Author Archives: Don

SSD Upgrade – Is It Worth the Hassle?

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I got a new larger SSD a while ago and finally got around to replacing my Win10 system drive this past weekend. I started by making a clone of my c: drive using DriveImageXML which works really well. However, when I went to replace my old SSD with the new one, I realized that the system reserved partition hadn’t been cloned along with the data. After attempting to switch the new drive out with the old and fiddling with the BIOS boot options, I realized it wasn’t going to work so I started doing some research.

I replaced the old drive and made a system restore disk to hopefully allow me to run diskpart and bootrec commands to get the new drive to be bootable. The disk worked well but I was never successfully able to get it to boot from the new drive.

I almost paid $60 for MiniTool Partition Wizard before downloading the free home version of Macrium Reflect which allows you to close the whole disk to another drive. After downloading, installing and registering, I kicked off the clone operation that took about 90 miniutes or so to complete. The new SSD looked just like the old drive (same partition sizes, etc) so I used MiniTool to change the partition sizes and delete some unneeded ones. I shutdown, swapped out the old drive for the new one and booted up.

I was happy when I saw the windows logo and heard the startup sound! Things are working great now and I have enough room to install some games as well. What to do with that 256GB SSD now?

Star Wars Rebel Combat Speeder – Why did I not know about this?

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While I was watching the recently-added-to-Youtube Empire Strikes Back documentary, I noticed a quick clip of this vehicle being driven across the snow during the filming of the Hoth battle.

I definitely didn’t recall seeing that vehicle in the film and I don’t think there was a toy released for it either. It’s a pretty cool looking piece of equipment but I think I see the reason it wasn’t featured in the film – it moves a little slow and more like a snowmobile than a speeder.

A quick Google search lead me to more photos, mostly from a Lego collector’s forum:

rebel combat speeder

Maybe this little vehicle will be my first scratch build model?

Beach Vacation 2013

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In late August, we spent a week with my mother-in-law and her boyfriend at Bethany Beach in Delaware. I hadn’t ever considered going there but we started to get some good recommendations for that area and Robyn did a lot of research to find the best place. We thought about Ocean City, Maryland but now that I’ve driven through OC,  I’m really happy that we went with Bethany. It’s a beautiful, quiet and more upscale area with plenty of families who are enjoying time together instead of just looking to party. Since our condo was right on the beach, the view was perfect and we spent more time on the beach and in the water than we have since the kids were born. Mostly overcoming their fear of the water and the waves (which were huge for a couple of the days we were there!), both kids enjoyed the beach time as much as the time spent on the boardwalks of Rehobeth and Bethany.

Bethany Beach

Bethany Beach

Looking hot!

Looking hot!

The whole group

The whole group

View from our condo

View from our condo

We had a great time and, if we can afford it, we’re contemplating going back next year.