Question: How to reinstall O/S in an SSD? (OCZ Apex Series 250GB SATA II 2.5" SSD)

tiago1982

This thread is about the OCZ Apex Series 250GB SATA II 2.5" SSD. Click here to see full specs

Hi all,

I have now been for a long time searching for the right SSD.

I think that I have now found one but some questions remain..........

When we install the O/S it asks us to format the disk, now I keep on reading that we should not reformat an SSD as it reduces the life expectancy.

So how am I supposed to reinstall the O/S if I get a virus impossible to remove ( I am not an expert, I can allways remove the virus but once I could not regardless of the product triyng to remove it), or if I do as usual with my WD Raptor wich is every 12 months I reformat it?

Does XP recognise SSD's? I will only go for W.7 as I don't like Vista.

This seems very good, but I cannot understand one thing, if it is that good why can't we format it like a SD card, and how will I install the O/S with out formating it?


Your help in this matther is higly apreciated.


Thanks guys

Dee

XP was out long before SSD drives became mainstream, but XP will work fine with SSD drives if you can align the partition correctly.

Its best to just do a quick format on an SSD drive rather than a full format.

Windows Vista or Windows 7 handle SSD drives much better. If you decide to use Windows 7. During the install process, go to advanced settings and delete the existing partition on the drive, then create a new one. This will align the drive correctly, then format the drive and install the operating system.

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thebiggazebo

I got my first 64 gig SSD drive last week and installed it along with the cd rom drive I was gong to use to install win xp pro. Like any drive before, windows install did not see a partition and asked me if i wanted to create it and format it.
Quick or full. I did the full format. There was nothing in the directions about not formatting the drive at all.

The format went well, win xp installed fine however it's not on a a c drive, it intalled win xp on the E partition. normaly this would be the c drive.

I also noticed a 100k c: partioion with zero bytes used and, zero bytes free.

After a few days I noticed the fake c: drive was gone and, now I only have the 64 gig ssd drive which is labled e: drive and the cd rom drive.

I would like to delete the partition and try it again.
What steps do I do? Should I put the 1 tb drive as the master, first boot up drive and set up the ssd as drive b and use powerquest 8 to delete the partition on the ssd drive and quick format the ssd then remove the 1tb hard drive and install win xp then?

How do I aling the drive. I was told this is the same as a hard drive in every way just faster and, that is so true.

What are the steps to getting this to be the regular c drive?
Thank you

Dee

Welcome to the forum
You will need a working system installed on another HDD to get this working properly.

You will need to delete all partitions on the SSD to get started, then follow this guide.

From the SSD FAQ, download Diskpar and read the usage instructions in the FAQ.
The FAQ is here.
http://club.myce.com/f138/ssd-faq-297856/

Once you have created a new aligned partition on the SSD, follow this guide.

1, format the SSD (quick format)
2, Disconnect all other HDDs in your system
3, Connect the SSD to the first SATA port on your motherboard
4, Enter the system BIOS and make sure the SSD is first in the boot order
5, Insert your XP CD-ROM and start the installation process.
6, Do NOT format the SSD again during install
7, Install XP and reboot
8, Once your at the desktop and everything is working, then power the PC down and connect any HDD.
9, Enter the system BIOS and make sure the SSD is still first in the boot order.
10, Boot back to XP, if all is ok then you're done, and enjoy your SSD.

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thewildrat

This is good info! I was having problems getting win7 to install on my ssd. My wife suggested disconnecting my other hdd's. I will use this as a guide to get win7 setup on my ssd. Again Thanks!

Cybercat

Hi,

I am about to do the same thing: install Win7 64-bit on a new SSD (128GB).

If I understand Dee's first comment, I should be able to start the install process and then align the drive with the advanced settings - i.e. I don't have to go through the more complicated procedure of using Diskpar. Or do I? It seemed that that was only necessary because the OS was XP.

Also, I have a new Crucial 128GB and a new OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB and I'm not sure which one I want to use. I ordered the OCZ and then saw a lot of comments on Amazon.de that people were having problems with it. The Crucial, on the other hand, had only very (many) positive comments. What do you think? I see in the SSD Guide that the OCZ Vertex 2 is actually recommended as an OS drive over other SSDs.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

AllanDeGroot

Harddrives haven't been made that can actually be "low level formatted" for nearly a decade.

The difference between a "quick format" and a regular format with the native windows defragger
is that the "quick format" doesn't examine each sector for errors, making it run the format operation faster.

So in the greater scheme of things tt really doesn't matter

Let the windows installation disc "format the drive", that will ensure proper alignment
XP actually offers the option of "quick format" Vs "Format". NEITHER of those options
will even try to do a "low level format"

To be honest the only reason I'm familiar with partition alignment is because the new
Advanced Format Technology Hard drives have similar alignment requirements.

BTW, if you wish to "cheat" you can do what I'm already planning to do when I eventually get
my first SSD, do the OS installation on a spinning hard drive using AFT, then clone the OS to the SSD using "clonezilla" which by default properly aligns partitions to the drives during the cloning operation.

Doing that will allow updating of the OS (NO OS installer disc is ever perfect)
then repeated defragmentation, registry cleaning, more defragging and getting the installation
as "clean" as possible before trasfering it to the SSD.



AD


do the "quick" format.

Dee

Welcome to the forum, Cybercat.

Just use the Windows 7 install DVD (advanced option as you stated). If there is already a partition on the SSD, delete it, then create a new one, as this will make sure the partition is aligned.
You can then install Windows 7 on your new SSD.

@AlanDeGroot
There is a big difference regarding "quick format" and "full format" as far as an SSD concerned.
Full format will write to every LBA on the SSD, rendering the SSD in a fully used state.
Quick format only deletes and then re-creates a table.

Only quick format should ever be used on an SSD.

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AllanDeGroot

The Last time I ran a win 7 installer it didn't offer the option besides a "quick" format during installation. I know XP does...
I don't recall on Vista, the last four times I ran a vista install I wasn't really paying attention.

But I DID say "do the quick format"

But I also said I'd run the installer on a HDD then clone with clonezilla

It eliminates most of the "wear" that would be incured by "cleaning up" the typical mess a fresh install creates, by doing the cleanup before the install is transfered to the SSD.

I didn't know that using a long format would do that "marking it as used" bit...

I am aware that ONLY Win7 offers native support for SSDs

As for XP, I believe I have been the lone voice crying in the wilderness about the
imminent demise of XP. But anyone with half a brain doesn't need a crystal ball
or a deck of Tarot card to predict that...

AD

Googlinator

Hi!
I have a 64GB SSD on my comp along with a normal 1TB HDD drive. When I built my computer, I plugged the SSD and the HDD, and when I installed Windows 7 64 bit, I put in on my SSD. Now, my friend just told me that was a bad move, since he says windows installed its boot files on the largest hard drive, aka my HDD. Therefore, my SSD is technically useless, since windows still boots from my HDD. So, first question, is it possible that that's exactly what happened? Something that might prove his point is that in the BIOS, the first thing to boot is my HDD. When I tried putting my SSD first, my computer gave a message saying that it couldn't boot or something along those lines, so I had to put the HDD back in first position for booting order.

Second, if I want to re-install W7 on my SSD, how do I go about it? Do I have to format my HDD and SSD, then unplug my HDD, then install windows on my SSD, and after that, re-plug my HDD? Because I don't really understand what you guys are saying about how formatting an SSD is bad and all that partition alignment stuff. Honestly, would it be possible to get a step by step explanation of how to format my HDD and SSD and then reinstalling windows?


I have read the previous comments, but I'm still pretty iffy when it comes to messing with the basics of my computer system.

Thanks a lot

CDan

The best bet is to always unplug all other drives except the boot drive. For SSD, just be sure the BIOS is set for AHCI mode with the SSD as the initial boot device.

Your situation isn't too unusual, but the boot files are all that's on the HDD, the OS is still on the SSD if that's where you directed Windows to put it. So performance-wise you're not losing anything.

Windows will place an initial 100MB partition on the SSD for boot files, then create a second partition for the OS. If you wish to avoid that, then wipe and format the SSD with another utility before installing windows.

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Googlinator

So you're saying that even if the boot files are on the HDD, my comp won't boot faster if I get them on my SSD (the OS is on the SSD)? Because there is a 100MB partition on my HDD which seems to have hidden files on it, and I'm guesing they're the boot files, from what you're saying.

So, let's say I want everything to be on my SSD, and I don't want my comp to keep on working right, what do I do? Also, how am I suppose to format my SSD (which contains the BIOS) while the BIOS is running? Seriously, I am not good at all with this stuff, so I'm sorry if you kinda have to spell everything out for me.

Thanks

Googlinator

But wait, since the boot files are on the HDD, doesn't the HDD have to find them? Which means the comp has to wait for the HDD, which takes time?

CDan

The boot files are only a few MB, it takes but an instant to read them regardless of where they are at. The OS loads from the SSD. So you're talking about less than a second in boot time.

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