Solved What's the proper way to clean install Win8 on new SSD

The SSD I plan on purchasing is the Samsung 840 EVO-Series 120GB for $103 (the desktop kit version). My machine is the HP p6754y which has a N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX motherboard. Now I've seen that this is SATA II and not SATA III. Now right here, my first question is, is the upgrade worth it? I've heard people get great performance from the SSD even from SATA II.

So my plan is to take out the old hard drive and install the SSD using the same wires. Now treat me like a noob at this point. Would these be the correct steps on doing this:

1. Backup any files that I want from old HDD
2. Restart desktop and go into BIOS
3. Enable AHCI
4. Make system boot from disk (for re-installation)
5. Shutdown computer
6. Remove old HDD and install SSD using same wires
7. Start up computer and install Windows installation disk

Now I've already gone into my BIOS and it looks like steps 3 and 4 were already done from the manufacturer. So all I need to do is steps 1,5,6,7 I think....
Is there anything that I missed that I should do, or something in the wrong order?

Thanks for the help!

Hello Blugga, and welcome to Eight Forums.

That looks like a good plan. You would install on a SSD the same way you would a HDD.

Since this is for Windows 8, it would be an upgrade copy. The tutorial below can help show you how to clean install with an upgrade Windows 8.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

As far as HW is concerned, don't worry about SATA2, on paper and tests you'll see drop in performance but in real use it should not be too noticeable with a drop only when copying files and much lesser drop with reading and writing small segment files as .DLLs etc which make 90% of disk use. In BIOS, make sure the disk controller is set to AHCI, it's important for SSD's operation. Also connect it to first SATA port (where your Baracuda is now) and when doing clean installation of W8 / 8.1 it should install with all appropriate settings. Don't bather with those recommendations for SSDs you see all over net, they are all for older SSDs, newer ones are much more resistant to large amounts of writing and will survive longer than the rest of your computer. Do all you listed, just keep old HDD disconnected until you install new OS so you can have real clean installation without mixing HDD in. You can connect it after, to other port with all your files intact so even backup is not really necessary.

Thanks for the help. I've purchased my ssd from amazon and waiting for it to arrive. I'll post an update on how it goes when I get it.

SSD arrived today. Installation was a breeze. I just disconnected the SATA and power cables from the old HDD and put them on the new SSD. Started computer right up and was able to install windows without a problem. Start up times improved from 50 secs on hdd to 15 secs on ssd. Shutdown times went from 25 secs to 6 secs. Very happy so far.

*note: I did not use the method described in Brink's link. Not saying it's a bad method, but I did it the old fashion way.

That's great news Blugga.

Happy camper now ? I too was a bit paranoid when I installed first SSD, moved all the work folders to a HDD and all that stuff about "saving" SSD from too much writing etc. but then found out about what new SSDs are capable of enduring and that Win8 sets everything up just right for it's use when doing clean install. After more than a year of it's usage, a modest SSD ( Kingston SSD Now 120 GB ) is no slower now than in the beginning and it's health and performance are 100% without any problems while a HDD just few month older did not fare as good and it's not a system disk either.