[computerwiz12890]

Hey all!

 

I'm so out of the OS/software world these days...might as well pretend I'm not a computer guy.  Had 2 hiccups already, working on my wife's computer, so I'm coming here before I make another screw up.  

 

We are interested in upgrading my wife's laptop's hard drive to a nice, shiny, new SSD.  There's a lot of mixed information out there (hence the 2 screw ups I've already made), so I'm going to avoid Google on this one.  Please...help me from beginning to end...what do I need to consider before doing this?

 

Additional considerations:

1. Windows key issues? (I have no idea how the new key system works...there's no sticker!)
2. What partition software can copy everything over, no sweat?
3. After installing SSD, what re-configuring do I need to do in Windows 8.1 for optimum performance?

 

Please walk me through this...

 

Thanks!!

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How big is the HDD in the laptop?

How big is the SSD you will replace it with?

 

If the SSD is large enough you can simply clone the HDD to the SSD then replace the HDD with the SSD and boot up. Should be that simple.

I've done this several times now using cloning and it's worked perfectly.

 

A 2nd advantage is you still have the HDD if things go bad that you put back and start over.

 

Macrium Reflect Free has a good cloning tool you can use. Install it to the HDD then use it to create a bootable rescue disc or flash drive. Boot that to do the cloning with. The easiest way to do this would be to connect the SSD via a USB universal adapter to clone then clone the HDD to it.

 

Edit:

Windows key issues? (I have no idea how the new key system works...there's no sticker!)

Key is embedded in the BIOS and will be used if you do a reinstall.

 

What partition software can copy everything over, no sweat?

Macrium as I mentioned.

 

After installing SSD, what re-configuring do I need to do in Windows 8.1 for optimum performance?

None

[Ztruker]

How big is the HDD in the laptop?

How big is the SSD you will replace it with?

 

If the SSD is large enough you can simply clone the HDD to the SSD then replace the HDD with the SSD and boot up. Should be that simple.

I've done this several times now using cloning and it's worked perfectly.

 

A 2nd advantage is you still have the HDD if things go bad that you put back and start over.

 

Macrium Reflect Free has a good cloning tool you can use. Install it to the HDD then use it to create a bootable rescue disc or flash drive. Boot that to do the cloning with. The easiest way to do this would be to connect the SSD via a USB universal adapter to clone then clone the HDD to it.

 

Edit:

Windows key issues? (I have no idea how the new key system works...there's no sticker!)

Key is embedded in the BIOS and will be used if you do a reinstall.

 

What partition software can copy everything over, no sweat?

Macrium as I mentioned.

 

After installing SSD, what re-configuring do I need to do in Windows 8.1 for optimum performance?

None

[computerwiz12890]

Current HDD is 1tb.

New SDD that I'm considering will be 256gb.  I bought my wife 2x 2tb portable hard drives to store all her personal files.  So the cloning software will have to be capable of going from a large hard drive to a smaller one.

 

I figure if it can't, I could always use EaseUS Partition Master to shrink the 1tb HDD to a size smaller than the SSD, then clone it over.  Though I've had a hiccup doing that before...I'd prefer a more reliable cloning software so I don't have to mess with the partition at all.

 

Thanks for the software recommendation, I'll check it out!  :-)

 

So Win 8.1 handles SSDs with no sweat eh?  I remember having to do some special stuff to get the most out of it on Win7.  Good to hear!