boot drive. need help.

I have my g73 from BB with 500 GB. I saw a video on youtube that he changed the drive with an SSD. what does it do?? and is it worth it to change it with that? I saw that it has lower storage, a 160 GB. does the BB version has two drive inside? or just one(500GB SATA)??? how can i change the boot drive??

 

I believe BB version only comes with one 500GB HD.

SSD drive has many advantage:
- much faster boot time and data transfer rate.
- quiet because it doesn't produce any sound.
- consume less battery life.

However, SSD drives still very expensive compare to tradition hard drives.


To change the drive you just need to open the bottom compartment (two screws) and you'll see it.

 

so it has only one? so if I buy a ssd, i still need to do another clean install? or i just put it there.. and it will be fine?

 

If you want the SSD to be your primary HD then yes, you'll need to burn the recovery DVD and restore your Windows to the SSD drive.

 

so, after i do a clean install with the ssd.. what should i do with the other HD? do i need to delete everything on it?

 

Yes backup your data and format it.

 

ok.. what is the best ssd i can get?

 

I recommend Intel G2. Crucial is also very reliable, just be careful with some generic brands the SSD drive failed after 5 formats, but that's what I heard a while ago and maybe things changed already.

 

oh.. i saw it.. its kinda pricey.. for 160 gb its 400 bucks.. d u think 80gb is fine since i have 500 gb one?

 

My testing with the recovery disks determined that they only work properly with the same capacity drive that your system came with. There is a post somewhere on this forum that explains a method that uses the recovery disks and then Linux boot media to properly reconfigure the partitions. Way too much trouble. Easier to just clone the 500gb drive to the ssd using Symantec ghost or other similar program. Once it's complete and you've sucessfully booted off the ssd you can format the 500gb drive. This will only work as long as you have not loaded up the 500gb with so many programs and data that it's contents won't fit on the smaller ssd drive.

Personally I don't think the performance boost is with the money. Perhaps the news seagate momentus xt 500gb would be a good compromise. It is ahybrid drive that has 4gb of flash to boost the performance of it's 500gb 7200 rpm disk.

Cheers,

 

Also, just putting it out there, you can buy a spare HD caddy from asusparts.eu and you can have the best of both worlds- your 500gb for storage and your SSD for the OS and speed.

 

would you mind giving me a complete instruction on how to change my boot drive? and is 80 GB enough for it?

 

You'd have to do a reinstall- either from scratch or from a backup. Check out Kalim's guide posted here on the forums.

 

Yes, if you're worried about price you could even drop to the 40gb / x25-v. 80gb is HUGE, especially for a boot drive.

 

I can still afford the 80 GB. I'm a newbie but I know I can manage to change and I just need a instruction.

@aramis - so I just do clean install on the new HD? I've done that already so I guess I'll be fine with it.

I just checked it inside and yes, theres only one HD on it. Now, i'm worried where I can get the stainless metal that holds the HD..anyone knows where I can get that?

 

Agree. I grabbed a 160gb and still have 76% free with three games and Steam installed. Just put your My Docs, temp files, etc on the other drive.

That's what I did adamski. You can either pull the drivers from online or if you have the driver discs can get them from there. The other choice is from a backup or disc clone like Acronis or something.

 

Hmm, this was already answered. See post #11.

 

yah.. i just saw it.. and it cost me $30 for it

 

So I'll get the 80 GB tom. Can anyone make a clear/for noob instruction for me on how can I make it a boot drive.Also, on how will i format the other 500 GB HD. Installing windows on it is easy for me since ive done it more than once.. What do i need to do first? and since I don't have the extra bracket for the ssd, I just want to use the 80 GB and then put the 500 GB later. I would appreciate all the help you'll share on me. Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for the information , I never tried the 5 disks recovery DVD from Ai-Recovery, we still using the original one disk version recovery DVD works on all capacity HD.

 

Added this information to the guide, with credit.

Thanks.