SSD Upgrade for Boot Drive - DRM issues?

[andy_d]

I have quite a bit recorded and afraid that I may lose access to the recordings - specifically the encrypted ones. Will switching to a ssd and reinstalling everything cause issues with my recordings?

[STC]

Regards DRM material, reinstalling your OS, yes, as you'd have a new set of keys.
Cloning your existing OS to the SSD, maybe not, as you may not go over the threshold that triggers a key change.
You could always try it and see leaving your current HDD OS untouched.

Material recorded copy free can be played back on any device that can play it without issue.

/edit: if you do clone your OS to the SSD, you need to tweak a few things for it to work properly.

[Mike88]

I’ve heard the best way to install an SSD is to use a fresh copy of Windows, but you should first enable AHCI in the BIOS. That’s because the SSD does not use sectors like a HDD. And cloning will not optimize how the data gets stored on the SSD.

However I’ve also seen SSD kits which include cloning software. Does this software also take care of properly arranging the data on the SSD so that you will experience it’s fastest speed?

There’s an article “It’s Not Too Late For AHCI” in the March, 2013 CPU magazine on page 76. It explains changes that have to made in the registry.
http://www.computerpoweruser.com/Digita ... CP____1303__/

Cloning the drive seems the way to go since you would not have to buy another copy of Windows. If you clone the old HDD to a new SSD, should you change the BIOS & registry before or after you clone?

[andy_d]

You don't have to buy another copy of windows if you're switching out for an ssd. You should also have achi enabled even if you don't have an ssd. I forget the reasons why now but I remember making the change

And sounds like I'll have to catch up with my encrypted content before I start fresh again

[phatjedi]

My hard drive died and replaced it, everything else remained the same and lost all my copyrighted data (cannot play it). So I assume it is gone for good? Is there a way to convert it to something that can play it? I think I know the answer but thought I would ask anyway. Maybe I should go back to BeyondTV, but not sure it will work with Silicondust home run.

I apologize if questions like I asked are forbidden, but I did search forums with no success.

Thank you.

[woodchuck]

You should also have achi enabled even if you don't have an ssd. I forget the reasons why now but I remember making the change

Native Command Queing is what AHCI adds, if using it with a spinning platter. I'm not really sure the real world impact though. For an SSD, it gets you TRIM.

[Scallica]

My hard drive died and replaced it, everything else remained the same and lost all my copyrighted data (cannot play it). So I assume it is gone for good? Is there a way to convert it to something that can play it?

Yes and No.

[tzr916]

I have quite a bit recorded and afraid that I may lose access to the recordings - specifically the encrypted ones. Will switching to a ssd and reinstalling everything cause issues with my recordings?

Just finished installing Samsung EVO. Cloned using easeus todo backup (the samsung data migration doesn't allow you to choose to clone only a partition, it tries to clone the whole disk). Took less than 15 min to clone (18GB worth of W7 64bit), shut down, swapped SATA connectors, and boot. Up and running on SSD.

WMC didn't even know what happened- no problem with copy protected Tv shows.

[barnabas1969]

For an SSD, it gets you TRIM.

Not true. TRIM is supported in IDE mode too, on both AMD and Intel chipsets. The last time I checked, TRIM was not supported in RAID by either.

[woodchuck]

For an SSD, it gets you TRIM.

Not true. TRIM is supported in IDE mode too, on both AMD and Intel chipsets. The last time I checked, TRIM was not supported in RAID by either.

Wow. Now that is news to me. Have you come across any manufacturer information that supports this? All I can find is a bunch of forum threads where guys jump to conclusions based on benchmarks.

[tzr916]

My older mobo does not have AHCI/RAID, so my new Samsung EVO is running ATA mode only. I have verified that Trim is working using trimcheck utility & crystal disk info.

[richard1980]

For an SSD, it gets you TRIM.

Not true. TRIM is supported in IDE mode too, on both AMD and Intel chipsets. The last time I checked, TRIM was not supported in RAID by either.

Wow. Now that is news to me. Have you come across any manufacturer information that supports this? All I can find is a bunch of forum threads where guys jump to conclusions based on benchmarks.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum ... post444817

If you would like, I can also find a mathematician that will confirm that 2 + 2 = 4

[tzr916]

BTW, going from Hard Disk to SSD not only made boot times and program loads so much quicker, it made WMC navigation way way faster. Guide on HTPC and extenders pops up immediately. Before it took almost 10 seconds on extenders.

[barnabas1969]

First, I want to thank Richard for finding the link to confirm it. There is also information on Intel's and AMD's website regarding the fact that TRIM is indeed supported in both IDE and AHCI mode. I didn't feel like searching for the links. The information regarding TRIM not working in RAID mode with Intel/AMD disk controllers was also on Intel's and AMD's sites. That info is about a year old though, and Intel was apparently planning to update the AST driver to support TRIM in RAID mode. I don't know if that ever happened though.

Wow. Now that is news to me. Have you come across any manufacturer information that supports this? All I can find is a bunch of forum threads where guys jump to conclusions based on benchmarks.

There is a lot of incorrect information on the Internet. Just because some guy posts it in a forum, does not make it true. If you really want to know, you need to look at the manufacturer's websites (e.g. OCZ, Intel, AMD, etc).

AHCI definitely does improve performance, both on SSD's and HDD's. It gives you more of a boost on an SSD than it does on an HDD. And, (just guessing here) it probably gives you more boost on an HDD that has a large buffer compared to an HDD with a small buffer.

[tzr916]

Just finished installing Samsung EVO. Cloned using easeus todo backup (the samsung data migration doesn't allow you to choose to clone only a partition, it tries to clone the whole disk). Took less than 15 min to clone (18GB worth of W7 64bit), shut down, swapped SATA connectors, and boot. Up and running on SSD.

WMC didn't even know what happened- no problem with copy protected Tv shows.

Update-
I don't know why it took days to happen but DRM creeped up and I have to reverse my SDD upgrade success story. I thought the install went good. The day I did the SSD upgrade, I was able to play some HBO shows, watch live Tv, etc. Then a few days later I started having issues- couldn't tune HBO live, couldn't play previous HBO shows.

I tried several methods of re-setting DRM that worked before when I upgraded my CPU but all efforts failed. Tried restoring from the Hard Disk Image again and re-setting DRM, failed still....

I ended up un-installing WMC from programs & features. Uninstalling Play Ready. Doing DRM cleanup. Then re-installing it all. Luckily I still had the Hard Disk OS drive so I did manually copy/restore my channel lineup and 165 series scheduled recordings.

Luckily I only had 2 or 3 HBO shows that I lost.

[ucfknight]

Sorry to hear the evil that is DRM has reared its ugly head.

[nick]

I have quite a bit recorded and afraid that I may lose access to the recordings - specifically the encrypted ones. Will switching to a ssd and reinstalling everything cause issues with my recordings?

Just finished installing Samsung EVO. Cloned using easeus todo backup (the samsung data migration doesn't allow you to choose to clone only a partition, it tries to clone the whole disk). Took less than 15 min to clone (18GB worth of W7 64bit), shut down, swapped SATA connectors, and boot. Up and running on SSD.

WMC didn't even know what happened- no problem with copy protected Tv shows.

I've been wanting to replace my HDD with an SSD and worried about losing 60+ recordings.

I read this post and was ready to order the SSD.. that is until I scrolled down a few.

Unfortunately I set up my HTPC with spare parts as it started off as a trial a few years ago. Now that I've gone "all in", it's too late to go back. I guess I'll need to wait for this HDD to fail, lose my recordings, and then start fresh from a SSD. Oh the problems of having 2TB of recording storage....