intel m25x2 arrived what now?

SsSsSsSsSnake · 14 Dec 2009 at 07:15

want to install windows 7 on it. do i need to do a firmware upgrade on it? do i need to change bios settings,i have another sata drive with xp on and im going to be using the bios to boot into xp sometimes so if i change things in bios for the ssd wont it effect the sata drive? and this using dos to upgrade firmware sounds complicated,im not too good at stuff like that so can someone tell me in simple steps what to do? thanks

SsSsSsSsSnake · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:27

is it possible to have a sata hard drive with xp on and a ssd drive with win 7 on, in the bios wont the choice setting of ahci affect the sata drive with xp on?

ChileanLlama · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:34

SsSsSsSsSnake said:
is it possible to have a sata hard drive with xp on and a ssd drive with win 7 on, in the bios wont the choice setting of ahci affect the sata drive with xp on?

Unless you have the drives on separate controllers, then all attached drives will be in either IDE, AHCI or RAID dependent on what you set in the BIOS.

If you installed XP in IDE mode, and Windows 7 in AHCI mode you will have either have to change the controller mode in your BIOS each time, or tweak XP so that it loads the AHCI drivers allowing it to boot.

If you don't then you'll get BSODs.

SsSsSsSsSnake · 14 Dec 2009 at 23:31

thanks Chileanllama, I havent as yet installed win 7 on the ssd,if i left the bios as ide will the ssd device still work?

BigRazer93 · 14 Dec 2009 at 23:43

Right mate, this is what you do. If you are installing windows xp or windows vista on your ssd, make sure in the bios, the ssd is set to "ide" and make sure your boot priority is your ssd first.

If you are installing windows 7 on your ssd, just have your ssd hard drive installed and no other hard drive!!! In bios, set the hard drives to "achi" and your hard drive priority to ssd and boot priority to ur dvd drive. When windows 7 has installed, make sure "defrag" in widnows is switched off (although windows should do this anyway, but better to do it manually as it will destroy your ssd). When done, turn pc off and install other hard drives. When done, boot up and go into bios, make sure ur hard drive priority and boot priority is set to the ssd then do a reboot then your done.

NOTE: Make sure you have no other copy of windows on the other hard drive(s) as it will cause you to blue screen, because the normal hard drives don't like achi mode.

SsSsSsSsSnake · 15 Dec 2009 at 00:44

thankyou for your reply Ben

SsSsSsSsSnake · 15 Dec 2009 at 18:56

can a firmware update for an intel ssd be done with an external usb dvd drive or will it not recognise the device?

ChileanLlama · 15 Dec 2009 at 18:58

If you can boot from the USB-DVD then it's fine.

SsSsSsSsSnake · 15 Dec 2009 at 20:32

hi Chil,thats what i was asking if you knew if a usb dvd would be recognised to boot from, not sure myself .

ChileanLlama · 15 Dec 2009 at 20:36

It will depend on the drive and your motherboard. Why don't use just make a bootable USB stick and put the image on to that?