How to clean hdd after ssd install?

[meeklo062704]

I just got a Samsung 830 256gb setup and running (Frys actually had a good deal for once), but now it's time to clean up the old hdd. I'm going to keep the OS on it just in case, but I want to remove the old apps and programs that are going to be running from the ssd. Is there a way to setup Ccleaner to remove programs on a storage drive, or should I just unplug the ssd and boot the hdd and uninstall programs that way? Or if there's another option, I'm all ears.

 

[Proximon]

That's not the best strategy.

Format the drive, partition it. Do a full backup of the new installation to a secondary partition on the HDD. Keep your backup settings so that you do periodic incremental backups.

That's the best way to handle "just in case".

 

[meeklo062704]

That's not the best strategy.

Format the drive, partition it. Do a full backup of the new installation to a secondary partition on the HDD. Keep your backup settings so that you do periodic incremental backups.

That's the best way to handle "just in case".

Is there any software you can recommend for the backup from ssd to hdd? Still getting used to multiple drives. The closest I've ever come to managing 2 drives is using the external once in a while. So I'm trying to get the hang of trying to remember which things to default to the hdd, and which to keep on the ssd.

 

[Proximon]

It's not really needed as long as you are using Win 7. It has a good backup utility built in... Win 7 premium will do the trick.

Just be sure to partition the drive first, so that the backup can be put onto the secondary partition.

It's certainly optimal to backup to an external drive or better yet a networked drive in another room, on a different circuit. However, any backup is better than none.

You may have noticed another post before mine. It was removed by me and should be ignored.

 

[meeklo062704]

It's not really needed as long as you are using Win 7. It has a good backup utility built in... Win 7 premium will do the trick.

Just be sure to partition the drive first, so that the backup can be put onto the secondary partition.

It's certainly optimal to backup to an external drive or better yet a networked drive in another room, on a different circuit. However, any backup is better than none.

You may have noticed another post before mine. It was removed by me and should be ignored.

A lot of it stuff I'm semi familiar with. My phone is rooted and I make NAND backups before changing roms. So I guess the theory is the same, just applied to a computer. I have my external that I use once in a while, it's mainly used for the stuff that I have convinced myself that I might need one day, but probably never will.

I guess this is a related question, but is the system reserve partition something that I can remove? I'm not so worried about the space, just annoying for it to always show up in explorer. Some say you can just get rid of it no problem, and some say you cam't boot without it.

 

[Proximon]

So it's an OEM drive that came with a system partition? Is the original system no more? As long as you have an OEM copy of the original OS and the license key, you don't need the system restore partition.

 

[meeklo062704]

So it's an OEM drive that came with a system partition? Is the original system no more? As long as you have an OEM copy of the original OS and the license key, you don't need the system restore partition.

I'm not even sure if it came with the partition. I tossed it in and setup windows 7. That's the little kid in me who doesn't bother reading up as much as I should have. I read some of the tweak guides after installation and saw how to keep windows from making the partition, but too little too late for that route. But if just make a backup of the ssd on the hdd, I wouldn't that partition anyway right? If so, how would I get rid of the partition after I make the backup?

 

[Proximon]

I thought we were talking about the HDD, and you said it was showing up in explorer.... such partitions usually are hidden and don't show up.

There would have been no partitions on the SSD.

Windows doesn't make any partitions automatically... unless you are installing a second OS. You must be talking about something else.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/What-are-system-partitions-and-boot-partitions

 

[mad-max79]

Proximom is right, "System Reserved" partitions usually only show up in "Disk Management". The System Reserved is only 100 MB, nothing to worry about today. Does it have a different size on your machine?

 

[meeklo062704]

Proximom is right, "System Reserved" partitions usually only show up in "Disk Management". The System Reserved is only 100 MB, nothing to worry about today. Does it have a different size on your machine?

No, it's small. Just one of those weird things that for some reason, bothers me to have sitting in with the other drives. Either way, I finally backed up everything that I want to keep from my old OS drive, so it's ready to be wiped into a storage drive. Is there a better way to do it so it's setup for storage and ssd backup? Like have a separate partition for the backup, or just have it all in one partition? I'm guessing windows is ok to use to wipe it?

 

[Proximon]

That's what I said originally. Make a secondary partition on the drive for your backups, keeping the main or "D" partition for other things. Like your Steam overflow:
http://www.stefanjones.ca/steam/

 

[meeklo062704]

That's what I said originally. Make a secondary partition on the drive for your backups, keeping the main or "D" partition for other things. Like your Steam overflow:
http://www.stefanjones.ca/steam/

Ok, finally got everything backed up that I wanted to keep. How big of a partition should I make for the backups?

 

[Proximon]

Is this a 1TB drive? If so I would probably make the backup partition 3-400GB

 

[meeklo062704]

Is this a 1TB drive? If so I would probably make the backup partition 3-400GB

Its a 500gb. I'll be adding a 2tb in the next month or 2 for more storage.

 

[Proximon]

Wait, buy an external drive enclosure, and use the entire 500GB drive as an external backup device. That's safer and makes better sense.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817388025

 

[meeklo062704]

Wait, buy an external drive enclosure, and use the entire 500GB drive as an external backup device. That's safer and makes better sense.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817388025

I already have a 500gb external, it's just full. It's a Maxtor, and I've had it for a few years, and it's been full pretty much the whole time. I guess I could stop being a hoarder, and just clear it out and use that for backups and have a non-partitioned internal storage drive.

 

[Proximon]

Sure, that would work as well. Eventually, you are going to need a kind of SSD overflow drive. It can be the same as the data drive, but it makes it better if it's the next logical drive.

By overflow I'm talking about re-mapping sub folders to the data drive, pretending they are still on the C: drive. So many games and programs insist on living on the C drive that eventually you need to do this... I think I mentioned steam tool earlier, which is just a little shortcut for this specifically for the steam folder.

 

[meeklo062704]

Sure, that would work as well. Eventually, you are going to need a kind of SSD overflow drive. It can be the same as the data drive, but it makes it better if it's the next logical drive.

By overflow I'm talking about re-mapping sub folders to the data drive, pretending they are still on the C: drive. So many games and programs insist on living on the C drive that eventually you need to do this... I think I mentioned steam tool earlier, which is just a little shortcut for this specifically for the steam folder.

I've started doing some remapping already. All docs and downloads default to the data drive. I have cache in firefox set to go to memory, and I'm probably going to look into ramdisk too. There are guides all over the place, but they all have pretty much the same info except for a few conflicting ideas here and there. Then installing certain apps, and trying to decide if they should go ssd or hdd is another one. Like winrar is a tiny app, so it could go on the ssd, but it would save ssd reads and writes if it was on the hdd. Seems like a lot of it is matter of preference, and from everything I've read, it seems as though a lot of people are overly cautious with protecting and limiting ssd activity.

 

[Proximon]

That's probably true. People get all hung up about writes without actually doing the math. Often it's insignificant. And, like GPUs, SSDs are going to be replaced eventually. Something larger and cheaper and faster will come along.

 

[meeklo062704]

The way I see it, when something wears out, I get to get something better. That's the good part of it. I'd be pissed if my first pentium was still puttin along. My logitech mx revolution wore out, so I got a new Roccat Kone+. Good deal for me. So I'll probably just put back ups to my external. I haven't used it, but I know that it has software to set directories to back up, and to set a schedule for regular back ups. I guess I only have a couple little things left to figure out. Do I need to partition my external before making a backup? I'm not worried about virus or spyware contamination, so if I don't need to format and partition I don't want to. If I do need to partition, how big does it need to be on a 500gb external? Is there good backup software to use or will windows disk management be good enough?

 

[Proximon]

No you can use it as-is. A quick format would be easier than deleting though. The only reason for the partition was to use less space and save the majority for data.

In my office environments, a 1TB drive easily handles the backups of 5 computers with lots of room to spare, ( I would have to check but I think it averages 100-150GB per machine) so if you wanted to reserve part of the 500GB drive for other things that would not be an issue. It's just about what you choose to back up. If you want to keep that MMO backed up so that you don't have to download a year of updates, obviously that will cost a certain amount of space.

 

[Proximon]

Oh, and let Win 7 do it. It's pretty smart about these things and one less external program to muddy the waters.