Setting up SSD for Windows

I wish to install an SSD and put windows 7 64 bit on it. I don't have a cd/dvd copy of windows just the one on the recovery partition of my Dell Inspiron 580 1TB HD 8GB RAM.

Firstly is there more than one cable to connect from the SSD to the motherboard or two like normal HD's?

Secondly having fitted the SSD do I then boot up normally from my old HD and then somehow reinstall windows but selecting the SSD>?

Will all my old programs still launch from the old HD? Presumably would need desktop shortcuts creating?

Currently the PC is having a BSOD crash about three times a day, so thought this was a good move as it's always been slow and non-responsive even after clean windows re-installs.

Help much appreciated.

First, download an official .iso image for the version and platform of Windows 7 you have a license for. This way, you can do a clean install without the pre-installed bloat. Get your drivers from Dell as well, and put them on a flash drive.

The SSD installs the same way as any other hard drive. You may need to install it in a different slot or use an adapter, since they are smaller (2.5") as opposed to regular desktop drives (3.5"). To be safe, you could always unplug your existing hard drives, and then make sure the SSD is connected to the first, or primary SATA port.

You will need to reinstall your programs. Just have them handy for when your clean install is finished.

I would also focus on figuring out what is causing the BSoDs first. If it's something like bad memory, then those issues will follow you to a new install.

So would I contact Dell and ask them where I could download the iso? That sounds a hell of a challenge for a kick off - getting through to such an organisation!

download an official .iso image
Aren't these dodgy copies then if they didn't come with my PC?

These guys have it covered pretty well. There are some good tutorials on here that deal with a clean install of Win 7 on a SSD, I think they even gave you a link to one of them.

That being said, a little preparation goes a long way. If you have a Dell computer, go to Dell's website and enter your serial number or service tag for them to identify your computer. You may or may not have to pick what version of Windows you are needing drivers/updates for........ex Win 7 32-bit, Win 7 64-bit. When you do that, get a few drivers you know you will need. For sure you will need an updated graphics driver, one for your ethernet/network/lan so you can get on the internet, and probably the newest chipset driver. You can get by without all of them right now because you just need the main ones so you can navigate through the installation process. Put those drivers on a flash drive or w/e you want so they will be handy when you install Windows on your SSD.

When you go to install your SSD, make sure you unplug any other hard drives so it doesn't try to install any boot files on it. You don't have to worry about alignment because Win 7 does it for ya. Install Win 7 from the flash drive or disk you made and go through the process. After installation, manually install the drivers you downloaded from Dell's site. You should be ready to go through Windows Update and put the 100+ updates on your computer now. I always take this time to mention this: If you have a way of making an image of your OS configuration, now is the time to do it. I usually suggest making an image after installation is complete, right before any updates are installed. What this does is it gives you a good jumping off point in case something screwy happens and you have to reload windows. Instead, you wipe the drive clean and reload that image and you are ready to install updates and customize windows. You don't have to make an image, it is just a good idea to save some time later on if something happens.

Now you should be ready to download and install any programs/games/applications you want.



EDIT: One important thing I forgot to add.......when you install your SSD in your computer, BEFORE YOU START INSTALLING WINDOWS, go into your BIOS and make sure your SATA port is set to AHCI, not IDE. It should be fairly easy to find, but if you need further instructions, do a search on here for SATA AHCI and it should bring up several posts and probably a tutorial on it.