formating an ssd

[Tylerr]

so i bought my first ssd and installed windows 7 on it but its way to much of a hassle to try and find all the programs and drivers for my old mb

Now i just want to clone my w7 install on to it

was planning on using the tool easeus todobackup pro but i figured i need to format the drive before i clone it, there is also a second 100mb partition on it too. (showing up as drive e

Do i just delete that partition in disk management and then do a right click on the drive > quick format?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Always a quick format
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/storage/how-format-ssd-3588491/

 

[wicked_sticky]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

To answer your question, yeah you can delete the partitions on the SSD in disk management and quick format to format the ssd.

 

[Tylerr]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

 

[USAFRet]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

 

[Tylerr]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

macrium is better? I've never done any cloning or restoring before.

 

[USAFRet]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

macrium is better? I've never done any cloning or restoring before.

I find it better, yes.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

[Tylerr]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

macrium is better? I've never done any cloning or restoring before.

I find it better, yes.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Can i use it to clone to a smaller drive?

my hdd is 232gb and the ssd is around 220gb.

hdd is only using about 160gb though

 

[USAFRet]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

macrium is better? I've never done any cloning or restoring before.

I find it better, yes.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Can i use it to clone to a smaller drive?

my hdd is 232gb and the ssd is around 220gb.

hdd is only using about 160gb though

Yes. It will move only the actual used space, not the whole thing including free space.

 

[Tylerr]

Its easier to reinstall 7 on the ssd.

If you just want to clone the drive for the data thats easy, but if you want to boot to windows on the SSD, thats much more complex.
heres one (of many) article on how to
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

yeah i want to clone the entire windows install, the drive already has a fresh windows 7 on it though thats why i was asking about the formating.

So from what i gathered in that article you posted i need to just do diskpart before cloning?

So delete the 100mb parition > quick format > diskpart > clone?

Delete ALL partitions on it, resulting in one large space
Then do the clone thing
I prefer Macrium Reflect over Easus.

macrium is better? I've never done any cloning or restoring before.

I find it better, yes.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Can i use it to clone to a smaller drive?

my hdd is 232gb and the ssd is around 220gb.

hdd is only using about 160gb though

Yes. It will move only the actual used space, not the whole thing including free space.

hmm i deleted the extra 100mb partition now it just says 101mb unallocated, how do i get that to combine with the rest?

would it be easier to just use the ocz ssd guru to secure erase and return to factory setting?

 

[wicked_sticky]

This is just ancillary info (and incase you dont already know about it) but for any kind of partition work I always use the program GPARTED from a Linux live distro. Gparted doesnt clone does a real good job of shrinking active partitions, moving partitions, deleting partitions, formatting partitions, and since you running it from a bootable USB stick you dont have the restrictions of hazards imposed from doing it from your windows install (like shrinking the drive windows is installed on).

If you wanbt to use GParted you need a 4gb USB stick, download Linux Mint Matte and Unetbootin.
Start Unetbootin and point it to the Mint download, it will turn your USB stick to a bootable OS, once it done you just boot to your USB stick and start GParted from the menu bar... you can see your partitions and drives and do whatever you want there

 

[Tylerr]

eh... i'm trying to align the disk like this tutorial says
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

and it says theres not enough usable space? Even though the drive has been formatted and is completely empty?

 

[wicked_sticky]

eh... i'm trying to align the disk like this tutorial says
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

and it says theres not enough usable space? Even though the drive has been formatted and is completely empty?

Correct me if Im wrong (I havent used a command line to create partions in a decade), but doesnt that picture show youre trying to partition a disk with no unused space? you cant create a partition if there is no room to.

In gparted I would right click the partition I want to delete, delete it. Right click the drive I want to create a partition, select the size and format and hit enter to create the partition

http://www.dedoimedo.com/images/computers/2009/gparted-teaser.jpg

 

[Tylerr]

eh... i'm trying to align the disk like this tutorial says
http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

and it says theres not enough usable space? Even though the drive has been formatted and is completely empty?

Correct me if Im wrong (I havent used a command line to create partions in a decade), but doesnt that picture show youre trying to partition a disk with no unused space? you cant create a partition if there is no room to.

In gparted I would right click the partition I want to delete, delete it. Right click the drive I want to create a partition, select the size and format and hit enter to create the partition

http://www.dedoimedo.com/images/computers/2009/gparted-teaser.jpg

no there was room... there isn't anything on the drive as i just formatted it. I'm not sure why it shows 0 free on disk 0, disk 1 is my actual windows install and it has 143gb free, and disk 2 still has 66gb free.

anyway i was able to do the alignment after doing the clean command in Diskpart

 

[Tylerr]

i tried to clone and i get this error at 1% with macrium

clone failed read failed 22- broken pipe