Trying to put some life in the Laptop ... Is this possible. Switching back the old HHd?

As I have 3 weeks to wait for the new workstation to arrive.

I have bought a samsung 850 evo for the Laptop. Hopefully that resolves the failure to read the data on the blu ray / dvd writer. ( well reloading the software was sony's only solution as it passed hardware diagnostics. )

But, as I am worried - I thought I would try the following plan:-

1. Backup the existing HHD. And then remove it.
2. Install the new SSD, boot to post
3. Change the Bios to handle AHCI
4. Shrink the disk?
5. Shutdown and reboot from the blu ray/ dvd writer , with the recovery CDs I made when I got it new.
6. hopefully it works.

If I have a big problem like the DVD writer wont work.
Can I simply

A)
1. Download win 7 Home Premium and use the key on the back of the laptop?

Or if not posssible

B) reinstall the old HDD Drive, restart it and then restore the OS from the recovery partition, and sort the dvd writer out.
I am assumming if I changed the bios to support SSDs, then I would have to change that back before running the restore from the partition, or will that restore reset the Bios as well?

Any help appreciated.

I dont know what the issue is with your blu ray but replacing the hard drive sounds like a odd solution

I assume the data you saving is photos is jpg or raw

Install the ssd

Install a fresh copy of windows, update the drivers from the site to the latest version, your recovery cd will take it back to the original factory installtion and might be quite old

do all the windows updates while its still available (all my PC's are currently auto updating to windows 10 so I doubt it will be available much longer)

Put the old hdd in a external case and copy the data back over to the ssd

If it is possible with your computer, what I would do is copy all the CD's to a flash drive. Then pull out the DVD/CD drive and put your D: drive there.

If it can be done, that seems to be the best temporary solution.

I'd buy a USB case for your SSD (approx £15) then download Clonezilla. This is a bootable Linux utility that will clone your existing disk to your SSD. Copy it to a 2GB or 4GB USB drive. Set the BIOS to boot from the USB containing Clonezilla and clone your old disk to the SSD. Swap the SSD for your internal HDD and boot into your exisiting copy of Windows on your SSD. Original HDD remains intact so it's a backup. Don't need the DVD drive to do any of this.

Regards

Geoff

Don't partition SSDs. Not sure that's what you mean, post is ambiguous. Take Macrium Reflect image every few months so you can roll back to a previous state if your OS goes wrong - you can put the image onto a new disk.

FerozeK wrote in post #17621537
I dont know what the issue is with your blu ray but replacing the hard drive sounds like a odd solution

I assume the data you saving is photos is jpg or raw

Install the ssd

Install a fresh copy of windows, update the drivers from the site to the latest version, your recovery cd will take it back to the original factory installtion and might be quite old

do all the windows updates while its still available (all my PC's are currently auto updating to windows 10 so I doubt it will be available much longer)

Put the old hdd in a external case and copy the data back over to the ssd

Thanks for the reply
Sorry to clarify. Sony support said I had to restore the O/S from the recovery discs, and that would sort out the DVD blu Ray writer. .? As that sounds odd to me - even if it worked enough to reload the O/S, I'd be worried the load from the dvd might be corrupt.
My plan at least leaves the old Hdd intact, at least Outlook works and Photoshop does too - but slowly.

The new SSD is mainly to speed up the Laptop ( nothing to do with the current problem.) but it means if I resotore the OS to this new drive - then at least the old one is intact and hopefully if all fails I can revert back to it.

Similarly if the dvd wont run, I will just buy a new dvd writer, or try and borrow a usb dvd writer. And try again. Hopefully Sony will honour the 4 yr support plan. So the replacement dvd drive should be free.

Yes its just a few docs 170 gigs of jpegs and raw pics.

Nogo wrote in post #17621540
If it is possible with your computer, what I would do is copy all the CD's to a flash drive. Then pull out the DVD/CD drive and put your D: drive there.

If it can be done, that seems to be the best temporary solution.

Thats my problem at the moment the dvd wont read anything, maybe one in 20 times it will.
So I cant copy the 4 cds with the OS restore !
But appreciate your help.

geoffpowell wrote in post #17621544
I'd buy a USB case for your SSD (approx £15) then download Clonezilla. This is a bootable Linux utility that will clone your existing disk to your SSD. Copy it to a 2GB or 4GB USB drive. Set the BIOS to boot from the USB containing Clonezilla and clone your old disk to the SSD. Swap the SSD for your internal HDD and boot into your exisiting copy of Windows on your SSD. Original HDD remains intact so it's a backup. Don't need the DVD drive to do any of this.

Regards

Geoff

I have ordered a 2.5 USB 3.0 case. So I can later use the old 500 gb disc in that.
Appreciate the thought but as they say my OS is corrupt - I neeed a fresh clean install.
So cloning the disc is actually not a solution for me.
I could put the ssd in the new case, as it also fits, and use viao care, to create a complete restore on the ssd - and then swap the hd with the ssd. .... But then I will still have a corrupt os on the ssd.

tim wrote in post #17621556
Don't partition SSDs. Not sure that's what you mean, post is ambiguous. Take Macrium Reflect image every few months so you can roll back to a previous state if your OS goes wrong - you can put the image onto a new disk.

Thanks I had heard there is no point formatting the ssd.
But some say I should partition and then 'shrink' the disc. I am really not sure what they mean by that. As I have never done that before on a single disc laptop.
I think they mean its the ms disc management utility used to shrink a disc to make room for a new partition. But as you say not to partitionan ssd. Then I guess this is not needed.

Viao care also creates restore points, but only goes back 6 restores, and due tomthe dvdv issue,mwith lots of tries even the earliest copy is now corrupt. It automatically flushes out the first restore point if there is not enough space. And sadly one cant manually selectively delete later restore points to preserve the last known working one. I should have copied it to an external drive!

You can download Win 7 and use the key from the sticker on your laptop. Just be sure to download the correct version to match the key. You may be prompted to contact Microsoft's Automated Activation system to get a keycode for final activation. It's easy to do.

This might help : http://www.intowindows​.com …tailed-100-working-guide/

Its instructions on how to install windows from a flash drive, no dvd required as you can download the windows ISO from the MS Store

Having read through all your posts in this thread here is what I would personally do:

1) Download the proper Windows 7 ISO version from Microsoft Recovery. It requires you to enter your Keycode.
2) Download Rufus Bootable USB Creator. Use Google to find it.
3) Create a bootable Windows 7 USB Installation Drive using Rufus. Download drivers for you Wireless or Ethernet and store them on the USB drive.
4) Shutdown the laptop, remove the old HDD and install the new SSD.
5) Power up the laptop and enter the BIOS. Switch to AHCI and then choose to boot from the USB Drive.
6) Install Windows 7, then all the updates and drivers etc. You may need to install the Wireless/Ethernet driver from the USB if Windows 7 didn't have a compatible driver.
7) Install all your Software.
8) Mount the old HDD in the external case and recover any files you need, then do what ever you want to the old drive.

-dave-m- wrote in post #17621824
You can download Win 7 and use the key from the sticker on your laptop. Just be sure to download the correct version to match the key. You may be prompted to contact Microsoft's Automated Activation system to get a keycode for final activation. It's easy to do.

Thanks seems perfect clean windows no Mcafee etc!

FerozeK wrote in post #17621852
This might help : http://www.intowindows​.com …tailed-100-working-guide/

Its instructions on how to install windows from a flash drive, no dvd required as you can download the windows ISO from the MS Store

Thanks very useful

-dave-m- wrote in post #17621871
Having read through all your posts in this thread here is what I would personally do:

1) Download the proper Windows 7 ISO version from Microsoft Recovery. It requires you to enter your Keycode.
2) Download Rufus Bootable USB Creator. Use Google to find it.
3) Create a bootable Windows 7 USB Installation Drive using Rufus. Download drivers for you Wireless or Ethernet and store them on the USB drive.
4) Shutdown the laptop, remove the old HDD and install the new SSD.
5) Power up the laptop and enter the BIOS. Switch to AHCI and then choose to boot from the USB Drive.
6) Install Windows 7, then all the updates and drivers etc. You may need to install the Wireless/Ethernet driver from the USB if Windows 7 didn't have a compatible driver.
7) Install all your Software.
8) Mount the old HDD in the external case and recover any files you need, then do what ever you want to the old drive.

Thanks seems like a perfect plan.
I assume when you say download Windows you mean save onto the USB.?
I have a 32 GB one lying around.