Upgrading Laptop to SSD failed HDD

[Finn 7 five 11]

Hi guys, I was having laptop BSOD issues for a while, and then the laptop wouldn't boot, it's a HP from 2011 or 2012, I forget which year I bought it.

 

The specs are roughly this, I didn't ever really game on the laptop like I thought I might so I forget:

 

- i7 3620m

-HD 7870m

- 1TB hdd

- Windows 7

- 4GB RAM.

The laptop is a little beat up, but pretty functional aside from a failed HDD

 

Anyway I did get it to boot eventually using "NORTON RECOVERY DISC" and then it worked a while and crashed, I ran diagnostics before that and found the HDD had a failure somewhere, I recalled when accessing certain files the computer fatally froze and crashed several times, the pieces fit, I had most important stuff backed up, not everything though, like all my google chrome bookmarks for example and a few other things, all up only about 130GB of HDD space had been used.

 

I did a Windows backup once while I got it working, it crashed at what I estimate to be about halfway haven't touched the laptop for about a month now, that's all the back story, so I'll cut to the question now.

 

I want a new laptop, but it needs to have an SSD to make my upgrade worthwhile, however most laptops I looked at have hybrid drives (no thanks). Laptops which have two Drives, one SSD and one HDD are over $2000-$3000 AUD, it's what I want, but that's too much money for something that I will replace in 2-3 years, single drive SSD laptops are around the same price for anything with around 500gb of space.

 

Do you think it's worthwhile to buy an SSD (around 256gb/$300-500) put it in my laptop, freeze the old hdd (so it works) then clone it to the new drive via USB?

 

Is this a good idea?

Any good software for the job? How exactly do I do it?

 

Thanks

Edited December 22, 2014 by Finn 7 five 11

[Oaty]

Yeah, I'd say it would be a very worthwhile upgrade. Going from harddrive to SSD can be one of the most noticeable upgrades when it comes to general everyday Windows performance.

 

Can get a good 512gb for like $200 these days. Installs the same way you would a new harddrive, so you'd just unscrew the harddrive bay at the bottom of the laptop and switch them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821&cm_re=crucial_mx100-_-20-148-821-_-Product

 

Only thing you need to do is make sure AHCI is enabled in the BIOS options, and a fresh Windows install would be necessary to take full advantage of it.

[Finn 7 five 11]

What would be your idea to backup all my data then? Should I freeze the hdd and clone to the ssd via usb? Or freeze hdd, reinstall into laptop and then back it up to an external hdd? Then I can install a new ssd with a fresh Windows install and pick and choose what I want to take from my backup?

[Oaty]

The latter would probably be easier.

[AzO]

Buy SSD

Do a clean OS install

Put the old HDD in 2.5" case

Copy your most important stuff over USB

If HDD is badly damaged and has many bad sectors - throw it away and don't bother with it. DO NOT use it for any important files.

Enjoy your brand new laptop experience. Trust me, an SSD will make your laptop feel as if it was a 2000$ rig from the year 2104.

[Finn 7 five 11]

@Over, thanks

 

@aZo I already have an external HDD (HDD 1) that hasn't failed so I'll make a full back up onto that from HDD 2 the one in my laptop instead, then install SSD, fresh Windows, and then copy what I want from the external HDD (HDD 1) and toss the broken one, not trusting any files to it.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Finn 7 five 11

[Finn 7 five 11]

Okay so my only question now is:

 

Windows 7 or 8.1? I like 7, it will boot fast with an SSD anyway, and they both get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out, so shall I stick to it?

[utack]

Okay so my only question now is:

 

Windows 7 or 8.1? I like 7, it will boot fast with an SSD anyway, and they both get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out, so shall I stick to it?

Win10 is around the corder, just buy a cheaper windows 7 license for now and upgrade for free then

[Finn 7 five 11]

 

 

Okay so my only question now is:

 

Windows 7 or 8.1? I like 7, it will boot fast with an SSD anyway, and they both get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out, so shall I stick to it?

Win10 is around the corder, just buy a cheaper windows 7 license for now and upgrade for free then

Sweet idea actually, I forgot it was cheaper.

Also will Windows backup restore to a new copy of Windows? Does it have to be the same version?

[utack]

 

 

Okay so my only question now is:

 

Windows 7 or 8.1? I like 7, it will boot fast with an SSD anyway, and they both get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out, so shall I stick to it?

Win10 is around the corder, just buy a cheaper windows 7 license for now and upgrade for free then

Sweet idea actually, I forgot it was cheaper.

Also will Windows backup restore to a new copy of Windows? Does it have to be the same version?

 

I think Windows 10 is only free as a real upgrade, meaning you have to install Win7 first, so I would assume it keeps all the data?

[Finn 7 five 11]

 

 

 

 

Okay so my only question now is:

 

Windows 7 or 8.1? I like 7, it will boot fast with an SSD anyway, and they both get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out, so shall I stick to it?

Win10 is around the corder, just buy a cheaper windows 7 license for now and upgrade for free then

Sweet idea actually, I forgot it was cheaper.

Also will Windows backup restore to a new copy of Windows? Does it have to be the same version?

 

I think Windows 10 is only free as a real upgrade, meaning you have to install Win7 first, so I would assume it keeps all the data?

Oh no, sorry, I mean that I've backed up Windows 7 using Windows backup to an external hdd. If I get a new Windows for my SSD will I be able to restore my backup to the new install on the ssd?