SSD Clean Install on G74SX

Guys, is there any special settings I have to change in order to boot up with the SSD and have a clean Win7 install on it?

I simply swapped out the default HDD and put that into the 2nd bay, and put the SSD into the primary bay. Then I went into the BIOS and the only thing I changed was the boot order - I set the SSD to first, and disabled the 2nd HDD from the secondary boot (don't want it to boot at all).

Was there anything else I'm missing? I keep running into this error as the Win7 DVD is loading windows files, where it gives me some kind of error saying some kind of external drive has been detached or there's a CD/DVD/external drive missing/malfunctioning.

 

On another note, can the G74SX boot from a flash drive? I can't seem to find the setting in the BIOS (just lists the hard drives and the DVD/Blu-ray drive)

 

N/m - I figured it out. So many errors after errors, and it's really my fault.

First and foremost, never use BitLocker on a bootable flash drive because that simply doesn't make any sense - the computer won't be able to decrypt it without entering Windows 7! Lame, that's a huge bug.

I also think the error with the clean install in "missing external drive" is due to the fact that some DVDR- or + may be incompatible, for whatever strange reasons.

 

Man, I still can't seem to get the job done

I have the Windows 7 64-bit install now on a bootable flash drive. I set the BIOS boot priority to the USB first, followed by my Intel drive, followed by my old drive (which actually still has Windows 7 on it and can boot up on its own if it's on top of the boot order list).

But after I restart, and it starts to load Windows files for what would be presumably the Windows Setup portion, and it gets to the black screen where the windows logo appears - all of a sudden the BSOD appears, saying something is wrong with the hardware. I made certain that the Intel SSD is latched onto the SATA connector (even disengaged and re-engaged it). The backup HDD is connected and working because like I said, I can boot up using it fine.

I tried to restart the laptop with absolutely nothing connected - no dice. I do notice that my BIOS version is 201 (not the latest 203) but I wouldn't suspect that to be the issue. I'm going to try to download the latest Intel chipset drivers. But any body else have any other advice/tips? I'm running out of ideas...

Thanks!

 

bah. I have to do this tomorrow....hope i don't have as much trouble hah. the SSD (Samsung 830) comes with Norton Ghost so hope that makes it easier...

 

For those who've done this successfully - did you guys set the SATA configuration in the BIOS to ACHI (default), or IDE?

 

I did this succesfully with my old OCZ Vertex 2 SSD this week. I removed the original hard drive, installed my SSD and another 500Gb hard drive. Started the installation with the disk I burned from the MS site, everything went well and activated the Windows licence with phone. Didn't change any BIOS settings before the installation.

Have you checked that the installation disk (usb stick in your case) doesn't have any corrupted data in it? Could there be a USB problem? Which USB port are you using?

How about you try to install the OS without your other hard drive connected.