How to install an SSD?

Ok so I just got my w520 today, and I purchased an SSD separately. I have not plugged the computer in at all yet, everything's fresh...

im not that tech-savvy, which leads me to ask: what exactly do I do now? My computer didn't come with a windows disc, so how do I get windows onto my SSD (I assume it's preinstalled on the stock harddrive?) Sorry if this is obvious but hopefully you guys could help. Thanks!

 

You can create recovery media and reimage (SSD may be misaligned this way) or you download the Windows 7 ISO and reimage it and just activate the COA on the bottom of your machine.

 

Should I even bother turning my computer on for the first time with the stock drive? or should I just use my old computer to download the ISO (don't know what that is) using my old computer?

 

Yes, to make the recovery discs and a copy of the SWTools folder.

 

http://www.primitivebuteffective.com/2011/05/lenovo-w520-for-sony-vegas-pro-10-and.html

Check the linked videos from Lenovo on how to take your laptop apart.

 

As Zaz said:
1. Turn on your new computer and go through all the setup stuff.
2. Use the option to create Recovery Disks (CD's)
3. Find the swtools folder and copy to flash drive or somewhere safe
4. Plug the new SSD drive in
5. Boot off the Recovery CD's and go through the process of restoring the factory image to your new drive
6. Boot into your new Windows install on your SSD and copy over your swtools folder so you can start installing drivers

 

If you bought an intel SSD, you should make sure it has the latest firmware. You should do this before step 5. It is a simple process but you must read intel instructions before you begin. It involves downloading an ISO, using a free program called ImgBurn to burn the ISO file to disk (CD-R, maybe DVD-R), installing the SSD in a computer, inserting the disk, changing the BIOS setting to boot off the optical disk, also in BIOS changing the SATA controller to legacy or IDE mode from AHCI mode (You'll change this back to AHCI mode when you're done), restarting the computer, the disk will update the SSD firwmare.

The W520 is also one of the first thinkpads to ship with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). UFFI is the newer replacement for BIOS. The W520 can be set to use either I believe. I have no idea if you can be using UEFI while you upgrade the intel SSD firmware. Something to look into.

If your SSD in not from intel. I'd still recommend you make sure it has the latest firmware from the manufacturer that made it.

Firmware is the software that controls the SSD. It is quite common for manufactuers to discover problems with their SSD, and release a firmware update that corrects the problem. So it's important to use the latest firmware. Since there is no guarantee that you won't loose all your data on the SSD when you upgrade the firmware it is best to do this before you install windows. If you decide to do this after installing windows, make sure you backup all your data, and have a way to reinstall windows should you need to.

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EDIT:
I just read this link that someone posted in this Lenovo forum. UEFI is a non issue at the moment because you can't use it unless you do a clean install of windows7. Everything we've discussed here involves using recovery disks that use the system image installed by lenovo. Thus rules out using the EUFI.

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/General-...s-it-introduced-on-Lenovo-systems/ta-p/466583

 

Wouldn't the factory disks contain the SWTools folder since they're made using lenovo's thinkvantage software?

 

As far as I'm aware, you can't really access data right off the recovery disks.

 

Does anyone remember what Format the external HD should have if you want to use the Rescue and Recovery feature from a W520? I've used NTFS and it seems to freeze at around 63% ( it takes several hours...). Thanks

 

Would the describe process be similar if I wanted to install an SSD onto a T420?