Use factory Re-installation disc on new SSD?

[Abouna]

OK, newbie here!

Glad I found this forum and tutorial.

I'm running a Dell XPS Studio 8100, Lynnfield, I7-860, 2.8 & 8gb RAM. I do a lot of photo editing and was getting tired of my old XP machine. I upgraded to this a few months ago. It;s been fairly good but certainly not as snappy as I had hoped for going from my old 8400 to this.

That said, the OS has been a bit flaky lately and I can't boot without getting the black screen and flashing cursor, I have to hit f12 and then go from there for the OS to boot properly.

With that in mind, I've decided to order a 120gb or so SSD as my proimary drive. I keep the old boot drive for data only.

Here's what I need to know:

- I will be clean installing Win7 Pro x64 from the factory Re-installation disc from Dell onto the new SSD. Will this work?

- Do I need to do anything other than putting the disc into the drive when I start the computer?

- I assume, once I have the OS installed on the SSD, I can then reattach the original HD without fear of the computer trying to boot from that drive?

 

[theog]

Is your Dell disk a Windows 7 DVD or HD image.

 

[Abouna]

It's a Dell disk.

 

[HDRider]

I've got two of the same systems and would like to know if anyone has used the Dell
disks that you burn yourself.

Today I got my SSD disks and had ordered the Apricorn 2.5" SATA Notebook Drive Upgrade Kit.
For now I just used the Kit and it worked great. I used the automatic settings. Everything
seems to be running great, my HD Score jumped to 7.7 from 5.9.

Would I benifit from doing a clean install using the Dell disks and would they properly adjust
for the SSD drive.

Thanks Mark

 

[gregrocker]

You can use the Recovery Disks you create but they won't get as clean of an install as the clean-copy Installation DVD which Abouna apparently was given before Dell cut off issuing them in order to further enforce the pre-installed sponsors' factory bloatware which provides the profit margin these days.

I'd boot that DVD then wipe the HD to get the cleanest possible install. Here are tips for getting a purrfect install based on hundreds done here: http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/125874-re-install-windows-7-a.html#post1086729

If you can't find a clean-copy installation DVD to reinstall with the Product Key on COA sticker, then here are tips for cleaning up a bloatware install until you can go completely clean: http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...p-all-four-primary-partitions.html#post952573

 

[mjf]

That said, the OS has been a bit flaky lately and I can't boot without getting the black screen and flashing cursor, I have to hit f12 and then go from there for the OS to boot properly.

I would not ignore this problem and I suggest you resolve it before installing a new SSD. I suggest you follow the gregrocker steps to get a good install to your old drive first.

 

[Abouna]

I would not ignore this problem and I suggest you resolve it before installing a new SSD. I suggest you follow the gregrocker steps to get a good install to your old drive first.

Normally I'd agree but I don't see how doing a complately clean install, WITHOUT any migration, is not going to work. Unless of course it's hardware issue, which I'm fairly certain it's not.

 

[mjf]

I would not ignore this problem and I suggest you resolve it before installing a new SSD. I suggest you follow the gregrocker steps to get a good install to your old drive first.

Normally I'd agree but I don't see how doing a complately clean install, WITHOUT any migration, is not going to work. Unless of course it's hardware issue, which I'm fairly certain it's not.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I don't follow the logic.
It's a relatively new PC and you don't think you have a hardware problem (including your existing HDD). I would think a reinstall to your existing hardware including HDD would be the first step. You may have some fundamental software issue to fix (eg. driver problem).

 

[HDRider]

I don't want to step on Abouna's post so if you guys want me to start a new thread on this let me know.

I did take Greg's advice I have a couple of the iso images down loading, I would have been finished but my isp gave me a new years pressent, they upped their rates and dropped our usage to 2mg Boostable. So my 5 gig down loads have been going since 9 this morning. Looks like I've got a hour on the last one.


One last question, the build I'm downloading for windows is just a little bit older than our build, do you think there will be any problems. Thanks again for your help guys.

 

[HDRider]

Thanks Guys

Hey,

Thanks for the input, I downloaded the Windows ISO, did the install
today, machine looks a lot different, running with about 18 less
bloated programs and only using about a gig of mem.

The factory install with my programs was about 79 gig of HD, the
new install is only 54 gig. Thanks again.


Mark

 

[gregrocker]

Glad it helped. Keep us posted.