How do I get my data from HHD to SSD with Norton Ghost 15?

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

I am a novice here so please go easy on me. I am trying to figure out the best way to transfer my data (operating system, programs and files) from the HHD in my Dell XPS M1330 to a new Intel SSD 330 Series. I am not doing to fresh install because the Dell currently has a fresh install of Windows 7. I just need help figuring out how to copy everything over to the SSD so that I can pull the HHD out, put the SSD in, turn it back on and then be back to normal (as it was with the HHD). I do not know if I should back-up/restore, clone, transfer, migrate... or some other thing I don't even know .... in order to accomplish this.

Please explain step by step like I am a 5th grader :)

redk9258 · ‎02-22-2010

Since this is a laptop, you will want to create images (Recovery Points) then restore them to the new SSD. First, can you post a screenshot of your disk management?

http://community.norton.com/t5/Forum-Feedback/Forum-Tip-How-to-post-screenshots-in-the-forum/td-p/25...

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

Thanks for the reply. I did not see your response so I gave the "Copy My Hard Drive" option under "Tools" a try. It went through the entire process and then in the last seconds it ended with the following errors:

http://puu.sh/19NJh

Prior to doing all of this I went into disk management and made sure the SSD was recognized and also created a volume and assigned "S" to it.

Since the error my laptop doesnt see the SSD at all.

Please help.

Here is what disk management looks like post errors:

http://puu.sh/19NRw

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

Thanks for the reply. I did not see your response so I gave the "Copy My Hard Drive" option under "Tools" a try. It went through the entire process and then in the last seconds it ended with the following errors:

http://puu.sh/19NJh

Prior to doing all of this I went into disk management and made sure the SSD was recognized and also created a volume and assigned "S" to it.

Since the error my laptop doesnt see the SSD at all.

Please help.

Here is what disk management looks like post errors:

http://puu.sh/19NRw

redk9258 · ‎02-22-2010

How was the SSD connected? By USB? USB is not a good way to do a copy. Your best bet is to do a backup / recovery to the new SSD. Since you tried to copy to the SSD, I would probably use DISKPART to clean the drive before recovery. Anyway, your disk management picture looks simple- just one partition. Here's what I would do...

Defrag the HDD.

Use Windows Disk Management to shrink the partition smaller than your SSD. If you cannot do this, the recovery may fail but on the other hand it may work OK. If it does fail, you can use a third party tool to shrink the partition.

I would then run a backup to an external drive (eSATA or USB 2, not USB 3).

Then switch out the HDD for the SSD.

Boot the SRD.

Do the recovery. If there are any problems, I would use DISKPART to CLEAN the new SSD.

IF you get to that point we can post instructions.

Have a look at these threads...

http://community.norton.com/t5/Other-Norton-Products/New-Hard-drice/m-p/253329#M24922

DISKPART instructions..

http://community.norton.com/t5/Other-Norton-Products/using-norton-ghost-15-to-restore-to-a-new-hard-...

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

1. The SSD was connect through a USB.

2. The disk management screen shot i provided showed my HHD. What it did not show was my SSD which was plugged in via the USB. Before I tried this copy the first time the SSD was shown in disk management. How can I get it back? I also do not think I see the SSD under device manager.

3. I need to copy my HHD to my SSD, so why wouldt I just copy it? Would a backup/recovery get EVERYTHING from the HHD to the SSD?

4. Its ok to "backup/recover" via USB but not "copy" via USB?

The largest issue at this point is that my computer appears to not be seeing the SSD via USB at all. I plugged the SSD into another computer and it too did not even see the SSD. It is not showing up anywhere. Do I need to do some sort of reset on the SSD?

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

1. OK, I plugged the SSD into a third computer and it recognized it. I had to delete the partition/volume and then plugged it into my laptop via USB and now the laptop sees the SSD. Do I need to create a volume/partition in disk management before I start the Ghost process? I am in thr process of shrinking the HHD.

2. Yesterday AM I got this laptop back from the Dell repair depot with a fresh install of Windows. Do you still think I need to defrag?

3. What does "Boot the SRD" mean? I am not familiar with SRD.

Disk Mgt.jpg

Brian_K · ‎04-19-2009

gruvnfunk,

What size is the SSD?

How much Free Space is in the C: drive?

gruvnfunk · ‎09-29-2012

The SSD is 120GB. The HHD C: is a total of 225GB but I shrank the drive so now it is a total of 177GB. Of that 177GB there are 114GB free.

I was able to suscessfully get a backup of the computer completed. The issue now is when I swapped the HHD for the SSD and booted from the SRD I got an error message of "Error EA3905E3: Bad file record signature." It appear that this error means

"Backup Exec System Recovery will generate this error due to the lack of space needed for disk structure meta information. Backup Exec System Recovery can restore to smaller locations, as long as there is enough space for the used data, paging file, and the metadata like MFT."

I am not sure what the problem is because the 120GB SSD drive far exceeds the amount of actual storage being used on the HHD.