Best way to clone Win7 HP from HD to Samsung 128GB SSD

[skygodtj]

I have a couple 60/61 that I want to swap from Toshiba drive to SSD's.. I have one Samsung 128GB drive (http://www.ebay.com/itm/360611012130?ss ... 1497.l2649) coming for the T60 (2008-CM5) and I'm looking at another one for a T61 (7663-2EU) I just got. The -60 has Win7 HP already, and works fine with abt 100gigs (out of 320) free, and lots I can still kill off to fit. The T61 has no drive, so its a clean slate for the T61 install. I have the IBM 1.8" drive -> 2.5" frame posted in another thread for the Samsung drive.

Anyway, any better to image/clone the 1.8" 128GB from the Tosh drive? I think I saw someone said to "layout/format the SSD" with a Win7 or Vista disk but I think that was just to load XP on the SSD? I actually had the idea to install the SSD, put the Win7 disk in and just doing a clean/new install, patching and re-copy my data from a thumbdrive/backup.. either is easy enough for me. Does Samsung have any cloning-ware for it's SSDs? Would Acronis/Ghost work?

Oh, yeah.. any BIOS patching I have to do for drive table, geometry, etc?

[jayton4]

I actually had the idea to install the SSD, put the Win7 disk in and just doing a clean/new install, patching and re-copy my data from a thumbdrive/backup.. either is easy enough for me.

I would definitely recommend this method times ten over any kind of cloning solution.

[ZaZ]

That's been my experience. Either the alignment is off or something else is goofy, but once you do the clean install, you can put the image back using the software with no trouble.

[skygodtj]

ok, kinda figured that, clean install is best, then patch, then add in apps/docs/media from the old drive..

Any BIOS patches I have to do to the T60 or 61 before adding the SSDs? The T60 (what I'm on now) BIOS date is 02/05/08.. wont know the -61's BIOS ver/date until it gets delivered Friday..

Thanks, TJ

[ZaZ]

You can do the Middleton BIOS hack on the T61 and it allows for SATA speeds, but there's not much practical difference between SATA I and II for most uses. My R60e has a SATA I controller and it's plenty fast for typical usage.

[skygodtj]

I saw that but I thought that was just for T61P... I'll check again for it.. Thanks ZaZ!

[skygodtj]

ok, Samsung SSD drive came in the mail, installed, formatted.. actually goofed and started it as 64-bit install (yeah, T2400 is only 32bit), then ran thru several attempts to clear then set 32-bit.. anyway.. formatted 32bit, loaded clean Win7 HP, patched, copied my music/pix, etc to test out.. holy crap, this is much faster than the Tosh 320gb/7200rpm drive.. hmmm, but still.. ran Crystal Disk Mark test and from what it looks like, while lots faster than the Tosh hard drive, it seems like I'm missing some real gains, but then, this -is- my first SSD install on the 2GB T60 (2008-CM5). Is this really begging for a BIOS update?

Read Write
-------------------------
Seq 130.4 107.3
512k 111.6 34.1
4k 16.1 6.0
4k QD 20.3 2.5

The Middleton flash say its for the T61/p, but can I do it to this plain T60?

And while looking around eBay, I spotted several T400's, ended up buying two (http://www.ebay.com/itm/151034630046, $194), so I'll have a couple others to really work with.. but this T60 needs the Middleton patch to work better?

[cadillacmike68]

The Middleton flash say its for the T61/p, but can I do it to this plain T60?

Middleton is only for T61s. There is a different BIOS update for T60, but I don't know what it's called.

[91011]

The T60 BIOS mod does not affect the SATA speed on a T60 - hardware doesn't support SATA II.
It does remove the WiFi card whitelist and adds a SLIC 2.1.

[skygodtj]

ok thanks guys, I have the T61 in hand, the SSD performance I posted above (on the T60) will hopefully be better (if even marginally) on the -61.. I'll test it tonight pre & post BIOS mod and see how it improves.

[GACrabill]

hmmm, but still.. ran Crystal Disk Mark test and from what it looks like, while lots faster than the Tosh hard drive, it seems like I'm missing some real gains, but then, this -is- my first SSD install on the 2GB T60 (2008-CM5).

Read Write
-------------------------
Seq 130.4 107.3
512k 111.6 34.1
4k 16.1 6.0
4k QD 20.3 2.5

I agree that the Samsung SSD performance numbers are not as good as other SSDs.
Here's the results of my T60 with a 120GB Intel 320 Series SSD :

Read Write
-------------------------
Seq 135.2 120.7
512k 112.8 119.6
4k 14.1 23.1
4k QD 105.2 68.4

[ajkula66]

Read Write
-------------------------
Seq 130.4 107.3
512k 111.6 34.1
4k 16.1 6.0
4k QD 20.3 2.5

Your 4K numbers are pretty low even for a SATA I machine IMO.

What - if any - SSD tweaks have you applied?

[BKthink]

My Samsung 830 SSD in a T60 for comparison.

BK

[skygodtj]

I haven't applied any patches to it yet for performance.. For a T60, I'm not seeing anything other than a bios update.. currently has 2.08 I think.. (might even be 2.10) but I had not seen any other patches yet. Just updated the SystemUpdate before I had to pack up to go fly so I'll let it run tonight and find the appropriate patches (if any) for this.. I went with the Samsung SSD just for price ($75).. I may pick up a 320 or 830 later.

I'll run CDM on the T61 tonight and post it's results, then do the Middleton update.

I have two T400s coming this week, and another Samsung 128gb ssd, will post it's results (but in the T4xx forum.