HP Pavilion dv7-6175us SSD upgrade questions

Hey all,

I just ordered this SSD that I plan on using on my current dv7 while I save for a newer laptop, but I have a couple of questions.

1. Will I need to buy a specific cable to connect the SSD? I don't know whether the SSD I ordered brings one (I doubt it).

2. Is there a way to transfer everything from my HDD (OS, drivers) to my SSD without having to reinstall/redownload anything? Will this also make the SSD the C: drive?

I am hoping on a SSD+HDD setup, with the SSD being the main drive.

I am new to this so thanks for the help.

 

Yes you need a cable HDD / SSD Cable Kit for the HP Pavilion dv7t-6000, dv7-6000, dv7t Quad Edition
(I also ordered this, which strictly is NOT necessary, but you will probably find it convenient sometime in your life)

I JUST got done doing this and I used Macrium Reflect Free version to clone the drive.
I followed these instructions:
(from Amazon review- not mine)
These are the step-by-step instructions to clone your Windows 7 disk to the SSD:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect v5.0 Free Edition.
2. Shut-down Windows
3. Unplug laptop (if plugged into electrical outlet)
4. Remove laptop battery
5. Install SSD (in my laptop, I just had to remove a panel in the back and plug in the SSD). Note: You'll have both the original hard disk and the new blank SSD installed.
6. Put battery back into computer and plug laptop into an electrical outlet
7. Start Windows
8. Launch Macrium Reflect v5.0 Free Edition
9. Clone partitions from hard disk to the SSD (this works even if the SSD is smaller than the original hard disk). In my case, this took about an hour. Note: Cloning the hard disk to the SSD with Macrium is simply dragging the Windows partitions to the SSD. Partitions are automatically resized if necessary.
10. Shut-down Windows
11. Unplug laptop from electrical outlet
12. Remove hard disk from laptop and save it somewhere safe just in case you ever need a backup. Make sure you label the old hard disk.
13. Put SSD into original laptop hard disk bay
14. Plug battery in
15. Turn computer on
16. Computer will restart to complete software installation
17. You're done.

Well Almost... There are some tuning issues you may have to deal with since disk fragmentation and prefetch really SHOULD be disabled Win7 SSD Optimizations.

 

Thanks! Can't wait for the SSD (and the cable) to arrive!