Adding an SSD to a Win 7 laptop???

[brotj7]

I have an ASUS laptop(that I love) running Windows 7 HP x64. I would like to move the OS to an SSD, and install a 7200rpm drive for extra storage. The current 5400rpm drive which came with the system will be pulled out and kept for backup. I need a minimum of 212gb as of now, the specific SSD model is still up in the air.

Laptop Model:
ASUS G Series G72GX-RBBX05

Links:
http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qaDohSj4JPENXkxw
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ab=true&Page=2

My Questions:
1. If I shrink my current Win 7 HP x64 partition to fit on a 256gb SSD, can I directly image to the SSD without any problems?

2. If I "should" do a fresh reinstall on the SSD for proper alignment, do mfrs allow us to install from the current hidden partition to a separate physical HD? I have always installed from a disk I purchased, or purchased reinstall discs from the mfr if there was a HD crash on a propriertary system I was working on.

3. Will the mfrs version of Win 7 even have what is needed for a SSD to be installed?

4. Is there any kind of limitation on partition/format type? I know there is supposed to be something other than NTFS for large drives, is that also the case for SSD's??? Can I have a 7200RPM drive on NTFS and the SSD on another?

 

[postmortemIA]

1. you don't need to shrink your partition, most of drive imaging software will automatically create partition if there's enough size to store data from original partition
2. I am not aware that you can do clean install on most of laptops as Windows 7 disc do not come with them, rather you get restore partition as you mentioned. I would suggest to install fresh if you can do so, but data and software migration can be a problem
3. yes, there's nothing special about SSD from installation perspective.
4. Not that i am aware of

You will probably get more detailed answers for questions 2-4

 

[hal2kilo]

I have an ASUS laptop(that I love) running Windows 7 HP x64. I would like to move the OS to an SSD, and install a 7200rpm drive for extra storage. The current 5400rpm drive which came with the system will be pulled out and kept for backup. I need a minimum of 212gb as of now, the specific SSD model is still up in the air.

Laptop Model:
ASUS G Series G72GX-RBBX05

Links:
http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qaDohSj4JPENXkxw
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ab=true&Page=2

My Questions:
1. If I shrink my current Win 7 HP x64 partition to fit on a 256gb SSD, can I directly image to the SSD without any problems?

2. If I "should" do a fresh reinstall on the SSD for proper alignment, do mfrs allow us to install from the current hidden partition to a separate physical HD? I have always installed from a disk I purchased, or purchased reinstall discs from the mfr if there was a HD crash on a propriertary system I was working on.

3. Will the mfrs version of Win 7 even have what is needed for a SSD to be installed?

4. Is there any kind of limitation on partition/format type? I know there is supposed to be something other than NTFS for large drives, is that also the case for SSD's??? Can I have a 7200RPM drive on NTFS and the SSD on another?

I have similar setup in that I have a dual drive laptop (Vostro 1700) and I already had Win 7 64 bit professional when I had a mechanical boot drive. I must have just lucked out but I imaged my hard drive, using the program built into Win 7 pro and had absolutely not problems. I guess I got lucky because my drive in aligned to 4k clusters. I have an Intel x-25M G2 120gb SSD as the boot drive and a WD 640gb blue drive (only 5400rpm) as my data and non-essential programs drive. So far I couldn't be happier. I've got the max 4gb memory (only running at 667mhz) for the 965 Express mb and I upgraded to a T9300 processor, T9500 is the max but not worth the premium. My understanding is that only Win 7 Pro or Ultimate have the built in imaging and back up programs.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

I'm not sure if this is supposed to work but the last 2 laptops I have experience with I just used my own media to install Win 7 and used the product code that is on the sticker on the bottom of the system. Worked 2x for me without any hitches at all, but for some reason people always recommend to image the drive... I really don't know why when my experience says that I can get a fresh install with no issues what-so-ever .. someone enlighten me

 

[brotj7]

Sorry for the late reply all, our 8mo old was not feeling well yesterday.

Necrolezbeast: That sounds like the best route as I already own an oem disc. I actually had a virus that I removed at one point(only one in 5+ years on my own machine), and a fresh install will give me back that squeeky clean feeling too.