G74SX-AH71 Clean Install (SSD) questions...

[rp33]

Hi, guys - been posting for just a little while and finally got the AH71 and a Crucial M4 64GB SSD. I've updated the BIOS and have been researching drivers in different threads, and settled on the following list BrodyBoy posted a week or so back:

Intel chipset 9.3.0.1019
Intel RST (without Intel Control Center)(disable Notifications/Prefs)
Intel MEI 7.0.4.1197
nVidia graphics driver 295.73 (without unneeded components, like updater)
Fresco USB3.0 3.5.24.0 (plus the AsPatch)
Realtek HD audio 2.67
Touchpad (Sentelic or Synaptics, as appropriate)
Realtek LAN 7.050
Realtek Multi-card Reader 6.1.7600.10001
WLAN driver (Intel or Atheros, as appropriate)
ATK Package 1.0.0014

I've got all those except the Intel MEI 7.04.1197 driver. Hoping someone can help me out there 🙂

I downloaded WIn7 a few weeks back from the links provided on the forums. Will be installing that via the CD-Rom drive. Also, have a few small questions about the SSD install process:

- Do I have to put the SSD in the same bay that the HDD is in now and move the HDD to the empty one?
- I'll be putting Win7 on the SSD obviously - Should I install the drivers on their as well?
- Will the new install process give me the opporunity to format the existing HDD? Recovery Partition and all?

Thanks so much in advance - I'm glad the forums are back up. Seems they went down just as my new laptop arrived! I'm sure I'll think of more questions along the way, but this is it for now 🙂

[BrodyBoy]

rp33 wrote:
I've got all those except the Intel MEI 7.04.1197 driver. Hoping someone can help me out there 🙂

You can use the link provided, or you can also install the MEI via Windows Update after Windows is installed. You'll find it in the "Optional" section.

I downloaded WIn7 a few weeks back from the links provided on the forums. Will be installing that via the CD-Rom drive. Also, have a few small questions about the SSD install process:

• Do I have to put the SSD in the same bay that the HDD is in now and move the HDD to the empty one?
  
• I'll be putting Win7 on the SSD obviously - Should I install the drivers on their as well?
  
• Will the new install process give me the opporunity to format the existing HDD? Recovery Partition and all?
  

Thanks so much in advance - I'm glad the forums are back up. Seems they went down just as my new laptop arrived! I'm sure I'll think of more questions along the way, but this is it for now 🙂

• No...it doesn't matter which bay you use for which drive, because you set the boot drive in the BIOS...the bay location is irrelevant.
  (Note: I find it easiest to put the OS drive in bay #1, since it's the drive I'm least likely to replace. The disk in bay #2 must be removed whenever you need to remove the disk in bay #1.)
  
• Yes, absolutely. They will install in the proper locations (usually within the Windows folder) by default.
  
• Yes, but you don't need to do it there. The only disk you need to deal with in Windows Setup is the SSD you're installing to. At an early stage in Setup, you will see a partition table that lists all your drives and their existing partitions. So if you want to, you can delete partitions on the HDD and make new ones there. If it's your intention to completely wipe & re-format that drive, I'd recommend that you only delete the partitions at this stage, and then set up your new partitions later (in Disk Management, after Windows is installed).
  No need to create any partitions on the SSD in Windows setup unless you want to use only part of it for the OS partition. Windows Setup will automatically create the required partitions for you.
  

[rp33]

Thanks for the helpful responses, few follow up questions:
- Do I have to manually set the boot drive in the BIOS before I do the new install? If so, how?
- What is 'Turbo Boost' that was referenced in berryracer's answer? Don't think I have that.
- I assume that installing Windows on the SSD and changing it in the BIOS will automatically make it the C: drive...

EDIT: Well, it's going to be a little while before I can attempt this - I was under the impression (via the Amazon page for my laptop) that I was getting Windows 7 Home Premium, and I've actually got Windows 7 Pro.

Can I install Home Premium with the Pro key? Or am I stuck with having to d/l Pro?

[BrodyBoy]

rp33 wrote:
Thanks for the helpful responses, few follow up questions:

• - Do I have to manually set the boot drive in the BIOS before I do the new install? If so, how?
  
• - What is 'Turbo Boost' that was referenced in berryracer's answer? Don't think I have that.
  
• - I assume that installing Windows on the SSD and changing it in the BIOS will automatically make it the C: drive...
  
• EDIT: Well, it's going to be a little while before I can attempt this - I was under the impression (via the Amazon page for my laptop) that I was getting Windows 7 Home Premium, and I've actually got Windows 7 Pro. Can I install Home Premium with the Pro key? Or am I stuck with having to d/l Pro?
  

• No...not before. And only afterwards if it's different from what it was before. Let's wait & see if it's necessary, then deal with it.
  
• He's talking about a different model and it doesn't apply. Ignore it.
  
• Yes...when you install Windows on your empty drive, it will create a new C: partition for the OS.
  
• You mean the laptop came with Win Pro installed? No problem, use this installer:
  Windows 7 Professional installer ISO
  

[rp33]

Stupid question - just installed the SSD and assigned it a drive letter (haven't done clean install yet). Is it normal for the formatted SSD to have 91mb of used space? (Crucial m4 64GB SSD)

[BrodyBoy]

It's best to leave the drive "raw" before the clean install (due to some technical considerations with SSD alignment). But if you mean that the formatted space is 91Mb smaller than expected, it's normal for a small amount of a disk's space to be reserved for Windows' internal "housekeeping" needs.

But if the drive was already formatted (before you installed it), that seems odd to me.

[rp33]

BrodyBoy wrote:
It's best to leave the drive "raw" before the clean install (due to some technical considerations with SSD alignment). But if you mean that the formatted space is 91Mb smaller than expected, it's normal for a small amount of a disk's space to be reserved for Windows' internal "housekeeping" needs.

Yep - after I formatted it in disk management, it said 91.5MB was in use but the drive is empty. I just got Win7Pro downloaded and I'll be burning that to a DVD soon- probably clean installing tonight or tomorrow. Wish me luck, I'm a first timer. Any tips for the process?

[rp33]

Sorry to be a pain, but I just want to get a few things sorted out before I start this "clean install" - since it's my first time...and I don't want to have to do it twice.

I've got a 750GB HDD and a 64GB SSD installed as of now. What I'm going to do is put the cd in and restart the computer, (pressing one of the function keys?) and booting the CD-Rom drive to run the installation. Install it to the SSD only, and delete the recovery partition on the HDD. But won't this basically install Windows 7 to the SSD while it's already on the HDD? How do I then format the HDD so that it's ready for storage (and maybe a 10GB partition for my Win7 ISO & drivers)?

Also, afterwards should I install drivers or run windows update first?
Is there a way to set the newly formatted HDD as the default install drive for applications?

[BrodyBoy]

rp33 wrote:
Sorry to be a pain, but I just want to get a few things sorted out before I start this "clean install" - since it's my first time...and I don't want to have to do it twice.

I've got a 750GB HDD and a 64GB SSD installed as of now. What I'm going to do is put the cd in and restart the computer, (pressing one of the function keys?) and booting the CD-Rom drive to run the installation. Install it to the SSD only, and delete the recovery partition on the HDD. But won't this basically install Windows 7 to the SSD while it's already on the HDD? How do I then format the HDD so that it's ready for storage (and maybe a 10GB partition for my Win7 ISO & drivers)?

Also, afterwards should I install drivers or run windows update first?
Is there a way to set the newly formatted HDD as the default install drive for applications?

It's possible to install Windows on the SSD while it's still on the HDD. If you intend to simply re-use the whole HDD for storage, go ahead and delete ALL its partition in Windows Setup....this avoids a double-boot situation that I don't think you want.

After Windows is installed, go into Disk Management and set up your paretitions on the HDD. You can arrange those however you'd like. (No need for a separate partition for those driver & instaler files....you could create a folder for them, or even a separate "Library" in WIndows Explorer.)

Install the drivers before updating WIndows.

When you install a program, you usually get to set the install location during installation. You can't set this as an overall default, since it's the programs themselves that have their own defaults in their own set-up programs.