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    SSD hardware addition on Win7 platform

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Schoony, Aug 15, 2010.

  1. Schoony

    Schoony Notebook Enthusiast

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    Windows 7:

    Windows 7 introduces some nice features to anyone who’d like to use an SSD for their operating system install. Before I go on at all though. Anyone who wants to install Windows 7 to an SSD that they should absolutely make sure they’re getting a gen 2 device, since you’ll otherwise find yourself burning the drive out with repeated writes.

    Once you’ve got your SSD, you shouldn’t jump straight to installing Windows 7 on it. Instead, you’d be far better off plugging the drive into an existing machine that’s already running, and using that PC to grab the latest version of the SSD’s firmware.

    DO NOT FORMAT OR PARTITION YOUR SSD, Windows 7 will do everything for you. Just click next and start installing.

    The firmware update should ensure you’re sorted out with TRIM, which should prevent your SSD from becoming fragmented and helps stop temporary data just piling up on the disc until it’s full… which was a genuine issue with older SSDs.

    Once you’ve done all that, you should be good to go with a Windows 7 install as though you were installing it to a normal HDD. Of course, for most that will mean just running a plain install from a disc, but for those of you who want to get the SSD experience even during the install, we’d recommend going for a USB install of Windows 7.

    It’s not too hard to set up a USB install of Windows 7. Just copy your files onto a NTFS Flash Drive thats at least 5 GB. And they you have to copy the BOOTSECT.exe from the disc and make sure your flash drive will be configured for boot.

    Things You'll Need:

    Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system
    Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation CD
    DVD/CD writeable drive
    5 GB USB flash drive


    Step 1
    Insert the USB flash drive into a USB port on your computer. If you have any files on the flash drive, you will need to backup and save the files you want to keep. Create a folder on your desktop and copy the files onto your computer. Then, delete and remove the files on the flash drive.

    Step 2
    Press "Start" on your taskbar, click "All Programs" and highlight "Accessories" from the drop-down menu. Search for "Command Prompt" and right-click on it and select "Run as administrator" from the shortcut drop-down menu.

    Step 3
    Format the USB flash drive. Type "DISKPART" when the "Command Prompt" window opens and press the "Enter" key.

    Step 4
    Type "LIST DISK" and press the "Enter" key. After you have completed this step, you should see the disk number of the flash drive. It's normally shown as Disk 1. To change the disk number, type "SELECT DISK 1" and replace "DISK 1" with a disk number that you want to use.

    Step 5
    Enter the following commands one by one and press "Enter" after you've typed each. Type "CLEAN" + "CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY" + "SELECT PARTITION 1" + "ACTIVE" + "FORMAT FS=NTFS" + "ASSIGN" + "EXIT." Then, minimize the "Command Prompt" window.

    Step 6
    Insert the Windows installation CD into your DVD/CD drive. Write down the drive letters for your DVD/CD drive and the flash drive.

    Step 7
    Reopen the "Command Prompt" window. Type "D:CD BOOT" (the letter "D" refers to your DVD/CD drive letter) and press "Enter." Type "CD BOOT" and press "Enter" to display a message that says, "BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 E:" (the letter "E" refers to your USB drive letter).

    Step 8
    Copy the files from the Windows installation CD to the USB flash drive. You will be able to use your bootable flash drive on any computer with a USB boot feature.
    so we won’t go into too much detail about that here, but we will say that installing Windows 7 from a flash-based drive onto an SSD is blisteringly fast.

    Installing from a plain old external hard drive will still net you a bit of a bump when it comes to installation time, but it’s not quite as impressive… given that there are moving parts involved and all that.

    Recommendations:

    The reason is for reliability and ease of use. The fact is that if you pick up an SSD that’s only 128GB, you’ll still have plenty of space to keep your content and your most often accessed games on it, but it just doesn’t make all that much sense to keep your music and movies on the same drive as your OS when they won’t benefit from the same kind of speed bump.

    Anyway, my advice to anyone who’s considering picking up a serious update to their home storage arrangement this Christmas (or picking up some stuff to pass on as a gift to a hardware entranced loved one).


    I hope this helps some needy soul.

    Thanks
    Shawn
     
    Schoony, Aug 15, 2010
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  2. Annul

    Annul Notebook Guru

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    Nicely done. Although I really don't have much experience with installations, I always thought you needed your USB drive to be in FAT32, so awesome sauce.

    Also, I need to read up some more on TRIM before my SSD gets here... today I hope. Cool guide, thanks.
     
    Annul, Aug 15, 2010
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