Installing Win7 on new SSD when old HDD has Win7 on it?

[FloridaDude]

I have a computer from a few years back that has a 7200 RPM, 500GB drive on it with WIN 7 64 ultimate OS.
I also have many other programs on that same hard drive and files that are very important to me like office, dreamweaver, and many others. As my bootup times are really bad (7 mins) and the drive is nearly full I want to put a 120 GB OCZ Sata 3 drive on there now with a fresh install of WIN 7 just for boot up only and maybe MS office as well. Since I already have WIN 7 on the 500GB drive, how would I go about a new install onto the SSD with just WIN7?
Would this installation cause any problems for the other programs I have installed on the 500GB like MS office, Front Page, or Dreamweaver? Would there be a conflict if I have two drives with WIN7? I want to keep my older programs stored and operable on the old drive and be able to freshly install WIN7 on the SSD with maybe MS office only. Can I do this without a conflict or losing the ability to run important programs from the old HD?
Thanks for any help.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

SSDs don't differ much from HDDs when it comes to installation technique.

Assuming you have a valid 25 character Product Key, you should:

1: disconnect or disable the HDD (this is important)

2: connect the SSD

3: install Windows to the SSD, including updates

4: install your programs to the SSD.

5: Reconnect the HDD and do what you will with it---repartition, reformat, whatever plans you have. A common choice is to use it as a data drive or possibly as a location to install games that may not fit on the SSD.

Most would tell you to install ALL programs on the SSD if they will fit comfortably----that's the best way to take advantage of its speed.

With Windows 7 installed on the SSD while the HDD is disconnected, the SSD will then be in charge of the show and your Windows 7 installation on the HDD will be irrelevant and that C partition can be deleted outright.

I think if you do a clean install to the SSD, you would have to reinstall programs to the HDD if you want to have any programs on the HDD at all. I'm not entirely sure about that, but the better advice is to not install programs on the HDD if possible. The valid reason not to install programs to the SSD is lack of space.

A 120 GB SSD is certainly large enough to hold all programs for nearly anybody--possibly excluding large games if games are a major part of your installation. Windows itself will take up roughly 20 GB.

And then use the HDD for ALL data.

And then backup the data on the HDD to some external---and possibly backup Windows on the SSD via an image, stored on the HDD and backed up to an external.

You could of course clone or image your current Windows installation on the HDD to the SSD, but I'm assuming you are leaning toward a clean install to the SSD. That's probably preferable anyway and less prone to problems.

 

[AddRAM]

After your new install to the ssd, you can plug back in the hard drive and use the bios to turn each drive on or off to use at your liesure. Make sure one is always on and one is always off. You will get the hang of it.

You need to work on your hard drive, a 7 minute boot time ? Something is definetly wrong there. How many items do you have trying to run at startup ? You should have 3 at the most.

 

[gregrocker]

Boot your choice via the BIOS Boot order or one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

You can easily link User folders from HD by rightclicking each to add to the SSD's Win7 Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums.

Gradually install your most used programs to the SSD to benefit from the increased speeds. When ready to delete the OS on HD, move User folders and other storage onto its own partition to delete the Win7 partition alone then Recover Space Used by an Older OS