HOW TO MOVE YOUR WINDOWS OS AND OTHER APPS TO AN SSD DRIVE

On Sunday September 16  we  published a post titled:

"How to remove Windows.old folder from your (C:) drive and why ? "

The last 5 paragraphs of this post were the following:

"I recently installed an SSD drive in my main computer. Because these drives are still rather expensive, I selected and bought a 120 GB unit. In order to install Windows 7 and other programs that I use regularly, I did this by creating a "C: drive Disk Image" . Prior to this of course I deleted the "Windows.old" folder and transferred high volume folders such as Documents, My Pictures, My Music, User Files etc.etc. to my regular hard drive, now changed to as Drive (F:).

The end result is that the OS plus other programs I regularly use run now on an SSD drive and my computer operation is so much faster it is hard to believe.

Drive F: can now be accessed just like any other drive and its programs and files will just run normally, but not as fast as those installed in the SSD drive (C:)

Note: SSD drives are becoming a LOT less expensive then they were a few months ago. 120 GB to 250 GB run between $120.00 to $300.00. I paid a little less than $120.00 for my 120 GB SSD drive.

I hope this post will be of help to most of you. If you have any questions or if you decide to install an SSD drive in your computer and are not brave enough to do at it by yourselves, just post a question or e-mail me. I will then post a more complete description on how to transfer you OS and other program files to you new and very, very fast new SSD drive.

George Freire"

This whole thing   may be a little confusing to say the least, but let me explain:

The "C: drive disk image" was created in an external hard drive, (drive F:) where I also keep a complete back up of the C drive folders and files. Then after installing the SSD, I made it drive C: and restored the disk image to it from the external drive F:. I HOPE THIS CLEARS THE POSSIBLE CONFUSION I MAY HAVE CREATED WITH MY ABOVE DESCRIPTION OF ACTIONS TAKEN.

What is a disk system image ? a disk system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image includes the drives required for Windows to run. It also includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it's a complete restoration; you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Once you have this "disk image" you will be able to transfer it to a completely new and empty hard drive and run the computer again as if nothing had happened. That is what I did with the SSD as described above.

Windows 7 has the capability to create a system image:

-Click "start"/"control panel"/"system and security"/backup and restore".

-On the left column of the "backup and restore" dialog box, you'll see three (3) choices: "

"Turn off Schedule"
"Create a system image"
"Create a system repair disk"

"Create a system image" and "Create a system repair disk" are the choices you need to select. First create the "system repair disk", (it will take just a few minutes), then create the "system image" to the external hard drive that you should have connected via USB to your computer. This will take possibly some time, (normally more than an hour or so, depending on how much stuff you have in your C: drive).

When you select the above operations, Windows will clearly explain what to do, so it will be very easy to do.

My next post will cover my installation of the new Windows 8 version in my other computer. I am now playing with it and exploring all the new features of the system. All I can tell you now is that I like it a lot, but it takes a little time to get used to it and to learn all the new stuff that comes with it.

George Freire