Switching to SSD- Need advice for backup/restore on fresh install

[darkgauntlett]

Hi guys,

My wife got me a 256GB Samsung 830 for fathers day. I want to make it my primary drive and am checking in with you guys to make sure I don't screw up.

My motherboard is the gigabyte P55-USB3.

I'm currently using 780GB of my HDD and borrowed an empty 1TB external drive to use for the backup process. I'm fine with backing up my media (movies, music, etc.) and have my important documents saved on another external drive in case everything goes to hell.

My questions are...

1. I would like my steam saves to work seamlessly once I reinstall. I'm clueless on what to do here.
2. I have the installation CD or .exe for most of my programs. Is there anything I need to consider?
3. Windows Installation. What can go wrong with installing windows on a new drive, if anything?

I'm looking for anything I haven't thought of. I'm concerned that I wont have a computer while I do this so want to be clear before i'm done.

Thanks!

 

[nhasian]

wow congrats! both on the SSD as well as being a father

Make sure to plug your new SSD into SATA0 and your secondary hard disk in SATA1. Make sure your bios is set for ACHI and windows will install just fine. there are a LOT of ways to fine to windows for an SSD but its all optional. like moving your swap file to your HDD, disabling hibernation, etc.

 

[darkgauntlett]

Thanks nhasian!

Curious, do I actually need to backup my current hard drive or can I just pop in the new drive per nhasian's instructions and then copy/link whatever I need?