Correct Steps??

[Shelster]

Right,

Will be puting together the bits I have been buying over the last few months, when i get home in a few weeks. Am more than happy with building rigs, but have a few queries with regards to my SSD as never used one before.

Have the Crucial M225 64GB to be used as OS / Frequent Apps drive, but am fairly sure that the Firmware wil lneed updating. is this the correct order of affairs for my new build then

1 - Using current rig, download latest SSD fw and burn onto cd
2 - Rip apart old rig
3 - Dig out old IDE CD drive and use this to flash fw
4 - Load on shiny 64 bit W7
5 - spend 19 weeks installing drivers and swearing lots as things fall over
6 - Sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labour

or would it be better flashing the SSD before i rip apart old rig (very cautious that one. Cant beat a bit of care thrown to the wind)

Cheers

 

[OCP]

I don't think there is a correct step. I've heard people have problems with FW updates so they are holding out till problems are sorted. I've updated my FW on my Intel SSD knowing it wont wipe my drive. So before any new FW updates were out, i just installed windows 7 and the rest of the apps. A week later the new FW update came and I backed up my drive as an image and updated the FW, booted up with no problems.

People are saying the Intel FW update bricks their drives but mines running fine. IF you're updating because of TRIM then I suggest you hold out a while for a new FW unless its already out and good to go. There is a big thread about it with the Crucial drive. If you can't be bothered reading it all just skip to the last few pages.

 

[ChileanLlama]

There's nothing wrong with your intended process. The drive is flashed from DOS (not within Windows) and if you are going from 1571 to 1819 it is non-destructive. You do need to read up on firmware 1819 and decide whether you should upgrade though due to some degradation issues that have been reported.

The only step to consider is changing your BIOS to AHCI mode if it is supported and making sure the boot order/priority is correct. I would also recommend removing/disabling any other HDs in the system during setup.

You should find Win7 detects most of your drivers on install for your rig, obviously get the latest graphics drivers and any drivers for peripherals but I think you might be pleasantly surprised at how few you will need to find unless you have some fairly exotic stuff