Operation install operating systems, go

[Ballatician]

So just got my first SSD in the mail. 30 Gb vertex and am excited to set things up when I get home. I read the stickied thread before purchasing, very helpful but I'd appreciate a critique of my plan in case there are any fatal flaws.

First things first, firmware update (if necessary):
Current OS I'm using is ubuntu 9.10 64. I plan to just take my sata/power cable from the dvd-rw and once I figure out the process, check the FW version and update to 1.5 if necessary. (1.6 is a bit fresh for my taste)

Next, OS installation:

I have to go through an xp->vista->7 process since (I think) my vista and 7 are both upgrade versions. Any potential problems I should look out for? Can I have AHCI enabled the whole time? My plan is just to do the minimum installation of each xp and vista, no updates etc. Once 7 is installed, the tweaking begins.

Also, I'm not too sure how the win 7 upgrade process works and please correct me if I'm wrong, but a 'clean install' would mean that win7 is the only OS installed on the drive, correct?? As in, vista would exist only to check that it is a valid license and then be deleted. I have read that creates a windows.old folder which can just be deleted. I know there are alternatives such as installing the win 7 upgrade version twice which are supposedly legal if you already have an existing license and don't trust the installer to wipe out your previous OS but I don't want to do anything shady and want to pick the route that will create the least amount of mess or extra crap taking up valuable space and hindering performance.

If not, I would want to figure out another way to ultimately get only win7 (the smallest, cleanest version possible) onto my ssd and nothing else (for now). Maybe ubuntu or something later...

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Nothinman]

I have to go through an xp->vista->7 process since (I think) my vista and 7 are both upgrade versions. Any potential problems I should look out for?

I'm only speaking from memory of reading various SSD threads and articles, but I believe if you create the partition with XP it will be misaligned which will hurt performance.

 

[superccs]

Just use the win 7 setup disk and do a custom install with AHCI on. Should work, as I think that's how I did on my agility with an upgrade win 7

 

[Binky]

Install Win7 first and let it make the partition. You should be able to do this with the upgrade media. Be sure to turn on AHCI as noted above, but don't try to flash the SSD in AHCI mode (I have no idea why, that's what OCZ says).

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

A full install of Win7 with "typical" programs is somewhere between 15 and 20gb. You should probably limit the SSD to just Win7 and install other OS's on a secondary drive.

 

[razel]

You can do a clean install with a win7 upgrade key. Two methods I've seen, I've only tried the following and works with my vista-to-win7 upgrade key.

Install and 1st time you reach the desktop make sure the system doesn't require a restart, in case it installs additonal drivers upon desktop bootup

1. set/change registry key at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/MediaBootInstall = 0
2. cmd 'Run as Administrator'
3. slmgr /rearm
4. reboot, activate

The following is the simplest and apparently also works, but I haven't tried it:

1. Boot with upgrade media, install
2. after install do win updates
3. activate

 

[Ballatician]

AT is great, so many replies to read before starting my fun project!

I'm only speaking from memory of reading various SSD threads and articles, but I believe if you create the partition with XP it will be misaligned which will hurt performance.

Thanks, I believe I have read about the same issue but I was hoping this wouldn't affect me since win7 would ultimately be a clean install in place of whatever else is there and moreover, the performance would only be affected for a short time.

Just use the win 7 setup disk and do a custom install with AHCI on. Should work, as I think that's how I did on my agility with an upgrade win 7

Thanks - I'll give it a try.

 

[Ballatician]

Install Win7 first and let it make the partition. You should be able to do this with the upgrade media. Be sure to turn on AHCI as noted above, but don't try to flash the SSD in AHCI mode (I have no idea why, that's what OCZ says).

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

A full install of Win7 with "typical" programs is somewhere between 15 and 20gb. You should probably limit the SSD to just Win7 and install other OS's on a secondary drive.

Thanks! I read through the link, I'll just start out with the Win7 install first I guess.

I did try installing Win7 first when I first got the upgrade disc (on a normal hdd) but I couldn't get activation to work since I did a clean install. I didn't want to try the double install method because I was worried about bloat but perhaps I'll try the regedit in your link OR install only xp and then go from that to win7. If I understood the link correctly, since its a migration from xp, it would in effect be a clean install?

Also, thanks for the advice about how much room I'll be using with OS and programs. You're probably right in that I'll need to move any other OS to another drive.

You can do a clean install with a win7 upgrade key. Two methods I've seen, I've only tried the following and works with my vista-to-win7 upgrade key.

Install and 1st time you reach the desktop make sure the system doesn't require a restart, in case it installs additonal drivers upon desktop bootup

1. set/change registry key at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/MediaBootInstall = 0
2. cmd 'Run as Administrator'
3. slmgr /rearm
4. reboot, activate

The following is the simplest and apparently also works, but I haven't tried it:

1. Boot with upgrade media, install
2. after install do win updates
3. activate

Thanks - so you were on vista when you used the upgrade media? Have you ever run into any issues with that method? It would be a lot more convenient than installing one or two os's first...

I tried the second method once before and could not activate with my upgrade key. I did it as a clean install though, not on top of my existing vista or win7 rc partitions.

 

[razel]

Thanks - so you were on vista when you used the upgrade media? Have you ever run into any issues with that method? It would be a lot more convenient than installing one or two os's first...

It was clean install using a bootable win 7 upgrade DVD.

 

[RebateMonger]

....but perhaps I'll try the regedit in your link...

Posts from several people on several sites indicated that those who used the Regedit method to do an install were faced with Windows Genuine Advantage validation errors a few months later. The "double-install" method, first used with Vista, hasn't caused any problems that I've heard of.

 

[kalrith]

You can only do a clean install with Win7 Upgrade if you uncheck the box that says "Automatically activate Windows when I'm online." Here's a full tutorial on this process: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[Ballatician]

It was clean install using a bootable win 7 upgrade DVD.

Thanks

Posts from several people on several sites indicated that those who used the Regedit method to do an install were faced with Windows Genuine Advantage validation errors a few months later. The "double-install" method, first used with Vista, hasn't caused any problems that I've heard of.

Hmm, that's not good. The thing I don't like about the double-install method is that I would be writing a lot of info to the SSD twice but it still seems better than a problem down the road and I guess TRIM should do its thing.

You can only do a clean install with Win7 Upgrade if you uncheck the box that says "Automatically activate Windows when I'm online." Here's a full tutorial on this process: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

Thanks but the activation is the point that I had trouble with before. I'm pretty sure that I unchecked that box and still could not activate.

I have two new ideas though - (Yes, I am obsessively planning this while I look for my missing discs, in the middle of a move right now)

1. I could just do a clean install with the upgrade disc as most have suggested. Since I am hesitant about the registry mod and double-install, though not against them completely, maybe I can just call microsoft and handle activation that way. I have an xp product key so maybe that would work?

2. Install my valid xp copy. Then plug in my new ssd and start win7 installation. People have reported success in activating the upgrade version on a separate, new drive when the xp drive is the secondary drive during installation. Afterwards, just unplug the xp drive and voila, new, clean install!

A link about the two above methods http://home.pacbell.net/dbk4297/windows_7_install_upgrade_xp.html

 

[postmortemIA]

what works for me is, 64-bit upgrade version: boot to dvd, install, run installed win 7, and then run upgrade while its running

 

[kalrith]

Thanks but the activation is the point that I had trouble with before. I'm pretty sure that I unchecked that box and still could not activate.

So, you got all the way through the installation process, booted to Windows, tried to activate, and it wouldn't work? That really sucks. When I installed mine, I left the activation box checked, and it told me I had an invalid product key.

Once I realized that was my problem, I unchecked the box and had no problems installing 3 copies of win7x64 upgrade on 3 different computers.

 

[Ballatician]

So, you got all the way through the installation process, booted to Windows, tried to activate, and it wouldn't work? That really sucks. When I installed mine, I left the activation box checked, and it told me I had an invalid product key.

Once I realized that was my problem, I unchecked the box and had no problems installing 3 copies of win7x64 upgrade on 3 different computers.

Well, I'm 90% sure that I unchecked that box last time I tried to use the upgrade and it didn't work. I could be wrong though.

I ended up trying the second method I listed and it seems to have worked. The install took me down to 19gb free, which is more than I expected.

I made the mistake of installing in IDE mode and thought I was SOL when I tried installing the Intel Sata Raid/AHCI driver since TRIM is only enabled in AHCI mode but hours of googling and reading later confirmed (even through microsoft) that there were registry edits that would allow AHCI to be selected after installation. It worked flawlessly for me and I used the TRIM commands in the sticky of this forum to make sure it was working. The startup time is ~7-8 seconds longer in AHCI mode. My replaced ubuntu-64 install on an old sata hdd was a good 10 seconds faster but perhaps I have some tweaking to do.

I am still reading multiple sources about whether I should have a page/swap file and if so how big and on the ssd versus on my secondary hdd. So much info to take in.

Not only that but about hibernation, how to re-locate user directories and all that good stuff. I think once it is all set up, I will be happy but right now it is daunting and I am wondering if the SSD will be worth it.

I've installed most of my drivers but when I tried to switch out the RAM I installed with to a new 2x2gb kit I bought (Corsair XMS2 DDR2-6400) I have run into major problems. It is rated for 1.8V and I have gone up in increments up to 1.9V and still nothing but that is a project for when I get home and perhaps a topic for another thread.

Thanks for all the help here.