WD Server HDD to SSD Migration Options Help

So I have been doing some maintenance on my WD server recently, one of my concerns has been the HDD that has been running for 8-years now as it is only a desktop drive and may not survive too much longer. Therefore I have just bought a Samsung SSD that I wish to migrate too. I have listed my migration thoughts below and I was looking for some advice and which way to go here, as follows:-

  1. Clone the HDD directly to the new SSD. Note this is currently a Windows 7 OS in which Microsoft support runs out January 2020 (not long considering a weather server operation).

  2. Re-install the Windows 7 OS from scratch to avoid any unnecessary Microsoft bloat. Presumably I would need to re-register WD on the new disk volume?

  3. Install a Windows 10 OS (new license required), again I presume I would need to re-register WD.

  4. Any other options?

What do you think?
Thanks

if your server is running fine and you are just concerned out MS support. Just clone the drive. When MS stops support for windows 7 then do a OS upgrade

Just my opinion. I just when to a SSD the other day. No concerns with cloning here.

Yeah this is my preference also as I have spent time getting this setup stable. What cloning software did you use?

I’ve installed 3 SDD’s, 1 Intel, 2 Samsung and used the cloning software that came with them.

you can get a hardware cloner too (i.e has 2 cradles next to each other that each HD sits in)
and you just leave it to do its thing overnight
(the new drive needs to be similar or bigger size the old drive though)

As this is a one-off I think the software clone solution is good for me. I didn’t consider the SSD manufacturer would have suitable software, therefore I will check out Samsung’s offering.

I need to make sure the software can cope with cloning to a smaller drive capacity as I didn’t need the storage space for Win7 + WD. I was also looking at Macrium Reflect as it is free and should work for my requirements - I need to give it a test drive.

i would think that even software cloning, the new drive needs to be at least the same size

I’ve successfully used Samsung’s software as well as Acronis True Image’s cloning tool. Unfortunately SSD performance rapidly becomes the new normal once you’ve experienced it.

My software came with the SSD’s

I need to make sure the software can cope with cloning to a smaller drive capacity as I didn't need the storage space for Win7 + WD. I was also looking at Macrium Reflect as it is free and should work for my requirements - I need to give it a test drive.

I’m not sure if Samsung Data Migration will do that, I think it will if the total used for files on the old drive is smaller than the SSD but I’ve been wrong before :wink:

Annoyingly I use to have an old version of Acronis but haven’t been able to find it, the version I had is probably a bit old by today’s standards. Unfortunately I won’t get the full SSD performance benefits in this situation as my weather server is a low-power D510MO mini-ITX board with SATA2 (3Gbps) interfaces, but at least I should use less power and produce less noise.

I read the user guide for the Samsung Magician software and it didn’t mention any features on this, although it didn’t mention anything useful either so I am probably none-the-wiser. I like the looks of Macrium Reflect so I will test drive that shortly.

Samsung Data Migration is separate from Magician, but whatever works :smiley:

Good point - looks like it supports migration to smaller disks too, therefore I might try using this.

The Samsung Data Migration software did the business and was straightforward to use.

That’s good :slight_smile: