Jump to content

Help with clean Windows 7 install


bill4d

Recommended Posts

I am going to do a clean install of windows 7 on my SSD.

I have a few questions about how I should go about it.

I have 2 additional 1.5 TB drives (in RAID 1) just for storage. Can I store all my data here safely during the install of Windows 7 on the solid state drive? After the Windows 7 install, will the 1.5 TB drives be recognized, or are there some steps that need to be taken?

How should I prepare the SSD prior to doing the Windows 7 install? Other than backing up the data, do I just put in the DVD and let the disk go through the formatting process of the drive?

Thanks for any help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I have 2 additional 1.5 TB drives (in RAID 1) just for storage. Can I store all my data here safely during the install of Windows 7 on the solid state drive?
How do you mean "safely"?

You say you are already using the RAID volume for storage, there is no reason to assume the data on it will be affected by an installation of Windows on another volume, and if you are running Windows 7 currently then there must be drivers for your RAID controller to be able to access the data.

To avoid wear on the SSD you should get into the habit of using your storage volume for temporary files, frequently updated data and small files which would not benefit from the low latency or read time.

After the Windows 7 install, will the 1.5 TB drives be recognized, or are there some steps that need to be taken?
That depends entirely on whether there are in-box drivers from the manufacturer for your RAID controller.

The easiest way to determine this is to see if the volume appears (as a single volume, not 2 separate disks) during the setup phase where you pick the volume on which to install Windows.

If it appears there as 1 disk then once Windows is installed it will be available too - if not, then you'll need to have the chipset/disk controller drivers ready to install after installing Windows (or see if they come down automatically via Windows Update).

How should I prepare the SSD prior to doing the Windows 7 install? Other than backing up the data, do I just put in the DVD and let the disk go through the formatting process of the drive?
This is definitely something to check in the forums for the SSD manufacturer (OCZ, Kingston, Intel, Crucial, etc.) - there are often tools to help clean & prepare SSDs, as well as check alignment and there may be firmware updates to apply to the disk itself before putting any data on it at all.

When Windows 7 is installed on an SSD it auotmatically detects this to disable Superfetch & disk defragmenting so you don't need to do it manually as was necessary before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 2 additional 1.5 TB drives (in RAID 1) just for storage. Can I store all my data here safely during the install of Windows 7 on the solid state drive?
How do you mean "safely"?

You say you are already using the RAID volume for storage, there is no reason to assume the data on it will be affected by an installation of Windows on another volume, and if you are running Windows 7 currently then there must be drivers for your RAID controller to be able to access the data.

To avoid wear on the SSD you should get into the habit of using your storage volume for temporary files, frequently updated data and small files which would not benefit from the low latency or read time.

After the Windows 7 install, will the 1.5 TB drives be recognized, or are there some steps that need to be taken?
That depends entirely on whether there are in-box drivers from the manufacturer for your RAID controller.

The easiest way to determine this is to see if the volume appears (as a single volume, not 2 separate disks) during the setup phase where you pick the volume on which to install Windows.

If it appears there as 1 disk then once Windows is installed it will be available too - if not, then you'll need to have the chipset/disk controller drivers ready to install after installing Windows (or see if they come down automatically via Windows Update).

How should I prepare the SSD prior to doing the Windows 7 install? Other than backing up the data, do I just put in the DVD and let the disk go through the formatting process of the drive?
This is definitely something to check in the forums for the SSD manufacturer (OCZ, Kingston, Intel, Crucial, etc.) - there are often tools to help clean & prepare SSDs, as well as check alignment and there may be firmware updates to apply to the disk itself before putting any data on it at all.

When Windows 7 is installed on an SSD it auotmatically detects this to disable Superfetch & disk defragmenting so you don't need to do it manually as was necessary before.

I am not currently using Windows 7, I plan to do a clean install of it on my SSD. I was just checking to see if it was acceptable to have drives for storage reconnected to the MB after the install of a new OS.

Can you explain a little more detail on what files I should get in the habit of writing to the storage drives? Temporary internet files...... what other types of files?

And, can I just go into these area and reassign where the temp files are written to?

I will look into the acceptaed way to prepare the SSD. Thanks for your input.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Step 1) Remove all your HDD from the machine - temporarily (IMPORTANT remember which sata port each HDD goes with)

Step 2) Install your SSD - This should be the only drive in the machine. (IMPORTANT use different sata port than the ones from your RAID)

Step 3) Install Windows 7 - It takes cares of everything SSD related (disables pagefile, readyboost, SSD alignment, etc)

Step 4) Install your RAID drivers into Windows 7

Step 5) Power down, re-install both RAID drives (in exact same SATA ports as before)

Step 6) You are done, power-up. The install is completely on SSD, self-contained.

As for the temp files and other things, that can be done after installation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not currently using Windows 7, I plan to do a clean install of it on my SSD. I was just checking to see if it was acceptable to have drives for storage reconnected to the MB after the install of a new OS.
Ah, I see - I have previously done as MrJinje suggests and remove the hard drives that won't be used for the OS itself, especially if they have a partition marked as active.

If the RAID array is only used for storage, however, then I would likely just attach the SSD and do the install directly to it - then you'll also know that the array will be visible once Windows is installed ~30 minutes later.

If you find the firmware on the SSD needs updating, do it before you write anything to it - you may also find that you need the drive controller to be set to IDE mode and not AHCI during the firmware update, so disconnecting the other drives at the same time would be smart.

Can you explain a little more detail on what files I should get in the habit of writing to the storage drives? Temporary internet files...... what other types of files?

And, can I just go into these area and reassign where the temp files are written to?

I've never messed about with the local location of the user profiles, and given the frequency of reads for files under them I would keep those on the SSD for the most benefit.

What I would do is to have a C:\Temp or C:\Downloads folder which is actually a volume mount point to a partition on the RAID array, then use this for the default location you save or extract files to (by keeping these out of the user profile it avoids them getting very large.

(You could then change the system and user environment variables TMP and TEMP to point to the alternative location if you like.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you find the firmware on the SSD needs updating, do it before you write anything to it - you may also find that you need the drive controller to be set to IDE mode and not AHCI during the firmware update, so disconnecting the other drives at the same time would be smart.

So, should the firmware of the SSD be updated before or after the Windows install? And would this be something Windows possibly does on it's own anyway?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, should the firmware of the SSD be updated before or after the Windows install? And would this be something Windows possibly does on it's own anyway?
Windows would not update your firmware on it's own (drivers, maybe, but not firmware). If you're going to update it anyway, do so before you install Windows, always.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Step 4) Install your RAID drivers into Windows 7

Can you explain what is involved in installing the "RAID drivers into Windows 7"? I'm not sure I understand what you mean or what needs to be installed.

I thought the ability to create a RAID array came from the BIOS screen and you could select which drives make up the array.

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How to install a driver, (using the Add Hardware Wizard)

Start Menu > Run > 'hdwwiz.exe' and follow the on-screen prompts.

The current machine I'm on at work has XP and did find that file.

This file is something that is included in Windows 7, I assume??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This file is something that is included in Windows 7, I assume??

Hard to believe but true.

EDIT: You might have to switch the order of number 4 and 5, as the add hardware wizard probably won't let you install the drivers until the RAID is back in the machine.

Edited by MrJinje
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would do a quick format. To completely wipe the drive, open a command prompt and enter the following:

diskpart

list disk

select disk whatever the number of the SSD is you select it.

clean all

That should do it

That only wipes the partition table, nothing else. Sufficient, yes, but not a complete wipe of a drive by any means (especially an SSD).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...