How hard is it to install SSD and reinstall Windows?

Hi, i'm about to buy a new laptop and i want Windows and all of my applications to be installed on an SSD. How hard is it to put in a SSD drive and reinstall Windows onto the SSD from the original hard drive?

Additionally, i'm also looking at a few laptops that say 8GB max memory but i've read about people putting in 16gb, but then you have to do something like partition something or another that i don't understand. I'm not a huge techie. Is it fairly simple to do this stuff, or is it better to just buy a computer with the SSD and 16gb already installed? Thanks.

 

What laptop are you going to buy, as far as Installing Windows goes, the process will be pretty much the same for any laptop, but for installing the SSD and extra RAM, the process will vary a little depending on the laptop.

 

For the most part it is fairly simple. Follow the tips within this thread about SSDs.
Enable AHCI in BIOS before installing.

Also never defragment a solid state drive. Defragmenting an SSD can actually impair performance.
Make sure your OS recognizes the drive as an SSD and enable TRIM to keep performance of the drive consistent.

TRIM is a feature that helps increase the efficiency of your SSD by preparing data blocks for reuse.

 

Fairly easy, but there are two methods of doing it. You can clone it, which is basically copying the whole installation, or you can install Windows as new on the SSD (which is generally advised).

Partitioning is unrelated to memory. Memory is just plug and play, but the actual max amount of memory will depend on the laptop. Partitioning has to do with the hard drive; you put a partition on the drive when you install Windows, and then you install Windows to that partition.

It would be easier for you to purchase the system with the SSD and memory upgrade, but you can save yourself a fair amount of money by DIY.

 

It is always best to have a clean install of Windows.

Not only saving money, but he then gains experience by doing it himself.

 

As Prostar says: "Fairly easy... or you can install Windows as new on the SSD (which is generally advised)."

And: "...but you can save yourself a fair amount of money by DIY."

You might take a look at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...sd-setup-bootup-error-help-3.html#post9075884

Adding that current gparted is now at version Live 0.15.0-1 and suggest you download Download GParted from SourceForge.net

Also look at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...sd-setup-bootup-error-help-5.html#post9088733

So you can either pay the big money for what you want, or you can venture forth at a lot less money with DIY, which gives you much better performance via a fresh install of Win7 (or Win8 but you're on your own there as I've no experience with Win8).

So doing a fresh install of Win8 is not in my bag of experience, and if that's what you want to do then I'm pretty sure it can be done but I'm unsure of specifics on how to do it with Win8.

Anyhow also see my recent overall summary for doing a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop (see my sig below) with Win7 at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/684622-lenovo-x220-4286cto-msata-install.html#post9123466

FWIW despite the X220 title, my T530 was my 2nd laptop that I set up with a fresh install of Win7. I blew away well over 10 hours on doing my 1st laptop due to trying to get all of the confusing drivers and software by myself from Lenovo's web site. When I got done I saw that there was a much easier way to do the whole thing.

Good luck whatever path you choose.

 

The people answering here are extremely tech savy. If you main objecitve is to save $$ follow their advice. For the vast majority of users 8 GIG ram is more than enough. If you have not already posted here What Notebook Should I Buy? - A Laptop Buyers Guide for outstanding advise. I also highly recommend vendors such as Best Gaming Computer | Best Gaming Laptop | Cheap Gaming Laptop Computers | Gaming Notebook | Pro-Star.com or Gaming Laptops - GenTech PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks for fair prices and expert custom setups if you choose to have the machine up and running with the SSD(s) when it arrives.

 

I did not know this...I'm going from asix year old computer to some of the relatively latest and greatest. I better start doing some more research!

 

A few things about SSD's though.

Windows 7 and 8 are "SSD" aware at least if you do a clean install on the SSD. It will turn on TRIM automatically and turn off defrag automatically. For the most part other than making sure your BIOS is on AHCI (and most newer systems are automatically as well), is just set it and forget it. There are tips for tuning it slightly or recovering some free space like turning off hibernation and reducing page file size and system restore allocated space (all three of those can recover up to 3x space on your SSD of amount of RAM you have, so 8GB RAM you'd recover about 24GB of free space on your SSD).

 

What size ssd do you want? The newer laptop brands/models I have looked at allow you to add up to a 256 ssd in the build.

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