Windows 7 Professional Clean Install on SDD

I have a new Hp Elitebook 8540p which has had a clean SSD. I am going to install windows 7 Professional and had a few questions about partitions and drivers etc.

The first is whether I should partition the SSD for the Win 7 install and then use a second partition for data. Is there any benefit with this on an SSD?

I reckon that Win 7 will probably get itself sorted with all the drivers that it needs and HP Update will clear up the ones that it doesnt. If anyone knows different can you let me know also!

Thanks in advance.

Do you have a Win7 installation DVD to use for this install, or are you running the HP Recovery Disks? The Win7 installer is driver-complete, with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates. Using a Win7 Installer leaves out all of the HP bloatware and useless factory utilities which have better version built into Win7.

Here are tips to get a perfect reinstall of factory Win7: Reinstalling Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

For an SSD, if you have room to keep the User folders on the same drive then having a separate partition is up to you. One reason to do so is to keep the Win7 backup image small so that if it becomes irreparable, you can reimage the OS/Programs and the data will be waiting and current in its own partition. But the data must be backed up separately.

I have a windows 7 installation DVD. I agree about the HP "bloatware" and I'll have a look at the link. Good argument for the partition, how should I determine the size for the windows installation?

Thanks again

Whether it is SDD or normal HD, you need to take note of certain criterion.

First of all, the more partitions you make, the slower your system goes (I can 100% confirm this). As my advice, you still need at least one more additional partition besides the core partition for your OS (operating system).

In summary, you need at least two partitions (highly recommended), just in case, your Drive C which the OS installed is affected (assumption), your Drive D is still secured. It is advisable to store your backup or personal data in Drive D (drive without OS).

Legion :)

First of all, the more partitions you make, the slower your system goes

Legion, I wish you had described that more accurately, the way you say it makes it sound as if performance plummets if you have 3 partitions instead of 2. Let me summarize it the way I understand.

HDD speeds are not uniform across the surface- the outer edge has the highest transfer rates and the fastest access times. The first created partition (the OS) is the fastest because it is located at this outer edge. So, if you create a single 100GB partition and install the OS, programs and also copy your data on it, then you don't know if system files are located at the end or at the beginning of the HDD. So this is not a good idea, also if the OS gets nuked you loose data.

But its not that if you have 10 partitions, windows will slow down. Its true that for an HDD, accessing data from multiple partitions will lead to increased disk head movements but this is offset by factors such as defrag and superfetch. Millisecond differences are not noticeable. It also makes sense to keep more frequently used data files on a faster partition. Of course, if you install two editions of windows, one on the outer edge, the other on the inner there'll be a noticeable difference but thats for benchmarking and not real world.

You should at least have 2 partitions for the OS and the data and maybe another one or two for games etc.

Of course, if you have an SSD like the OP does, ignore the above. Seek times are virtually nil for SSDs and most people cant afford to use disk space for data because SSDs are generally quite expensive.