Y580 mSATA SSD Installation

Hey guys so I finally pulled the trigger on this Y580:
Lenovo - 15.6" IdeaPad Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Dawn Gray - 209942U - Best Buy

I bought it from Best Buy because I wanted 18 months no interest. I usually don't shop there. I can still return it so if you guys have another recommendation that'd be great. I also missed out on the barnes and nobles July 4th sale.

Well my main question is that this model has a 1TB 5400 HDD. I was wondering if I could install a mSATA SSD still even though it's not Pre-Configured with one. If so is there a guide to do so and is there any good deal on a mSATA SSD going on with at least 32gb.

Thanks!

 

You can install mSATA SSD without any problem. It's quite easy. All you have to do is remove back cover. You can see how it looks like in my mini review - there are photos attached at the bottom.

 

I want to buy this model

Lenovo - 15.6" IdeaPad Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Dawn Gray - 209942U

which does not have the mSATA drive included, but I could buy a 32GB kingston SSD for less than $60 and pop it in myself. If I do this, can I easily set it up for cache purposes?

 

Hi sensei;

Make sure you're not confusing SSD with mSSD. The Y580 comes with a mSSD slot (in addition to the optical drive and the hard disk drive). But if you buy a SSD (not a mSSD or mSATA) you'll have to sacrifice your ODD to have both your hard disk drive and your SSD.

Sorry for not answering your cache question. Don't know that.

 

Hey guys, what's a good cheap reliable SSD simply hook up to lenovo. Wondering how to load the information on it.

 

I'll be receiving mine next monday and bought an mSATA SSD to boost up performance. Can anyone point me out to a guide to re-install everything in the mSATA SSD and merge both SSD with HDD with Lenovo's Rapid Drive?

 

You don't need to do anything with "Rapid Drive" if you are going to install your OS on the mSATA. Lenovo Enhanced Experience is Lenovo's caching optimization program used when you have your OS on the standard HDD and are caching frequently used boot files etc on a small mSATA.

 

For those of you wanting to move your OS onto the mSATA (if you installed the mSATA yourself), a quick piece of info: I had to use an adapter to hook up the mSATA drive to the standard 2.5" drive to get my OS to install on it. I guess my laptop only wanted to reinstall the OS to the "HD0" input or whatever.

 

A better way is to remove the HDD while you install the OS on the mSATA and then drop it back in once you're done.

 

This was my plan for installing the mSATA I just bought, but I am wondering.... how does the computer handle that first boot, with the fact that there are two boot drives in the PC now? Would you need to hop in to the BIOS before it boots and set the boot order or something?

Thanks


(wow I just said "boot" a lot...)

 

My Y580 is the 500GB only model. I pulled that out during the win 7 install, installed on the mSATA and then put it back in and it booted correctly to the mSATA drive with both drives in it. If for some reason it doesn't though just check the hd boot order in the bios as you mentioned.

 

Thanks for the response! One more question. Where did you get the screw to hold the mSATA in place? I hear they can be a &@#% to find.

 

Stole it from the hard drive cage from my old Vaio. If you don't have an old laptop you can steal a screw from your best bet is either laptopscrews.com or try a local pc fixit shop. You only need 1 M2x3mm screw.

 

Hi guys: I bought a Crucial mSATA 256 G and tried to install it in a Lenovo y580 with a 1 TB HDD. I had to find a screw that fitted. I inserted a Win7 image in a USB, and pressed F12 at boot and choose the USB to boot from. At the instalation screen you have to choose the mSATA drive to install and all is straightforward. The only thing is that I used the serial number in the bottom of my Lenovo and Microsoft yileded an un-authentic result. Then I used a software to find the key of the win 7 already installed on my Laptop, and it was different than that in the bottom of the lenovo. I tried another windows 7 home premium instalation and succeded again, But Microsoft checking yielded again an un-authentic result. Then I tried to migrate my installed Win 7 home premium to the mSATA drive, with an image made of it. It did'nt boot. I was afraid to change the partition to active, because I did not have to do it in the previous attempts of a clean install. So I decided to ask Crucial, and they responded that they don't have a step by step guide and the EZ Gig software only works with the proper cable and it has not been adapted to work with the mSATA. I should have to ask lenovo why Microsoft did not recognize either key numbers as authentic of my win 7 installed, to be used in the clean instalation on the mSATA. But I have to say that the mSATA drive was recognized without trouble by the Lenovo. My problems were software related: how to migrate my OS? or how to use my license key to a clean windows 7 install on the mSATA?

 

you cannot just install a fresh copy of Windows 7 and use the product key that came with your laptop as it is an OEM key. The only way to re-use the key is to make recovery discs (basically a backup image of your OS) b4 u install your new msata SSD and then only reinstalling it onto your new SSD drive. fyi, calling Microsoft to solve your product key problem will just get you the same answer.

 

Is this a Lenovo specific thing? I've installed OEM Windows using the sticker on the bottom of my Samsung laptop (signature) with brand new SSDs and have never had a single problem. I always skip the activation prior to install and do it post install.

 

you can install a generic copy of win7 and use the key to activate.