Afew questions before I swap out stock HD for an SSD. Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I'm new to the forum. I have this laptop on the way to me in the mail:

Newegg.com - ASUS N56JR-EH71 Intel Core i7 4700HQ(2.40GHz) 12GB Memory 1TB HDD 15.6" Notebook Windows 8 64-bit

And a samsung 256 GB SSD. This one here:

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Newegg.com

I've swapped out plenty of HDs and done fresh Windows installs, but there are a few aspects of this one I'm about to do that are new to me. First, I've never worked with an SSD, or even really used a computer that has one. I'm excited about it, but is there anything I should know? Second, a Windows product key that is wired into the BIOS is new to me. Does this just pretty much work automatically? Also, is the product key in the BIOS gonna be real touchy about what version of Windows 8 I use? I have a copy of a Windows 8 DVD that I burned from an iso described as "Windows 8 x64 untouched." That should work fine, right? I'm also not very familiar with Windows 8, and can't say I'm really thrilled about it based on my limited experience and what I've read. Sorry for rambling, but this is mainly what I want to ask: I keep reading about people using software to clone their Windows installation from the old drive to the new, as opposed to just booting from the optical drive after swapping the new drive in, formatting the HD and doing a fresh install. This is mainly to preserve installed programs and settings, right? Since I'm doing this to a new system, is there any reason I shouldn't do a fresh native install? Is there like, preloaded ASUS stuff that will be on the laptop as shipped that I'm gonna want? It's usually just bloatware isn't it? And if there is stuff I want won't I be able to just grab the software pack(s) off the ASUS or whatever other relevant websites? Again sorry for rambling so much. I guess I'm out of practice as I've not posted to a forum in a while. Come to think of it though, I've never been the most concise cat in town. I'm super excited about the laptop. Thanks for reading and replies!

TL;DR: Swapping an SSD into a brand new ASUS N56JR-EH71. Should I bother to clone or can I just do a fresh install with a windows 8 dvd?

 

Do a clean install.

Download the latest drivers,utilities and software and put them on a USB flash drive before beginning.

MS netframework 4.5.1,chipset installation software/driver and your wireless card driver should be top of the list.

If you're installing Windows 8.1 there's a few things I suggest right after the OS install completes.

#1-enable f8 pressing for going into Safe Mode by running Admin command prompt
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

#2-W8.1 has no WEI so run this Admin command to optimize SSD
WinSAT diskformal

#3-turn off hibernation to gain back 12GB of SSD space
powercfg -h off

#4-right click on the taskbar >Navigation>set how you want Windows 8.1 to display when you boot into it.

 

Thanks for the reply WTP. As it happens, I won't be going to 8.1 just yet as there seem to be some driver issues according to the discussion I've seen in the thread for this laptop. I guess ASUS has not yet released drivers that are fully up to date with 8.1 for this laptop, so people are getting errors and seeing their GPU stop functioning. I think I'll just wait to update. Does that seem right, or is there some compelling reason to go straight to 8.1? I'm not even entirely clear on the differences between 8 and 8.1. I realize this may sound kind of dense or naive, but I've been out of the PC loop for quite a while now, and my experience with Windows 8 in any form is very very limited. Are any of your suggestions relevant if I'm not doing 8.1 yet. Even so, I would like to keep any such advice in mind as I will go to 8.1 before too long, hopefully.

As to your suggestions, which I appreciate very much, I do have questions which I hope won't seem simplistic or finicky.

#1 Why has Microsoft taken this F8 to safe mode out by default, and why do you think I should have it on? Just in case something goes wrong? Or will safe mode be useful for something other than troubleshooting?

#2 WEI = Windows Experience Index ? (Sorry, new acronym for me) And then, in just doing some quick google research on that command, it seems to just do assessments. Will I need to take further steps using the info generated by this command to optimize the SSD, or will the "winsat formal" command do more than I understand?

#3 This is after all a laptop. I don't know precisely what this "hibernation" feature is, but might I want it on? Don't get me wrong, 12 GB is drive space I'd much rather have with only 256 to work with, but is there any benefit to the feature? Just asking.

#4 I think I'm clear on this one, and it's a suggestion I appreciate and will certainly take, as I strongly prefer desktop view to silly Windows 8 panes or whatever the hell they call it.

Thanks again ever so much for the reply and the help getting me back into the swing of things! Can't wait to get this baby flowing.

 

IMO,8.1 is much better than 8.0 which I gave a try but stayed with W7.

Which drivers are you referring to that have an Asus problem?

Maybe some Asus specific utilities but drivers?

I get the drivers for the hardware in my MSI notebook mostly from station-drivers.com