G73 - replacing HDD drive with SSD - is it newbie friendly?

Hi guys,

Thanks for the participation in the earlier survey, I think I am pretty set on getting the G73JW

I think 1TB is a little bit of an overkill, though, and to make my new G73 a bit more future-proof, I am contemplating on replacing one of the HDDs with an SSD (if it makes a difference, I will be going for "OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 120GB 2.5IN SATA2"). My questions are:

1) Is my choice of SSD OK? The pricing seems OK, I just want to know if there are anyone out there also running a similar SSD and if it's compatible with the G73.
2) Is there a newbie guide for this? I searched and only found newbie guide for repasting, and a list of how-to's for optimising SSD, but not one for installing SSD.
3) Which one of the two HDDs should I replace? How to install Win7 and all drivers from the supplied recovery disks? I'm very sorry to ask this, but I am truly a newbie in this - I only know how to install Steam and start playing

If there is a similar thread before, I sincerely apologise - I did search, but perhaps my search skills are really that bad.

Will appreciate all help, thanks!!

 

Ok did some more research - one suggested:

1) remove 'empty' HDD and replace with SSD
2) clone the OS-HDD to SSD
3) Remove OS-HDD and replace with empty-HDD

How does this method sound? Newbie-proof enough?

Looking forward to your inputs!

 

Have a look here Lord: Guide THE BASIC GUIDE & FAQ - ABC for OCZ SSD

Tons of info on the OCZ forums mate.

Good luck

iemie

 

You don't want to clone the drive. Ssds run best with a fresh install of windows. If you don't do a fresh install, the sectors may not be aligned and you will loose speeds. Installing the ssd is easy. 5 minutes tops. I had a OCZ vertex 1 in my G73, it worked great, I would assume the vertex 2 is just as reliable or better.

 

I did a clean install of Windows for my G51 using a disc I burned from the Windows 7 download thread, and then installed the Asus apps and drivers that I actually use. Worked fine, and is not complicated at all.

 

Thank you all so much for the input - so I take it cloning is not a good way then.

You guys have suggested doing clean install, but I have seen quite a few people running into problems even with all the suggested drivers installed, probably because the drivers offered from Asus's website may not actually be complete/up to date.

Do you think it's an easier way if I make the recovery disk from the recovery partition, then install SSD and do a recovery instead of doing clean install and then finding/fixing all the right drivers?

 

The recovery discs will only install to a hdd with the same size as the stock drive, which is silly, but there it is. You are better off using a imaging package and restore with that, i.e. Acronis.

 

I have had no problems using a windows 7 disk and then running the Asus driver disk. My laptop came with neither so I burned my own windows 7 disk using the link the other guy posted and burned the driver disk with chasity's help (search driver disk to find the link). The driver disk installs everything for you. Use the guide in the stickies. I'll be making a new guide for fresh installs but I'm not going to able to write it until after Christmas.