how to install the same OS in two places without a disk

xarik

xarik

New Member
I just put in a used SSD that was declared "broken" but it writes and reads and passed the tests on speedfan. I want my OS on it but would like to be careful and keep the OS on my main drive incase the ssd is corrupt and BSOD and then I have no backup OS lol. So how can I load windows 7 onto this new drive without deleting the old OS and without using an install disc? I would like to keep the programs on the main drive for now but are there any goods methods to moving those over later and taking the OS off the old drive?

New to the SSD and dual bay laptops so I'm sorry
 
To get the OS from your hdd to the ssd you could clone the hdd using software like Macrium Reflect. The problem comes up that ssds are generally smaller than hdds and you can't clone a larger drive to a smaller drive.

You should always have an image backup of your drive that would allow you to restore your OS should it get corrupted.
 
The way how I do it ALWAYS WORKS,but it's a little bit more complicated since it includes Windows disk and Linux Ubuntu disk.

So the easiest way for you would be to use programs like DriveClone Pro with which you can clone the HDD on your SSD.It doesn't matter if your HDD's capacity is bigger than SSD's capacity.What matters is how big is the capacity of your DATA on the HDD.
AS LONG AS THE DATA CAPACITY ON THE HDD IS BIG SO THAT IT CAN FIT ON SSD SPACE,YOU WILL BE FINE.

Example...

Fine:

HDD USED SPACE: 20,9 GB
HDD TOTAL CAPACITY: 500 GB

SSD USED SPACE: 0 GB
SSD TOTAL CAPACITY: 30 GB (which means that HDD data can fit)

Not fine:

HDD USED SPACE: 82,3 GB
HDD TOTAL CAPACITY: 500 GB

SSD USED SPACE: 0 GB
SSD TOTAL CAPACITY: 30 GB (which means that HDD data can not fit)





Cheers!
 
Lucky me it's a cleared out laptop with 41GB used on the HDD ;D!!!! (64 GB SSD Corsair M4)...when I do this, will it bring up a dual boot screen in the boot menu? Also will I be able to uninstall from both of them separately!?? If I duplicate the drive and keep both HDD's inside the computer, will I be booting from the SSD and only be able to access the SSD or will it show the HDD (when booted in SSD) and just not allow me to access any Windows files (booting files)...
 
No, cloning won't let you setup dual boot with a menu. Not sure what you mean by uninstall from both of them separately. You can configure the ssd as your boot drive and when booted from, it will allow you to uninstall any programs installed there (except the OS) and when booted from the hdd you'll be able to uninstall software installed there.
 
So if I put W7 on the SSD and my HDD I will only be able to boot from one of them individually?
how will I choose which one to boot from?
If I backup my HDD and remove the OS will it put it back on there if I recover?
When booted from either the HDD or the SSD can I run programs from the other and edit files on both?

I am only putting on two W7 OS's because the SSD has been known to fail in the past but there wasn't a confirmation of what caused the failure
 
xarik said:
So if I put W7 on the SSD and my HDD I will only be able to boot from one of them individually?
how will I choose which one to boot from?
Click to expand...

When you dual boot a system it will have a list of OS' on boot that you can choose which you want to boot to. You can change the name of each so you know which OS specifically you're booting to.

xarik said:
If I backup my HDD and remove the OS will it put it back on there if I recover?
Click to expand...

What do you mean "recover"? Unless you image it, you will have to reinstall the OS from scratch.

xarik said:
When booted from either the HDD or the SSD can I run programs from the other and edit files on both?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can definitely edit files. As far as running programs, that's a maybe. Some programs may run but many may not.

xarik said:
I am only putting on two W7 OS's because the SSD has been known to fail in the past but there wasn't a confirmation of what caused the failure
Click to expand...

I say get rid of that SSD and get a more reliable one then instead of doing all the crap you're suggesting.
 
Another thought if you want redundancy, you could always get 2 good SSD's and put them in RAID1 (Mirror) so they are both identical and if one fails you have a backup that works seamlessly.
 
I have imaged the drive and am taking precautions

This would be the same thing I do even if its a brand new drive because I don't want to lose data and don't trust new equipment all the time. I understand it seems like a lot of stupid crap for something that might not work, but its an $70 ssd that I don't have to pay for lol...defraging CCleaning and cloning the drive....do ai need to partition it or can I just clone it and go from there?...6hour wait for the dfrag
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top