Installing OS on new SSD, noob questions.

Medic-one

Medic-one

Medic-one

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I'm about to buy my first SSD, and am going for that Crucial M4 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s version (CT256M4SSD2).

At the moment i have my OS (win 7) installed on a old 320 GB Harddrive, which i want to format and use for other stuff afterwards.

I want the 256 GH split in 2 partions, 1 for windows 7 and program files, and one for a few games. How big should i choose the win7 partion to be ?

Reading the customer reviews on here for that drive i see comments like "just bought this one flashed the firmware to 000f with ease" and "Crucial have now released 0009 firmware that increases read speeds up to 530mb".

Could anyone help me with a noob guide on how to start off please.

Please edit/change/advice on the following :

- plug in SSD with sata cables.
- start up.
- Go into bios to check version of SSD ?
- Flash SSD to latest version ? (no idea how to).
- Format SSD ? (and in which option/mode)
- Enable Trim ? (not sure where/how)
- Ensure Bios is in AHCI mode ?
- Start windows
- Create 2 partions on SSD (games and OS)
- Restart pc with win7 dvd
- install win7 on SSD
- Change SSD to first boot in bios.
- start windows
- format old 320 GB which used to have win7 on it.

Is that about right or am i missing important bits ?

Also read something about disconnecting any other hard drives before installing Windows on the SSD minimizing the possibility of having the boot partition on the wrong drive ?

And just read this "ssd-optimization-guide" online, i take it i do all those steps before i install my OS ?

And finally, at the moment i have an old Asus P5B mainboard, but for xmas i'm getting myself a new mainboard/cpu/memory/gpu/psu bundle and will probably have a Gigabyte Z77X-D3H mainboard then.

Does it matter at all, or effect anything if i do the SSD install on my old mainboard next week, and then swap to new mainboard next month, or would it be better to wait untill i have all the new hardware, and then install OS on new SSD ?
 
I think you pretty much have it covered.

If you bought the SSD from OCUK it should already come with the 000f firmware. There is a newer firmware but some people are having problems with it so I'd stick with 000f for now.

When you've installed windows, run the windows experience test thing. That should set up trim and disable scheduled defrag on your SSD (I believe). You should also turn off hibernation.

Other than that, just install windows as you would normally.
 
It will ship with either 000F or 010G, mine came with 010G.

Win 7 will detect the ssd and configure itself to play nice with it. Just one note, if that list is in action order, ensure the storage conroller is set to AHCI before installing windows.

Also you can always create the OS partition during the install, then once in windows configure the remaing space through computer managment. Will save you some of those steps.

I personally would wait till you have the board you intend to use longterm, unless you don't mind reinstalling. I've read of succesful OS transfers to other mobo's but theres no guarantee it will be problem free.


Regarding hibernate, it takes up a lot of room so you can free up some space on the ssd that would otherwise be reserved (beneficial for smaller ssd's). Since the ssd benefits from faster load times so bootup is less of a chore, you could argure hibernate isn't so necessary anymore. On the otherhand it does mean reopening all you applications, so a personal preference really. The extra writes isn't really a concern anymore.
 
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I bougt a 128gb crucial m4 and made a 30gb partition for windows 7 64bit, it was big enough to install to but when it come to updates etc it seemed to fiil up in no time.

So i decided to install windows on the bigger partition instead and used the 30gb for swtor (mainly becuase i couldnt figure out how to merge them back together).

So just make it like 50gb or something to be safe, probably overkill but saves headaches later.
 
snips86x said:
Would hibernate affect if that much?
Click to expand...

It's something to do with the amount of writing to disk that hibernate causes. There is only a certain number of writes an SSD likes before it can die. TBH it's probably so high that you should never ever need to worry but just in case, I turned it off. If I don't want to shut down I just use sleep.
 
Cheers People!


eddyr said:
I personally would wait till you have the board you intend to use longterm, unless you don't mind reinstalling. I've read of succesful OS transfers to other mobo's but theres no guarantee it will be problem free.
Click to expand...


What kind of problems could arrise then ?

On the one hand i did think of waiting till i've got everything complete, but on the other hand i'm an impatient ******* and as one of the components is gonna be an xmas present from the wife i won't be allowed it "play with it" untill i actually receive it from her at xmas which is basically 1.5 month away still...
 
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Are there gonna be any problems with my current harddrive/OS once i set all new components up ?

It's gonna be a new PSU, mainboard with CPU and cooler, memory, and GFU.

I've got a few harddrives, but i take it best with be to only attached the one with the OS and the new SSD first, so the new system can boot from the HD, and then i can do a clean install on the SSD ?
 
Medic-one said:
It's gonna be a new PSU, mainboard with CPU and cooler, memory, and GFU.

I've got a few harddrives, but i take it best with be to only attached the one with the OS and the new SSD first, so the new system can boot from the HD, and then i can do a clean install on the SSD ?
Click to expand...

I would suggest a clean install if you are going to be replacing all those bits you have listed and with a SSD you can be up and running in about 20 minutes.

When installing the new OS I suggest you only have the SSD connected, just incase you select the incorrect hard drive to install the OS on. It will also prevent any issues as to which drive the MBR, Master Boot Record, is stored on. Basically if the MBR is held on the non-SSD you won't be able to boot from the SSD without the 2nd hard drive present.
 
I've just done my first ssd build, one tip is that if you update the bios then make sure you immediately go into the bios and turn ahci back on, I forgot to and naturally windows wouldn't boot and started some kind of recovery - on a new install I don't want windows having problems so soon, so I formatted and reinstalled again.
 
So best way is

- put all new hardware (mainboard, gpu, etc) together.
- only connect new SSD
- when starting go straight into bios (of new mainboard) to check AHCI is activated.
- insert windows dvd.
- install windows onto new SSD

Right ?

How bout that SSD optimization, like disabling System Restore, drive indexing, and disk defragmentation schedule and turning off pagefile and hibernation ?
(all from this website http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/3/)

Can i do all that after i've installed win7 on a partition of the new SSD, or does that need to happen before the win install and/or before i split it into 2 partitions ?
 
Yup, the order's right. Win 7 will take care of disabling defrag for the ssd while keeping it for the mechanical drives. The other stuff is up to your preference really. With 256GB drive you're not going to be too constrained, and sys restore/hibernate are all usefull when/if you need them. I would def keep the pagefile enabled but limit it to 1 GB or so.
 
Cheers folks. What does the pagefile do precisely, is that for when it goes **** up and you can recover your data?

How will it work though if i chose to create a partion for windows during it's install, so i'll have another unused partition (for games) and then afterwards (after the win install) i want to change all those settings (System Restore, drive indexing etc) will that apply to both drives (both partitions of the SSD) or would i need to do it seperately for both ?
 
Decided to go for the 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro now, instead of the crucial one, which will be part of "the great upgrade" consisting of :

- Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz
- Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77
- TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel
- Xigmatek Aegir SD 128264 CPU Cooler
- Corsair TX650 PSU
- MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC V2 3072MB
- LG BH10LS38 Blue ray burner


I take it though that the same steps still apply after i've put it all together,

- Connect only new SSD (and blue ray player)
- once booted go straight into bios and set storage conroller to AHCI.
- reboot, and insert windows 7 dvd
- install win 7 from disc.

When doing that new win 7 install, will i be given the option to create a partition ?

And after windows is installed i can do those bits from the SSD optimization guide, or does that need doing before installing windows ?
 
Just a quick question, can AHCI be enabled after windows has been installed to the SSD?

I use the PC for business and just wondered as I don't fancy formatting the SSD and then having to re-install windows, EG can I just turn AHCI on in the BIOS and then put the win 7 disk in the DVD and let windows install the AHCI drivers.
 
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