First Boot through new SSD instead regular HDD

Hi everyone,
I just got my new T410 with the regular 250GB SATA 2.5", 7.200U/min. What I would like to do is to change that HD with an SSD, which I already bought. I wouldn't like to install Win7 yet, I rather would like to install Win7 through my new SSD.
Is there any way that I could copy the data on the HD 1:1 onto the SSD, so that I would be able to do my first boot with that new SSD?

Regards,
hUmanns

 

You could do that but I think it would be best to put in the SSD and then do a clean install of Windows 7 (Lenovo doesn't ship a install disc with system, so you'll need to download/borrow one). That way you won't have to deal with any bloat. Lenovo preinstalled.

 

Thats true. I didn't throught about it that way. Okay, than I guess I'll just create a Win7 DVD and do a clean install, right from the beginning. ;-)

 

I have just bougth a T410 that I have upgraded to a 160 gb Intel disk.

I used a Norton Ghost 15 software to do this, but Lenovo has a partition called Lenovo_Reco called "Q" on mine. What this does is that it burns a 1:1 of your system to dvd`s (I had to burn 4, prob about the same with Lenovo`s solution.) Then switvh HD`s, press the blue ThinkVantage button at boot-menu, press F12 to switch boot this boot only, set it at you DVD and follow instructions.

 

What I did:
during boot press the blue ThinkVantage button and create the recovery disks.
Swap the drives and boot from your recovery discs, which lets you put your Win7 which came with the T410 on your new SSD!
That's how I did it and it worked
Done!

 

This is probably the best choice (you can also make the recovery disks with the utility inside of Windows). It will restore you to factory on the new SSD.

You could do a clean install, but Lenovo's bloatware is fairly limited (especially with Win7). Also, with a clean install you would have to hunt down and manually install all the drivers. This is fairly easy, but it still takes time.

It is possible to do a 1:1 disk clone (I use SelfImage for this). However, because your disks are of different size (I assume your SSD is smaller than your 250GB HDD) you will need to manually resize them. Several Linux boot disks can do this, but its generally more trouble than it's worth (especially if the machine is new and you just want a factory fresh install on the new SSD).

 

I installed all drivers through "System Update 4.0" took 5 Min

What I did at the end was, that I made a "Windows 7 Prof. 64bit" iso File, and installed it from the DvD Drive onto the SSD.

...

From reading all those reviews and first hand experience threads, I started to get worried, wasn't really sure if I did the right thing with buying this Notebook, but I really must say that I don't regret at all. Very sturdy, good perfomance, very clear and bright display, brilliant change on keyboard (very nice feel), its totally different than the T500 keyboard, which I had for a month! Thats a move in the right direction! The SG issue is cleary something which shouldn't happend and which gave, or probably still gives Lenovo a questionable image, but I am very pleased and satisfied with what I bought...

Regards,
hUmanns