Brand new SSD into brand new laptop

Would you....

1) Swap the hard drive for a SSD before the first boot, leaving the hard drive in factory condition?
2) boot with hard drive, back it up, install SSD?
3) boot hard drive, update OS (win 7), back it up, install SSD?
4) ???

Is it possible to install the Win 7 that comes with the laptop (meaning, do they usually provide a win 7 disk).

I've also seen ways to download Win 7 from the web and install it using the key provided with laptop.

I also have a win 7 copy, but I'd rather keep it for my desktop upgrade.

 

I don't think it makes a major difference, but I'd make the recovery discs first.

 

Your win 7 copy is just a generic disc. It's not tied to anything, so your reason is not valid "keep it for my desktop upgrade."

I would just install the SSD before the first boot, so the HDD stays at factory settings should you ever need to return it and reswap them.

I wouldn't bother with recovery discs first if you don't use the HDD at all. The SSD is going to be running off a fresh install of W7 I assume, and the HDD will always be there if you decided to swap them before first boot. If you ever need to use the HDD, that's when you should make recovery discs.

 

I used the links here to download a Win 7 install disc and then swapped it with one of my laptop HDD drives and did a clean istall on the SSD.

I did boot with the HDD once first just to verify the laptop would boot in case I needed to RMA it (my first G51 was DOA, so I wanted to be sure about the replacement before I opened it up to swap).

 

Cool, I'll do that once I actually get my laptop

I see what you mean, use the disk for install, and the laptop keys for the validation.

 

you can download a win7 copy and as long as u download an OEM one.. then u can use the key from ur laptop to activate..

 

Myself ...if your not going to use the HD, I might consider leaving it as new in case you consider selling the laptop down the road...

 

What I did was load all my programs to the HDD and then cloned it to an SSD drive using an external enclosure. After installing the SSD in the laptop I placed the original HDD to the external enclosure and used it as backup drive. It's a pain to install all your programs to a new drive but with cloning it's effortless. I use Acronis for cloning and if you buy a Kingston SSD with the laptop bundle you get the cloning software (Acronis) and an enclosure. One thing with an SSD drive is you have to disable the automatic defragmentation feature as it's not recommended to defragment an SSD.