Changing out HDD to SSD

[LTVETTE2]

I have a Dell XPS 630i desktop from 2008 and would like to speed up my boot up time with Win 7 by changing my old hard drive to a new SSD. I will keep the old drive as add. storage, but will need to put the OS and necessary files on the new SSD. Am I looking at a very difficult situation trying to do this? Right now, after taking out about all startup apps out except for Avast and CCPort for Cisco, this machine takes 1:11 min to boot to PW stage, and an add. 3 min to become functional. Any help or advice is welcomed, thank you

 

[mbreslin1954]

It's a Core 2 CPU, although the quad-core version of it. Intel calls it: "Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600". It's the same generation. One before the i5-750 came out (not the i7 as I previously wrote). The i5-750 came out over two years after yours did, and as I said, at the time, you could not get an Intel motherboard with a SATA III controller on it, excerpt perhaps from third-parties. The Intel chipsets did not support SATA III.

http://ark.intel.com/products/29765/Intel-Core2-Quad-Processor-Q6600-8M-Cache-2_40-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB?q=6600

 

[LTVETTE2]

Is there way for some software to tell me what the HD controller is actually on this MB. Did a Dell diagnostic. but didn't get that answer. In it is only Sata 2 controller, am I just wasting money and time on the SSD for a minute or 2 faster boot time? I mean we all want everything yesterday, and expect technology to be instantaneous, but is 1-2 minutes worth $ 150.........

 

[mbreslin1954]

The only way I know is to look up the motherboard chipset, with something like "Speccy", then look up to see what level of SATA that chipset supported.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download

Don't get me wrong, you'll still benefit from the drive. It will cut your boot time by almost half. Even though it will be twice as fast as your current drive (possibly more), you still have anywhere from 8 to 15 seconds of wasted time going through BIOS, which the drive will not help with. So if you are currently seeing 71 second boot times, this could drop it down to 36 to 40 seconds.

Also, the drive will last a long time. When you build or buy a new PC, you can move the SSD to the new PC, replace the HDD on the new one, then you will see a HUGE difference. It's an investment. My SSD is on it's second PC already, and I'll no doubt use it on my next, which would be its third one.

 

[LTVETTE2]

Thank you, you have been extremely helpful in this matter for sure. I am looking forward to getting into this change over Monday night . Thanks again, Larry T And speccy is really cool software

 

[LTVETTE2]

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

 

[dustinhunt78]

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

No. You can just plug the new SSD into a SATA slot on your motherboard. IT really is easy to transfer like this. I was very happy with the whole process.

 

[LTVETTE2]

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

No. You can just plug the new SSD into a SATA slot on your motherboard. IT really is easy to transfer like this. I was very happy with the whole process.

 

[dustinhunt78]

W

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

No. You can just plug the new SSD into a SATA slot on your motherboard. IT really is easy to transfer like this. I was very happy with the whole process.

You copied and pasted what I wrote?! LOL Why?!

 

[LTVETTE2]

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

No. You can just plug the new SSD into a SATA slot on your motherboard. IT really is easy to transfer like this. I was very happy with the whole process.

I tried that originally. No joy. At this point somehow I removed the OS from the original HDD. I am in a world of you know what right now. Trying to restore my original HDD from the external, will be a few hours, if it works. Sent for an adapter that Samsung seems to rec.,

 

[LTVETTE2]

W

If you get one of those Samsung drives, they will come with the "Magician" software for making an exact clone of your current disk. I used it and it worked great!

Did you need a sata to usb adapter to do this? I am beating my brains out trying to get magician to work otherwise..

No. You can just plug the new SSD into a SATA slot on your motherboard. IT really is easy to transfer like this. I was very happy with the whole process.

You copied and pasted what I wrote?! LOL Why?!

 

[LTVETTE2]

Sorry, I am losing my mind tonight. Just don't seem to have the computer savvy I used to have. Time to put it all down and try tomorrow......

 

[dustinhunt78]

Sorry, I am losing my mind tonight. Just don't seem to have the computer savvy I used to have. Time to put it all down and try tomorrow......[/quotemsg

LOL Sounds good. You need some sleep.

 

[LTVETTE2]

Sorry, I am losing my mind tonight. Just don't seem to have the computer savvy I used to have. Time to put it all down and try tomorrow......[/quotemsg

LOL Sounds good. You need some sleep.

 

[LTVETTE2]

You were right! My bosses always love it when I say it. I sent for an adapter as per Samsung's pictorals, didn't work. So I loaded all the software and plugged a larger SSD that I sent, and bingo, cloning is happening on other system as I write.....If I had only done this earlier......I was up all last night restoring my HDD back to a 2011 status, and installing about 200 updates, OUCH.

 

[dustinhunt78]

You were right! My bosses always love it when I say it. I sent for an adapter as per Samsung's pictorals, didn't work. So I loaded all the software and plugged a larger SSD that I sent, and bingo, cloning is happening on other system as I write.....If I had only done this earlier......I was up all last night restoring my HDD back to a 2011 status, and installing about 200 updates, OUCH.

Glad it worked! Now hit the "Pick this as the solution" button wherever it was that I told you about the cloning software. Others will be able to use this thread. I can't reach everybody and tell them how great the Samsung 840 Pros and the Magician software is or I would! LOL

So it's as easy and worked every bit as good as I said for you? It really is easy enough for anyone to do. Even someone that is a "beginner" in computer hardware should be able to pull off the hard drive cloning with Magician. Samsung really did a good job. First off in building a VERY good SSD, but they iced the cake with the Magician software. One can't ask for better!

 

[dustinhunt78]

So which drive did you end up getting, by the way? And I REALLY want to hear your reaction as to how fast it is. LOL Nobody who hasn't experienced a high performance SSD knows what they're missing. High performance SSD's are the best thing since sliced bread! I have never experienced a super fast PCI-e SSD like the http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-RevoDrive-Express-Solid-State/dp/B005F30JBM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395188569&sr=8-1&keywords=ocz+revodrive+3+x2+8+gb+1500+read . Now that you've seen how fast the Samsung 840 is. The OCZ that I listed here is literally 3 times faster than the Samsung!! I can't really imagine what that must be like. LOL Before it's over, I WILL own one.

 

[LTVETTE2]

I ended up with the Samsung EVO 500 gb. About $ 300 with a sleeve to put in a hard drive bay. It is like a new computer!! Not just boot time, but overall performance rivals that of my new high performance laptop I got 6 months ago. It put new life into a 6 y.o. system I was about to junk. I just saved about 2-3K by NOT buying a new computer......Life is good again, sorry HP, Dell, and Origin, no sale from me for a while!

 

[dustinhunt78]

I ended up with the Samsung EVO 500 gb. About $ 300 with a sleeve to put in a hard drive bay. It is like a new computer!! Not just boot time, but overall performance rivals that of my new high performance laptop I got 6 months ago. It put new life into a 6 y.o. system I was about to junk. I just saved about 2-3K by NOT buying a new computer......Life is good again, sorry HP, Dell, and Origin, no sale from me for a while!

I try to tell people exactly what you just wrote ALL the time. Some listen, some don't. But the ones who do are NEVER disappointed. It's amazing what a top end SSD will do for your computer's performance!

Glad you're happy with it. Thats the only thing that really matters.

 

[LTVETTE2]

I ended up with the Samsung EVO 500 gb. About $ 300 with a sleeve to put in a hard drive bay. It is like a new computer!! Not just boot time, but overall performance rivals that of my new high performance laptop I got 6 months ago. It put new life into a 6 y.o. system I was about to junk. I just saved about 2-3K by NOT buying a new computer......Life is good again, sorry HP, Dell, and Origin, no sale from me for a while!

I try to tell people exactly what you just wrote ALL the time. Some listen, some don't. But the ones who do are NEVER disappointed. It's amazing what a top end SSD will do for your computer's performance!

Glad you're happy with it. Thats the only thing that really matters.

 

[LTVETTE2]

Thanks again man! Boot time until online before SSD, 3-4 minutes. Boot time now, until online, 1:04 !!! 3-5 times faster. Plus everything else is noticeably faster, WOW. Only issue is that through the process I adopted Websteriods, and am having a heck of a time getting rid of it. Defender doesn't see it, Avast doesn't see it either. Any ideas that won't cost?

 

[dustinhunt78]

Thanks again man! Boot time until online before SSD, 3-4 minutes. Boot time now, until online, 1:04 !!! 3-5 times faster. Plus everything else is noticeably faster, WOW. Only issue is that through the process I adopted Websteriods, and am having a heck of a time getting rid of it. Defender doesn't see it, Avast doesn't see it either. Any ideas that won't cost?

What can I say?! Told ya! LOL INSANE difference in performance with a good SSD. I'm just glad you're happy. That's all that matters in the end.

As far as Websteroids, try this......

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDgQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6bXUC_w_6-U&ei=ez8qU5O0Fcaf0AGHvIHoBg&usg=AFQjCNF2YBHDsN0XNikMt3InyKNUWcirAw&sig2=hIE3h19qveglAPkI8RPNNw&bvm=bv.62922401,d.dmQ

 

[LTVETTE2]

Thanks again man! Boot time until online before SSD, 3-4 minutes. Boot time now, until online, 1:04 !!! 3-5 times faster. Plus everything else is noticeably faster, WOW. Only issue is that through the process I adopted Websteriods, and am having a heck of a time getting rid of it. Defender doesn't see it, Avast doesn't see it either. Any ideas that won't cost?

What can I say?! Told ya! LOL INSANE difference in performance with a good SSD. I'm just glad you're happy. That's all that matters in the end.

As far as Websteroids, try this......

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDgQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6bXUC_w_6-U&ei=ez8qU5O0Fcaf0AGHvIHoBg&usg=AFQjCNF2YBHDsN0XNikMt3InyKNUWcirAw&sig2=hIE3h19qveglAPkI8RPNNw&bvm=bv.62922401,d.dmQ

 

[LTVETTE2]

Now I am thinking about getting a couple more SSD's and upgrading all my older computers! Cheaper than buying new computers

 

[dustinhunt78]

Now I am thinking about getting a couple more SSD's and upgrading all my older computers! Cheaper than buying new computers

In all likelihood it will boost performance. The overwhelming majority of all computer systems finds that their performance "bottleneck" occurs within I/O. By adding a strong SSD like the Samsung 840 Evo or 840 Pro you will raise the bar for performance of your machine. SSD's are definitely the future of computing. I give HDD's 5 years max and we'll see them go the way of the old floppy disk.

 

[LTVETTE2]

Now I am thinking about getting a couple more SSD's and upgrading all my older computers! Cheaper than buying new computers

In all likelihood it will boost performance. The overwhelming majority of all computer systems finds that their performance "bottleneck" occurs within I/O. By adding a strong SSD like the Samsung 840 Evo or 840 Pro you will raise the bar for performance of your machine. SSD's are definitely the future of computing. I give HDD's 5 years max and we'll see them go the way of the old floppy disk.