First Encounters of the SSD Kind

[ArtShapiro]

My first SSD is enroute and should be here in a couple of days. Still a little apprehensive about these discs, which of course have bricked up for some small percentage of users, I've decided to put it in the T60p. That's my favorite laptop but a lot less critical than my desktop. If something goes wrong, I"ll have the old disk ready to throw back in.

My inclination is to do a fresh reinstall of Windows 7, rather than just restoring the machine from Windows Home Server, so as to get optimal partition alignment.

I guess my question is about any "gotchas" that a first-time SSD user should know. Do I have to worry about the various modes such as ACHI, and do I need to provide any drivers when offered the opportunity as part of the normal installation of Windows 7? Any other words of wisdom those of you who have lived with these contraptions for a while might care to relate?

Art (feeling less secure than usual)

[91011]

With Win 7 just make sure ACHI is selected in BIOS and you'll have no problems. If you install in Compatibility mode the ACHI drivers will not be activated in Windows and you'll have to do use regedit to get them working. That's also why a fresh install is a good idea.

I did my T60p the 'wrong' way originally.

John

[Harryc]

If you have a working W7 install, there is no need to do a fresh install solely for alignment. It can be aligned after you clone to the SSD (using Acronis or similar pgm) with a free utility called Parted Magic. I just did this the other day on my T60P and it worked fine. Don't touch AHCI (not ACHI) if it is on....leave it as is.
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/12/how-to- ... -for-free/

[ArtShapiro]

Thanks to both respondents. I'll try a restore from my WHS backup and the suggested utility before going through the hassle of a from-scratch installation.

If the machine isn't already set for AHCI - it's at home right now and I'm in the office - what's my best course of action, either now or once the SSD is put into the T60p?

Art

[Harryc]

If it's currently not set to AHCI, just leave it in compatibility mode, do the clone to the SSD, then once W7 comes up install the Intel matrix storage drivers and convert to AHCI in BIOS. There are several threads on the forum that discuss this.

[AMATX]

Main tuning thing would be to turn off defragging, as that's not needed on SSD.

Make sure you have current backups and you're good to go...

Conventional hard drives can crap out too, so don't get too hung up on that.

[Johan]

Art:

Just out of curiosity: Exactly what brand/model SSD are you getting? If being an Intel, you may want to download the Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox. I don't know for sure if other manufacturers have similar tools...

In the case that you want to clone your existing HDD to the new SDD, you may probably find a free tool for this offered by the SSD manufacturer; see e.g. this post or this post. If cloning the SSD from a HDD, remember the "old trick": To have your new SSD placed inside in the ThinkPad (in its normal internal drive bay), and clone form either a HDD in the UltraBay or from an external USB drive... simply clone "from-outside-and-in". That will work!

Congratulations and good luck with your SSD... I'm sure you won't regret!

Johan

[ArtShapiro]

Just out of curiosity: Exactly what brand/model SSD are you getting? If being an Intel...

Due to a very attractive deal, I've purchased a Kingston SSDNow V100 64GB drive. I thought it might be appropriate for the T60p; I'd probably go SATA III on the desktop.

My inclination was to at least initially try an image restore from Windows Home Server, which backs up all my machines every day (or whenever I turn on a laptop if it hasn't been up for some number of days.) With luck, there'd be enough native drivers to at least boot up in safe mode. If not, I guess it would be a reinstall.

64 Gigs is a little tight, but it will work.

Art