A few questions for setting up my new SSD

[Ranger4]

Was it an upgrade disc for going from Vista to Win 7.

 

[JohnnyScience]

No it was a legit Windows 7 disc from Digital river when it came out, dated 2009

 

[Ranger4]

Well that is settled then. Do not reinstall at present. You could try phoning MS & get on to a person, not some automated activation device, & explain the problem.

As mentioned we need to get this sorted out, but in the meantime if you have to wait for normal office hours at MS, you may as well install all the updates as this takes a while.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Well that is settled then. Do not reinstall at present. You could try phoning MS & get on to a person, not some automated activation device, & explain the problem.

As mentioned we need to get this sorted out, but in the meantime if you have to wait for normal office hours at MS, you may as well install all the updates as this takes a while.

Hmm ok I will try tomorrow. Any suggestions on a good number to call?

So I can do the updates now without registering? I'll give it a try...

 

[Ranger4]

I can't help you with a phone number, I am in Australia.

Just to reiterate, are you sure that your Win 7 Professional is not an upgrade. The reason I ask is that it says so when you have just tried to activate it.

Often people start out with say Home Premium then at a later time they upgrade to Win 7 Professional & of course have a new activation key, but in reality it is an upgrade & not an original installation. That is why I am persisting here.

 

[JohnnyScience]

I can't help you with a phone number, I am in Australia.

Just to reiterate, are you sure that your Win 7 Professional is not an upgrade. The reason I ask is that it says so when you have just tried to activate it.

Often people start out with say Home Premium then at a later time they upgrade to Win 7 Professional & of course have a new activation key, but in reality it is an upgrade & not an original installation. That is why I am persisting here.

Well wait a second, the .iso I made from a download, maybe it's considered an upgraded copy?

Should I reinstall & format the SSD with my original win7 Pro cd & just do all of the upgrades?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If you got the ISO from Digital River, it's a so-called full version that will install and activate on a brand new hard drive with no previous installation. You of course need a valid key.

You can try your original Win 7 Pro CD if you have a valid key for it.

Or you can call Microsoft, read them every 25 character Product Key you have, regardless of source, and let them tell you what you have, as opposed to what you think you have.

 

[Ranger4]

Well I have reached the end of what I can suggest at present. It may be best to wait until you can contact MS re the activation, rather than going ahead regardless.

 

[JohnnyScience]

I know what I have but I think the problem came when I may have downloaded the wrong .iso from here Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River

I downloaded the Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 U (media refresh) X17-59186.iso

I am going to start over & use my original Windows 7 64 Professional disc I received with the key code that I have & know is right.

Should I do a format or anything before trying to reinstall or just load the other CD & let it format it as it re-installs?

Damn it I'm pissed I messed up this SSD already. Grrr I HATE IT work!

 

[Ranger4]

Just a quick note Johnny, if you decide to reinstall from your existing Pro 7 CD, please post back & we can advise you on setting up the BIOS for AHCI beforehand.

Changes can be made to have AHCI without having to reinstall, so don't do it just for that.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Ok, I am going to re-install just to do it, so what should I adjust in bios for the AHCI?

Should I format first or just let the windows installer format as it re-installs?

 

[derekimo]

It's not the .ISO that denotes an upgrade, it is the product key.

Here's a good number for Microsoft 800-426-9400

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I downloaded the Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 U (media refresh) X17-59186.iso

I am going to start over & use my original Windows 7 64 Professional disc I received with the key code that I have & know is right.

That Digital River download (Pro x64 SP1 U) should certainly work with a valid Product Key for your original disc. The SP1 just has Service Pack 1 integrated. It's the most recent downloadable version, but accepts valid keys from earlier versions.

 

[JohnnyScience]

It's not the .ISO that denotes an upgrade, it is the product key.

Here's a good number for Microsoft 800-426-9400

Cool thanks. Are they open on sundays?

I'm going to try the reinstall with my original cd now for the heck of it.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Installed fine and activated properly just like normal.

Must have been the wrong download. Should have just went with my original disc to start. Figured I'd get the most updated version by downloading a new copy.

I hope I didn't screw anything up on this SSD already.

Ok so now that I'm activated & starting to download updates, what next?

I'm going to install Magician & set it up for best performance.

What about this ACHI?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Were you offered a choice of AHCI during installation?

If not, wade through this tutorial:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html

 

[JohnnyScience]

Hmm, re-running Magician already shows that .04 bytes have been written to the disk, when I first installed it only showed .01 - not a huge difference but clearly this SSD is already a big screwy from this mess-up isn't it?

 

[JohnnyScience]

Were you offered a choice of AHCI during installation?

If not, wade through this tutorial:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html

No I didn't see anything about AHCI mentioned, I don't even know what the heck it is lol

I'll do that walk-thru now. Adjusting these settings will just help the SSD run at maximum performance?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

clearly this SSD is already a big screwy from this mess-up isn't it?

Not that I know of.

But if you are highly concerned, start over, use Diskpart, and wipe the SSD clean before you install Windows.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Hmm. I don't know what I want to do. I want it to be perfect. Can't believe it got messed up on the install. GRRR

I would run diskpart first inside of windows to format it & then restart with the win7 disc in the tray and do it all over again?

Is it bad to keep re-installing on an SSD like this one after another?