[Tutorial] Restoring SSD performance and imaging Disk

[petherf]

When i try to erase my ssd whit the guide it fail!

My ssd was in sleep mode from the vendor just for protection of the win 7?(I have a upgrade dvd) and did not know how to turn it of.

And when i try my pc just shut down so i have to use the first option and then it was ok.

[trungdtdev]

i try secure erase but Can't boot with Parted Magic from CD or DVD. PartedMagic completes all boot steps, but after saying that the graphic server has been loaded (Xorg, VESA) the screen become black and anything happens

(Can you recommend other soft for erase ssd disk ?)

My laptop Qosmio X505-Q870

Chiset : Intel® Core i7 CPU Q720 @1.60GHz

VGA : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M

 

sr for my bad english

[Mysteryes]

...

 

Use option 4, Alternate graphical server at boot menu ... this should work

[escannihilator]

Nice guide, those are the two programs i swear by also.

[cynan]

Yes, this is my standard method to restore my X32 raid 0 C: drive

 

• Use Windows 7 'Create System Image' to save an image on another disc
  
• Change BIOS to remove the raid 0 Array
  
• Turn off the PC at the mains (not just shutdown -that leaves the disks locked and unable to be erased)
  
• Boot and load Parted Magic
  
• Select Secure Erase for each X32 drive
  
• Reboot into BIOS
  
• Setup Raid 0 array again
  
• Reboot using Windows 7 Repair Disc
  
• Restore the saved system image
  
• Reboot and you are back to where you were
  

 

I have 2 Corsair Performance Pros in RAID 0 as my boot drive.

 

This procedure would work great, except on my X79 motherboard, Win 7 recovery can't see any attached HDDs when the controller is set to RAID mode in the BIOS. Therefore I can't access the image on another drive attached to the Intel controller or the drives that I wish to restore to. Installing the floppy RAID drivers in Win Recovery doesn't seem to do anything.

 

The only work around I can see is to do a fresh Win7 install, then try to reload the image from within Windows. Am I missing something?

[magnus71]

Another method to backup and restore a partition with compress option and that is just copying used block is Partimage from SystemRescueCD.

It's Linux based but it needs just to read a webpage with instructions here:

http://www.partimage.org/Partimage-manual_Usage

 

DON'T FORGET TO BACKUP _MBR_ before wipe your SSD.

 

http://www.partimage.org/Partimage-manual_Backup-partition-table

[Capt Proton]

Lookin for a little help.

When I boot to Parted Magic, I can get to the main screen, however, mouse will not work properly. It moves pretty much OK (a little jerky and sometimes non responsive for a short time) however I can not click on anything. Tried creating a boot USB as well, same result.

 

Using Parted Magic 2012_10_10

[Toasted]

Have you tried a different mouse?

Try a older version of Parted Magic, E.g. 6.X

[Capt Proton]

Did try a different mouse. Tried using a USB to PS2 converter as well. Will try an older version.

[Arioch1]

Paragon has utility to colne running system into SSD. It is rather expensive for shoot-and-forget one time tool, but it works like charm.

 

AOMEI PArtition Assistant is free tool - but to me it misearably failed in cloning :-(

[whiteazn]

has anyone tried using Macrium Reflect Free instead of Arconis?

 

I just built my system, and now looking at Imaging programs to use for backup along with performance maintenance as described in this guide. But was looking at Macrium Free instead of Arconis. I don't care for incremental backups, and I have read alot of problems with Arconis (except that their core product is good).

 

My main thing is for reliability of cloning my SSD, and being able to boot from USB to do the process.

[jh]

I have used Macrium Reflect Free for over a year. Backing up the system partition was pleasant. But all that confidence proved false. When I needed to restore my system back, what I obtained of Macrium were only excuses. But it is exactly the restore operation what matters in this kind of software rather than anything else. So Macrium Reflect has failed in my eyes. Even if I messed it up somehow (I tried several different ways to get it back, and several different error messages), it failed anyway as this operation has to be straightforward and reliable. Or not promised at all. So currently, I am looking for another solution, too. May be I'll end up with a dual-boot system, after all.

 

Still, I would like to know: Has anybody actually and successfully RESTORED in Paragon Backup? Or with other piece of sw?

[Capt Proton]

I posted a while back about not being able to get my mouse to work. It is actually worse than that.

I can't seem to get Parted Magic to work at all. I made the bootable CD using CDXP Burner (my favorite program that has always served me well for making bootable CDs etc).

It boots up, however, it cannot load properly.

I used Parted Magic on my SSDs about a year ago or so, however, now it just doesn't seem to work. I was excited to see a new version on the website today, but it doesn't work either. My latest attempts have been on a new rig I am preparing, a ASROCK Z77 Extreme4 with i7 3770K at 4.6ghz and a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.

I really need to clear my SSD so I can use Acronis and get a new image loaded.

Other programs? Acronis itself?

 

Solved. I was able to boot from a USB and it worked fine.

[Capt Proton]

How long should this erase take? Mine only took seconds, and that doesnt seem right.

 

My fresh install BSODs when I try to run AS SSD. Everything else seems to be fine.

[Toasted]

That is normal.

 

A secure erase on an SSD takes only about a second.

 

What BSOD error code do you get?

Have you tried a different SATA port and SATA data cable?

Latest BIOS?

[Capt Proton]

That is normal.

 

A secure erase on an SSD takes only about a second.

 

What BSOD error code do you get?

Have you tried a different SATA port and SATA data cable?

Latest BIOS?

 

For the record and other folks info should they have the same problem: The issue was VTT Voltage. The memory was not stable.

[salmanshah]

I followed this tutorial and got my Corsair Force 3 60GB SSD performance back to its optimum performance. Unfortunately I forgot to keep the ATTO screenshot before secure erase.

 

This is after the secure erase:

http://www.shotpix.com/images/67203296854361992566.png

 

Secure Erased after 1 year 12 days! ~4TB data was written to it.

Hope you guys liked it.

[antonyfrn]

Anyone here tried doing this with O&O Diskimage Pro 7 ? or recommend an alternate to Acronis True Image what works well with windows 8 pro 64bit?

 

Thanks

[Bad_dude]

Is step D. - Format and unit allocation, necessary, even if you are using RAID0?

Thanks

[Toasted]

The OP says its optional for people running RAID0.

 

Okay this section is all optional for people who are running their SSDs in a RAID0 setup.

[Bad_dude]

The OP says its optional for people running RAID0.

 

I understand that. But what I am asking is if I am running RAID0, is this a necessary step? I think after you secure erase, you have to repartition before it could be format in windows. But if you are restoring to the same drives, I think the image takes care of that right?

Thanks.

[Toasted]

Yes after you secure erase the drives you need to rebuild the RAID array. If you want to follow it you can, but you don't have to.

 

As the OP said its optional for RAID0 users, i guess the imaging software he used takes care of it.

 

If it doesn't work, you can always secure erase the drives again then follow the steps again.