Cloning from HDD to SSD vs. a fresh installation on SSD

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cheesum

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Hi all;
Need your help on this. Currently, i am planning to use the SSD as the boot drive to install the OS and all other programs.
However, which is the better route?
- cloning / migrating the data from the HDD to SSD, versus
- a clean installation on the SSD???

This is the scenario:
Recently, i purchased the Ideapad Y580 (which comes preinstalled with Windows 8) together with an Intel SSD 330 (120GB). The laptop is so new that it has not been unpacked from the box yet and no recovery disks have been created yet.

So, which option is better? To clone / migrate your data from the HDD to SSD versus a clean installation on the SSD itself?

Also, if i choose to clone the data in the HDD, how to remove all the bloatwares? God forbids if the SSD gets all the bloatware.

Also, please kindly share all the good/ credible guides on setting up/ optimizing Windows 8 for SSD setup.

Lastly, a Happy New Year 2013.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Wind 7 Home Premium 64 Bits/ Win 8 64 Bits
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Y580
    Other Info
    Be kind...complete newbie here...
A brand new laptop with win 8 installed would have all the drivers for the motherboard

[FONT=&quot]installed. I would uninstall bloat-ware first then (clone)...[/FONT]
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 & Win 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
    CPU
    AMD Athlon II X2 245
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
    Memory
    4096 MB DDR2-SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    On bord
IMO there is not much to be considered bloatware on my windows 8 y580. Anyway, you will not have a working recovery disc with it. The recovery usb drive which requires a 16gb flash drive has the issue of not being able to recover to a blank drive. My research has led to my conclusion that lenovo intended it to be capable of this. Apparently this affects some of Lenovos ideapads(apparently works fine for all windows 8 thinkpads). Cloning can be difficult. Epoch has a thread where he hasn't been able to successfully clone his similar new windows 8 lenovo. Make sure to find cloning software which supports windows 8, secure boot, uefi, and gpt. After cloning and booting you want to look up how to align your SSD. I'm sure someone will be able to link you to some more optimizations you can do as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo y580
information   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html
​



Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

You can order OEM Recovery disks from your OEM manufacturer's website.
Most OEM's will ship Recovery DVD's for FREE, (may be a postage fee)

Lenovo said:
When the hard disk drive or solid state drive is replaced because of a failure, no
product recovery program is on the new drive. In this case, you must use the
Recovery Disc Set for the computer. Order the Recovery Disc Set and the drive at
the same time so that you can recover the new drive with the pre-installed
software when they arrive.
Click to expand...

From the manual for Lenovo G480.

I personally would use the Lenovo Recovery disc's to clean install.

For cloning
I would look for a 3rd party Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Lenovo recovery discs are $59, OP. But if you do get it, send me an iso. Also if you convince them to send you the recovery discs for postage only, I'd like to know how.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo y580
theog said:
information   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html
​



Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

You can order OEM Recovery disks from your OEM manufacturer's website.
Most OEM's will ship Recovery DVD's for FREE, (may be a postage fee)

Lenovo said:
When the hard disk drive or solid state drive is replaced because of a failure, no
product recovery program is on the new drive. In this case, you must use the
Recovery Disc Set for the computer. Order the Recovery Disc Set and the drive at
the same time so that you can recover the new drive with the pre-installed
software when they arrive.
Click to expand...

From the manual for Lenovo G480.

I personally would use the Lenovo Recovery disc's to clean install.

For cloning
I would look for a 3rd party Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Click to expand...

Hi. I am complete newbie ~ but still take the plunge to install the SSD on the IdeaPad Y580 :)
You are correct. The IdeaPad Y580 has got a special button known as Lenovo Recovery Key. One touch on the button will automatically create all the necessary recovery disks.

Just a few dumb questions.
(1): What is a clean install and what is cloning??
(2): Also, what are the advantages for clean install as opposed to cloning? The laptop is still brand new...never been used before.
(3): Also, Intel has got a link to the Intel Data Migration Software. It is part of a value added service of buying their SSD. But the software does not state that it has been tested on Windows 8. Who can i turn to for help concerning this software compatibility for Windows 8?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Wind 7 Home Premium 64 Bits/ Win 8 64 Bits
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Y580
    Other Info
    Be kind...complete newbie here...
cheesum said:
Hi. I am complete newbie ~ but still take the plunge to install the SSD on the IdeaPad Y580 :)
You are correct. The IdeaPad Y580 has got a special button known as Lenovo Recovery Key. One touch on the button will automatically create all the necessary recovery disks.
Click to expand...

Despite what you've read, be prepared to be disappointed. One key recovery in windows 8 will NOT create recovery disks. They have removed this feature in favor of the windows 8 recovery drive creator. Whatever you read was accurate for windows 7 not windows 8. The built in windows 8 feature uses USB only. This usb cannot recover to a blank hard drive in this laptop. I have this laptop. Trust me. This thread I'm linking to has good information regarding the y580. IMO any owner of a windows 8 preinstalled y580 should read through this thread completely or at least through to the end of page 4.

Buyer Beware: Don't format your windows 8 disk!! - Lenovo Community

cheesum said:
Just a few dumb questions.
(1): What is a clean install and what is cloning??
(2): Also, what are the advantages for clean install as opposed to cloning? The laptop is still brand new...never been used before.
(3): Also, Intel has got a link to the Intel Data Migration Software. It is part of a value added service of buying their SSD. But the software does not state that it has been tested on Windows 8. Who can i turn to for help concerning this software compatibility for Windows 8?
Click to expand...

1. Clean install is referring in this case to returning to the straight out of factory status. This puts windows in an uninitialized state where the settings aren't fully configured yet. Cloning is taking all data off of one drive and restoring it exactly the way it was on a different drive.

2. Cloning is useful when a person has a lot of personalization, applications, documents, and etc that they don't want to lose. The advantage is you get everything back the way you left it. Clean install, imo, always gives better performance. Also clean installs have less technical issues if something goes wrong.

3. Things have changed for windows 8. If it doesn't say its compatible for windows 8, its a sure bet it won't work.

Edit: added a couple things.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo y580
Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo system with Microsoft Windows 8 preload


Lenovo said:
NOTE: From this point forward in the recovery process, the choices for actual operating system recovery depend on the existing state of the computer hard drive.

Below are the instructions if there is an existing Microsoft Windows 8 install on the hard drive.
1.Select the target operating system of Microsoft Windows 8 to reload over existing Lenovo preload.
2.Select "Yes" to repartition the drives or "No" to keep existing partitions. For a clean install, the drives should be repartitioned.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive".
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.

Below are the instructions if the hard drive is blank.
1.Select "Yes" to repartition the HDD or "No" to keep the existing partitions.
2.Click either choice, but these instructions follow the repartition scenario.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive" as this will take several minutes to complete.
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Wind 7 Home Premium 64 Bits/ Win 8 64 Bits
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Y580
    Other Info
    Be kind...complete newbie here...

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Hi theog,
Thanks alot for your patience.

Can i confirm with you on the following?
Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo system with Microsoft W_2013-01-01_22-4.png

After completing the steps as shown per above, i will remove the existing factory HDD and replace it with the SSD and plug in the USD drive. Thereafter, the recovery image will be loaded into the SSD and therefore i can boot Windows 8 from the SSD. Is this correct? As simple as that?

Also, tmsmith616 states that the USB thumbdrive is not able to load the recovery image to blank HDD/ SSD. Does these steps address this issue?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Wind 7 Home Premium 64 Bits/ Win 8 64 Bits
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Y580
    Other Info
    Be kind...complete newbie here...
cheesum said:
After completing the steps as shown per above, i will remove the existing factory HDD and replace it with the SSD and plug in the USD drive. Thereafter, the recovery image will be loaded into the SSD and therefore i can boot Windows 8 from the SSD. Is this correct? As simple as that?
Click to expand...

NO.

cheesum said:
Also, tmsmith616 states that the USB thumbdrive is not able to load the recovery image to blank HDD/ SSD. Does these steps address this issue?
Click to expand...

Not following Lenove Recovery Tutorial.



The base of Tutorial.
1) Make Recovery USB Pendrive.
2) Remove factory HDD. (not in tutorial)
3) Install your SSD. (not in tutorial)
4) Install OS with Recovery USB Pendrive to the SSD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Are my posts invisible? That tutorial *should work* but it doesn't. Its the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with. It will not recover to a drive that doesn't already have a windows 8 installation. A mod over at the lenovo community forum states this:
Apparently there is an issue reinstalling the Lenovo Win 8 a pre-load image onto a blank HDD with some Win 8 Ideapad models (sorry, I don't have a definitive list). Its my understanding that Lenovo is working on the issue

If the other models you have are Win 8 IdeaPads, it may work on them!?!

It does definitely works with all Win 8 ThinkPad models.

Cheers,

Bill
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo y580

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
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