New SSD - Transfering windows

simon360

Hi guys hoping to get a nice 240 gb SSD drive for Christmas, but only thing im worrying about is that I want to put my OS Windows 7 Ultimate on it but I don't have a disk..... Is there anyway I can transfer it from my current Seagate barracuda 500gb? Really would love if there was a way because as you all know money is tight this Christmas and I dont want to be blowing 100+ euro on another win 7 Any replies will help!

Tij da feen

Do you still have the product key? That's all you need, the disc images can be downloaded and you can make a bootable USB or a DVD. There's a program that can give you your product key AFAIK.

Reinstalling Windows 7 is recommended when going from a mechanical to an SSD to enable features which will reduce wear and tear on the drive.

simon360

I have the product key yes but its oem? will that work? Whats the program?

Tij da feen

simon360 wrote: »

I have the product key yes but its oem? will that work? Whats the program?

Yes, it will work. The product key is tied to the motherboard, not the Hard Drive. It should just be a case of plug in new SSD, plug out other HDDs and install from there. Check out Monotype's guide for installing onto an SSD. You don't need the program if you have the product key handy.

simon360

Is product key wehn you go start>right click computer>properties and then product id? so do i not need a disk to install it? when i plug in my ssd and plug out the other should it auto install or what? Cheers and sorry for extra q's (I'm new to all this)

Tij da feen

simon360 wrote: »

Is product key wehn you go start>right click computer>properties and then product id? so do i not need a disk to install it? when i plug in my ssd and plug out the other should it auto install or what? Cheers and sorry for extra q's (I'm new to all this)

Product ID is different than the product key. The product key should be 25 characters long while the ID is only 20 characters long. Have a look at this article if you need to extract the product key from your operating system.

You do need the disk to install it. You can download it from here and then burn it to a DVD or make a bootable USB from it. When it comes around to installing you will want to have only your SSD and DVD Drive connected if installing from disk. Leave other HDDs disconnected and boot into Windows 7 installation.

simon360

got it Thanks so much, do i install the x86 if i have 64 bit or x64?

Tij da feen

simon360 wrote: »

got it Thanks so much, do i install the x86 if i have 64 bit or x64?

x86 is 32-bit. x64 is 64-bit.

simon360

Thanks again!

batistuta9

Tij da feen wrote: »

You do need the disk to install it. You can download it from here and then burn it to a DVD or make a bootable USB from it. When it comes around to installing you will want to have only your SSD and DVD Drive connected if installing from disk. Leave other HDDs disconnected and boot into Windows 7 installation.

What happens when you reconnect the old HDD that's already got Windows on it?

Tij da feen

batistuta9 wrote: »

What happens when you reconnect the old HDD that's already got Windows on it?

Best off reformatting it, but if there's files on it you want to back up to the main drive just plug it back in after installation and make sure that the SSD is first in the boot priority on BIOS.

Serephucus

As long as you don't boot from it, nothing. Just make sure that the SSD is set as your first boot device, after you've plugged the other HDD back in. Also, when installing Win7 to the new drive, don't have anything else plugged in (other than the DVD drive or whatever) as Windows like to dump boot info on other drives for no real reason (I assume it's to do with whatever drive is on port 0 or something).

batistuta9

Tij da feen wrote: »

Best off reformatting it, but if there's files on it you want to back up to the main drive just plug it back in after installation and make sure that the SSD is first in the boot priority on BIOS.

so as long as you make the SSD has a higher boot order it'd be OK

do you know what would happen if you replaced the HDD with a SSD, then installed windows again using the ODD, then put the HDD back in instead of the ODD, would the HDD now take the same order the ODD had in the BIOS?

Serephucus

Should do, yes. I'd still check it though. It won't do any harm boot from the old Windows install, by the way. I just find it annoying to have to restart to change boot priorities.

batistuta9

I thought they'd conflict, but i suppose the one it boots from will just be viewed as the only OS installed, right?

Serephucus

Exactly. You'll still be able to browse to the other drives and view/copy/whatever everything, it just won't be "active".

batistuta9

thanks lads

simon360

I just found out that my windows 7 is WITHOUT sp1, will my product key work on the installation of windows 7 with sp1? Also my current one is OEM... will that make a difference?

unseenfootage

SP1 is a service pack and is available for free as an update so it should not make any difference.

Your question about OEM has already been answered in post #4.

marco_polo

simon360 wrote: »

I just found out that my windows 7 is WITHOUT sp1, will my product key work on the installation of windows 7 with sp1? Also my current one is OEM... will that make a difference?

The service pack doesn't matter at all, as to the OEM question the product key is essentially tied to the motherboard, so once the new drive is going into the in the same PC it will work just fine.

simon360

My windows key wont activate even though its activated on the HDD, did I do something wrong?

dreamers75

Installed from DVD changed boot device to CD, installed windows to 250gb SSD.

Rebooted took out DVD and changed boot device to 250gb SSD.

Straight forward enough, impressive speed from Samsung 840. Very impressed with it so far.

Only have Bf3 and Far Cry 3 on it atm, moving Arma over shortly.

Skill Magill

dreamers75 wrote: »

Installed from DVD changed boot device to CD, installed windows to 250gb SSD.

Rebooted took out DVD and changed boot device to 250gb SSD.

Straight forward enough, impressive speed from Samsung 840. Very impressed with it so far.

Only have Bf3 and Far Cry 3 on it atm, moving Arma over shortly.

This saves on ssd real estate. Did it on mine yesterday

dreamers75

eoing1 wrote: »

This saves on ssd real estate. Did it on mine yesterday

Was going to something like that but my normal setup is:

C:(300gb) Windows and programs
(1tb)Origin and Steam
E:(1tb) Downloads/Photos
F:(600) Free

So im used to managing C: its usually a desolate drive with only windows and programs. My Documents is rarely used as i reformat quite often and dont keep anything i want to keep on the C drive. Upgrading and installing windows a lot keeps me on my toes with this stuff

Its a good idea but i prefer my way

/installing steam every time to /Steam means i never have to download a game twice, handy that

challengemaster

eoing1 wrote: »

This saves on ssd real estate. Did it on mine yesterday

I'm just wondering would this work for a 32bit to 64bit change.