Replacing SSD, clean install of OS. What steps do I need to take?

Ryan Underwood

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
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4,510
So it seems my 5 year old SSD is on it's last legs with *at risk* errors and such, though really haven't experienced anything crazy out of the normal.

My Win7 is on this old one and I still have the old install CD with the serial number. Will it work normal just to install it on the new one or will I need to authenticate it by phone or online? A newer 2.5 SATA III SSD is nothing different from older ones? It wouldn't conflict with my old MB would it?

Also, aside from unplugging my HDD during the fresh install, what exactly do I need to do in the BIOS? It's been over 5 years since I done this....

I really have nothing important to back up. Only have essentials and anti-virus/malware and such installed. Though, I have steam installed on my HDD, would it face complications or will it install the necessary registry to the new SSD?
 
i have had to do 2 clean installs of windows 7 recently and both times it wouldn't activate over the net and had to activate by phone.

you can either change the boot order in the BIOS to have your optical drive as the first boot device or you can enter the boot menu when you start your computer usually by tapping the F12 or ESC key when you turn on your computer
 

Ryan Underwood

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
20
0
4,510
Would AHCI already be selected when trying to install to a new SSD? You always leave it on that mode right?

And what about my HDD. Will the new fully installed and booted SSD automatically recognize it since it's been formatted already? It never has an OS installed on it so there's no need to clean it.