SSD dying

If it's a brand-name pc and the OEM version of Windows you have came with that pc then it shouldn't even ask you to activate windows. Those OEM discs are tied to the version of the BIOS on the pc.

If you want to backup the system, then just clone it to another drive. You can either use Windows Backup for doing this or go with a 3rd party tool.

The one below is completely free and it works well, I use it all the time for people that jack their stuff up.

LINK

Ah ok, so you got an OEM copy that wasn't an OEM from a specific vendor. You should be fine with the re-install if you didn't run into issues with the initial installation and activation.

50GB shouldn't take long at all, figure the HDD will probably write at 60-80MB/sec so you'll probably be able to move it within the hour that it runs before a blue screen.

Give it a try using the utility I linked, makes it a very easy process.

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Its a custom built pc, just bought the OEM version because it was cheaper.

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You'll be able to reinstall OEM windows just fine. I use OEM Windows in customer builds. There've been occasions where I've had to service a PC under warranty, and I've swapped out motherboards with completely new brands and had no issues reactivating Windows. The worst case scenario is that it rejects your activation and you have to call Microsoft to get it reactivated manually (won't cost you anything). But, you aren't even changing out hardware. I can pretty much guarantee you won't have a problem using the same OEM key.

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So I can just clone my SSD to my HDD, install the new firmware and then clone windows back to the SSD?

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You can, yes.

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Any idea how long it would take to clone roughly 50GB?

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Bottleneck will be the HDD write speed. Still, I would reckon about 10-15 minutes.

Could you tell me what SSD this is that's giving you trouble? I like to keep notes of controller issues among various brands, and I'd also like to read more into what the technical fault is.

Gotcha. Didn't know about the M4's issues.

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M4 customers,

We are aware of an issue that is currently affecting a small number of users whereby their m4 causes their system to require a restart. This issue occurs after approximately 5,000 hours of actual “on time” use.

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While SSDs are pretty much to the point where their reliability should be trusted above consumer hard drives, it's easy to forget that this technology is still considered new, the controllers in particular, and there's still a shite-ton of fine tuning to be done. But manufacturers are so busy trying to keep up with the performance of their competitors, cut down production costs with different NAND types, while at the same time we're seeing new interfaces (PCIe and SATA Express). It's amazing what kind of quirks and issues have been popping up after some "long-term" use.

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I did get the cheapest SSD I could find at the time

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I bet you still paid close to $150 for it right? I remember paying $200 for my first SSD, 60GB OCZ. Then $200 for my second one -- 128GB Patriot Wildfire, $200 for my third (256GB Samsung 830), and then recently a little over $200 for my 500GB Samsung 840. I was calling SSDs affordable for most of that time, too.

Luckily, the bugs we encounter in SSDs are all controller-related, which means they're fixable in firmware. The last major issue I know of was with the Samsung 840 EVOs. It was discovered that read times old files (more than 4 weeks old) would slow down by a tenth of the SSD's speed unless the file was rewritten (done with a defrag, which no one does on SSDs because it shouldn't be necessary). It took Samsung a couple of months to fix it, but a firmware update and one defrag/refresh solved the problem. I still heart Samsung SSDs.

Meanwhile, a hard drive I had a few years ago was slowing down because of premature motor degradation. Not a whole lot of options there.

I've had issues with reinstalling Windows after using the disk too many times... and Windows support was surprisingly helpful with the issue. I think they just gave me a new product key for my Windows 7 Ultimate that I'm using right now.

I wouldn't be afraid to reinstall.

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something about UEFI

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Turn it off in BIOS

I feel stupid now, I had the SATA cable to my SSD in the wrong port, thats why it wasnt being detected for the firmware update. I just updated the firmware and luckily all the info on my SSD is still intact. Now I just need to leave the computer on and wait to see if it BSOD's. I really appreciate all the help you guys have given me, hopefully in a couple of hours I can let you all know that its fixed.

I would check what firmware they have, if its the 0002 like mine you might want to go ahead and update them. I ran my computer for a couple of hours yesterday and didn't have any issues so im hoping the firmware update worked.

You need to have the SSD plugged in to either SATA ports 0,1,2, or 3. I had mine on 5 which is why I presume it wasnt detecting the drive.