Cloning SSD with Ghost 15 - So Confused!

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1

I am sorry to be a pain, but what I thought would be a straightforward process seems to be highly confusing and I do not know what I am supposed to do. The instructions in the User Guide supplied on the Ghost 15 CD seem irrelevant to my situation and I am terribly lost. If someone could kindly step me through what I am supposed to do I would be immensely grateful.

 

Situation: I currently have a 64GB SSD which is close to full. I use this as my C: drive which boots to Windows 7 64-bit and contains my applications and a few games. My data is on a HDD. The setup works well.

 

As my current SSD is running out of space, I have now bought a Samsung 256GB SSD which came with Ghost. What I want to do is 'clone' my current C: drive so that I get exactly what I have now (ie. Windows 7 and all my applications) onto the new SSD. It is my understanding that this is what Ghost is for.

 

I have connected the new SSD to the computer using a SATA cable. Disk Management sees it as "Disk 2", containing a single unallocated partitiion. Disk Management shows that the current SSD has two partitions - one of 100MB called "System Management" and another of around 55GB called "Corsair F60".

 

Intended Result: My anticipated outcome is that I use Ghost's "Copy My Hard Drive" feature to clone the current SSD. When Ghost is done, the PC should reboot and the new SSD is now my C: drive (complete with Windows 7 and all my applications), and the old SSD is ready for me to remove or format and use however I like.

 

Is that how Ghost works - does it take care of all of that for me? If not, what do I do next to achieve this please?

 

From what I have read, I need to copy the two partitions seprately. How does that work? What options should I use? Do I check the box "Set drive active" for the System Management partition or the Corsair F60 partition? Which partitiion do I check the "Copy MBR" box for? What happens when I have done copied one partition? Does the PC reboot or does it do the second one straight after?

 

I have also read I need to change the settings in the BIOS. I have also read I need to remove the old SSD before booting up with the new SSD for the first time. As I said, it's all very confusing and the Wizard doesn't really explain things.

 

So, what do I need to do now?

 

Thanks in anticipation of any help you can offer.

2

Thank you for the quick response. Here is a (reduced) screenshot of Disk Management...

 

diskmng.jpg

 

Yes - I have run the Ghost Live Update. The version is 15.0.1.36526 which I believe is SP1.

 

Yes - all 3 drives (old SSD, new SSD and HDD) are internal.

 

Thanks again :-)

3

Banners,

 

Leave the new SSD unallocated. No partitions.

 

The 100 MB partition on the old SSD is a SRP (System Reserved Partition) and you will note it is the Active partition. As you indicated, use Copy Drive to copy the SRP first and then copy the 55.80 GB Win7 partition. Don't restart between copies. Use these options...

 

For the SRP

Check source for file system errors
Check destination for file system errors
Set drive active (for booting OS)
DON'T SELECT Disable SmartSector copying
DON'T SELECT Ignore bad sectors during copy
Copy MBR
Destination partition type : Primary
Drive letter : None


For Win7

Check source for file system errors
Check destination for file system errors
Don't Resize drive to fill unallocated space (we'll talk about resizing later)
DON'T SELECT Disable SmartSector copying
DON'T SELECT Ignore bad sectors during copy
Destination partition type : Primary
Drive letter : None

 

When the copying has completed, shutdown and remove the old SSD from your computer. Unplug the new SSD data cable and plug it into the SATA port the old SSD had been using. Boot the new SSD.

 

Success?

4

Hi,

 

I have done all that and rebooted. I now have a black and white DOS screen which says...

 

"Reboot and Select proper Boot device

or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key".

 

Did I do something wrong?

5

I am sorry to be a pain, but what I thought would be a straightforward process seems to be highly confusing and I do not know what I am supposed to do. The instructions in the User Guide supplied on the Ghost 15 CD seem irrelevant to my situation and I am terribly lost. If someone could kindly step me through what I am supposed to do I would be immensely grateful.

 

Situation: I currently have a 64GB SSD which is close to full. I use this as my C: drive which boots to Windows 7 64-bit and contains my applications and a few games. My data is on a HDD. The setup works well.

 

As my current SSD is running out of space, I have now bought a Samsung 256GB SSD which came with Ghost. What I want to do is 'clone' my current C: drive so that I get exactly what I have now (ie. Windows 7 and all my applications) onto the new SSD. It is my understanding that this is what Ghost is for.

 

I have connected the new SSD to the computer using a SATA cable. Disk Management sees it as "Disk 2", containing a single unallocated partitiion. Disk Management shows that the current SSD has two partitions - one of 100MB called "System Management" and another of around 55GB called "Corsair F60".

 

Intended Result: My anticipated outcome is that I use Ghost's "Copy My Hard Drive" feature to clone the current SSD. When Ghost is done, the PC should reboot and the new SSD is now my C: drive (complete with Windows 7 and all my applications), and the old SSD is ready for me to remove or format and use however I like.

 

Is that how Ghost works - does it take care of all of that for me? If not, what do I do next to achieve this please?

 

From what I have read, I need to copy the two partitions seprately. How does that work? What options should I use? Do I check the box "Set drive active" for the System Management partition or the Corsair F60 partition? Which partitiion do I check the "Copy MBR" box for? What happens when I have done copied one partition? Does the PC reboot or does it do the second one straight after?

 

I have also read I need to change the settings in the BIOS. I have also read I need to remove the old SSD before booting up with the new SSD for the first time. As I said, it's all very confusing and the Wizard doesn't really explain things.

 

So, what do I need to do now?

 

Thanks in anticipation of any help you can offer.

6

Ah, right - I've worked it out...

 

When I got that error, I tried to set the SSD to be the boot device in the BIOS, but it wasn't showing. I have since discovered I had to set the order of the hard drives in another menu in the BIOS, and so I was able to select the new SSD there. The PC now boots into Windows 7 and my old desktop and applications are all in place.

 

Wonderful - thank you so much!

 

The only remaining thing is that the SSD (C:) shows as having just 64GB still, with 182GB unallocated. I guess the next step is to somehow add this remaining space to the C: drive. How may I do that please?

 

Thanks again - nearly there!

7

Nice work. Those non boots due to hardware issues are often difficult to sort out.

 

Now you have to decide the size of the Win7 partition. Have a think about what apps/data you are likely to put in the partition in the future. I like my OS and data to be separated into different partitions as I back them up differently. So I'd never have a 238 GB OS partition. Could I suggest you resize the Win7 partition to 100 GB amd make a data partition in the remaining space. Or use the space for a Win8 dual boot. But it's up to you.

 

To resize the Win7 partition, in Disk Management right click the Win7 rectangle, click Extend Volume, use the "Select the amount of space in MB". Check the "Total volume size in megabytes" before clicking Next.

 

Edit... you can now reattach your old SSD to the motherboard and it won't interfere with the new SSD. Don't try to boot from it. Delete both partitions and create a new partition.

8

Super stuff, Brian_K - thanks for all your help!