fitting ssd into my new m17x?

I am going to fit my sammy 830 ssd 256 gb into my new m17x when i get it .
But how do i do it wipe the 500gb drive the m17x came with and just reinstall windows 7 from the dell dvd and the resource disc?.
or is there a better option , i want the alienware look to be there as well ie log in , wallpaper etc ? thanks

 

I did clean install and all the alienware stuff is there if you install the drivers (although I do recommend downloading all drivers from dell first and not using the drivers on the cd as that caused me some issues)

 

I got the same ssd as yours, I installed it couple weeks ago. all the login screen, OEM logo remain the same after the clean installation. Just follow the post here, you will be good.

 

Here are a couple threads you may want to check out:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/556721-how-clean-windows-7-install-driver-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html#
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/549358-how-restore-alienware-look-feel-after-clean-install-windows-7-a.html#

Good luck!

 

OP, if you dont want to tackle a clean install, you could try booting to the SSD from your recovery media. This may or may not work as Respawn can be a bit temperamental when it tries to restore to a smaller drive. Some users have reported success in being able to restore to a smaller drive from recovery media, some aren't able to. Worth a shot if you just want the least work involved. If you wanted to try it, all you need do is the following:

1. If you have recovery media on optical disks, insert the first one into the optical drive and shutdown. (If your recovery image is on USB, you can simply plug it in after the next step)

2. Remove back cover and take out the HDD and install the SSD. Re-assemble.

3. If your recovery media is USB based, plug that into a USB 2.0 port at this stage, if its on optical, its already in the machine.

4. Power on the machine, as soon as you see the bios splashscreen alienhead, hit F12 and it will take you to the one time boot menu. Select cd/dvd or USB depending on the media of your recovery image. Hit enter and the "Recovery" process will begin.

If it works, you will have the factory image that was on your HDD on your SSD including all drivers etc...if it doesnt work, it will tell you....in which case, you could do the clean install that Optimistic Prime linked to above or you could clone your HDD to your SSD. I would recommend a clean install to ensure that the SSD is correctly aligned but you may feel that cloning would be easier.

Those would be the options that I see are available to you. Hope it helps a little bit.

 

This is what I was looking for, thank you!

 

Just remember that the Windows 7 Clean Install . . . guide was written for the R3 and the drivers needed for the R4 are different.

I recommend a clean install instead of trying to clone the factory HDD installation. A very useful trick to easing the process is to copy the Dell folder/directory from the HDD to the SSD after the Windows installation. That folder contains all the drivers you will need to install, already unpacked and ready to install. That eliminates the process of identifying the drivers needed, locating them on the Resource disk or the Dell driver support board, copying or downloading the compressed driver files to the SSD and then unpacking each in turn. Then just run Setup in the individual driver sub-directories, starting with the chipset drivers. Enjoy your new R4.