Windows 7 New Hard Drive Question

Zaspera · Sep 16, 2011

I'm using a 1TB WD Black with Wiindows 7 Home Premium right now. I got a new SSD and it will be here in a few days. How do I go about putting Windows 7 on the new drive and taking it off the old one while still using the same key (it is a legit bought OEM copy).

Drone · Sep 17, 2011

You can't take W7 alone. You can clone entire drive with files on your new drive and wipe old drive.
Else just format old drive and install W7 on new drive.

Zaspera · Sep 17, 2011

Drone said:
Else just format old drive and install W7 on new drive.

Will my key still work if I do that?

Mussels · Sep 17, 2011

Zaspera said:
Will my key still work if I do that?

yes, you dont need to remove it off the other one or anything.

its fine to use so long as only one of them is online at any given time, as thats how they check. they do this so that a user with one key, can dual boot multiple copies of the OS (say, a 32 and a 64 bit version if they wanted to).

to keep it simple: install on the SSD with your old key, and its fine. just dont use the one key on multiple computers at the same time.

Zaspera · Sep 17, 2011

I'm planning on wiping my old drive and using it strictly for data (no windows). This is my first time ever using more than 1 hard drive. I underestimated SSDs when I built this computer. When I wipe my old drive and start Windows fresh on the new drive, will I need to install my drivers again (video card, mobo, yada yada)? If so, can I put them back on the old drive? This two drive thing is confusing.

Drone · Sep 17, 2011

Zaspera said:
When I wipe my old drive and start Windows fresh on the new drive, will I need to install my drivers again (video card, mobo, yada yada)? If so, can I put them back on the old drive? This two drive thing is confusing.

*sigh* Yes drivers won't magically appear for you, they don't care whether you use ssd or not.
http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm
Boot from old drive, run this program and back up your drivers. Put them on cd or thumb drive I don't care. Then install your os on your new drive and put these backed up drivers

Zaspera · Sep 17, 2011

It was a dumb question, but I wanted to make sure. When I think about a drive without Windows on it, it seems weird since I've never done it. Thanks for the help guys.

Laurijan · Sep 17, 2011

I wonder if the SSDs performance suffers if one clone the regular HDD, since fragmentation is a plus with SSDs. Anyone know?

Drone · Sep 17, 2011

Cloning is physical, that's why it's good to defragment and wipe free space before cloning. The main problem of ssd is not fragmentation. It's that sata interface is simply not for ssd. SSD by its nature is meant to be close to CPU. yeah yeah I talk about pci-e ...

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System Name	HAF Gamer
Processor	Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition
Motherboard	Asrock 970 Extreme3
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	8GB Crucial Ballistix 1600mhz (2x4GB)
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX 680 1006MHz
Storage	Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM 3GB/s
Display(s)	22" LG EW224T LED
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
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Power Supply	OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
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System Name	HAF Gamer
Processor	Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition
Motherboard	Asrock 970 Extreme3
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	8GB Crucial Ballistix 1600mhz (2x4GB)
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX 680 1006MHz
Storage	Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM 3GB/s
Display(s)	22" LG EW224T LED
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Onboard (for now)
Power Supply	OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Windows 7 New Hard Drive Question

Zaspera

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Drone

Zaspera

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Mussels

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Zaspera

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Drone

Zaspera

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Laurijan

Drone

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