Upgrading Asus laptop with SSD, how to install windows 7 or transfer image?

My cousin has an Asus U43F that's two years old. She complains it's too slow. I told her to upgrade the RAM and swap in an SSD. 5400RPM drives are slow. However, she tells me that the laptop did not come with a restore DVD. All it has is a recovery partition. Lame. I actually ordered for her a 2.5" enclosure to stick the old hard drive into and probably boot up via USB, but I dunno if I can install the recovery image from the old hard drive to the new SSD via USB, or if tt's some automatic process that I can't choose the desired destination. I don't have access to the laptop to confirm anything and she is doing the installation herself. I also don't know if its actually a recovery image, or some scripted installation. Would't a recovery image not be ideal for an SSD as opposed to a full install? I also hear there's a lot of bloatware with the laptop. Should she just install a clean version of windows 7 and download the drivers off the Asus website? If she gets a copy of windows 7 on DVD, will the license key under her laptop work? I haven't owned a laptop in like half a decade so I have plenty of questions!

Uh maybe I should just ask a simple question. What's the best way to install an SSD and the OS?

 

A clean install would rid of her the bloatware and clear up space. If she freaks out that some of her proprietary Asus software is missing, she can always get it from the Asus downloads page, under "Utilities". Some people are more comfortable with a factory image, because that's how the system came - but personally, a clean install is generally preferred. Besides, if you/she were to try to clone/image anything, you'd have to take the steps to ensure the new drive is aligned.

Best way to install a SSD and OS is to have her back up her data, put the SSD in (might want to ensure it shows up within her system BIOS - she'll need to set the boot priority anyways to boot from a Windows 7 disc), and then boot off a Windows installation disc. If you purchase one outright, you can use the key that comes with it. If there is no OA sticker on the bottom of her laptop or underneath the battery in the battery compartment, then she may be able to use the key currently in the registry (but I doubt it) if you don't purchase a retail copy with a key.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...lk-through-doing-clean-windows-7-install.html

This could help too:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ow-install-windows-7-integrated-32gb-ssd.html