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Clean install, or clone?

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  • 24-01-2014 2:54pm
    #1
    shnaek
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭


    Just looking for general opinions here. I'm upgrading my SSD from 64g to 256g. I could clone the OS from one to the other and save myself lots of time, but should I do a clean install, even though it's going to take ages to install all my software again? Are the benefits worth the hassle?
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    #2
    stylie
    Registered Users Posts: 689 ✭✭✭stylie


    shnaek wrote: »
    Just looking for general opinions here. I'm upgrading my SSD from 64g to 256g. I could clone the OS from one to the other and save myself lots of time, but should I do a clean install, even though it's going to take ages to install all my software again? Are the benefits worth the hassle?

    I cloned the OS, from a 60gb SSD to a 120gb. Thought it was pretty fast all things considered. Ran it for a few months before I built a newer PC. I decided to sell the old, I wiped it and reinstalled a bunch of software on it. With out being able to measure exactly it seems a lot faster and more responsive than when I had cloned the OS onto it. Sure it has less software on it, but not my much. It just seems faster.

    In the future I will do clean installs, and in anticipation of that I am keeping all the software I download in a folder on my NAS for very quick reinstalls. Also over time there is a lot of crap software downloaded that you never uninstall(oh sure I might need that in 18mths time), like a bloody hoarder, so nuke the lot and start fresh.


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    #3
    marco_polo
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 10,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭marco_polo


    There shouldn't really be any need to do a fresh install. If you use something like Easus Todo backup, it has an "Optimize for SSD" option which should ensure that everything is copied over perfectly to the new SSD. If everything is alligned properly there is no real reason why the should be any performance loss, in fact all else being equal the bigger SSD should be quicker (But no harm benchmarking before and after just to be sure).

    http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid+state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows


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    #4
    shnaek
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭shnaek


    Thanks guys. I am definitely going to put my software on another drive anyways for quick backup - no harm in doing this in case the drive fails at some point.


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