Can I do this? SSD+new copy of Windows7

[LgFriess]

I'm trying to milk some life out of my 2008 system by doing a few upgrades and overclocking.

I'm currently running Vista64 and would like to upgrade to Win7. I would also like to grab a SSD like the M4.

Can I just buy the SSD, a copy of Windows7, install the drive, put windows7 on the drive, direct the bios to boot from the SSD, then delete Vista from my old HDD?

Will I run into problems? The 2008 is my first home build so I'm not overly familiar with upgrading the OS.

 

[MonkeyK]

it should be about that easy. I would disconnect the old HDD first. Then after setting windows up on the new SSD, reconnect the old drive and copy anything that you want to keep before wiping the old HDD.

 

[fralexandr]

should be fine
my brother had windows 7 on a 1TB HDD
we installed the SSD and installed windows 7 using the same license
we didn't even bother deleting windows 7 on the HDD heh (in case the SSD decided not to work)
pretty much all we did (other than update windows and install the default stuffs) was redirect the my documents folder to the 1TB drive, and reinstall steam directing it to the 1TB drive steam folder

 

[mfenn]

it should be about that easy. I would disconnect the old HDD first. Then after setting windows up on the new SSD, reconnect the old drive and copy anything that you want to keep before wiping the old HDD.

Agree. This procedure is the way to go. Otherwise the Windows 7 installer will "helpfully" reuse the Vista bootloader on the HDD. Then if you ever remove the HDD, you'd be in a no-boot situation. Disconnecting the HDD before installing Windows 7 forces the installer to write a new bootloader.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Don't forget, that if you purchase a retail upgrade edition of Windows 7 (which is ok, since you already have Vista), then you will have to do the "double install trick" to install the upgrade edition on a fresh drive.

 

[LgFriess]

Sounds great. Thanks for the help!

 

[radhak]

1. buy SSD, Win7
2. Install SSD and detach old Vista HDD (just pull out the connector cable)
3. Install Win7 to SSD
4. Re-boot at least one redundant time (ie, after the last reboot mandated by the new OS install)
5. Re-attach old Vista HDD.

(AFAIK, you don't even need to delete the Vista; keep it as a backup(!) OS)

 

[MichaelD]

it should be about that easy. I would disconnect the old HDD first. Then after setting windows up on the new SSD, reconnect the old drive and copy anything that you want to keep before wiping the old HDD.

This. Make SURE you disconnect the old drive while installing Win7 on your new SSD. And make sure that once you reconnect the old drive, in the BIOS you set "Boot from the SSD." Copy what you need from the old drive, format that sucker and use it for storage. Good luck.