[SOLVED] Preliminary advice on installing window 7 to a SSD

Anyhelp gratefully accepted, i want to try to avoid any problems when my software and SSD arrive, as my previous Vista upgrade was not straight forward.

Currently i have vista installed on my C: HDD, that was an upgrade licence from XP, but at the time it wouldn't let me overwrite xp as i had xp professional installed and my vista home premium apparently wasn't designed to upgrade from that
So I had to let vista create a new install and it set everything else into a new directory called win.old and installed vista in a new folder. So no real problems other than duplication on my HDD, i've since deleted the win.old folder and still no problems.

I've just ordered a 64g SSD and I want to install my win 7 upgrade licence to that as the boot disk, few questions come to mind:

• what order will i need to do everything in?
• shall i install ssd first and check it's all ok then install win 7?
• Do I need to format the SSD?
• will windows 7 ask me where i want to save it or will it just overwrite vista on the the HDD? in which case do i need to move the current vista win files to the SSD
• do i need to do anything in the BIOS to alter boot disk drive?
• Do I need to connect sata cables to a secific connector on the motherboard as the manual implies 1 &3 (red) for master boot disks and 2 & 4 (black) for slave data disk

Thanks for any help

An SSD doesn't need to be formatted out of the box, but never perform a full/long reformat on the disk. Quick formats forever and ever.

It's best not to partition the SSD, so you should simply plug the drive in to SATA1 or SATA3 and install Windows 7 straight away.

I would personally back up your personal files from the Vista installation, then reformat that disk so that there is no chance that the 7 installer will write the new OS to a drive that isn't your SSD.

You will have to alter your BIOS boot order to place the SSD first in the chain.

Lastly, when Windows 7 is installed, disable all of these services: Windows Indexing Service, System Restore, Windows Defrag, NFTS Memory Usage, Date Stamping, Boot Tracing, Page File (move to RAMdisk or secondary mechanical drive), Prefetching, 8.3 Names, and Superfetch.

Thrax, thanks that's very helpful.
Just to be sure I understand the process though, as my Window 7 licence is an upgrade on vista, which was itself an update of the earlier XP does it matter that I reformat the current HDD with vista on? Will the windows 7 just install to the SSD with no reference to the previous vista install on the HDD?
Also I read on some of the other posts, to disconnect other HDD's if installing win 7 to a new drive, would that have the same effect as reformatting the vista HDD drive during the install?
Sorry i don't follow your final point? Why do i do that? and are these windows 7 settings that are easy to find?
Thanks again

Many Windows 7 upgrade owners find that their "upgrade" copy installs correctly without referencing a previous copy of Windows. Even if the Windows 7 installer looks for and cannot find a previous copy of Windows, there is a workaround that will let you install a fresh copy from an upgrade disc. You can use that to avoid having to reinstall XP, then Vista to meet the requirements of the "official" upgrade process. I'll post those steps if it comes to that, but you should try simply installing Windows 7 on the SSD with no prior OS.

Secondly, I would not advise simply disconnecting the Vista drive because then Windows 7 and Windows Vista's boot loaders will probably conflict. In other words, each drive will have the ability and the desire to boot an operating system, and that could confuse the computer. I suggest simply formatting Vista to avoid that possibility, but you can (and probably should) start with the Vista HDD disconnected. Format it once everything appears to be okay.

Lastly, all of these settings must be disabled because SSDs are built from memory chips that can only be erased and rewritten a limited number of times. All of these system services perform a large number of writes to a drive, but they're designed to enhance the performance of a mechanical hard drive. They offer little to no benefit to an SSD. You no longer have a mechanical drive, and you shouldn't sabotage the longevity of your SSD by leaving services enabled which write unnecessary data. If you Google each service, you will find out how to disable them.

Thrax, thanks again I will try your suggestions, the software has arrived now, so I just need to await the SSD.
On your final point, does that mean there are many other non windows programmes that I should avoid adding to the SSD?

You shouldn't worry about any other program running on your SSD.

What is the significance of SATA1 and SATA3 as opposed to SATA2 or SATA4?
thanks

As i'm not a techie I wouldn't know, but I did look in my motherboard manual before I ordered the SSD and the manual distinguishes the SATA connectors by colour and description of purpose, so i assume 1 & 3 are better designed for use as the boot disk, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable will advise!

Blackhood which motherboard do you have?

it's an Asus M3A