mSATA Clean Install Win 8

[jjbsask]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a MSI GE70 and I want to install a mSATA 128gb that will become the boot drive for Win 8. The computer is basically brand new, so I don't care about backing up personal files (as I don't really have any). However, I do have a few questions on the best way to install the mSATA and format the HDD as a storage drive.

1) If I borrow a copy of Win 8 CD (same version that is currently on the laptop) from a friend, would that work for install? I have read that Win 8 enters into the bios of the existing system ---- Will this prevent me from installing Win 8 fresh onto the mSATA (i.e., hardware conflict?).

i.e., Could I simply put in the Win 8 CD and install Windows fresh on the mSATA? Could I then format the HDD following this (or would I need to format the HDD prior to installing the mSATA?).

2) If the above does not work, would I have to buy a separate copy of WIN 8 to install fresh? OR, Cloning the HDD to mSATA? I have heard cloning is not optimal for performance.

 

[mc962]

From what I know when you install windows and enter the product key it records your motherboard and cpu (and presumably sends the info to microsoft, probably something like a serial no. or something like that). You could borrow the cd to do an install I think, but if that version does not have more than one license activation for it (like for example, i believe that microsoft sells family editions of their os that have up to 3 activations allowed with that key) then you won't be able to have a valid copy of windows (at best it might install but without activating it using the product key you would likely have trouble later on. What you would need in that case is to purchase a new and unused product key.

If you have another hard drive in there with windows 8 already installed on it i might recommend unplugging the sata cable from the drive while you are installing. I believe I've heard of issues where people had 2 drives installed with windows on it, and one of the drives (the new one generally) wouldnt work because of something like "the boot partition wasnt there, or corrupted, or something". I'm sure someone else could give you better details, but I've usually heard that if you just unplug the old drive while installing on the new drive there are generally no problems.

I would agree with the no cloning idea, from what I hear it usually doesnt work so well and even when it does it would be easier to just fresh install and manually move all your data from a backup