New Ssd For Existing System - Help With Specs And Terminology

I want to (need to) upgrade my SSD from 80 GB to something larger.
I need help determining what to look for, if you please.

I can swing $200 and this one looks amazing.
I have NO IDEA if it’s the best fit. (help?) Or, if it would even fit. Or, what bay to fit one in.

I figure that I am working with my motherboard, with what drives I already have, and with what sockets/connections and bays are open. Of course I want speed.

I want to get the right part and install it correctly - duh.
(I am having other OS? problems, but that’s not a part of this thread)

Much of the terminology is completely unfamiliar to me (SATA2? SATA3?). Form Factors? 3 bit NAN? WTH?

I also have no idea what are the limiting factors are. I don't want to over-buy if there is a bottleneck somewhere, nor do I want to miss-out on something because I'm ignorant.

Is SATA3 somehow faster or better than SATA2? I have four SATA3 sockets open and one or two SATA2s.

Does the CPU play a role? I have an INTEL i7-920 2.66GHZ 8M LGA 1366
Motherboard? I have Gigabyte gax58a-ud3r-e (Rev1)

I have a tendency to over think things.
I’ll try hard to simplify.

I know! I’ll attach a link to a --> bunch of photos <-- and a link to a copy of my MoBo Manual.

Quick story because I don’t know the terminology. I had a 300 GB external drive in an external box that had a failing fan. Decided to put the drive into my main desktop since I have so many open bays. When I took the drive out of the external box and looked at the connection, they appeared to match a bay in my desktop so I slid it in and bingo! It worked. Since I don’t know what that’s really called, I’ll call it “pre-wired bay” where the old 300 GB drive was in the photos. That drive is toast so it’s no longer IN the pre-wired bay.

I suspect that there are two ways to connect a new drive:

(1) Slide the new drive (and a holder?) into a bay that already has the needed connections wired.

Or, (2) put it into an open bay (with some kind of holder?) and attach a SATA wire and the other connector (has a bunch of pins and is just sitting there unused)

Option 1 is easier, maybe...also, maybe the same SATA wire that is currently going from a SATA2 socket to the "pre-wired bay" will work if I plug it into an open SATA3 socket? dunno.

And so I ask...

What will work?

What is good?

Do I need some kind of mounting kit?

Do I need some wires?

For extra credit: How should I configure this thing? Use the existing 80 GB SSD for a Page File? For a Photoshop scratch disc? Something else? (I am not a gamer, I am a photographer, small time site builder and web surfer - lol)

TIA


DrCarl

(click this image - it might link to the rest of the pics, too)

 

I have no clue why the first link went to Office Depot. HERE is the one that's enticing.
SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 512GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7KE512BW

 

DrCarl, can you run this benchmark so we can get some idea of how your rig is actually running now, where the weak points are, etc.?

Post the resulting link please.

 

Will this link get you to the results?
(amazing site - I would SO much like to get things right in this box. My #2 display glitches out occasionally and I suspect some kind of graphics conflict somewhere...I wish I knew what to do)
(adde: and I am VERY interested to learn if OS conflicts, or general borkedness will migrate with the upgrade to Win10, or be left behind never to be seen again?)

 

(In case it's of any interest...right-clicked on what I thought was a Marvell icon in the taskbar and got "Open MRU", "Disable Alarm", "Disable Event Message", "About Raid Tray" and "Exit". About pops up a box: "Raid Tray Version 1.3.0.1. "Open MRU gets a web page that shows this: "Fatal error: Call to undefined function bindtextdomain() in C:\Program Files (x86)\Marvell\raid\phpsrc\localization.php on line 99". The only thing "RAID" I know about this machine was that I had ordered it to be configured with the two 1TB drives mirroring each other. That was never done and it's too late now. I hang my security hopes on Acronis and the big external drive now....maybe I'll click on "Exit" and see what happens.)

Of course I am confused. Had "Marvell" confused with AMD Catalyst Control Center which has all kinds of settings I don't understand.

 

Linky works

Yes, any oddities might carry on through an upgrade, either get the donor install fixed up first or plan to make a clean install of W10 after you've spent a week or so getting used to the wonky upgrade.

Off to study your data...

EDIT: don't worry about the Marvell RAID thing (but find out which SATA sockets they involve), you ought to avoid that as much as possible.

 

I would LOVE to get my machine fixed up properly.
You may have seen another thread that's depressing.
I'll avoid the SATA sockets, once I know how to (avoid them) - lol...

 

Here are the other threads in case they are of any help

Mse Hangs, Windows Explorer Halts, And More...

TimW says he does not suspect malware. Here's what we went through to be sure and to get rid of junk:
Please Review Logs - Windows Explorer And Mse Problems

Thanks...

 

Ok, hardware: you only have 2x SATA3, they should be Marvell and #3/4 up from the bottom of the 'board (GSATA3_6+7). The SATA2 pair below them should be JMicron and the 6 above are the native Intel SATA2.

For best performance, SSDs need to be hogging that SATA3 bandwidth, which might mean using the ver. 1.0.00.1034 Marvell driver to ensure TRIM can be activated.

AHCI should be operational on all drives/SATA channels but it needs to be 'activated' from within Windows before rebooting to make the change in the BIOS iirc. Once Windows boots, it should detect the change and install the AHCI drivers.

First of all, let's check the health of the slow HDD and the health and TRIM situation of that (underperforming?) SSD. Install and run HD Sentinel and get some screenshots of the Overview and SMART tabs for all 3 drives.



AHCI switching details for later:

 

OK. Am sleepy now and have learned to step away for the evening. Thank you. Follow up tomorrow.

 

satrow, thank you already and in advance for taking the time and sharing your expertise...for teaching me along the way. There is SO much unfamiliar terminology.

I will be verifying with you anything that does not make sense. I mean, like when you say “bottom of the board,” I don’t know where the top or bottom even is! (I am glad I have cameras!). (I understand where “bottom” is now- it is “left” for me)

BTW – I just named all the pictures “10, 20, 25, 30, 40,” etc. so that we can refer to them if needed. I can always shoot more, too! lol? Clicking on the big photo on the original post should take you to the gallery. File names should show on the bottom. Navigation is fairly intuitive.

Confirming: yes, I see (per the manual and your comment) that I only have two SATA3s. I guess I was thinking there are four because there are four white sockets there. Please view picture 20 to see if I understand correctly where SATA3s are. (7 is on top of 6, right?)

Picture 20
'][/URL]'] [/URL]

I have no idea what Marvell and JMicron are, nor their significance. I suppose they are somehow different from the six native Intel SATA2s.

Agreed, the new SSD (whatever that will be) should be using the SATA3. I see that’s good for 6GB/s. I suppose the existing 80 GB SSD (my “C” drive) doesn’t need the SATA3 since its label on picture #50 indicates 3BG/s and the specs online say it’s a SATA2.

I followed your ink for the Marvell driver and downloaded the ZIP file into a folder. I have no idea if it’s already on my rig, or not, nor what to do with the zip file. So, it’s in a folder for now.

I was reading some time ago that AHCI is better for some reason, but someone told me something like “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of thing. ([Pardon this rambling – I want to be sure you know these things are going on]...I sure wish my other problems would be somehow magically solved. What I to “test” now is run a scan with MSE. If MSE hangs after varying amounts of time, then I know my machine still has problems. I downloaded a test virus and it was picked up. That’s good. If it fails/hangs, I have to reboot to get MSE working again. Just had the 'Windows Explorer stopped working' thing again. I’m glad it can fix itself repeatedly. I bet I should try a System Repair (if I can do a non-destructive repair even though I have SP-1 and an Upgrade Disc) since the F8 attempt I tried failed. At least I know there’s no malware, thanks to TimW - rambling ends)

OK, on to HDSentinel. I have no idea “TRIM situation” is about...I will run the software and get shots of the Overview and SMART tabs for all three, er, FOUR drives. (C: small SSD+ D: 1TB [programs], R: 1 TB [data], and G: 5TB external [backups])

Here are the screen shots. Clicking this first one should get you into the gallery to see all 8.




Here is a link to the gallery in case you need it.

Thank you more.


DrCarl

 

Top is viewing the 'board as usually laid out in the manual or as fitted in a tower case: CPU and external I/O ports are towards the top, PCI(e) slots near the bottom.

Yes, you now have the SATA3 ports correctly named/numbered.

AHCI allows more of the drive's native functions to be brought into play, this should lead to a more efficient drive with less CPU power needed to control it, often boosting data transfer by a few % points, sometimes more, sometimes less. Differences might be imperceptible in real world usage, or they might be significant but only under certain types of workload. Without testing both setups with your components, it's impossible to tell whether it's worth the bother.

While AHCI can be enabled, as above, from within Windows after install, when fresh installing Windows to an AHCI connected drive, it's normal to have to install a basic, 'floppy disk' version of the AHCI driver during the initial phase of the Windows install.

HD Sentinel shows that your HDDs are in better condition than the benchmarks suggested, though the old SSD is showing signs of age and damage, which might account for the relatively poor showing in the benchmark.

TRIM is the main way of wear-levelling the SSD to keep it fast and long-lived, it's a little like Defrag (which shouldn't be used on SSDs) in that it automatically keeps the data optimised.

Run a full scan on the SSD: chkdsk c: /f /r this will scan for and 'fix' any errors/bad sectors on the drive (HDS has already detected some).

Any previously 'moved/repaired' bad sectors could still be causing issues, unless the files that were on those areas were all System files, repair tools can only prevent the damaged areas from being used again, they can't repair the damaged data.

You can also run SFC /SCANNOW and allow it to reboot and check the System files on the drive. If it finds any that are damaged/missing, it should replace them.

 

Awesome. Thanks!

Some time ago (another thread) I was getting the false reports from SFC. I believe I removed the update.

Found online: Hey, there is a known issue with a recent Windows Update (KB3022345), it causes an irrepairable corruption warning (which is a false report, the files are not corrupt in reality). If you have this update installed then do one of the following:
- Uninstall this update (it is Windows 10 preparation update) or
- Run the fix from The Tech Cookbook – Windows 7 update (KB3022345) causing corrupt files

I wonder why the emphasis on doing one of the following?

Anyway, I am pretty sure I removed the update in question and reran SFC. I'll do it again now after chkdsk.

Oh! Reading yesterday I learned that SSDs need to have the system manage the Pagefile. I had mine set at some certain, consistent size and put it back to 'system managed' yesterday. Maybe that caused the wear on the SSD.

From your other photo post, it appears that you are in the UK. I'm near Seattle, Washington. Hope you're having a great evening.

 

Ran both. (Win Explorer continues to occasionally hang and stop everything)

After chkdsk, I ran SFC /SCANNOW and the prompt reported “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.”

First, I ran “chkdsk /f /r - also "no problems" unless you can see any

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is C SSD Drive.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
300032 file records processed. File verification completed.
1168 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 87 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
378098 index entries processed. Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
300032 file SDs/SIDs processed. Cleaning up 18 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 18 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 18 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
39034 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34081848 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
300016 files processed. File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
5772696 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

78043188 KB total disk space.
54413612 KB in 222741 files.
134940 KB in 39035 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
403852 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
23090784 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
19510797 total allocation units on disk.
5772696 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 94 04 00 98 fe 03 00 ea 45 07 00 00 00 00 00 .........E......
3a 04 00 00 57 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 :...W...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

 

Pointless running both fixes when either one would be enough

If you had bad blocks in the page file/swap file, you'd have been hitting BSODs. Neither type is inherently better than the other, modern SSDs easily outlive their warranties, even older, quality ones like yours do.

Both logs came up pretty good, now you need to make the call on what you're going to do and in what order

 

satrow thanks again for the insight.

When I first read that I felt a bit helpless because I don't know what my options are, nor the relevance of the order. Thinking further, and considering what I've learned, I do know that I want make add a new SSD and make Windows work correctly. Eventually I'll be upgrading to Win10 like everyone else. Ultimately I can have a system that's tweaked enough that I can get back to the rest of my life.

I am sort of coming to the understanding that I might be forced to upgrade and reinstall everything, and that I'd better save everything somewhere else (besides the C: D: and R: drives)...somewhere like my 5 TB G: drive perhaps. Although Acronis True Image 2016 is not completely intuitive, and I am still learning about how to use it, I suspect that the program may make some of this a LOT easier. It looks like I'll have to scour the Acronis Forum to learn what functions are reasonable, like what can I "restore"? Pure data like documents, photos, and tunes should not be difficult, but programs like Photoshop might be whole different thing.

Can I do a straight-up "restore" of a backed-up copy of my beloved Photoshop to a new drive (installed on Win7), to a new install of Win7? or to a new install of Win10? Or, will I have to actually reinstall everything? Acronis has a "restore to dissimilar hardware" function, but I am not sure if that's just for new MoBos or new OSs or what. Someone said that a new drive is not an issue because it is simply storage.

I made a long list (sorry) and ask you take a look, to answer any questions (above and below), and to suggest what items of my list might be re-arranged, added or deleted? There is a LOT to do. Trying to come up with "what to do when" is helping me organize, at least as best as I can...and thanks to you.

Here's the list. I numbered the lines to make replies easier.

1. NOW
2. Allow Acronis to continue to make regular full and incremental backups
3. (Complete transfer of email to eM Client, then to Google for permanent searchable storage)
4. (Delete humongous old Outlook backups and archives)
5. (Delete old stuff from current GMail account)
6. 
   
7. LEARN
8. Learn if a non-destructive repair of Win7x64 Home Premium SP-1 possbile? How? I only have upgrade discs.
9. Learn how to get clean install of Win10 if I my broken Win7x64 Home Premium has borked files that might migrate to 10 when upgraded
10. Is clean install the only way to get a clean Win 7 ?
11. Is clean Win7 the only path to clean Win10?
12. Can I do clean install of Win7 from upgrade disc and NOT get message "cannot upgrade from Win7 to Win7"?
13. Once Win10 is in, do I get an install disc to make clean installs from?
14. 
    
15. FIX
16. Fix Win7 - System Repair, or OS install
17. 
    
18. LEARN
19. If I must reinstall Win7, can Acronis backups be restored to fresh installation of Win7?
20. Can Acronis backups of programs (like Photoshop) installed under Win7 be restored to clean Win7?
21. Can Acronis backups of programs (like Photoshop) installed under Win7 be restored to Win10?
22. 
    
23. FIX
24. Enable AHCI - where does this step go on the list?
25. 
    
26. LEARN
27. Can I / should I use the "pre-wired" bay?
28. What form factor drive is best/possible for my roomy desktop?
29. What SATA3 SSD to get?
30. Does the SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 512GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7KE512BW fill the bill?
31. What SSD Holder do I need?
32. Do I need a cable or two?
33. 
    
34. GET
35. Buy equipment
36. 
    
37. DO
38. Perform two backups (all personal data straight over into their usual folders, and the regular Acronis full BU)
39. Test ability to restore.
40. Install new SATA3 SSD into SATA3 port
41. 
    
42. LEARN
43. Learn what should be where? Programs actually belong on new SSD C: for speed. Putting them on regular 1TB HDD was an eror. What else?
44. Can I make Acronis BU , then restore to different drive? (and avoid actual re-install?)
45. 
    
46. DO
47. Restore programs that can be restored
48. Install programs that must be re-installed
49. Move data from backup (BU) to clean drives
50. 
    
51. After 10 is installed, make repair? Disc or will I have install discs?

 

I'm still here. You probably have a life. Just want you to know that I am eager for your reflections....(and that I see you are in NZ, not the UK. I guess they have birds there, too - lol)

 

The NZ location given is fictitious but they do have UK birds and mammals there (some are classified as pests there, for good reason). I'm physically located in the UK currently, mentally, I might be anywhere - or nowhere...

50 questions, I can't do that...

Backups: they'll soon be history, make one last W7 backup before 'upgrading' to W10. After that change has been made permanent, you should be able to safely delete all but the last 2x W7 backups and begin your W10 backup regime.

Don't keep your backup drive(s) permanently connected - only connect them when they're actually in use. This will go some way to protecting your data from potentially being encrypted by malware.

Certainly clean up/strip down your email and other data stored locally, compress mailboxes etc.

A Repair install of W7 is possible, and needed if you want to upgrade the current install to W10, you'll need a W7 SP1 disc/USB to do that, so you may need to 'slipstream' SP1 into your current install media (probably worth a separate topic).

You could, if you're certain you want to move to W10 permanently, make a temporary upgrade to W10 to validate your machine and then revert to W7 before doing a clean install of W10. This, or an upgrade and then a W10 refresh/repair install, might give a better result than upgrading your current W7, it will need reinstalling of the programs you need and you'll need to manually import your data into the software.

Once you have a 'good' upgrade/clean W10, you can clone it to your new SSD.

If you can access files/folders individually from within your backups, then you can use them.

If you upgrade, your software will (mostly) be preserved by W10.


AHCI, do that anytime you like (I'm assuming the method is the same for W10 as it is for W7).

You can use any bay you want, 2.5" SSDs are fine, 2.5 or 3.5 HDDs are also good. 2.5 adapter plates are readily available for use in standard 3.5 bays (though SSDs are so light and are vibration -free, a strip or two of Velcro is acceptable). I'd go 2x 256GB SSD over one large one, you'd not notice the speed difference and keeping your working data separate from your OS/programs is a *good thing*. You have one short + two long spare SSD data cables now, do you have enough spare power connectors (you'll have spare connectors from your current SSD to use once you've upgraded)?

 

Great reply to my 50Qs. I really didn’t expect a reply to each line, just that you read ‘em over and make corrections/suggestions – exactly what you did fantastically.
Thank you grandly. There are some GREAT tips and terminology there.
It's a lot easier to look for something if I know what it's called - lol.
MUCH to consider.

Power cables. Two ready to go now. With the addition of one 4-pin molex to SATA connector, I'd have three.
(1 - dangling in an open bay, 2 - connected to 'pre-wired' bay to accept adapter plate, 3 - hooked on the inside box (needs connector) )

If the switch to AHCI can be done anytime, maybe now is the time.
I just don't want to miss a step and brick my computer, obviously.

How and to where do I install the driver I saved?
I see the AHCI switching details instructions in the earlier post.
I can back up a registry key, or the whole registry, and of course a System Restore can easily restore the registry as well.

I also see that the instructions say to click ~one~ of the following registry subkeys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
Just one? I have both. I can follow instructions.

Here is a link to my BIOS gallery.
Click the image to go to the gallery. There should be navigation arrows on the right and left edges.

I see the screen titled “Integrated Peripherals” that shows the IDE vs. AHCI settings.
Just switch it and reboot?

Are there ANY other tweaks that need to be done to the BIOS?

Any other steps?

I’ll save more questions, etc. possibly for later

Thank you again

DrCarl

 

Ok, I'm hoping I'll have some time today/tomorrow to spend on this.

Where are you at now?

 

I am almost afraid to post anything...I don't want to jinx anything. I think I have solved the MSE hang. I may also have solved the explorer.exe hang.

I fully expect someone will reprimand or spank me or something. See, for a very long time I have been following Woody Leonhard's advice to NOT install Windows updates unless they are security updates, or unless he gives the Defcon 3 or 4 "go ahead" alert.

After days and days I finally came across someone that solved the same problem. I did what they did:
Installed Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3092627)

Then I ran the test I have been using: an attempt to do a full (or even partial) scan with MSE. It always hung. It is no longer hanging after the update.

I have not seen the explorer.exe hang since I switched over to FireFox from Chrome. NO CLUE why that would be.

I subscribed to a service for a month or two to make bookmarks, and more importantly the Speed Dial [FVD] tile backups, and to make the transition to FF more effortless. After a few days, if the explorer hang stays away, I'll go back over to chrome and give that browser a ride again.

On a MS site here a poster names "Zardoz" had some interesting info that I followed; that was after not seeing any Windows Explorer hangs...am mentioning this for completeness.

Two other things I did because they makes sense, although did not solve the core issues:

CCleaner: un-ticked “Windows Defender” <--another name for MSE from CCleaner’s Cleanup function under Applications tab as it may be cleaning away the MSE log and causing MSE to think NO scans have been run

SERVICES: Also, check if the HP CUE Discovery service and/or Altiris installed. If they are, they may be causing performance problems. – stopped HP CUE, and then changed to manual

I had really put the blinders on since I wanted these two major issues solved before gathering my wits (and notes) and before moving ahead with steps relevant to a new SSD - something still important to me. Solving these major issues (IF they are solved) just seemed like the logical thing to do...even before running an actual "System Restore Disc that I made on 11/12/2012 - AFTER SP-1 !

That's the update. Good morning! Have a great day!
(I will, too, as long as I don't see "Windows Explorer [or anything else] has stopped working")
(why Chrome?)

 

Excellent work!

Now seek out any other little bugs that might be just under the surface, the cleaner/more efficient you can get Windows, the higher the chances of the W10 upgrade going smoothly and less work will need to be done after the clone to SSD.

Chrome has something of a reputation for doing 'odd' things, not sure how true some of them are but there are often several subtle changes per month, sometimes from startup to startup. I dislike it purely for the number of processes it runs and the amount of RAM it uses, it simply doesn't suit my browser usage.

 

Mini update: No Chrome, and Windows Explorer hangs. Still cleaning up bits and pieces of unused 'stuff.' Will switch to Chrome from FFox to see if this degrade. satrow - what browser do you like?

 

Pale Moon 64-bit suits my browser usage, most people would be fine with the 32-bit version or the Firefox ESR (Extended Service Release, intended for stability in business usage, not the latest fads... ).

A new Firefox ESR (32-bit link) version (45) has just been released, better to stick with the older 38.xx build, if you choose this route, in case bugs have crept into the new one. Look for the line: Fully localized versions Show Firefox 45 | Firefox 38 and click the Firefox 38 to switch to the older branch.

 

UPDATE: I solved the wonky/borkedness of the desktop, lost sleep function, Windows Explorer hangs, MSE hangs....all of it....everything works because I acquired, installed and am running a New Power Supply! Corsair CX750M.

I just took delivery of a 1TB Samsung Evo SSD. I placed it into a 2.5" to 3.5" convertar contraption, slid it into the pre-wired drive, moved the cable to one of the two SATA3 ports on the board, fired it up, gave the new SSD a drive letter "S"...and am now reviewing this thread for gems that will help me get the new SSD rolling and get Win10 installed before the "free" upgrade deadline passes. It's approaching quickly and frankly, I rather dread doing things the right way which would include getting rid of unused programs (and whatever else) before the upgrade.

I hope you are well, and still around and can get your head back into this one.

TIA

 

Nice work, drcarl! Something we all need to remember: hardware trumps software.

Use Acronis to clone the HDD to the SSD, shut down, remove the HDD and connect the SSD in it's place (same motherboard SATA3 connector, or the lowest # SATA3 socket), restart and test it. If any software or drivers need updating, do so as much as you can before upgrading.

For Windows Updates, if you want to update W7, run the following procedure first: http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm

When you're ready to attempt updating to W10, I reckon the fastest way is from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Keep your HDD safe in case you need to revert to W7, should the revert/restore not work from W10 within the 30? day grace period.

 

What's really awesome is that you posted a reply 4 months later with your results. IMHO, that is a rarity.

 

On another note, you did buy the 850 evo, and not the 840 evo? If you got the 840 evo, then there is a bug that needs updated: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...T0AB0Q-Firmware-Tested-Read-Speed-Issues-Fina Fix: http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/overview.html

 

*bows* Thank You... MG has helped me all along the way. And thanks for getting back to this.

Interesting. Just to split hairs, because I've a bit of OCD, or, maybe doing this right is important, I'd like to be totally clear. You know, like the HDD we are referring to is really a SSD - it's just 80GB/small. (I hope to make good use of it later --Page file? --Photoshop scratch disc?). That's where my mind got frozen - calling the old SSD a HDD....I think I know what you are saying - yet, just to be exact, please review this...

CURRENT SET UP - Drives and sockets [Disc management label in brackets - in case that matters]
GSATA2_0 - SSD 80GB - current "C" drive [disc 0]
GSATA2_1 - HDD - 1 TB - current "D" drive [disc 2]
GSATA2_2 - HDD - 1 TB - current "R" drive [disc 1] [holds page file]
GSATA2_3 - DVD reader/writer
GSATA2_4 - open
GSATA2_5 - open
GSATA3_6 - SSD - new 1 TB Samsung EVO 850 - currently "S" drive [disc 3]
GSATA3_7 -
GSATA2_8 -
GSATA2_9 -

USB3.0 - External drive - 5 TB - current "G" drive - [disc 4]
CD-ROM 0 - DVD reader (has the migration disc for the new Samsung SSD parked there to prevent drive loneliness)

When I plugged the new SSD in, I moved its SATA cable (that was open and unused) to the first SATA3 socket/port (closest to the board).
I also gave it a drive letter, "S" as in Samsung - lol

PLAN
Using Acronis, CLONE the entire "C" drive to "S" drive (now sitting empty and connected to lowest SATA3 socket).
Shut down.
Disconnect (now old) "C" (I'll just yank the SATA cable from the board)
Leave the new SSD where it is, and restart.
Test things while praying that nothing breaks, and secure with the knowledge that all the hardware actually still works, and I have a full backup on an external drive, and I can always plug the old 80 GB "C" drive back in if anything's too borked.

QUESTIONS
(1) Does anything in the PLAN above need to be changed?
(2) Do I need to somehow rename the "S" drive to "C", or does that happen when I clone with Acronis?
(3) How (I suppose after testing things) do I get the old 80GB back onto the board so that I can use it?


UPDATES
I will follow your (as well as Woody Leonhard's) recommendation for the 5 updates, and the Windows Update Client from the wu.relay.de link you shared (thanks)


Once I get over to Win10, I'll probably just stay there.
Have to get all the icons off of my desktop first, and do as much other general clean-up as I can.

Sending before I think of more, or start seeing moire - lol
Looking forward to your reply.
Many Thanks.

DrCarl

 

Yuppers. Got the 850. Thanks for the bug fix regardless.

I figure it's only polite to note the solution once it's discovered. Over the years, MG has taught me a great deal, and bailed me out from under a ton of sh*t, and even though I have been sometimes guilty of evaporating after a fix is found, well, you know...answers are cool...besides, a power supply? that even tested fine? (by jumping a couple of wires and seeing if the fan runs)? Sheesh.

I kinda had a feeling that it might be slightly easier to jam a new power supply in there and try it than to try a new MoBo - lol - I mean Best Buy has a great 15 day rental, I mean return program.

Be well!

DrCarl

 

Nowt wrong with splitting hairs, or having any TLA (well, knowing/acknowledging those TLA's is a good thing, not knowing/acknowledging might not be, possibly indicating an ODD co-morbidity = not such a good thing!) and you figured out my generic usage of HDD there as being incorrect in your case = bonus point

Yup, using the 'old' (save it as is until convinced you're all good!) SSD would make a fine scratch disk/alt. page file (paging across multiple disks depends on which disk is first to respond to Windows' requests, relatively slower drives might see less usage if they're already in use (scratch disk?)). My 'board has 1 SATA2 and 2 SATA3 SSDs connected, page files of 1GB fixed size on each, current (4 day uptime) usage is 6MB on SATA2, 4MB (System) and 5MB on the 2nd SATA3, mostly indicating that my recent RAM upgrade greatly reduces PF usage, but not enough to prevent it showing a difference between the usage across the 3 drives.

(Software used for PF usage measurement: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...rumentation-wmi-windows-10-8-1-8-7-vista.html #34, a simple batch file.)

Your plan looks fine (I'd replace 'C' with the newly cloned copy but it matters little usually), 'C:' will always belong to the Windows drive you've booted from, add the old SSD back into a higher SATA# port should you decide to use it as an 'extra' drive, to the lowest SATA# (disk 0) port to boot Windows from it (revert).

Woody and I did exchange comments on the Dalai/relay.de page ~12 days ago, currently I think we're both still in agreement that it's the best/quickest way to fix many Vista/W7 (maybe also W8/8.1?) problems with WU - providing the info is followed carefully (like kill WU/disable it before installing the patches) and it avoids having to install a number of unknown patches from the Windows Rollup KB (which isn't needed to 'fix' WU).

Moiré would be a graphics/display problem usually, best inquired about in a new topic

 

When I clone the old "C" to the new SSD, (and shut down, disconnect old "C", and restart) will Windows know the new large cloned SSD is now the new "C" since the old "C" is not plugged in?

Will the cloning rename the new 1TB SSD currently drive "S" to drive "C"?

And by "replace 'C' with the newly cloned copy" - does that mean plug the newly cloned copy into the SATA2 port? (or what?)

Thanks

 

The BIOS/UEFI will point to Windows on the newly cloned drive during an early boot stage, Windows always uses C: for the drive that it's booting from.

I prefer to have the System/Windows drive on the lowest channel/port#, it makes the view from Drive Management look more logical. If you ever need to boot from a DVD/USB, the Windows drive should then be the next drive 'up' from the drive you booted from, D:.

But, if your lowest ports are only SATA2, try to juggle the connections so that the Windows drive is on the lowest SATA3 channel/port. It should be found and booted from wherever it's connected though (providing the 'old' C: isn't connected to a lower#, if it is, you'll need to enter the BIOS and change the Boot order).

 

Interesting. Although it's too early to ask (oh, well), once everything seems stable enough, how will I wipe the "old" 80GB SSD? Like, won't Windows want to boot from it if it is later reconnected to SATA2_0 while the"new" cloned SSD is plugged into SATA3_7? I wonder if booting from a bootable disc will be the solution. .... thanks for the lessons....

I suppose I'll do the AHCI swicth before cloning...

 

To boot to the new drive with the old one still attached, enter the BIOS/UEFI and set the Boot priority order to point to the new drive. Then boot into Windows > Disk Management, check which drive is C:, if it really is the new drive, you're set to wipe the old 80GB one.

 

So far so good. Backed up registry, backed up key (both to two places), made one change to AHCI and all is well.

I see other IDE settings and wonder (1) what they are for, and (2) if they need any attention?
These include (see image) eSATA Ctrl Mode, GSATA6_7/IDE Ctrl Mode, and GSATA8_9/IDE Ctrl Mode

(maybe these got changes with the last restart? - I should have checked before this post, but didn't - will now)

Thanks for your care

Image:
https://drcarl.smugmug.com/Computers/BIOS/n-cQB4Xw/i-FpTvpmR/A

 

Make the BIOS change to AHCI for the GSATA6_7 and 8_9 now, ready for the new SSD, which, once cloned from the AHCI enabled old SSD, will need that to function at it's best.

 

Oh no. Made the change for all 3 and now I'm getting error message on restart after verifying DMI pool data it says error loading operating system. I went back into BIOS and changed all three back to IDE and still am getting the error loading operating system. Now what?

 

Umm, from memory, F5/F8 to get the Advanced Windows Startup menu, choose Last Known Good, then change the Device Manager IDE/SATA controllers to AHCI mode (this should install the AHCI drivers at the next Boot).

 

Will do. Thanks .. F5 or F8 on restart? In BIOS I have "F6 Fail-Safe defaults' and "F7 optimized defaults" but you are talking about tapping F5 or F7 on start up right?

 

Best way is to turn the BIOS settings back to IDE, then boot windows, install the AHCI drivers from DevMan.

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-change-...o-ahci-raid-in-bios-after-installing-windows/

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/922976

(You might not have an Intel driver listed, they're not needed, I refuse them and keep it simple, Windows drivers can manage without them.)

I can never remember if it's F5 or F8, I rapidly alternate between both

For the Windows Boot, post-BIOS.

 

On restarts tapping F5 and tapping F7 get the same error loading operating system message. I do see on the screen flying by where it appears that the board recognizes that there is my old SSD in the zero port and then the two hard drives but after that the screen says detecting drives done no drives found

 

I see your answer now. Will change everything back to IDE and follow the instructions. Thanks....

update: changed them all back to IDE now it says verifying DMI pool data, then boot from CD /dvd , then error loading operating system

 

This board also has and express recovery option when the first screen comes up I wonder if that's of any use. I started thinking about complete system backup but that is not going to change the BIOS so I figured that's useless

 

I am so screwed right now. I have to go for a dental appointment and when I get back I have no idea what to try I am still getting error loading operating system. Of course I have bootable discs and of course I do not want to reinstall the operating system because it's sitting right there on the drive. It's just that bios apparently can't see it. If you could even share what Search terms I should be using to find help that would be nice. Anyway you know where I'm at. (NUTS!)

 

Ps...Usually it's F8 for me but that gets the same error.... since the system cannot see the drive even though the drive is detected on the screen before it says no Drive detected

 

Cancelling dentist

 

BIOS can see the drives, Windows can't (incorrect drivers).

Get to the dentist, it'll give you thinking time

 

WTH. pulled my USB and external backup USB drive and restarted....Windows is running! Panic over, but not sure what to verify, check, change.

 

Set the BIOS back to IDE, point the BIOS Boot Priority order at your old SSD on #0 SATA port, F10 to Save and Exit the BIOS and it should reboot normally.

LOL, I hadn't thought about external drive interference - it happens, frequently