Windows 7/8 Install

[HeyItsRon]

Hi everyone!

First off, I am sorry if I put this in the wrong section of the forum as it has two parts to the situation that I am in. I built my own computer back in May and downloaded Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard edition and turned it into a Windows 7 workstation. Everything has been running fine, but I have ran into problem with the way games operate because I know that Windows Server is not meant for gaming. I am thinking about buying Windows 7 or 8, not sure which one yet and upgrading with an SSD. However, I do not know how to go about installing the SSD and the new Windows OS. Hence, I have come here to gather information from the people who know more about software and upgrading than I do.

I do not care if I have to reinstall all the programs on my computer and start from scratch, that will not take me long. I am just not sure how to go about utilizing the SSD and installing the new Windows OS.

Any information or points in the right direction would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks!

Current Build
HD: Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
PSU: Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-750 750W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready
Graphics: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
MB: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
RAM: 16GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-
OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition

 

[carnageX]

Install the SSD, disconnect other drives so you don't accidentally reinstall on one of those (just general practice for something I do when there's multiple HDD's, not totally necessary), put in the Windows install disc, and boot off of the disc. It would be a good idea to turn on AHCI in BIOS before installing as well.

 

[HeyItsRon]

So once I go into boot mode, turn on AHCI, then run the windows disc?

Or go into boot mode turn on AHCI restart then toss in Windows?

 

[carnageX]

Boot to BIOS, turn on AHCI if its not already on, put in windows disc, save changes, reboot and boot off of the disc.

 

[HeyItsRon]

Would I also reformat my HD in the BIOS as well?

 

[carnageX]

No you would format off of the disc.

 

[HeyItsRon]

So after successfully installing Windows on my SSD, I now need to plug in my HD and reformat off the disc?

 

[WinOutreach2]

If you already have Windows installed on your SSD, simply reconnect the hard drive, enter BIOS and ensure that your system is still set to boot to the Solid State Drive, and then boot your system which will boot to your new installation of Windows. Once in Windows, access Computer Management from under Administrative Tools under the Control Panel and navigate to Disk Management under the Storage category. You should see both your SSD and hard drive listed, along with whatever partitions have received drive letters. You can right click the partitions you wish to delete off your hard disk from here and delete, or simply right click and format if you wish to leave the partitions intact. You can find these instructions here from Microsoft Support.

You might also want to check out the Storage Spaces video from the Springboard Series on TechNet as you may wish to use the Storage Spaces feature of Windows 8 when configuring your disks. You can find that video on the Windows 8 Demonstrations page here.


Brandon