Configuring m2 SSD and regular SSD for new Laptop

JustMac

I am awaiting delivery of a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 laptop. Its the basic model with i7-6700HQ, 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display, 8GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz, 1TB 5400 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive + 8GB Embedded Flash Cache , NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M 4GB GDDR5.

I'm going to install a 256gb m2 SSD and a 960gb SSD and add an extra 8gb memory. The physical install sounds straightforward but I'm wondering how I can quickly get up and running and put the SSDs to best use. I'll be mainly doing some light work but with occasional video editing a little development.

I was thinking of trying the following:
Use the m2 SSD for the OS and software and the regular SSD for Data.
Install m2 SDD and Clone existing OS from the HDD to the m2 SSD. (I presume that the 1TB HDD can be cloned to a smaller SSD when it has less used DATA?)
Install 960gb SSD and extra 8gb memory.
Install Software (Premier Pro and other bits)

Question: After installing the 960gb SSD and having the most important software installed should I partition the 960gb SSD to maybe a 200gb/760gb split and then clone the m2 SSD onto the smaller partition. Would this allow me to clone from this smaller partition easily/quickly if I want to restore back to initial state?

The SSDs and memory that I have previously purchased in anticipation of the upgrade are:
960GB SanDisk Ultra II, 7mm Slim 2.5" SSD, SATA III - 6Gb/s, Read 550MB/s, Write 500MB/s, 99K IOPS
SanDisk SD8SNAT-256G-1122 Z400S M.2 2280 256 GB Solid State Drive
Samsung original 8GB (1 x 8GB) 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3L-12800, 1600MHz ram memory module for laptops

I'm upgrading from a Toshiba C660-229 for a while (http://www.toshiba.ie/discontinued-products/satellite-c660-229/).

Alanstrainor

Just install the OS fresh, why would you clone the OS if it's brand new? This would likely be better as it remove any of dells bloat that you don't want.

As for partitioning 960GB SSD as a means of OS backup; I wouldn't. The joy of having and OS separate from your must keep files is that reinstalling the os is no longer a huge deal. If you really wanted to clone your OS drive and create a disk image, you could, and store it in a directory on your big SSD. No need for the partition at all.

JustMac

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Just install the OS fresh, why would you clone the OS if it's brand new? This would likely be better as it remove any of dells bloat that you don't want.

Many thanks for the feedback. Some very sensible points made.

I would clone the OS because I would have thought it would be the quickest/most straightforward. While I appreciate that installing OS fresh would remove any bloatware but I would have thought that there isn't that much and certainly nothing that would make much difference to performance?

Also, as this doesn't come with a CD/DVD drive, I wouldn't know where to start to install a fresh OS. Can you just download the OS installer to a memory stick and install from there? Also would I not have to install a load of drivers after the OS install? Though I have a history in software dev I only reinstalled an OS once and found it quite tricky. I would be worried that I would funk it up and leave it missing something.

With that said there seems to be a list of all drivers that I would need here: http://www.dell.com/support/home/ie/en/iedhs1/product-support/product/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/drivers?os=wt64a

Any advice gladly accepted!

JustMac

Alanstrainor wrote: »

As for partitioning 960GB SSD as a means of OS backup; I wouldn't. The joy of having and OS separate from your must keep files is that reinstalling the os is no longer a huge deal. If you really wanted to clone your OS drive and create a disk image, you could, and store it in a directory on your big SSD. No need for the partition at all.

My thinking on this relates to the previous post. If I plan to use the OS on the m2 SSD but have it backed up/cloned on the larger SSD then if I wanted a fresh install I could then boot from the larger SSD and copy/clone over the OS in the m2 SSD.

A lot of my idea stems from my knowledge that I don't like taking a couple of hours to clean/fresh install a laptop regularly due to fear of installing OS incorrectly and ending up with a USB/HDMI port not working, web camera not working or some other issue that could be difficult to locate/fix. I like the idea of being able to basically be able to return OS/hardware to a stable/fresh version in a matter of an hour or 2 without any possibilities of anything going wrong.

Again, would be delighted to hear your/or someone elses thoughts on this?

Alanstrainor

I mentioned this in my original post, but you can image your OS SSD and create a disk image file and store that anywhere you wish. No need for another partition, and you can create further images down the line if you decide that you want to update it. It's probably the better option for backup.

This was, you don't need to partition your larger SSD, just store the image file. I just don't see the need to partition this drive.

As for the OS fresh install, I would ask you to reconsider. It is very easy, all you need is a USB stick, and if you wish you can download all the drivers you need beforehand, however I would expect Windows 10 to be clever enough to get you up and running without manually installing drivers.

JustMac

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I mentioned this in my original post, but you can image your OS SSD and create a disk image file and store that anywhere you wish. No need for another partition, and you can create further images down the line if you decide that you want to update it. It's probably the better option for backup.

This was, you don't need to partition your larger SSD, just store the image file. I just don't see the need to partition this drive.

As for the OS fresh install, I would ask you to reconsider. It is very easy, all you need is a USB stick, and if you wish you can download all the drivers you need beforehand, however I would expect Windows 10 to be clever enough to get you up and running without manually installing drivers.

Many thanks again for the reply. I'm writing now on my new lappy.

I took your advice and went for a fresh install on the m2 SSD. I downloaded windows 10 to a USB and installed from there. I suppose it makes sense to remove any bloatware at the start.

When I reboot the machine it now asks me to 'Choose an Operating System'. It offers options of Windows 10 on Volume 2 or Volume 5. I choose Volume 2 as this appears to be my new m2.SSD.

All working relatively well but I whipped out the 1TB SSHD that was in the laptop and replaced with a San Disk 960gb SSD presuming that the OS on the m2SSD would automatically start up and that I could use the SSD for data as suggested. Problem is that the laptop didn't pick up the OS on the m2SSD and I couldn't see any obvious setting to allow me to boot from there. I had to replace the original SSHD to get it to boot.

Under boot option priorities, #1 is set to Windows Boot Manager the other options are Onboard NIC (IPV4) and Onboard NIC (IPV4). I was expecting to see some indications of the m2.SSD here as an option.

I will have a play around with it later to see if I can figure it out. It was all going too well

That other suggestion also makes sense. If I create a disk image file on the Data drive it sounds like I could relatively easily put it back on the m2.SSD.

Alanstrainor

I wonder if the bootloader was on the 1TB SSHD, and once removed you run into issues. That's all I can think of right now, and I would wonder if reinstalling WIndows 10 on the mssd while the other drive is removed would fix your problem. I can't be certain though, that's just my first thought.

JustMac

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I wonder if the bootloader was on the 1TB SSHD, and once removed you run into issues. That's all I can think of right now, and I would wonder if reinstalling WIndows 10 on the mssd while the other drive is removed would fix your problem. I can't be certain though, that's just my first thought.

Funny, I was going to suggest this in my reply earlier but I was hoping that you or someone else might recommend something.

Anyway, tried taking out the SSHD and left just the M2SSD and tried to do an install from the USB again. Started ok but now getting an error 'couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one '. I'm not the only one to get this error.

I know I'll get there in the end but I had better plans for my friday night I have yet to experience a painless windows install/re-install.

JustMac

Might be back on track. Fingers crossed. Clicked on delete something with M2SSD selected in Install Process. Had previously formated the drive. Got some message about installing to gpt disks and something being in the wrong order but chose to ignore that message and continue. Seems to be installing Windows now and as the M2SSD is the only HD in the laptop I presume that it has to be installing it there???

I don't see any windows 10 licence info on any sticker on the computer. Hopefully that will be detected someplace in the hardware and I won't have it complaining about not having a licensed version.

Watch this space.

JustMac

As always, not straightforward.

Got Windows 10 installed on M2SSD when it was the only drive present. Then went tin install Dell drivers for the machine. All was going well until I installed a firmware update related to Seagate hard drive which I don't have and shouldn't have installed. Thought I had bricked my machine for a while but with a bit of persistence I had to go through the complete install OS option again and then the Dell drivers (without the Seagate firmware!).

Ninite is great for getting the standard programs/applications installed. Its a pity OS and driver installers are not as easy to use.

Anyway put in the larger SDD and it picked it up no problem. All going well but I didn't get to bed till 3 with all the install/update/reboot/install........

Thanks for the help.

ED E

Windows Updates driver management has gone way down hill from 7 to 10 in my experience. You're best off enabling Admin controls via GPO/Regedit so that it doesnt install anything without explicit permission.