SSD installation - fresh or clone?

Liampope

Liampope

Liampope

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Hi there

Decided to jump on the SSD bandwagon, but I'm quite a noob so have a few questions. Any help appreciated...

1. I've only recently bought Win7, so my installation is quite fresh - i pretty much have just Windows + updates and my Steam folder (I have my priorities straight:)). I was therefore wondering if I could just move my steam folder back off the Win7 HDD to my other one, bringing the Win7 HDD contents well under the 120GB I have to play with, then cloning the HDD onto the SSD and job's a goodun. Is this approach possible/recommended, or should I definately fresh install Win7?

2. I'm not sure if I'm in AHCI mode currently or not. If I'm not, does the need/desire to turn on AHCI immediately throw a spanner in the above clone idea?

3. Regardless of which approach I take, should I first update the SSD to the latest firmware? If so, would I do this by installing the SSD in the current rig as an additional drive, going into Windows as usual and updating from there?

Well that's all for now. Thanks for your time :)
 
Im in the same position as you and currently waiting for mine to be delivered , but i have done some reading before hand and will answer to the best of my knowledge:

1.a fresh install can never hurt in my opinion but i doubt it would cause many complications with a clone

2.its generally advised to have a fresh install when changing form IDE to AHCI as it can cause some bugs and problems otherwise apparently.

3.sorry i havent a clue XD
 
Hi,

I recently tried taking an image off a HDD then restored to an SSD upgrade and ran into quite a few problems. Even with AHCI disabled. I'm guessing that the SSD requires either the Windows Rapid Storage Technology (RST) drivers at minimum. I never got to the bottom of it.

I would certainly enable AHCI and re-install Windows from scratch.. It's up to you whether you use the standard Windows which install by default or the Intel RST Drivers.


http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...="Intel+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel+RST)"

You can install the Intel RST driver either during Windows install or afterwards but make sure you download the correct version.
 
If you want to clone your HDD to the SSD then have a look at Paragon migrate OS to SSD which will do this for you and also take care of the alignment. If your currently running on IDE mode then you'll need to follow this guide first, then shutdown and enable AHCI before cloning your drive. However enabling AHCI and just doing a clean install would save you all the hassle ;)
 
Thanks guys. I think I'm now leaning towards a fresh install. My initial view was that the 'freshness' of my current Win7 install made a good case for a clone - as I can very easily get the whole HDD under 120GB and it's all clean and free of crap. However the exact same fact also makes a good case for a fresh install - I can relatively quickly get back to where I am now. I guess fresh install is the way to go.

Hmmm are these Intel RST drivers something I need? I got an OCZ vertex in last week's TWO offer if that makes a difference. I was under the impression that if I go the fresh install approach, I simply remove all HDDs, plug in the SSD, enable AHCI, boot from Win7 DVD, and away.
 
You dont need a clean install at all for enabling AHCI. :p
Search around for the guide for the reg keys to change, its a doddle to do.
All it does it force windows to auto detected the HDD controllers again, only this time it'll see AHCI ones, and thus you get AHCI.
You dont lose any speed, or any data, or anything else.

The myth that you need to reinstall is rubbish.
 
Whilst I recently cloned my existing SSD install, when I had to do a full factory destructive reset on my OCZ Vertex, I normally do a full clean install.

Nothing like the freshness of a clean install, especially on an SSD.
 
I instlled my new M4 tonight and cloned the all drive so I wouldn't have to setup everything again. No issues, all working well.
 
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