# Installing Win 7 on an SSD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569 "2009-12-09T07:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/1 "2009-12-09T07:48:37Z")
I’m doing a build tomorrow, stepping up from Win XP so I’m dually unfamiliar with both Win 7 and SSDs. I have a licensed copies of Win XP (Home; I’d rather not lose the machine the Pro install is on), a CD with SP3 on it, and Win 7 Ultimate upgrade. The SSD is a 128GB by Crucial. There’s also a 500GB Western Digital drive going into it, but that will be for data. It’s a completely new build from the case up, so there is not yet an existing install. What do I need to know about SSDs? About Win 7 and SSDs? Do I need to do anything to the SSD before it can take the Windows install? Can I just treat the SSD as a regular HDD and not make a big deal about it? Since I have a Win 7 upgrade, will I have to go through the full Win XP install first or will the license key be enough? Anything quirky I should keep in mind? Thanks, Rhythm Here is the rest of the hardware, if it makes a difference. [ul] [li][Antec P183 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129061) [/li][li][CORSAIR 850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 Active PFC Power Supply](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009) [/li][li][ASUS P6T Motherboard](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225) [/li][li][Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz Quad-Core - Retail](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202) [/li][li]2X [GIGABYTE HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125301)[/li][li][G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225) [/li][li][Crucial 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148319) [/li][li][Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM SATA](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320) [/li][\*][LG Blu-ray Burner](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136164) [/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/2 "2009-12-09T08:23:21Z")
An SSD, for all intents and purposes, should function exactly like a regular HDD, so no weird install issues and such. HOWEVER the first thing you should do after installing is go to All Programs -\> Accessories -\> System Tools -\> Disk Defragmenter and turn it off. Never ever ever ever defragment an SSD since they have a lifespan that revolves around how many times it’s written to, not to mention the way I understand SSDs work they don’t lose any performance from being fragmented like ordinary magnetic plate discs do. Edit: I think you need to install XP for the upgrade to work. At least when I tried to install a Vista upgrade from scratch way back when the system just kicked me out because it couldn’t find an existing Windows copy, ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/3 "2009-12-09T14:05:13Z")
I would like to know how this turns out. I assume you are doing it to speed boot up. Let us know if it is worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/4 "2009-12-09T14:21:09Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > HOWEVER the first thing you should do after installing is go to All Programs -\> Accessories -\> System Tools -\> Disk Defragmenter and turn it off. Never ever ever ever defragment an SSD since they have a lifespan that revolves around how many times it’s written to, Windows 7 by design detects if a drive is SSD and automatically excludes it from Disk Defragmenter, Superfetch, Prefetch. There’s a possibility that this automatic detection mechanism might be broken for certain SSD drives but I have an Intel X25-E SSD and Windows 7 properly disables Defragmenter without any user intervention. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/5 "2009-12-09T14:26:50Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Do I need to do anything to the SSD before it can take the Windows install? If the SSD is not blank, many folks like to do a [low-level Secure ATA erase](http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669&type=expert&pid=6) to maintain performance. You have to find the right utility that’s compatible with your particular SSD to do this. For example, I have Intel X25-E and have to use the older HDDERASE 3.3 instead of newer HDDERASE 4.0. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/installing-win-7-on-an-ssd/520569/6 "2009-12-09T17:19:24Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > I would like to know how this turns out. I assume you are doing it to speed boot up. Let us know if it is worth it. It’s a ground-up build, so I’m pretty stoked to see what boot up — and everything else — is like. I’m on an AMD 4800 right now, not too old, but not quite prime. I’ve also never done a Crossfire build before, so that should be interesting. Since it’ll all be different, I won’t really be able to tell how the SSD affects things, but … but wait a second. I got Crucial’s cage to put it in. Among other things, it comes with an external enclosure that hooks to an e-SATA port. It sounds like I need to install XP on it anyway, so why not first install XP on my current box’s e-SATA and I’ll be able to do an almost-compare. > [@Ruminator](#): > > Windows 7 by design detects if a drive is SSD and automatically excludes it from Disk Defragmenter, Superfetch, Prefetch. > > There’s a possibility that this automatic detection mechanism might be broken for certain SSD drives but I have an Intel X25-E SSD and Windows 7 properly disables Defragmenter without any user intervention. I hope it takes care of all that — but that’s a couple other things to check as well — thanks. > [@Ruminator](#): > > If the SSD is not blank, many folks like to do a [low-level Secure ATA erase](http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669&type=expert&pid=6) to maintain performance. > > You have to find the right utility that’s compatible with your particular SSD to do this. For example, I have Intel X25-E and have to use the older HDDERASE 3.3 instead of newer HDDERASE 4.0. It’s brand new, but if I go with the above test I’ll be sure to wipe it — thanks.