Help! Newbie - SSD & HDD installation/setting

OCChew

OCChew

OCChew

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19 Jun 2010
Posts
131
Hi Folks,

I have just received my final SSD & HDD mounting kit so it's time to move on to the next stage of my build after nearly 1 week plus ... :eek:

Summary of my specs:

1) Mobo MicroATX- Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2.
2) OS - Win 7 Home ed.
3) SATA HDDs
i) OS on this - Intel X25-M 80GB (SSDSA2MJ080G2c1) - newer firmware.
ii) Data & storage on this - Samsung F3 1TB
4) Cooling - Corsair H50.

Got some pointers from this video. One important point is to connect one of the drive first for first installation as Win 7 stores its programme on two drives if two drives are connected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox6DHlPQI-w

Question:

1) Should I just only connect the SSD for OS installation first? i.e. connect SSD and install OS first then switch off and then reboot and connect 2nd HDD.

2) I will be setting the SSD to AHCI in the BIOS set up but since I will connect one drive first, will I be able to set the second HHD to AHCI after the first is installed?

3) When do I do the partition? I want 5 partitions on the 2nd HDD with 200GB in each partition ... possible? What do you think? Part of the reason is that if I want to dual boot in future I want to boot from 2nd HDD.

4) My mobo comes with a DVD disk that is Ultra Durable 3 but I am not sure what to do with it since it contains:

Question:

Do I install this first before I install the OS? or OS then all these listed below?

DVD:

Small titles ...
- *Chipset / Serial ATA / RAID Network / Audio Drives. (I want this)
- * Norton Internet Security. (I do not want this)
- * Adobe Acrobat Reader. (I do not want this as I use a different one)
- * Easy Tune - System Enhancement Utility. (like the sound of it so?)
-* Microsoft Windows VISTA/XP. (not sure why they are here?)
- Windows 7 Support.

Then at the bottom there are more (full colour).

a) Ultra Durable 3 ...
b) Smart 6.
c) Dynamic energy saver 2.
d) Smart TPM.
e) Secure by Norton (do I need to have Norton to use them? i.e. a to d)


5) Do I have to reformat both SSD & HDD?

Please advise.

Cheers

:)

p/s: crikey ... trying to install the SSD & HDD was rather complicated in Lian-Li v351 without trying to obstructing the 80mm fan. I ended up with the SSD at the bottom and HDD on top for space and those rather rigid PSU cables.
 
Last edited:
I would say
Q1 Yes
Q2 Yes
Q3 The partitioning can be done once you have installed windows to the SSD (however remember that older versions of windows will overwrite the boot inf and you will no longer be able to boot the W7 os without repairing the os)
Q4 Leave out the dvd apps .Get the latest from the net as the ones on the dvd will be old
Forget Norton..period
W7 will format and align your ssd if you choose to during install
The second mechanical hdd can be formatted if you wish after you have W7 up and running
 
Like above, I'd download the latest drivers off the internet rather than get them off the disk.

I can't help you with all the bits, but..

You don't neet Norton to run any of the other apps. I find Symantec programs pretty rubbish, so I would advise against installing any of them. Especially their antivirus :)

Also EasyTune is nice in principle, but if you want to overclock/tweak settings I'd recommend you do it through the BIOS.
 
Thanks for the quick response but I have some questions ...

ANDARIAL said:
I would say

Q3 The partitioning can be done once you have installed windows to the SSD (however remember that older versions of windows will overwrite the boot inf and you will no longer be able to boot the W7 os without repairing the os)

I intend to dual boot Ubuntu or anyone of the Linux variants in the near future if I have time so am thinking of installing it on the 2nd HDD (not the 1st SSD where I will have Win 7).

Question: Will I be able to install Linux on the 2nd HDD and NOT the 1st SSD where I have Win 7 OS?

For example:

1st SSD = Win 7 OS with no partition.

2nd HDD = 5 partitions (200GB each) that is use for data storage & dual boot Ubuntu. (to boot from 2nd HDD when I want to use Ubuntu).

So is my example possible?

Q4 Leave out the dvd apps .Get the latest from the net as the ones on the dvd will be old
Forget Norton..period

Agree to forget Norton but where do I get the driver for the mobo? Link?

Question: Do I do this after I have install Win 7 OS or I can do it after?

W7 will format and align your ssd if you choose to during install

Question:

Do you mean during the process of Win 7 OS installation? (I assume we are not referring to the DVD that comes with the mobo.)

How do I choose to tell W7 to align my SSD?

Do I reformat the SSD before installing W7

The second mechanical hdd can be formatted if you wish after you have W7 up and running

Ok sounds good.
Click to expand...



OK.

Question:

Can I do partition on this after I reformatted it?


So at the end of the day I should be looking at:

1) 1st SSD - Win 7 OS with no partition.

2) 2nd HDD - 5 partitions with Ubuntu dual boot ability i.e. I will reserve one partition of 200GB for Unbuntu and it's data. (or two partitions that is 100GB & 100GB).

What do you think?

I do not want to have two OS on the 1st SSD where I have Win 7 on is that possible or ok?

Cheers

:)
 
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admoo said:
Like above, I'd download the latest drivers off the internet rather than get them off the disk.

Thanks for the advice but ...

Could you point me to the download link please.


I can't help you with all the bits, but..

You don't neet Norton to run any of the other apps. I find Symantec programs pretty rubbish, so I would advise against installing any of them. Especially their antivirus :)

Yes, Norton is a no no ...

Also EasyTune is nice in principle, but if you want to overclock/tweak settings I'd recommend you do it through the BIOS.
Click to expand...

Yes, I guess I will stick to your advice there as I prefer less cluttering of application unnecessarily.

Cheers

:)
 
Yes get all of the latest drivers for your mobo from uk site
As for the linux dual boot it won`t matter which hdd you decide to install that on (my recomendation would be to use a separate hdd or partition just for linux)Might get better answers from either the windows section of the forum or the linux section :)
 
You can install windows with both drives connected. I made a new machine today and took my 3 harddrives from my old computer and put a new SSD with them. I have a UD3-890FXA-UD5 so very similar. :)

Your plan should be:

1) Go in to the BIOS and change from IDE to ACHI.
2) Put the Windows 7 disc in and install. Do the Custom route and format the SSD when you need to. Then just select the SSD and it will do its thing.
3) Install all your drivers.

You don't need to format the harddrives. Mine just worked straight away although if you want to change the partitions you will format them. You can install Linux (Ubuntu you can anyway) on any partition. You can even run it from a USB stick. :)
 
Folks,

Could you tell me if I can download all the drivers to USB key in order to install them from the USB key for the mobo?

Or

Do I need to download all the drivers to my laptop then burn them onto a CD then install them onto the mobo from there?

Do I need to burn all the mobo drivers in ISO?

Cheers

:confused:
 
Well what I usually do is install windows and use the default drivers etc,then update all drivers either via the web or get them ready and on either a usb stick or on a CD/DVD
 
ANDARIAL said:
Well what I usually do is install windows and use the default drivers etc,then update all drivers either via the web or get them ready and on either a usb stick or on a CD/DVD
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

That's the clarification I am looking for as I want to be absolutely sure I am not messing the system later.

Cheers

:)
 
The only driver you need to get before hand is the lan driver sometimes windows won`t have this and if you don`t have access to the web via another pc you be screwed :)
 
ANDARIAL said:
The only driver you need to get before hand is the lan driver sometimes windows won`t have this and if you don`t have access to the web via another pc you be screwed :)
Click to expand...

Arrgghhhh ... please advise if I am doing something wrong here... trying to update to version 1.1

This is what I have done.

1) downloaded all the latest chipset drivers etc version 1.1. from the above website.

2) saved in the USB stick.

3) Extracted all zip files to USB stick - in order to get rid of zip compression and into individual folders.

4) from the individual folder I went to click on the Setup (application file).

5) Zip asked where to extract them to so I pointed to C:

6) they started to install ... then halfway through I accidentally closed the small zip extract window/frame whatever you called it. The installation was half way ... arrggghhh ...

7) I went back again and double clicked on the Setup again and point the extract to C: ... to my surprise it only has one last file to extract ...

8) Problem ... the last file is CSVer.dll ... and it's trying to copy that file to C: for ages now ...

9) has been doing this for nearly an hour now ... arrghhh...

By the way this is only the first file as I have 6 more update to extract to C:

Question:

1) have I messed up something?

2) Can I reinstall if I have messed up?

Please help ...

:(

p/s: during BIOS set up all I did was to set HDD to AHCI ... then installed Win 7 OS 64bits (3 attempts to get it installed as twice it gave me BSOD with message saying ... something could harm my pc.)

Then installed all drivers for graphics card (yes, the fan on the graphic card calm down immediately after that) and TV card.

So only problem now is the above.
 
2) Can I reinstall if I have messed up?
Click to expand...
Yes of course :)
Might want to try re downloading the file/files if they won`t extract properly,maybe to the c drive first instead of the usb(assuming you have windows installed that is :)
5) Zip asked where to extract them to so I pointed to C:
Click to expand...
I usually use the `extract to here` option ,then all the files for that particular zip are in one place(you can delete the zip files after to save space)
 
ANDARIAL said:
Yes of course :)
Might want to try re downloading the file/files if they won`t extract properly,maybe to the c drive first instead of the usb(assuming you have windows installed that is :)

Phewww! I thought for one minute I need a new mobo :eek:

I usually use the `extract to here` option ,then all the files for that particular zip are in one place(you can delete the zip files after to save space)

I have just downloaded all the drives to the USB stick again so this time I will extract them straight to C: drive to see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Today I started the system and it was alright but then I switched off and rebooted to get into BIOS to see the boot up priority ... then when I boot up again the system hang ... now it is diagnosing for problem. I am letting it run for a while to see what comes up.

Then I am going to reinstall the chipset driver again.

:(

P/s: it is doing Startup Repair now ... hmmmm
 
Folks,

Update to my last thread ...

Startup Repair is restoring to my earlier point where everything was stable automatically ... I suspect it could be the corrupted chipset extraction I did last night ... as I did not change a thing when I entered BIOS just now and when existing the BIOS it asked if I would like to save ... I clicked "N" (No) so think that is not the cause.
 
ANDARIAL said:
Yes of course :)
Might want to try re downloading the file/files if they won`t extract properly,maybe to the c drive first instead of the usb(assuming you have windows installed that is :)

I usually use the `extract to here` option ,then all the files for that particular zip are in one place(you can delete the zip files after to save space)
Click to expand...

Good advice that. I extracted the files to C: and it works!

Everything seems stable now but I forgot one thing ... when I extracted the files I simply pointed to C: without creating a folder for them. Arrghhh now I don't know which ones are the drivers. So not sure if it is a good idea to delete them or any.

I counted 7 files extraction but I could only find 6 to setup argghhhh ...

There will be more tweaking as when I boot up the boot screen always run a few lines like ... this is mean for HD & DVD ... then proceed to check other devices. Didn't take long but few seconds.

The boot up to Windows 7 takes approximately 30 seconds.

The next stage now is to connect & to partition the Samsung F3 HDD ... hope it is not noisy as some have commented it can be rather noisy so let's see.

:)
 
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