# Cloning from HDD to mSATA SSD



## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 28, 2014)

So I've just bought a laptop which has an available mSATA-slot, and I plan on installing a Crucial M500 240 GB mSSD in the laptop. With how Windows keys on laptops work nowadays, I'm planning on just cloning the HDD over to the mSSD with Acronis True Image 2014. But I've heard of people experiencing problems with partitions not being aligned and that causing the SSD to get a huge hit on performance. So I just wanted to ask if this is something that the software I plan on using accounts for, and if someone has done a similar upgrade and has some useful tips to share?


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## erixx (Jul 28, 2014)

If cloning from MBR to GPT, is dangerous, it is not sector to sector.

I finally used one of the less known freewares to convert from MBR to GPT but I did not clone. I could search it's name, as I can't remember now.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 28, 2014)

erixx said:


> If cloning from MBR to GPT, is dangerous, it is not sector to sector.
> 
> I finally used one of the less known freewares to convert from MBR to GPT but I did not clone. I could search it's name, as I can't remember now.



So as long as both drives are either GPT or MBR I should be good?

Actually forgot to mention that the default drive is a SSHD. Does that further complicate things?


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## redeye (Jul 28, 2014)

linux live usb stick then use DD... be careful how you use it though... has been nicknamed "Data destroyer"

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/learn-the-dd-command-362506/


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 28, 2014)

redeye said:


> linux live usb stick then use DD... be careful how you use it though... has been nicknamed "Data destroyer"
> 
> http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/learn-the-dd-command-362506/



Is this method better than other ways of going about cloning your drive? Because otherwise it looks rather complicated, and I'd prefer something a bit simpler, like just using a data migration software.


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## FX-GMC (Jul 28, 2014)

Yellow&Nerdy? said:


> So I've just bought a laptop which has an available mSATA-slot, and I plan on installing a Crucial M500 240 GB mSSD in the laptop. With how Windows keys on laptops work nowadays, I'm planning on just cloning the HDD over to the mSSD with *Acronis True Image 2014*. But I've heard of people experiencing problems with partitions not being aligned and that causing the SSD to get a huge hit on performance. So I just wanted to ask if this is something that the software I plan on using accounts for, and if someone has done a similar upgrade and has some useful tips to share?



Lookie what i found (Google FTW):



> SSD alignment
> 
> Another question concerns the alignment of SSDs. To get the optimum performance from an SSD and to prolong its life, the partition offset must meet certain criteria. In most cases you do not need to check or manually fix the alignment, the program will do it automatically.
> 
> ...



Migration Guide:
http://www.acronis.com/en-gb/support/documentation/ATIH2014/index.html#21824.html


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 28, 2014)

FX-GMC said:


> Lookie what i found (Google FTW):
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks. So I can probably use the disk imaging function in Acronis to back the default SSHD up onto an external HDD?


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## theonedub (Jul 28, 2014)

I've used a few Cloning programs trying to do mechanical HDD to SSD and not once has it ever worked correctly. Let us know your end results and good luck.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 28, 2014)

theonedub said:


> I've used a few Cloning programs trying to do mechanical HDD to SSD and not once has it ever worked correctly. Let us know your end results and good luck.



I think I'll try the migration using backup and recovery method first, described here: http://www.acronis.com/en-gb/support/documentation/ATIH2014/index.html#21826.html, since so many people have had problems just outright cloning the drive. My mSSD arrives on Wednesday, so I'll post an update about how it went when I'm done.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 30, 2014)

So I used the method described by Acronis. Here are my results from CrystalDiskMark with 1000MB:

Seq read: 463.8 MB/s, Seq write: 273.5 MB/s
Random 512K read: 415.9 MB/s, Random 512K write: 272.1
Random 4K read: 21.77 MB/s, Random 4K write: 79.96 MB/s
Random 4K read (QD=32): 283.5 MB/s, Random 4K write (QD=32): 262.6 MB/s

Mostly fine it seems, only the random 4K seems sluggish. Any idea why?


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 30, 2014)

Actually, it's not fine at all, and I really need help. So after migration, I booted from the SSD, and noticed that it said Windows is not activated. I thought this may be because there are essentially two copies of the same Windows, so I did a quick format on the default SSHD. Well, should not have done that, because now it won't boot at all, and I'm currently resetting the whole damn thing, which will take hours. Any idea what went wrong? Maybe it's because I'm migrating from a SSHD to a SSD?


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## Solaris17 (Jul 30, 2014)

you booted windows off of 2 different drives right after one another and flagged your key thats bound to hardware IDs what dont you understand? 95% of the people in this forums have gone through that.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 30, 2014)

Solaris17 said:


> you booted windows off of 2 different drives right after one another and flagged your key thats bound to hardware IDs what dont you understand? 95% of the people in this forums have gone through that.



So I'm boned? Is there anything that can be done? Also, that doesn't really explain it not booting after the quick format.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 30, 2014)

Did you clone every partition? Did you attempt to run a start up repair? Can you get that far? did you try the commands to rebuild the BCD via a usb/recovery disk? dod you attempt to reactive? Did you attempt to phone activate?


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 30, 2014)

Solaris17 said:


> Did you clone every partition? Did you attempt to run a start up repair? Can you get that far? did you try the commands to rebuild the BCD via a usb/recovery disk? dod you attempt to reactive? Did you attempt to phone activate?


I'm doing a reset via startup repair right now, leaving it overnight. Actually, before formatting and screwing it up, I went back and booted from the default SSHD, and it did reactivate. Don't know what conclusions can be drawn from that.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 31, 2014)

Forgot to mention, I did migrate all partitions. So it's done resetting, and I can now boot normally. My plan is to wipe the mSATA SSD, and try to figure out what went wrong the first time.


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## Yellow&Nerdy? (Jul 31, 2014)

Ok, so I wiped the drive and cloned using EaseUS Todo Backup. Results from CrystalDiskMark are about the same, and it now says that Windows is valid as well.


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