OS and HD Question

[will083031]

Hi I am finally going from vista to Win7 and I bought a new HD for new OS. How difficult is it to switch HD and install new OS into current PC? I know you have to go into BIOS and change boot from DVD drive is this all I need to do or am I missing steps? Here are specs for PC MB Asus P5N-E-SLI
CPU Q9400 2.66
Ram 4 gig OZC
VC XFX 5770 1Gig
700Watt OCZ PSU

 

[akshatp]

If you are putting a new HD in, it will be blank and therefore unbootable, so the BIOS will automatically skip it and probably boot from your DVD drive anyway.

Win 7 setup will find and format the new HD during the install.

How do you plan on moving your data from the Vista drive to your new install? You could plug the old drive back in after you install Win 7 and copy it over.. Or if you have an external drive you can migrate the data using the Windows transfer tool. You would need to do this before removing the Vista drive, obviously.

Good luck!

 

[Maverick6969]

If you are putting a new HD in, it will be blank and therefore unbootable, so the BIOS will automatically skip it and probably boot from your DVD drive anyway.

That is not true. Some OEM systems like HP are notorious for manufacturing their computers so that the boot order intentionally skips the DVD/CD drive. That is why on some systems you will see things like "Press F12" to enter boot menu or similar. It you put in a blank HDD in such a system, it will refuse to boot and do nothing until you change the boot order.

OP, make sure you download the appropriate drivers for your system before you start on your little project. Having all the drivers ready (preferably saved on something like a flash drive) will help immensely.

 

[Maverick6969]

Here is the download section/support page for Asus.

http://support.asus.com/download/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us