From HDD to SSD, How do I clean install Windows?

JVi

New Member
Messages
12
Hello,

My Laptop ( ASUS K55VD ) came with windows 8 pre-installed.

Now I want to install a Samsung EVO 840 250gb/500gb SSD, now I run a 750gb HDD which i split into 2 partitions which have a total of around 140gb used. But I can transfer stuff to an external HDD if needed. After I install the SSD I want to use my current HDD as an external HDD by buying a enclosure for it of course.

My main question is: What do I have to do to install Win8 clean on the SSD for optimal use? I don't know if I am on OEM, currently at work


Thanks in advance
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
I suggest that you save all your data to an external drive then reset your Windows back to factory from the recovery partition then clone it to the SSD using the free Macrium Reflect.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
I suggest that you save all your data to an external drive then reset your Windows back to factory from the recovery partition then clone it to the SSD using the free Macrium Reflect.
Isn't there really any other option? I wanted to use my current HDD as an external HDD as the SSD will be my only drive in the PC
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Since you only have the SSD and the HD to work with then:
  1. Connect your SSD to a USB port then move all your personal data to the SSD. Just make sure that they are safe.
  2. Restore Windows to the HD from the factory partition.
  3. Shrink the Windows partition HD to about 120GB then you would have an unallocated partition after drive C:
  4. Initiallize the unallocated partition and assign a letter for it. Just right click on it then click on Initialize then follow the screen to assign a letter and format it.
  5. Copy your personal data back to this new partition.
  6. Use macrium to make a backup image of Windows also to this new partition.
  7. Again, use Macrium to restore that image to the SSD.
  8. Swap the HD to the SSD then reboot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
I suggest that you save all your data to an external drive then reset your Windows back to factory from the recovery partition then clone it to the SSD using the free Macrium Reflect.
Isn't there really any other option? I wanted to use my current HDD as an external HDD as the SSD will be my only drive in the PC

Well Cloning to your new SSD is possible with what you have. If you can get a windows 8.1 ISO or Disk, Core 64 then you can use a Generic Install Product Key to start the clean Install, then once installed you'll have to use your product Key to activate. You'll have to extract your embedded product Key before you start so you'll have it. topguncp gave you good advise.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G75VW / Z97 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3610QM / I7-4790K
    Motherboard
    Z97 Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Hyundai HTM315156CFR8C-PB PC3-12800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (GF114M)
    Sound Card
    VIA 6.0.10.1600
    Screen Resolution
    1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
    Internet Speed
    30 down 3 up
    Browser
    Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    NIS and Malwarebytes
Since you only have the SSD and the HD to work with then:
  1. Connect your SSD to a USB port then move all your personal data to the SSD. Just make sure that they are safe.
  2. Restore Windows to the HD from the factory partition.
  3. Shrink the Windows partition HD to about 120GB then you would have an unallocated partition after drive C:
  4. Initiallize the unallocated partition and assign a letter for it. Just right click on it then click on Initialize then follow the screen to assign a letter and format it.
  5. Copy your personal data back to this new partition.
  6. Use macrium to make a backup image of Windows also to this new partition.
  7. Again, use Macrium to restore that image to the SSD.
  8. Swap the HD to the SSD then reboot.
Ah, I didn't say it properly.. I now already have an external HDD to my use, so I can backup my files to that harddrive. This so i don't need to buy a sata>usb cable. The only thing I need to know is how to get a legal copy of windows without having to delete anything from both of my HDD's..

Still following me?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
There is a thread in this forum to show you how to download the ISO file. The Retail version and the OEM are the same, the differences are the product keys. I am not sure if you can download the ISO using the OEM product key.

Once you have the ISO then it becomes easy, just swap the drive currently in your laptop with the SSD and install it. The other thread that I refer to earlier contains info on how to save your Activation Info and also retrieve the product key.

The version currently in the Recovery partition from ASUS is also legal except they bundled with a lot of crap wares.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Yeah I found the product key but it doesn't work, says it won't work with the retail version when I enter it..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
There is a thread in this forum to show you how to download the ISO file. The Retail version and the OEM are the same, the differences are the product keys. I am not sure if you can download the ISO using the OEM product key.

Once you have the ISO then it becomes easy, just swap the drive currently in your laptop with the SSD and install it. The other thread that I refer to earlier contains info on how to save your Activation Info and also retrieve the product key.

The version currently in the Recovery partition from ASUS is also legal except they bundled with a lot of crap wares.
Would it be possible to completely copy my HDD to my external disk? But then I don't get what u mean with the next part, I'm Dutch so excuse me for that. The one thing im still missing is a boot image for Windows, hoping that that image will pick up the serial in the bios.. You actually lost me at step 2, factory partition? Can I find that in disk management? And why shrink to 120gb? Sorry, but I just don't understand :p
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
There is a thread in this forum to show you how to download the ISO file. The Retail version and the OEM are the same, the differences are the product keys. I am not sure if you can download the ISO using the OEM product key.

Once you have the ISO then it becomes easy, just swap the drive currently in your laptop with the SSD and install it. The other thread that I refer to earlier contains info on how to save your Activation Info and also retrieve the product key.

The version currently in the Recovery partition from ASUS is also legal except they bundled with a lot of crap wares.

Can u start a DM conversation with me? That's faster talking :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Would it be possible to completely copy my HDD to my external disk?
Yes, you can clone the HDD to the external HDD. Or you can make a backup image of the whole HDD into one single file to the external HDD.
You actually lost me at step 2, factory partition?
In the old day, they put this in a DVD. Now they just create a partition containing the original Windows and put it in this partition so if for some reason such as your Windows get infected by Virus or you cannot boot it etc... then you can hit a function key at boot time (I think F4 for ASUS laptop) to restore Windows back to the day you bought the laptop. Normally, this partition is hidden (No drive letter assigned to it)

Can I find that in disk management? And why shrink to 120gb? Sorry, but I just don't understand :p

Yes, You can see it in the disk management.
You don't have to shrink it if you don't want to because I thought you did not have an extra external HDD, so to shrink it to have a place to temporarily store your data. Besides, Windows does not need to have a large partition, 120GB is plenty for Windows OS, the rest you can use to store your personal data, so in case your Windows becomes unbootable, infected by virus then you only need to restore Windows without losing your personal data.

If you make a screen shot of the disk management then I can explain a little more about each partition in your Laptop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Would it be possible to completely copy my HDD to my external disk?
Yes, you can clone the HDD to the external HDD. Or you can make a backup image of the whole HDD into one single file to the external HDD.
You actually lost me at step 2, factory partition?
In the old day, they put this in a DVD. Now they just create a partition containing the original Windows and put it in this partition so if for some reason such as your Windows get infected by Virus or you cannot boot it etc... then you can hit a function key at boot time (I think F4 for ASUS laptop) to restore Windows back to the day you bought the laptop. Normally, this partition is hidden (No drive letter assigned to it)

Can I find that in disk management? And why shrink to 120gb? Sorry, but I just don't understand :p

Yes, You can see it in the disk management.
You don't have to shrink it if you don't want to because I thought you did not have an extra external HDD, so to shrink it to have a place to temporarily store your data. Besides, Windows does not need to have a large partition, 120GB is plenty for Windows OS, the rest you can use to store your personal data, so in case your Windows becomes unbootable, infected by virus then you only need to restore Windows without losing your personal data.

If you make a screen shot of the disk management then I can explain a little more about each partition in your Laptop.
For now it's in dutch, If u want the english version say so :p I need to download the language pack..
Disks.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

Yes I know this, However this clones the OS u currently have to the SSD. Which is said to be less optimal for the drive.

What are your thoughts about this? Cloning or fresh install

JVi said:
The only thing I need to know is how to get a legal copy of windows without having to delete anything from both of my HDD's..

My Laptop ( ASUS K55VD ) came with windows 8 pre-installed.


Your Options.

1) To make ASUS Recovery disk download BACKTRACKER. (For Windows 8)

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support-

http://www.asus.com/supportonly/ASUS_Backtracker/#support_Download_36

ASUS said:
Using the Support DVD to restore system recovery.

About the Support DVD :
The Support DVD includes an image of the operating system, installed on your system at the factory.
or

2) You can order the Microsoft official OEM Recovery disks from the ASUS OEM manufacturer's website.
Essentio Recovery Software
http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=5189

https://serviceshop.asus.com/

3) Backup with Windows back up.

4) Backup with a 3rd party Partitioning,Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8/8.1, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Which is signed by Microsoft

5) Clone with a 3rd party Partitioning,Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8/8.1, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Which is signed by Microsoft

6) Buy Windows 8.1 DVD & Product Key.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
In addition. There is a 128MB hidden unused, unallocated partition reserved by Microsoft which Disk Management does not show. You have to use Diskpart command to see it.

1.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
You access thru the function Key during boot up to restore the Windows 8 OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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