Which SSD to buy?

[Nifty]

WHY do you feel the need to 'benchmark' your stuff?

Seriously, if the system does what you want it to do, within reasonable time-frames,
what's the point or even the goal of such testing regimens?

It's been incredibly useful for a lot of reasons... but specifically right now:

1) Determining which of my many hard drives actually perform at, above, or below spec., and how each compares to one another. The benchmarking helped me decide between two pretty identical drives that I purchased (both Hitatchi 3TB) and where one was performing much better than the other, which I used as my main backup.

2) Deciding on which drives to purchase based on the benchmarks run by thousands of peeps. I can get the best bang-for-my-buck and be pretty confident when comparing the performance/$$$

 

[palombian]

I have bought the Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB and installed it in the computer, just no cables connected to it yet, so I can start the cloning or fresh install anytime.

If the free upgrade to Win 10 is not official but only works because somebody forgot to order a reprogramming of the activation servers, can you then go back to your old OS within the 30 day trial period? And what is the procedure to go back? Can I do a clean reinstall of Win 8,1 after going back or will the Win 8.1 key have been cancelled or transferred to Win 10?

When I transferred my SSD (already with WIN10) from my old PC to a new built box, MS showed me I had 2 PC's with the same license.
Since they also had the same name, I was puzzled to choose the one to cancel.

I was able to activate the new PC by entering the key of the WIN8 PRO I bought originally.

So they really know what you are doing.

Your case differs on the question if you can revert your license to WIN 8.1.

But if you only want to try WIN10, there are very few restrictions on a non-activated installation (although it is not wise to do this forever).

 

[The Hat]

After 3 years my Samsung 850 EVO has 15TB written, warranty is 150TB, still 27 years to go .

Don't hold you breath what ever you do..

PS She's Irish, too.

I have one just like that too..

A tad overkill for Mine Sweeper.

Close but no cigar, it’s used as a virus sweeper..

 

[stratman]

28GB

28 Terabytes. You should know by now (EUFI) that my typing fingers sometimes have a mind of their own.

 

[stratman]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with such a process...

You offered no explanation for what is exactly happening with the drive, so advice is limited.

 

[stratman]

If the free upgrade to Win 10 is not official

It is official. No tricks, scams or thievery.

what is the procedure to go back?

http://www.zinstall.com/how-to/how-to-downgrade-windows-10-and-get-Windows-7-or-Windows-8-back

Can I do a clean reinstall of Win 8,1 after going back

Yes

will the Win 8.1 key have been cancelled or transferred to Win 10?

When you upgrade or clean install Windows 10, your Windows 8 Product Key becomes a Digital License and the Product Key is not supposed to be available for activations anymore. If you downgrade back to Windows 8 WITHIN THE 30 DAY TRIAL PERIOD then you have rolled back and returned to Windows 8 as if Windows 10 never happened and your Product Key is once again working.

 

[stratman]

But if you only want to try WIN10, there are very few restrictions on a non-activated installation (although it is not wise to do this forever).

Besides previously mentioned ways of getting Windows 10 - upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7/8 or clean install of Windows 10 using the Media Creation tool - it seems you can also download the Enterprise version for a 90 day trial. The other versions of Windows 10 allow for only 30 days trial period, IIRC, in the un-activated state. Pretty cool.

https://www.pcmag.com/article/345799/how-to-try-out-windows-10-for-free-for-90-days

 

[stratman]

WIN8 PRO I bought originally.

A Retail version, not an OEM version, since you were able to transfer the license to a new and different computer (hardware)?

 

[palombian]

A Retail version, not an OEM version, since you were able to transfer the license to a new and different computer (hardware)?

Indeed, the € 24 I paid then was a good investment.
MS charges € 259 now for a WIN10 PRO.

All the cheap offers are in the grey zone (at the least) as discussed before.

But as long as the mobo stays the same, and you don't change more than 2 hardware components (even the cpu) at the same time, you can upgrade OEM's too.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with such a process..

I did some actions like that - with hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards. I was quite successful overall with software by Stellar Phoenix which offer a suite of different packages
https://www.stellarinfo.com/download.php#
A free download lets you test the software and assess your situation , it scans and shows data which can be recovered with the full version.
https://www.stellarinfo.com/windows-data-recovery.php
But consider several situations in which you cannot recover anything anymore or only partial data (which can be better than nothing)
- if your drive has a hardware failure - e.g. head crash - you can't read anything anymore on such a drive, and you would need a professional service - very expensive - which would rebuild your drive with another head and tries to go from there, similar if the electronics board has a failure
- it happens that data on SD cards gets erased, a card formatted again and overwritten with other images, there is a good chance for a partial recovery from those areas which have not been overwritten again.
- if the controller chip in the USB stick is broken nothing goes anymore but if it is overwritten, reformatted or similar you have a good chance to get some or all data back.