Windows 10: Using old SSD for backups

Not a question, just wanted to share. I bought a Samsung 860 Evo a few months ago and have been using it since (thanks to those who helped with that). I kept my old SSD and recently purchased an enclosure for it. Previously I had been imaging to a 10 year old HDD. Images took between 10-12 mins. Using my repurposed SSD it's down to 2-3 mins. What a difference !

:)

 

Cloning to SSD then swapping drive letters


@SamHobbs
What you want done is very simple and can be done in short period of time. Here's my suggestion:
There's 2 modes that Windows can be installed: UEFI and the old legacy MBR. Open Disk Management, look at the disk where your C drive is, if there's a

1. EFI System Partition, your Windows was installed using UEFI.
2. System Reserved partition, your Windows was installed using MBR

Next, Connect your SSD to an available Sata port (no need to format or do anything). Download: Macrium Reflect Free . Install and run. Follow the steps below:

1. From Macrium, click on image this disk under your C drive and save it to either an Internal or External Drive. This will create a single backup image of the whole disk containing your C drive.
2. Again, from Macrium, click on Restore tab and select the image created from step 1, Select your SSD as the destination drive, click Next->Finish
3. Exit Macrium. If your Windows was installed using MBR, Open disk management and make sure the SSD is marked "Active" else go to next step.
4. Shutdown your PC. Disconnect the HD containing Windows C drive then connect your SSD to it.
5. Reboot. Your PC should boot and the Windows should have C as the drive letter.

NOTE: The procedure above is to backup your Windows to an image file then copy it back to the SSD. This ensures proper cluster size aligment for the SSD. In addition, Macrium also perform Trimming for the SSD. This is more preferable than cloning.

 

New windows 10 installtion on New SSD - wont boot unless old SSD present

It seems you installed Windows while the both SSDs were connected. This would have caused your current problem. Maybe it is sufficient to do this:

1. Launch the Disk Manager.
2. Right-click drive C:, then mark it as "active".
3. Shut down Windows
4. Open the BIOS and tell it that the new SSD is the primary boot device.
5. Disconnect the old SSD.
6. Boot up normally.

If this does not work then you might have to do this:

1. Disconnect the old SSD.
2. Re-install Windows on the new SSD, using the Media Creation Tool.

 

old email addresses

Thank you for updating me HA.111

Here is the step to remove that old email address.

Start typing an email address into the “To” field. As soon as you see the old email address being recommended as one of the potential candidates, use the down arrow key to scroll through the list of suggestions. Once you highlight the old email address, type the delete key. In many cases, this will actually remove the entry not only from the current list of suggestions but from future suggestions as well. You may even find that as you mouse over the drop-down list the highlighted item will have an “x” to explicitly allow you to delete it.

Just do this step and your good to go.

Continue to have an escellent day HA.111

Best regards,

Anthony C. De Jesus

Independent Advisor