SSD Installation Questions

[MenschX]

Got my SSD drive today. I guess it's an OEM version. Nothing came with it, no box, not CD, etc.
I know I have to buy brackets thought I had some, but I don't.
anyways..Is there anything different in formatting SSD Drives? Or do I format like I always do?

I guess this is a 2 part question. I have windows 7 and all my software on Caviar SATA drive.what is the easiest way to move everything over to the SSD and give the SSD the C Drive letter? Just completely reinstall AGAIN?

Once I formated the drive how do I turn it into C drive? It's probably a stupid question, but I never really turned d drive into c drive...so I am not sure if it'll be simple once I get to that point.

Thanks

 

[MenschX]

so I temporary installed it. it's formated with windows 7 default settings. [wow..it formatted in like 1 second]
now what?

go into the BIOS and set it so the new SSD drive boots first?
then install windows?
after...change the old C drive to another drive letter?
after... change the new SSD drive to C drive?

or what's next? Not sure if it's really as easy as it sounds. I am guessing my windows upgrade wont install that easy on a brand new drive.
or will it find the PREVIOUS windows installation on the "OLD" c drive?

 

[Alvin.C]

Hi,

What capacity is your old hard drive and new SSD hard drive? How much data do you have on your old hard drive?

The easiest thing to do is clone your old hard drive, so that all the contents is copied over to your new drive. You should then be able to boot into Windows on your new drive, just like before.

Here's a list of free HDD cloning software: http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml#imaging

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition in particular is a good disk imaging software to use that's free.

 

[MenschX]

my "old" drive is a 1 tb drive. Not even close to full. I have around 50 gigs on this drive right now. most of my data is on a second drive.

anyway m ssd is only 80 gb, but it should be enough for widows, photoshop, and dreamweaver. those are the programs I use most often.

I can just clone my old drive onto the new drive without driver problems etc?
that would be great

trying it now..
THANK YOU!!!!!!

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Cloning to a SSD isn't as straightforward as cloning to a hard drive, by default it won't be aligned correctly which will hurt performance. There are workarounds (I can't remember any specifics) but a clean install would probably be easier.

 

[MenschX]

i was afraid something like that would happen.
so how do turn the new drive [now g] into c drive?
via the bios? set the cd as bootable and boot from the windows cd to install?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Pretty much, set bios to boot from cd then boot the Windows 7 install cd. When it asks what type of installation you want select Custom(Advanced) and then it will let you select the drive you want to install it to.

You might want to temporarily disconnect your other hard drive while you install 7 to ensure it installs everything to the SSD. Also make sure you set the SSD before you hard drive in the boot order in BIOS so it will load the new installation of 7 first when the other drive is reconnected.

 

[MenschX]

thank you everything went great. I think I am done reinstalling windows now. LOL
it IS much faster then before. Nice. Only issue I still have to deal with is jmicron for my esata. but i guess i have to deal with that for now.