About to upgrade to an SSD and Windows 7 - but which first?

[JonShar]

Hi all,

New poster here, apologies if this answer is elsewhere - I searched but couldn't find anything.

I'm currently on Vista Home Premium 64bit, Core i7 with 1TB HD. I've just purchased a Samsung 256GB SSD and Windows 7 Home Premium, and have 2 questions.

1) Is TRIM supported on Home Premium? I think it is, just wanted to make sure before I opened the box.

2) Which should I install first? I was going to install the SSD first, but I'm not sure if that's the best way or not - are there benefits to doing one or the other?

Thanks in advance for any help, most appreciated!

Jon

 

[seavixen32]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

 

[Britton30]

Yes TRIM is supported in Win 7 HP but your drive may not support it. Some SSDs have their own method of clean up.
From Wiki:

List of specific Brands/Ranges of SSD'S with TRIM support:

A-DATA:
[LIST]
[*]S592
[*]S596
[/LIST]Corsair (Performance series):
[LIST]
[*]P64
[*]P128
[*]P256
[/LIST]Crucial:
[LIST]
[*]M225 Series
[*]C300 Series
[*]M4 Series
[/LIST]Intel:
[LIST]
[*]X18-M G2
[*]X25-M G2
[*]X25-V
[*]310 Series
[*]320 Series
[*]510 Series
[*]520 Series
[*]710 Series
[/LIST]G.SKILL:
[LIST]
[*]Falcon
[*]Falcon II
[/LIST]Plextor:
[LIST]
[*]M3 Series
[/LIST]OCZ:
[LIST]
[*]Agility EX
[*]Agility
[*]Summit
[*]Vertex
[*]Vertex EX
[*]Vertex Turbo
[*]Patriot
[/LIST]Torqx:
[LIST]
[*]Torqx M28 (with firmware upgrade)
[*]KOI
[/LIST]SuperTalent:
[LIST]
[*]UltraDrive
[/LIST]

Samsung is a good choice and has its own cleaning system. Enjoy it.Here's another tutorial if you want to have a separate data drive with your User folder. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...reate-move-during-windows-7-installation.html

 

[JonShar]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link!

I'm reading that as it would be best to install Windows 7 to my HD first, then switch to the SSD.

Again, thanks for the info!

 

[JonShar]

Yes TRIM is supported in Win 7 HP but your drive may not support it. Some SSDs have their own method of clean up.

Good to know, thanks for that!

 

[seavixen32]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link!

I'm reading that as it would be best to install Windows 7 to my HD first, then switch to the SSD.

Again, thanks for the info!

You're very welcome.

If you install to your spinner first you have a way back to a working system if your SSD install proves to be problematical, so yes, it's perhaps best to do that first, although it does take more time.

 

[JonShar]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link!

I'm reading that as it would be best to install Windows 7 to my HD first, then switch to the SSD.

Again, thanks for the info!

You're very welcome.

If you install to your spinner first you have a way back to a working system if your SSD install proves to be problematical, so yes, it's perhaps best to do that first, although it does take more time.

I'll take safety over quickness, thanks for that.

 

[seavixen32]

OK, do keep us posted on your progress and post back if you need further help.

 

[bobkn]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link!

I'm reading that as it would be best to install Windows 7 to my HD first, then switch to the SSD.

Again, thanks for the info!

I'd take the other tack: do a clean install of Windows 7 onto the SSD, with the spinner disconnected. To return to your current Vista setup, swap drives.

That supposes that you aren't trying to save pre-installed software from the Vista machine, for which you have no installation media.

 

[JonShar]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a read through this excellent tutorial, which may help you decide which way to go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link!

I'm reading that as it would be best to install Windows 7 to my HD first, then switch to the SSD.

Again, thanks for the info!

I'd take the other tack: do a clean install of Windows 7 onto the SSD, with the spinner disconnected. To return to your current Vista setup, swap drives.

That supposes that you aren't trying to save pre-installed software from the Vista machine, for which you have no installation media.

Cheers for that - I do have a fair amount of already installed software that I may or may not have installation media for anymore. Photoshop and lots of plug-ins, Lightroom and lots of plugins, etc. Would it be better in this case to upgrade OS and then switch drives?

Thanks again!

 

[whs]

Although I would be pleased if you could make use of my tutorial, I would also vote for a clean install on the SSD. Then you do not have to worry about any settings and have no chance of making mistakes. The only additional optional setting you may want to make is to delete the hiberfile (takes unnecessary SSD space) and maybe reduce the pagefile to 2GB.

 

[JonShar]

Although I would be pleased if you could make use of my tutorial, I would also vote for a clean install on the SSD. Then you do not have to worry about any settings and have no chance of making mistakes. The only additional optional setting you may want to make is to delete the hiberfile (takes unnecessary SSD space) and maybe reduce the pagefile to 2GB.

Thanks very much - also, excellent tutorial, thanks for the help!

 

[whs]

You are welcome. If you need any further info, let us know.

 

[gregrocker]

If you're happy with an in-place Upgrade on the HDD, you can later try a clean install on the SSD and see if you can get all of your software installed. You'll be able to compare performance and if you find the HDD comparable and it has software you can't find for SSD, you can then try transferring the HD image to SSD using Wolfgang's first tutorial.

WHile you are using separate HD's with OS's, I would unplug one when installing or upgrading to the other. After install set preferred drive to boot first in BIOS setup, then choose the other one to boot using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key given on first boot screen. This keeps the HD's independent to come and go as you please.

 

[JonShar]

If you're happy with an in-place Upgrade on the HDD, you can later try a clean install on the SSD and see if you can get all of your software installed. You'll be able to compare performance and if you find the HDD comparable and it has software you can't find for SSD, you can then try transferring the HD image to SSD using Wolfgang's first tutorial.

WHile you are using separate HD's with OS's, I would unplug one when installing or upgrading to the other. After install set preferred drive to boot first in BIOS setup, then choose the other one to boot using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key given on first boot screen. This keeps the HD's independent to come and go as you please.

That's a good idea, thanks for that!