Vista 64 - Can I do a second install on a new SSD

[scaryfast]

I am unsure of the durability of my new SDD.

I would like to leave windows bootable from the current disk that it is installed on....

but, would like to have a clean install for booting up from my new disk.


Is this possible?

 

[smakme7757]

Yea you can do that as long as both disks are for the same PC.

If you are keeping the old disk in the PC then you will have to change to boot order to the SSD.

You should also keep in mind that if an SSD reaches the end of its life you will still be able to read the data. All that happens is that the SSD enters a write lock mode where you can't write more data to it.

SSD don't implode or destroy themselves when they reach the end of their write life.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Disconnect the drive that Windows is currently installed on. Install the new drive, then run the new Windows installation on it. After the installation is completed, shut down the computer and reconnect the old drive. When you start the computer, press whichever key brings up the boot menu screen (not the BIOS setup screen) on your computer, then manually select which drive you want to boot from.

 

[blankslate]

If you're using Vista on an SSD you might want to upgrade to Win 7 because the prefetching routine on Vista seems to thrash HDDs much more than Windows 7 at least in my experience.

After an install of Vista I noticed the HDD light on my computer was flashing a lot. It bothered me so much that I just turned it off and dealt with the increased application load times. On a fresh install of Windows 7 I didn't notice the HDD activity light flashing so much and I left it on.

Additionally I don't think Vista supports TRIM which an OS can use to help prevent degradation in SSD performance over time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM
While Windows 7 and 8 do.

It is something you might consider.

 

[Ketchup]

If you're using Vista on an SSD you might want to upgrade to Win 7 because the prefetching routine on Vista seems to thrash HDDs much more than Windows 7 at least in my experience.

This. I don't know if it's necessarily prefect or an overactive indexer, but it does thrash the hard drive a good bit. If you really don't care about this feature, turning off the Indexing service seems to speed Vista up a good bit (at least for me). With 7, it seems to run much better. I wouldn't be surprised if 8 improves even further on this.