WilliamP

I haven't seen any reports but it should work. However, the restores would not produce a 2 KiB aligned partition which SSDs need for speed.

WilliamP

Quote:

I think what Brian was saying is that Ghost 2003's built-in tool for restoring an image to a *virgin* unpartitioned/unformatted SSD drive would not create the needed formatted structure that the SSD drive needs.

Using a partitioning/formatting tool ahead of time that can create the needed partition structure with the *2 KiB aligned partition which SSDs need for speed*--then Ghost 2003 would probably restore the *data* to the existing partition structure without a problem--as long as the BIOS presents the SSD as an available mass storage device in DOS so Ghost 2003 can access it properly.

If the drive is already partitioned/formatted with that *2 KiB* structure--then doing only *Partition* restores and not *whole drive* procedures should leave that existing HDD geometry as is.

WilliamP

Quote:

Is your *existing HDD* a SSD HDD?  I think Brian is talking about once you have the SSD.  If you are going to restore an image of your OS that was originally on a *standard* HDD, to the SSD HDD that is new--then the partition geometry using the 2 KiB might not be created during the restore to the SSD.  If you're simply using the SSD to write an image file to for storage--then it's not an issue.

A new SSD HDD would probably come pre-formatted--if it needs that file system geometry--but, now that I'm thinking about it--if folks are going to use SSD and they plan on installing a Win OS--the installation routines are not likely to create a *special* SSD partition/geometry--I'm not knowledgeable enough as to the ins-and-outs of SSD requirements--maybe Brian can enlighten us!

I don't have a SSD and I don't really understand the various partition offsets that are being used. I have noticed that many people are using Diskpart to create these offsets.

TeraByte Support has posted several times on this topic and said that creating a 2048 sector aligned partition is what should be done with SSDs. This can be done with BootIt NG.

From the IFW manual...

Align Partitions at 2KiB - This option provides a convenient way to enable 2048 sector alignment for all drives. This is popular with users of SSD type drives. It is the equivalent to enabling the individual overrides Use 2048 Sector Alignment, Align MBR Ending HS, Align MBR HS when Truncated, and disabling Align on End.

I just did a few tests with Ghost 2003 and the results were surprising.

Imaged a 2048 sector aligned partition and restored to the same partition. The 2048 sector alignment was preserved.

Imaged a 2048 sector aligned partition and restored to a new empty HD, no partitions but with a MBR. The 2048 sector alignment was lost and the partition was cylinder aligned.

Imaged a 2048 sector aligned partition and restored to a new HD containing an empty 2048 sector aligned partition. The 2048 sector alignment was preserved.

Edit....  William, which OS are you planning to use?

Edit... NightOwl was correct each time. William, if you restore your current image to a new SSD it will be cylinder aligned. But it is very easy to convert that partition to a 2048 sector aligned partition with BootIt NG.

William, see my second Edit. I think all should be OK for Ghost 2003.

Let us know how it goes.
-Curious.

Thanks to Brian and Rad.  Brian pointed me to this thread because it covers exactly what I want to know....and, it is telling me what I want to hear.    I too love Ghost 2003 and want to keep using it with my aligned SSD.

However when I checked the OCZ support forums (they have great support), I was told just the opposite....that Ghost 2003, ver.793, will not preserve the alignment of the partitions.  See posts # 91 and 92 here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?54509-CLONE-amp-RESTORE-I...

Brian, have you actually done it in XP??  All I want to do is make a full "disk to image" backup with v.793 and then restore it and keep the alignment?  Should I risk my install and try it?  Why would OCZ think that only the latest Ghost versions will preserve the alignment?  Seems to me that from a simplified perspective, if Ghost 2003 makes an exact image of the entire drive, then it would restore exactly, no?

Are you also saying that it is possible to align an unaligned drive without reformatting/reinstalling using BootIt NG.  I have not heard of that program but that would be awesome.

BTW, I'm aligned at 1024K, not 2048, as per OCZ support.

Extra information:  XP will not install on a previously partitioned drive aligned at anything besides XP's default (whatever that is) UNLESS it is XP SP3.  I kept getting "Disk Read Error" and was forced to abandon the idea of alignment until someone on the OCZ forums discovered that it could be done in XP with SP3.  So on their advice, I created a slipstreamed disc with SP3 and it installed and is aligned.

Then my heart sank when I read that Ghost 2003 would not preserve the alignment.  Ghost is integral to my computer work as I am simply accustomed to feeling superhuman about my computer.  If I try something that doesn't work, so what, I'll just restore to where I was yesterday.

William, here is an OCZ wiki that has instructions for using Diskpart to create an aligned partition. 

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_set_up_Windows_on_...

They don't tell you that it won't work on an XP computer though!  You should download a Vista or Win 7 repair disc and enter the command prompt from there to do it, with your SSD connected as a spare drive.   Those discs are downloadable because they don't contain the actual windows install files, just the repair. 

Good Luck!

@ Prozactive, MUCH faster.  I got an OCZ 30gb Vertex drive and even when "not aligned", my programs start lightening fast.  Big difference IMO.

There are some challenges though, so read up if you wanna go there!