G73JH-A1 + Crucial RealSSD 256GB + Win 7 Pro x64

I just ordered a G73JH-A1 from Newegg today, along with a Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB SSD.

When I get the notebook, I would like to replace the primary (boot) 500GB hard drive with the Crucial SSD, using it as a "BOOT / PROGRAM" drive. I would leave the secondary 500GB hard drive intact, using it as a "DATA / STORAGE" drive. I plan on installing the removed 500GB hard drive into an external enclosure, and using it as a backup drive.

I would also like to install Windows 7 Pro x64, instead of the Windows 7 Home Premium x64 that comes factory installed. I will have the need for "Windows XP mode" for some of the software that I will be installing on the notebook.

Could someone please direct me as the the easiest, least PITA method of doing all this?

I have never used SSD drives before. How difficult will the swap /setup be? What is "Trim", and how /where to I set it?

What is the best /easiest (legal) way to get Windows 7 Professional x64 installed? How do I upgrade the Home Premium x64 Product Key? Is the Windows Anytime Upgrade the best / cheapest option?

Could I / should I make a set of "Recovery DVD's" before I swap the drives? Is that even an option, or has ASUS disabled that on the newer G73 models?
I realize that I will need hardware specific drivers, but I don't know if I should download the latest from ASUS website, or is there a better way.

I have built many PC desktop systems in the past, and worked on various notebooks, but I haven't had the opportunity to work with SSD drives or Windows 7 yet. I'm just trying to avoid wasting time and making a lot of unnecessary work for myself.

Any help from the gurus out there would be greatly appreciated. TIA!!!

 

The easiest thing for you to do is to leave the A1 intact and send the SSD my way.

 

OK, what's your address? :wink:

 

You just swap out and install. Standard 2.5" ssds more or less function just like normal hard drives. You might want to make a recovery disk if it doesn't come with one before you gut your laptop though.

Assuming you still have your ssd XD

 

OK, just installed the Crucial RealSSD C300 SSD in the G73JH-A1, after creating a single NTFS partition on my desktop, and started installing Windows 7 Professional x64 from the downloaded DVD install iso image found in these forums.

The Windows install stops about 75% through the "Collecting Information" stage wuth an error stating "No drives were found. Click Load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation."

I've tried inserting the "Driver & Utility Ver 1.0" disk that came with the notebook, with no luck. Could someone please direct me as to where I can find this driver?

 

Have you read this thread here?

 

Kalim, thanks for the reply and link to the thread. Yes I've read this thread, and I realize that this as an option if all else fails. But that doesn't address my questions /problems:

1) How to install Windows 7 using a single factory install DVD, not the (6) recovery DVD's, or the Acronis True Image software.

2) What is the mass storage controller driver, and where to get it ( the correct digitakky signed one).

I do not want to have to go through the lengthy process of an extremely long install from a bunch of recovery disks, then uninstalling a bunch of trial crapware that I'll never use, and have a mucked up bloated registry with a bunch of entries that are no longer associated to anything. I'd like to have as "clean and lean" of an install as I can.

There HAS to be some way to do this. I just need to find this elusive, signed, "mass storage" driver. I'm hoping that someone here on this forum can point me in the right direction.

 

I see that Xotic PC offers this SSD as an option in their custom G73JH systems. I just sent their support team a question as to where I can get the correct driver. Hopefully they will be kind enough to send me an answer, even though I did not purchase my notebook from them.

 

In the thread that I linked, I mentioned the IMSM, which IS the driver for the controller. The other person said that he had put it on a thumb drive and it did not help.

 

SUCCESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out that the driver issue was not a driver issue at all. It was a missing MBR! I accidentally came across this page doing a search:

http://kb.acronis.com/content/1515

It states that "these symptoms indicate that the drives might not contain a valid MBR (which is often the case with the new drives formatted by the disk vendor)"

I followed the instructions on the page about using "diskpart". I then restarted the install process, using the (single) Windows 7 iso DVD that I downloaded from a link on these forums (not the 6 recovery DVD's) and had a successful "clean" install of Windows 7 Professional x64. I did not enter a product key near the end of the install, as I do not have one yet, I just hit next, and let the install finish. It is now valid for 30 days.

I ordered the Windows Anytime Upgrade product to go from Windows 7 Home Premiun to Professional from Amazon (was $10 cheaper than anywhere else that I could find it), and am currently waiting for it to arrive, hopefully in a couple of days. As I understand it, when I get the product key, all I need to do is enter it, and I'll have an activated and fully legal (!) copy of Windows 7 Professional x64 for $80.

After the Windows 7 install, I followed the second half of this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=468027

and installed only the drivers and utilities that were suggested by Kalim.

WOW this thing REALLY rocks with an SSD as the primary (boot) device.
I have never seen a PC that is this fast and responsive. I am really happy with it, and hope it'll last me a while. I gotta' say that I have never seen a PC where a Quad Core processor with 6MB cache is the "weakest link" in the Windows Experience Index!. I now get the following results: (see attached screen shot). I am a bit surprised that the video score was not higher, though. I am currently using the Catalyst 10.3 drivers that I downloaded from the ATI site. I also have 1333 RAM according to the BIOS.

I figure that it is now so new, fast and state of the art that it won't be obsolete till at least next Wednesday!

Thanks again Kalim for your support and excellent post about the install and driver selection.

One more thing: For whatever reason, I could not "see" the SSD in the BIOS if it was in the "left" side compartment. I removed the little rubber bumpers, tried with and without the caddy, and with and without a hard drive in the right side compartment. No matter what, it just would not show up in the BIOS. But, as soon as I installed it in the "right" side compartment it worked (I almost RMA'd it) as expected.

I thought that I would pass along this info for anyone else that may have had the same "mass storage device driver" problem that I had.

 

Congratulations on solving the issue and thanks for posting an update with a solution. This will most certainly be useful should others encounter the same issue.

 

Dude, I don't know how to start thanking you for posting your solution. This thread should be stickied as far as I'm concerned. I have been through he11 over the last 7 days, starting out with an Envy17 (angry rant to come soon in the Envy thread lol) and finally returning it and getting a G73, only to find that my OCZ Agility2 240GB drive wouldn't work with it. I spent 8 hours trying everything, all the other hair brained ideas like taking out the little rubber stoppers and nothing worked and finally I came across your thread. And BAM! Done, I'm just finishing up installing the drivers off the disk on my new, clean install of Windows 7. Unfortunately I'm not going to beable to give you as much rep as you deserve for this one but I'm going to give you as much as I can. Thankyou.

P.S. my wife said she can't remember seeing me as happy as I was when the windows install screen recognized my SSD after 8 hours of agony!

 

The DVD caddy, what are the specs and dimensions for it?

Many thanks in advance!

Kindest regards,

KOR!