Installing a new SSD without clone

Hey everyone,

Just got in on one of the Samsung 830s and wanted to figure out what the best way to install it would be.

I am planning on using my old drive as a secondary drive that I'll put in an external case to plug into usb when needed. The applications I had I plan on just writing down and downloading since there weren't that many, after I clean install.

Does changing over to AHCI mode prevent me from moving back to IDE mode if I ever have a need to plug in my old drive again? Or would I just need to change BIOS back to IDE when I did that?

How should I bring my drivers over? Should I just try to download as much as I can from Dell's website (I have a Dell laptop) and then install those or at least the network driver and grab the rest as I need from online?

IDE/AHCI mode only apply to drives you are plugging in naively to the motherboard. Since your old drive is going to be using USB this is not a factor. You plug it in and it will work. It's a motherboard setting not a drive setting.

Yes download your drivers while your computer is still working before you switch. I have not run into a dell in several years that USB doesnt work when windows is installed (especially if using W7 or Visa). I usually put my drivers on a USB flash drive. CD-R/RW would work too if you wanted. I would include everything and install it vs going to the website again as it will be faster.

Clean istall is the best option.

You can freely change from AHCI to IDE. (Needed if you have a DVD that doesn't work in AHCI mode).
To change from IDE to AHCI:

http://www.neowin.net/news/neowin...g-windows/

Make sure you disable scheduled defragmentation on the SSD. You might do some of these also.

http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guide...n-guide-2/

how to check if TRIM in win 7 is working

http://social.technet.microsoft.c...d580899cb/

Quote from LiquidRetro : IDE/AHCI mode only apply to drives you are plugging in naively to the motherboard. Since your old drive is going to be using USB this is not a factor. You plug it in and it will work. It's a motherboard setting not a drive setting. Yes download your drivers while your computer is still working before you switch. I have not run into a dell in several years that USB doesnt work when windows is installed (especially if using W7 or Visa). I usually put my drivers on a USB flash drive. CD-R/RW would work too if you wanted. I would include everything and install it vs going to the website again as it will be faster.

Quote from evongugg : Clean istall is the best option. You can freely change from AHCI to IDE. (Needed if you have a DVD that doesn't work in AHCI mode). To change from IDE to AHCI: http://www.neowin.net/news/neowin...g-windows/ Make sure you disable scheduled defragmentation on the SSD. You might do some of these also. http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guide...n-guide-2/ how to check if TRIM in win 7 is working http://social.technet.microsoft.c...d580899cb/

Thanks a lot guys, this really helped. Didn't think it was too hard to install a new SSD but just wanted to make sure. So to install the SSD should I be activating AHCI through windows on my HDD or just start up the computer with the SSD plugged in and go into BIOS and change it to AHCI before I install for the first time?

Can't I still run applications off of my old HDD from USB? It will be slow I assume but technically all the program files will still be there...

Quote from gangsterazn : Thanks a lot guys, this really helped. Didn't think it was too hard to install a new SSD but just wanted to make sure. So to install the SSD should I be activating AHCI through windows on my HDD or just start up the computer with the SSD plugged in and go into BIOS and change it to AHCI before I install for the first time?

I never make any bios changes when installing an SSD, except on my main PC that runs RAID0.
Maybe there are some brands that work differently, but as best as I know, SSD's run just like regular hard drives, except for alignment and never defragging them.

Quote from gangsterazn : Can't I still run applications off of my old HDD from USB? It will be slow I assume but technically all the program files will still be there...

Some might, but most won't.
Simple programs like a light game might work, but bigger programs like Office, Messenger, Firefox, etc, will not.

Quote from gangsterazn : So to install the SSD should I be activating AHCI through windows on my HDD or just start up the computer with the SSD plugged in and go into BIOS and change it to AHCI before I install for the first time? Can't I still run applications off of my old HDD from USB? It will be slow I assume but technically all the program files will still be there...

When you do the fresh install, attach the SSD, go in the bios and change to AHCI, then install the OS.
If you boot off the USB drive you can run the programs. It will be slow.

Quote from evongugg : When you do the fresh install, attach the SSD, go in the bios and change to AHCI, then install the OS. If you boot off the USB drive you can run the programs. It will be slow.

I assume he means the programs that are allready installed on the Hard drive he has that is currently his main OS drive. In that case no. All the registry records will be pointing to the reg on the drive that is now external, when they need to be pointing to the copy of windows on the SSD.

If I am wrong and you want wanting to install some programs on the external after you have formatted it, and after the SSD install, this will work. It will be slow and is not advisable but will work. Is this a laptop or desktop? If it's a desktop it would be much better to just put the existing drive inside and run as a second drive.

Quote from LiquidRetro : I assume he means the programs that are allready installed on the Hard drive he has that is currently his main OS drive. In that case no. All the registry records will be pointing to the reg on the drive that is now external, when they need to be pointing to the copy of windows on the SSD. If I am wrong and you want wanting to install some programs on the external after you have formatted it, and after the SSD install, this will work. It will be slow and is not advisable but will work. Is this a laptop or desktop? If it's a desktop it would be much better to just put the existing drive inside and run as a second drive.

This is going to be for a laptop. My Dell is kind of dumb (Studio 1558) and it is a pain in the ass to replace the DVD drive but I don't think I'll be filling up 256gb anyway so I'm just planning on just having the SSD. The only reason I was asking was to just be lazy and start up a program I had that I haven't installed on the SSD.

I feel like most of the programs I have now are just there and aren't being used so with a clean install, I can force myself to only install and download the programs I need rather than having programs just sit there not being used.

Quote from gangsterazn : This is going to be for a laptop. My Dell is kind of dumb (Studio 1558) and it is a pain in the ass to replace the DVD drive but I don't think I'll be filling up 256gb anyway so I'm just planning on just having the SSD. The only reason I was asking was to just be lazy and start up a program I had that I haven't installed on the SSD. I feel like most of the programs I have now are just there and aren't being used so with a clean install, I can force myself to only install and download the programs I need rather than having programs just sit there not being used.

As mentioned before, most programs, like 95% or more, will not work that way.
You will have to reinstall them.
There are some tiny programs, like (just examples) CPUID, or a small game like Zuma's Revenge, that you could make a shortcut to the .exe file, and they would work, but those types of programs are few and far between, not to mention small.
You will have to reinstall your programs onto the SSD.

Thanks for all your help. Just two more simple questions:

1. Can I swap between my HDD and SSD (changing BIOS from IDE to AHCI on boot every time) while I try to get work done and get my SSD up to speed in my downtime? Or should I just wait until I have some free time to do it all at once?

2. Do I need to plug in my SSD while on my HDD and go to Disk Management and format the SSD? Do I need to run the Magician Software first? Or can I just plug it in the first time and boot to OS disk?

Quote from gangsterazn : Thanks for all your help. Just two more simple questions: 1. Can I swap between my HDD and SSD (changing BIOS from IDE to AHCI on boot every time) while I try to get work done and get my SSD up to speed in my downtime? Or should I just wait until I have some free time to do it all at once?

In order to change which one boots from the bios, you must select the primary hard drive, usually in the boot section.
Changing from IDE to AHCI will not do it.
Also, there is a program called easyBCD that permits you to put the two operating systems into the boot options, so when you boot up, it stops for however many seconds you chose, and offers you the option of which OS/hard drive to boot from.

Quote from gangsterazn : 2. Do I need to plug in my SSD while on my HDD and go to Disk Management and format the SSD? Do I need to run the Magician Software first? Or can I just plug it in the first time and boot to OS disk?

Yes, you would format the SSD before anything, and bring it online, if it's offline.