Picking SSD for boot drive

Hi all,

I'm new to the SSD scene and have done some reading regarding the drives and how almost everybody uses them solely for boot drives or for retrieving information at a rapid speed.

I think I want to take a dive into purchasing a SSD for strictly a boot drive as I don't do much on my desktop outside of gaming. Would this even be a noticable upgrade or help me in any way?

I was thinking of just getting something around the 40 - 60 GB range as their prices are fairly reasonable, but that's about where my knowledge of the drives stops.

Could you guys shed some of your insight onto the picture and just throw our your ideas or opinions for what I'm wanting to do?

Thanks!

Also, I have tried a google search on this but would I be able to do an OS transfer from my original HDD to the SSD? Would I be able to do a clean install with just the Win 7 full upgrade disk

Why would you have an upgrade disc? Windows 'upgrades' have always resulted in a partially broken OS and reinstallation is a pain.

I haven't kept up with the SSD scene lately, so I'll pass on a conclusive recommendation.

You don't want to be attempting an OS transfer. Just save your important files, bookmarks etc. and do a clean install. I believe you can do a clean install with a Win7 upgrade disk (= you don't have to 'upgrade'). Not 100% sure.

Theocnoob said:

Why would you have an upgrade disc? Windows 'upgrades' have always resulted in a partially broken OS and reinstallation is a pain.

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TBH I'm not sure. I bought the it a while back using the student discount and I'm not sure wtf I was doing but now I have a disc that I labeled "Win 7 upgrade" with a cd key. I also have the actual disc that was sent in the mail and I believe it is an upgrade one as well.

I think I was just cheap back then.

Yensen said:

I believe you can do a clean install with a Win7 upgrade disk (= you don't have to 'upgrade'). Not 100% sure.

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I was just reading some good ol' Google material and it seems that this may be correct. I think I'll do some more research and try to get a definitive answer before I go buying a SS.

No use buying one only to find out I cant use it

Windows Easy Transfer may allow you to "port" your os over... but I've never tried it myself.

I have multiple copies of windows 7 upgrade version and all were installable on freshly formatted drives. The first two times it did the full install but would not recognize the product key during the install. Leaving the product key blank, would allow the os to install as a 30 day trial but would not allow me to validate the os post boot using the windows validation tool. However, doing a simple double install (re-installing win7 again over itself), got around this and allowed me to validate my upgrade versions without having to have a prior version of windows installed. With my most recent win7 upgrade install on my new ssd array, it accepted my win7 upgrade product key during the installation, so I didn't even have to do the dbl install.

That sounds like what I want to hear. So basically just install the upgrade disc without using the product key. Wait until it's done, then re-install the upgrade again over itself and use the product key?

Sounds like I might be picking up a SSD this weekend then

Yes, that's how I did it with two of my fresh installs of the win7 upgrade version... save that you don't enter the product key during the re-install. Basically, what you want to do is what windows calls a "custom" install the first time around. If you're lucky, it'll take your key right there. If not, blank the key out and finish the custom install. After that, boot again with the win7 disk and re-install as an "upgrade". Leave the key blank during this install as well (the re-install will take longer too). When it's done, boot into windows and run the windows activation tool... it'll ask for the product key and should accept it.

Below is a link better describing how to do clean or "custom" installs with the upgrade version. Just skip down to "Method #3" and follow the instructions.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media

Other things worth mentioning is that his "Method #2"... the registry hack also worked for me and was very easy. However, I've heard this got patched and no longer works, so I wouldn't mess with it. Also, Microsoft apparently supports the double install method... so you probably aren't doing anything sleezy by them. I guess this is prolly due to all the issues they've had trying to get the "inplace" upgrades to work right... like the poor compatibility with XP or not being able to go from 32bit to 64bit... or not being able to upgrade vista to a lower version of win7 (like Vista ultimate to win7 premium).

Let me know how it turns out... and enjoy the ssd speed.

same thing for me. I didnt use my vista32 full disk, just the upgrade win7 64 and custom installed it on a new ssd. As said befor my key would not validate. I just ran my 3 months out and then used the regret key command (google it-"reactivating expired win7 disk") and got 2x one month extentions. By the time it was over i figured id just do a fresh instal again and got another 5 months befor the warnings started again. I called MS (legit copys) and they activated it on their end................after 3 hours on the phone lol.

Im about to raid 0 a pair of intel 80g ssds this weekend if my second one arrives on time. It too will be a custom clean instal from a upgrade disk.

Its amazing to see your os instal in under 5 mins...............to bad the updates take forever to dl.

cravinmild said:

...As said befor my key would not validate. I just ran my 3 months out and then used the regret key command (google it-"reactivating expired win7 disk") and got 2x one month extentions...

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I'm not completely sure, but I thought they took care of the trial extensions as well. Entering rearm in command line may not work now... though this could just be with the old Release Candidate downloads.

after all the years of windows youd thing they would have some software by now that would save all your programs and start menu stuff only reason i have ran the same win7 installation through 4 motherboards and tons of equipment for them is because i dont feel like sitting there for hours on end installing all the software i have again... i have disks for it all and keys but i just dont feel like spending a whole day redoing everything, lol besides i never have had any issues because of it

ive even had the same hdd eventually when i get a new one i will just make an exact copy of this one on it

Thanks for the replies guys.

When I put the SSD in and set it up as the boot disk, do I need to remove Win 7 from my orig HDD or will that even matter?

Also, since I'm very new to multiple hard drives, will having just the OS and possibly Mozilla on the SSD affect the usability of anything on the HDD or will the system run like it's all on the same drive?

Sorry for all the newbish questions but what SSD would you guys recommend? I'm preferably looking for one that won't rape my bank account (obviously ), will be a noticable speed increase, and one that isn't "overkill". Probably something like a 40G or 60G, just enough to put the OS and maybe some other programs on that will take benefit from the speed.

Again, thanks a lot guys!

I haven't read through all the posts here so apologize to anyone if I repeat your comments.

First in general, don't believe the published specifications. These are typically obtained on 250G SSDs and are the best results they get. The smaller the SSD, the lower its speeds. All that said, the SSD with OS will boot faster without a doubt.

60G is quite sufficient for an OS (Win7 64-bit occupies less than 30G). Leaves room for several games or applications if you want.

SATA II or III? SATA III is more future proof if you decide to upgrade mobo etc. I would tend to buy one of these even if I plugged it into SATA II.

The SSD with the lowest failure rates is Intel. While I've bought others, my next OS SSD will be Intel because it ain't worth the $s I save for the trouble of having to replace the OS on a new drive. Just my own choice and others will not agree.

Enjoy!

Zombie01 said:

Sorry for all the newbish questions but what SSD would you guys recommend? I'm preferably looking for one that won't rape my bank account (obviously ), will be a noticable speed increase, and one that isn't "overkill". Probably something like a 40G or 60G, just enough to put the OS and maybe some other programs on that will take benefit from the speed.

Again, thanks a lot guys!

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i like intel, very rugged drives imo. Not the fastest ssd drives but they perform well. I benchmarked mine last night and ill do it again on the 80g and compair it to the raid setup im doing with it today.............if my other one shows up lol.

checky here.


IMG_0051 by cravinmild, on Flickr

I believe it would be SATA III

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331614

Zombie01 said:

I believe it would be SATA III

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331614

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yup

I will be buying a G Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb in the upcoming month... I haven't really heard anything negative about them and they seem to perform above average from some of the specs I have found.. They are also reasonable priced..

Tokae said:

I will be buying a G Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb in the upcoming month... I haven't really heard anything negative about them and they seem to perform above average from some of the specs I have found.. They are also reasonable priced..

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I just googled that drive and after reading some reviews on the egg it appears that this particular drive (G Skill Phoenix) has a very high failure rate. I'm not sure if it is just older models or if it is still in the current as well.

Otherwise it sounds like a very good idea. I'll be looking into one of these as well if I can't find one I like from microcenter (why wait when you can pick up )