SSD Set Up Help

If you are putting this in a desktop, the first thing to have a look at is whether or not it has a 2.5" drive mount location in your case. If it's an older desktop case, then you'll have to purchase a 3.5" to 2.5" drive bay adapter something like this:

Drive Bay Adapter

If it's being installed in a laptop, then you can disregard the above.

Since this drive is used, there is likely data on it, even if the partition has been deleted. So go to Samsung and download the Samsung Magician software. This is the download page:

Samsung Magician

Install it, even if you don't have the drive connected. Run the software and you'll see the Secure Erase option on the right hand side. You can make a secure erase USB or CD/DVD which is bootable. Once you've made the media, shutdown your computer / laptop and connect the SSD to your system. Boot from the media you just made. The procedure is pretty straight forward from here.

Once the drive has been securely erased (this is important to return the drive to like new performance), you can install Windows on it. You can treat it like any other drive, there aren't an other considerations to be made when installing Windows.

If you plan on keeping your HDD (again assuming a desktop here) you may want to keep your user files and games and other data on the HDD. This is relatively simple, so if you are interested I can certainly guide you through that.

If you are putting this in a desktop, the first thing to have a look at is whether or not it has a 2.5" drive mount location in your case. If it's an older desktop case, then you'll have to purchase a 3.5" to 2.5" drive bay adapter something like this:

Drive Bay Adapter

If it's being installed in a laptop, then you can disregard the above.

Since this drive is used, there is likely data on it, even if the partition has been deleted. So go to Samsung and download the Samsung Magician software. This is the download page:

Samsung Magician

Install it, even if you don't have the drive connected. Run the software and you'll see the Secure Erase option on the right hand side. You can make a secure erase USB or CD/DVD which is bootable. Once you've made the media, shutdown your computer / laptop and connect the SSD to your system. Boot from the media you just made. The procedure is pretty straight forward from here.

Once the drive has been securely erased (this is important to return the drive to like new performance), you can install Windows on it. You can treat it like any other drive, there aren't an other considerations to be made when installing Windows.

If you plan on keeping your HDD (again assuming a desktop here) you may want to keep your user files and games and other data on the HDD. This is relatively simple, so if you are interested I can certainly guide you through that.

Yes you need the drive connected to do the secure erase, but you shouldn't need it connected to make the secure erase media. At least I'm pretty sure. When I did it, I had the drive connected, but that's because I was doing a re-install and I purchased the drive new, so I didn't have data on it to begin with.

You can image an SSD, but often this can cause the system to not boot. Sometimes it will boot, but you don't get the full performance from the drive because the migration software doesn't align the partition correctly (SSD's align their partitions differently than HDD's). I almost always recommend doing a clean install when it comes to migrating from a HDD to SSD.

How much space is used on your HDD? Is it less than 512GB?

As long as you have a genuine product key, you should be able to download the ISO for Windows 7 from Microsoft. Here is the link:

MicroSoft ISO Download

Just enter your key and it will direct you to the correct ISO. Once you've downloaded it, burn it to a DVD and you're good.

As for migrating, unless Samsungs migration software is different, it will take an image of your present HDD. So this image will require at least as much space as is used, so in your case 1TB. Since the destination is 500GB, it wouldn't work.

The best option is to leave your HDD unplugged while installing Windows on the SSD. Once you've installed Windows, drivers, and software you want on the SSD, reconnect the HDD. Copy off the data that you need from the HDD to an external drive. Then format the drive and put what data you want back on it. The upside to this approach is you haven't touched your working OS installation until after you have the new install complete on the SSD. So if anything should go wrong, you aren't without a computer while you sort it out.

My suggestion is to put your user files (Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc) on the HDD. It's pretty simple to move the location from the default C:\Users\Username\ to wherever you want it.

If you are a gamer, I would install STEAM on the SSD, but then select the HDD as the location to put the games. This can be done within STEAM's settings. Same for Origin. Then any non STEAM / Origin games that have their own installers, direct the install directory to the HDD. For instance I use a directory like this D:\Games\ to install all my non STEAM / Origin games in.

Is this an OEM system? Or is it a home built system?

I tried my purchased OEM version and it worked. However if you have a OEM system (like Dell or HP), this may not work for you. If this is the case you should have the option to make install media from Windows.

Is this an OEM system? Or is it a home built system?

I tried my purchased OEM version and it worked. However if you have a OEM system (like Dell or HP), this may not work for you. If this is the case you should have the option to make install media from Windows.

No problem, let us know how you make out.

OK first create a destination folder. So in my case my HDD is drive letter D. I went to D, created a folder User Libraries, and then a folder inside User Libraries named Scott. This is where my user files will be kept. So in my case the base user folders will be in D:\User Libraries\Scott. Then make folders for each of the user folders that you want to move, so Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, and Videos. I recommend leaving Desktop where it is so that when Windows starts, your shortcuts and anything else that's on the desktop gets rendered quickly.

Once the above step is complete, open a File Explorer for where your User Folders are kept. You should see your Documents, Music, Pictures, etc. Start with something like Videos (which is likely empty) to start just in case something goes wrong. It might also be advisable to have a backup just in case something goes wrong. I did this before any files (except Downloads) were in any of the folders.

So for example starting with Videos, right click the folder and select Properties. Select the Location tab. You'll see the move button, click it and navigate to the folder that you made for Videos. So in my example for me, I navigated to D:\User Files\ Scott\Videos and hit the Select Folder button. It will ask you if you want to move the existing files (if there are any) to the new location, select Yes and it will move the folder and make the appropriate links in the registry so the default Videos folder is linked to the new location. Do this for all the folders. Sometimes the File Explorer shows two folders for the one you just moved. Usually just closing and reopening File Explorer is enough. If the original folder persists, just delete the original.

Once this has been done for each folder you should be finished. In most cases all applications will respect the new location. Though I've found a few legacy applications that will make a folder for say Documents in the default location. Don't fight it, everything else will still use the location you made.