T60 and Intel 330 SSD - now Kingston SSDNow V200 128GB

[hhmcsv]

In an attempt to revive my trusted and very reliable Thinkpad, I decided to buy an Intel 330 SSD. This decision was also based on some good experiences reported here.
But not so by me
The 120Gb SSD was very easy to install physically, and the cloning process went very smooth using Intels version of the Acronis software.
I cloned with the SSD in the HDD-bay of the T60, the old HDD in a SATA Ultrabay slide.
But from there, it was nothing but trouble. Very intermittent freezing of the system at unpredictable points of starting of Windows or performing simple task like Firefox and email. i do not think I experienced one startup- to shutdown cycle without hitches. So that is a big disapointment.
I tried all the tricks immediately at hand in the "Intel SSD toolbox" but to no avail.
So today it went in the post back to the shop, hoping for a better replacement.
Is such a type of fault just a faulty drive or is there some generic explanation why my T60 is allergic to the Intel 330 SSD?
Any ideas would be much appreciated!

[khaverblad]

Well, my spontaneous guess be that the issue is that you cloned from a mechanical drive to a SSD based drive and therefore some tweaks of the Win 7 system doesn't work out as it should. When I moved my T60 to a Intel X25 SSD drive (once you you went SSD you never want to return to mechanical drive...) I made a clean installation to avoid issues. Being lazy here and not doing any searches; but are there threads in this forum saying that it's walk in the park to clone from mechanical drive to SSD?

[hhmcsv]

Hi Kim!
Thanks for your reply. Well, I just thought that a disk storage was a long row of places for 0 or 1
I am a believer of fresh install, at least on my Thinkpads running XP that was frequently the cure for sluggish performance after some years of operation. I think my Win7 has been better in that respect. But on this T60, I do not have the original Win7 installation media. But I do have a homemade repair disk which should repair the Win7 system without erasing data and other programs?
I have no experience using such a repair disk and no knowledge on whether it will solve the SSD issues?
I also have a "Rescue & Recovery" CD, but again I have no idea how much it will distroy and whether it will solve the SSD issues.
In theory, with the empty SSD mounted, could I run any of these CD's and then afterwards transfer my personal data from the old HDD?
I have also the full Microsoft Office package, and again no installation media.

[ScottyBoy]

But on this T60, I do not have the original Win7 installation media.

In theory, with the empty SSD mounted, could I run any of these CD's and then afterwards transfer my personal data from the old HDD?

I have also the full Microsoft Office package, and again no installation media.

For the full Windows 7 install media please check out the following link.

Legal Download from DigitalRiver: Windows 7 SP1, 13 Languages - NBR Forum

My tuppence worth would be to do a clean install via the media link above and then restore your data from the mechanical HDD - do you have a 2nd HDD caddy or external USB enclosure that you can pop it into, so you can access your data?

With regards to MS Office, which version is it that you have but also have you exported all of the license keys present on your original system build so you can restore the software quickly with them - you might want to consider using the Advanced Tokens Manager utility to backup the Windows 7 OS activation files but also backing the MS Office activation files (the latter is only applicable to 2010 from what I remember).

EDIT: Just noticed in your signature you've listed MS Office 2007, so you might want to check out this utility for backing up the Office activation files - not used it myself but apparently it works a treat according to my mate.

OPA-Backup - Backup and restore the product activation of Microsoft Office

[khaverblad]

My tuppence worth would be to do a clean install via the media link above and then restore your data from the mechanical HDD - do you have a 2nd HDD caddy or external USB enclosure that you can pop it into, so you can access your data?[/url]

I agree with above; make a clean installation and as well; since you hopefully have the old original system drive you can make a test installation of Win 7 to check that it works fine as you're able to run a fully working Win 7 during 30 days trial period.

When it comes to quickly pull out all the serials; you could use WinAudit to do this which also give you lots of other information about your system.

[hhmcsv]

Hi folks!

Thank you so much for the replies, I found the links to the Win7-software especially interesting, and I have already made a bootable USB-drive which seems to work initially.
However, I also need a registration code for Win7, and that will cost me .
So first I will persuing the exchange of the drive and I'm thinking about getting this instead of the Intel:
Kingston SSDNow V200, 128 Gb.
I'll report back on the progress as soon as I get the SSD.

[twistero]

You don't need another license of Windows / Office, since what you're trying to do is to continue using these software on the same machine, only with a different hard drive. Just use the aforementioned utilities to backup the activation files from the old hard drive and restore them to the SSD after you did a fresh install.

[bill bolton]

Well, I just thought that a disk storage was a long row of places for 0 or 1

You may benefit from looking at this thread........ http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 18&t=97387

I have a Intel 330 in a T60, loaded with Win 7 from a clean install, and it runs without any issues.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[hhmcsv]

So, hooray there was a parcel in the post this afternoon with the replacement for the Intel 330 SSD. My supplier followed my choice of this SSD: Kingston SSDNow V200 128GB, slightly bigger than the Intel and 15% cheaper.
Now, I could not use the Intel version of Acronis and the package from Kingston did not include any software.
So I used HDClone 4.1 free edition, just creating a bootable USB flash memory. Mounted the SSD in the HDD caddy, the original HDD in the Ultrabay. Cloning went without problems.
So now I am typing on my newborn T60, which is feeling very crisp indeed.
The difference in boot time is:
From hitting power button to logon screen: HDD 40s / SSD 30s
To desktop showing first time: HDD 60s / SSD 35s
To Google Calendar showing in Firefox: HDD 70s / SSD 40s
So far - I have only performed a few startup cycles and operations - it seems very stable.
Very pleased so far

[Cigarguy]

Welcome to the world of SSDs. Bet you'll have hard time going back to HDD, especially 5400 rpm spinners.

[hhmcsv]

Yeah, even though my old Hitachi was 7200rpm.
My WEI for disk changed from 5,0 to 7,1.

[JeffCullen]

FWIW, I have also had excellent experiences with Intel SSDs in plenty of machines (Thinkpads, HPs, and even MacBooks!) -- 320s, 330s, and 520s.

[hhmcsv]

So now I have had 10 days of troublefree operation of the Kingston SSD. It worked fine using the cloning approach as mentioned above, but after collection of the different software (and my courage )and using the advice listed above, I ventured into a clean Win7 installation. That went easy enough, although a lot of patience is required for the multiple restarts following the many Windows update downloads. Ran the Lenovo Thinkvantage System Update too - to get the power manager with the OSD-function.
The benefits in boot time is still amazing!

[hhmcsv]

Ouch
After some weeks of troublefree operation with the SSD, I accidentially looked into "Computer properties" and saw that there was 12 days left for Windows activation.
For the fresh W7 install, I used the Windows boot file as mentioned in the thread above (X17-24394) and the registration key obtained from the old HDD using Keyfinder.
But the problem now is, that the system will not register using that code.
I get errorcode 0xC004E003.
I expect, that re-mounting the old HDD I will have the system as before, and then cloning to the SSD would be OK. But I would very much like to keep my fresh install

Any easy fixes to this problem?

[twistero]

Is the new installation on SSD the same edition (Home Premium, Ultimate, etc.) as the one on HDD?
Is the license Retail or OEM?

[hhmcsv]

Yes, the version is the same. And the use of the downloadet installation file resulted in a OEM Windows ID. Is it so that such an installation is only valid on one system, and since my old system (on the old HDD) has not been "un-registered", I cannot use the same registration code?
Will a call to Microsoft telephone registration solve the problem?

[emtee3511]

If you're sure your Windows Key is correct, then a phone call to Microsoft should work -- you will tell a computer voice that you want to activate your Windows 7 -- the computer voice will ask for the numbers you find on the activation page (that is the page you get when you click 'activate windows' in Computer Properties -- then the computer voice will ask how many computers this Windows is currently installed on, and you will answer 1 (which is your current/only install of this Windows) -- then the computer voice will give you some numbers to fill in and you should be able to register and get your new installation activated.

If you are unsure your Windows Product Key is correct, then you may want to download Speccy from download.com -- this is free Piriform software (the same company that makes CCleaner) that will give you all the 'specifications' of your machine, to include the Windows OS Key -- after you download the program, you can open Speccy and click on 'software' and it will show your Windows with the Key listed as 'serial number' -- really easy

[hhmcsv]

Thank you for the suggestions. So far it did not work.
Originally - se the thead above - the problem was that I did not have the Win7 media (CD) nor the activation codes. Therefore I chose to use the cloning procedure for the SSD.
But as I could find the source-file for Windows, and with the "Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool" from Microsoft Store I created a bootable USB-stick which installed a fresh Win7 installation in the beginning of september. And with the activation code from my old Win7, I thought that everything was going to be OK.

But as mentioned, no luck with any automated activation procedure.
As a last resort, tomorrow I will call Microsoft support to see if they can and will help, but I am not very optimistic. MS is not a very easy company to get in contact with

So, I am slowly getting close to accepting unconditional surrender and go back to cloning the old HDD.

[ScottyBoy]

Thank you for the suggestions. So far it did not work.
Originally - se the thead above - the problem was that I did not have the Win7 media (CD) nor the activation codes. Therefore I chose to use the cloning procedure for the SSD.
But as I could find the source-file for Windows, and with the "Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool" from Microsoft Store I created a bootable USB-stick which installed a fresh Win7 installation in the beginning of september. And with the activation code from my old Win7, I thought that everything was going to be OK.

But as mentioned, no luck with any automated activation procedure.
As a last resort, tomorrow I will call Microsoft support to see if they can and will help, but I am not very optimistic. MS is not a very easy company to get in contact with

So, I am slowly getting close to accepting unconditional surrender and go back to cloning the old HDD.

Have you tried temporarily installing the old physical HDD into your TP and using the Advanced Tokens Manager utility to backup the active Windows 7 License Activation Files, then reinstalling the SSD and restoring the active Windows 7 License Activation Files onto the new OS install?

[hhmcsv]

Hi ScottyBoy!

Hooray that worked! Miracles happen

Found the utility, ran it on the old system (old HDD), mounted the SSD in the harddrive-bay and the old HDD in the ultrabay, copied the utility folder from the HDD on to the same location on the running SSD system, and presto, Windows is activated and legit!

So I am crossing my thumbs hoping it will stay that way.

Thank you very much!

[ScottyBoy]

Hi ScottyBoy!

Hooray that worked! Miracles happen

Found the utility, ran it on the old system (old HDD), mounted the SSD in the harddrive-bay and the old HDD in the ultrabay, copied the utility folder from the HDD on to the same location on the running SSD system, and presto, Windows is activated and legit!

So I am crossing my thumbs hoping it will stay that way.

Thank you very much!

That's good news mate, glad to hear that your sorted out by the look of it - so just to confirm it is showing as being definitely activated now under the Windows 7 OS on the SSD?

[emtee3511]

Congrats!

[hhmcsv]

Yep, without doing anything else than running the utility, Windows is showing up as being activated and being genuine. So this is indeed beautiful and much easier than trying to activate by Microsoft phone service using the 9 groups of 6 digits of the installation ID and then getting rejected and accused of using counterfeit software by the digital male voice.
As I bought this Thinkpad as a used company laptop with a fresh (OEM)
install of Win7 but without the media and activation code, the succesful procedure described here seems to be the way of getting a fresh install.
I think a lot of former company laptops are sold down the line like this, as IT-departments are very particular of wiping HDD's before re-sale.

Anyway, thanks again

[ScottyBoy]

Yep, without doing anything else than running the utility, Windows is showing up as being activated and being genuine. So this is indeed beautiful and much easier than trying to activate by Microsoft phone service using the 9 groups of 6 digits of the installation ID and then getting rejected and accused of using counterfeit software by the digital male voice.
As I bought this Thinkpad as a used company laptop with a fresh (OEM)
install of Win7 but without the media and activation code, the succesful procedure described here seems to be the way of getting a fresh install.
I think a lot of former company laptops are sold down the line like this, as IT-departments are very particular of wiping HDD's before re-sale.

Anyway, thanks again

No probs and good news!