur of the moment without realizing I couldn't use it as just a system cache instead of a boot drive. I mean, that's all fine and dandy; I don't have a serious problem with it, but backing up my entire computer to be restored scares the crap outta me. I have a 1Tb G-Technology G-raid external usb hard drive for backing up a 1T Western Digital internal hard drive. So first off, Should my g-raid be in the exFAT or NTFS format, then how do i delete everything from my internal hard drive except for the Windows 7 operating system, how do I clone the drive to the SSD, and any other tips you can think of would be helpful too.

Love errybody!

 

[Karsten75]

If possible, it seems it may be easiest to just remove your current drive and then insert the SSD, install the OS again and then put the old drive in as a slave drive?

Other than that it might be a bit of a nightmare, as you have noted.

 

[Call Me Surely]

^ yeah i would except i have no extra copy of Windows to spare. And I'm cheap. If i could just pick and choose certain parts to back up and restore (operating system) or clone just the operating system to the new drive, that would save a lot of pain.

 

[Karsten75]

where did you get your current OS? If you have a pre-build PC, yu can probably create (or order from the manufacturer) a set of recovery media. Then do what I outlined - remove yur current drive, install the SSD, run the recovery media and then after the OS has been installed, install your old HDD to access your data.

Also, what CPU do you have? Most recent CPUs allow Intel Rapid Storage caching using an SSD and a HDD combo.

 

[Call Me Surely]

I borrowed a family copy of windows 7 from a friend (not sure how old the copy was but it should be up-to-date if that matters) and I have an i5 4770k I believe. Sorry. I'm not near my computer at the moment to make sure.

 

[Karsten75]

OK, so you don't seem to have a legitimate copy of Windows? Oops.

 

[Call Me Surely]

Hehe well i decided to drop the Pro and go for the EVO then go through all that hell to get it working. U still get best answer tho.