how do i install windows to my ssd?

[RobCherry]

so as the title says i am trying to install windows 7 to a ssd i have picked up from a friend. I currently have just one hdd installed which is a 1tb drive which has everything on it, windows, steam games ect and i would like to move windows to the 60gb ocz agility 3 drive i now have.
I have never added a new drive before so this is new to me and i wondered if it would be as easy as disconnecting my 1tb drive and adding the new ssd, installing a fresh windows on it, adding the 1tb drive back in then going into bios and selecting the ssd as boot? this may be completely wrong and any help would be appreciated.....thanks

 

[ThatVietGuy]

No, you're on the right track.

What you laid out is how you're supposed to install Windows.

 

[USAFRet]

With that 60GB SSD, you'll have to monitor the free space very closely. That is right on the edge of 'too small'.

But yes...your procedure is mostly spot on.
Only change is:
"disconnecting my 1tb drive and adding the new ssd, installing a fresh windows on it, adding the 1tb drive back in then going into bios and selecting the ssd as boot?"
change to:
"disconnecting my 1tb drive and adding the new ssd, installing a fresh windows on it, then going into bios selecting the ssd as boot, adding the 1tb drive back in"

 

[RobCherry]

so the only difference is to select the ssd as boot before i add my hdd back, then add the hdd and go into bios after and i guess this is to check my ssd is still selected as boot? or do i need to put the hdd as 2nd on the list of boot priorities?
and you say right on the edge of 'too small' is this for the size of windows 7....as this will be the only thing installed on the ssd.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

I wouldn't put the HDD on the boot list at all (if possible) to avoid any boot issues.

 

[RobCherry]

I wouldn't put the HDD on the boot list at all (if possible) to avoid any boot issues.

so just install the hdd and dont add it to the boot up sequence, will i still be able to access all my files as normal, for example play my steam games ect from it....sorry for the daft questions but i'm just trying to learn more about it before i attempt it.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

It'll still be available for your files - just because it's not on the boot list doesn't mean it won't be seen by the OS.

 

[USAFRet]

so the only difference is to select the ssd as boot before i add my hdd back, then add the hdd and go into bios after and i guess this is to check my ssd is still selected as boot? or do i need to put the hdd as 2nd on the list of boot priorities?
and you say right on the edge of 'too small' is this for the size of windows 7....as this will be the only thing installed on the ssd.

Don't have the HDD on the boot order at all.

And yes, 60GB is right on the edge.
'Windows only' is never 'windows only'. Nor should it be. Browsers, AV, other utilities, etc, etc. Those you DO want on the SSD.

I've measured carefully the size of a new Win install.
They start out small, but once you run all the updates, the OS gets larger.
Win 7 Home 64bit - 40-45GB
Win 8.1 Home 64bit - ~35GB
Win 10 Home - ~28GB

With an SSD, you need to leave 10-15% free. So with a nominal "60GB" drive, you really only have about 50GB actual usable space. That Win 7 install will be bumping right up against that.

 

[RobCherry]

ok so i will leave the hhd off the boot sequence once i have installed it, as for the size of windows wow i didn't realise just how big is was. i have windows 7 home premium which you say is around 40-45gb which will leave me with very little space at all.
my next question is how do i wipe this ssd as my friend hasn't done so as he wasn't sure how to do it...... thanks for your fast responses guys

 

[joex444]

That wasn't a great suggestion above. Boot order can change when you add devices, so you should add the HDD back and then go into the BIOS and select the SSD as the boot drive.

Once you're booted on the SSD - easy to tell because C: will be 60GB instead of 1TB - then you can remove the Windows directory from the HDD (or rename it Windows.old so it won't work). Then you can go into disk management and remove the small partition on the HDD that held the boot information (usually it is 100MB).

But the above is correct about the 60GB size. It's enough for Windows, your core applications and that's it. Be sure to put your swap file on the HDD. You may also want to disable hibernation. It can have the Steam program but not your steam library, and could store your small personal files... but that's it. SSDs also perform worse as you approach high utilizations (80%) so you essentially want to consider this as a 45GB drive or so.