Upgrading Windows 7 laptop to SSD?

[Wevenhuis]

Hi, Can anyone help me with this question?

I have a ASUS K52F laptop running windows 7 premium. I wish to upgrade the main harddrive to an ssd and clone windows 7. I only don't know for sure if asus will let me do this and if there is a swap block on this model. Can anyone help me with the answer?

I looked around on the internets but no clear answer is coming forward.

Thnanks!

 

[darkest.white]

Hi, Can anyone help me with this question?

I have a ASUS K52F laptop running windows 7 premium. I wish to upgrade the main harddrive to an ssd and clone windows 7. I only don't know for sure if asus will let me do this and if there is a swap block on this model. Can anyone help me with the answer?

I looked around on the internets but no clear answer is coming forward.

Thnanks!

If I were you I would just do a clean install to the SSD. start from scratch.

 

[Guytronic]

I've upgraded from HD to SSD with an HP on W7 Ultimate.
No real issues other than time it takes.

If memory serves however ASUS might have something added in the bios (whitelist\blacklist) that prevents hardware changes.

 

[Br1t]

I did it on my ASUS G73 when I moved to Windows 8 and didn't have any problems.

 

[iamthestig01]

Hey there I swapped my Corsair 120GB SSD in my PC for a Corsair 240GB SSD and used the cloning tool, it worked but was not as fast as original install. What I found was when you cloned HDD or SSD you are taking ask original issues with you !! Also you have to activate Windows again and Office does not work properly..... For the time spent fixing these issues you would be better served doing a fresh install !! Would only take 30 minutes max anyway !! Good luck

 

[Wevenhuis]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Question 1:
Can I do a fresh install on a new drive using the recovery disk?
Do I need to pull the recovery partition data also from the HDD?

Question 2:
Is it possible to do a fresh install of windows 7 on an ssd using my current windows 7 premium OEM key?

(I don't want to buy another license just for the upgrade. I also can't find if asus will let me do this...that I have an option to use the same key on a new drive based on a single OEM license).

Question 3:
Where can I find the black/white list for asus hardware changes?

 

[Penguwin]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Question 1:
Can I do a fresh install on a new drive using the recovery disk?
Do I need to pull the recovery partition data also from the HDD?

Question 2:
Is it possible to do a fresh install of windows 7 on an ssd using my current windows 7 premium OEM key?

(I don't want to buy another license just for the upgrade. I also can't find if asus will let me do this...that I have an option to use the same key on a new drive based on a single OEM license).

Question 3:
Where can I find the black/white list for asus hardware changes?

I can't speak to the Asus specific parts of this, but I recently did this HDD to SSD change on a Thinkpad of mine.

As others mentioned above, a fresh install is the better way to go IMO. I saved off the actual data (not the programs), I wanted to keep onto an external HDD. Then, made recovery discs (it took two blank 4.7 GB DVDs) through Lenovo's provided ThinkVantage software. Not sure if Asus bundles a similar recovery software with their systems. Swapped the drives out and while I was at it, wrote down my Windows registration code that was on a sticker under my battery. Performed recovery from the discs I made, selecting a new factory install and activated windows with my original Windows 7 Professional registration code. All worked fine for me. Sadly, I did have to spend the next few hours downloading and installing a ton of Windows updates, but that was to be expected, I suppose.

One tip I would recommend (especially if you don't have another internet connected computer laying around), is to go get the current drivers for your system and save them on a thumb drive BEFORE doing the swap and recovery. I didn't have a problem with mine, but it would kinda suck if you got all recovered and ended up without a driver for your Wi-Fi or NIC or something.

Best of luck!

 

[Guytronic]

Question 3:
Where can I find the black/white list for asus hardware changes?

I looked on the ASUS website and around the web.
Some are saying the bios has a whitelist others say ASUS notebooks have no hardware whitelist.

I'd just go ahead and clone a new drive.

 

[Wevenhuis]

Hi, thanks again everyone.

I got some feedback from the microsoft community. One member said it was better to de a "system image copy" from HDD to SSD than cloning.

Can people confirm this is true in practice?

Is a "system image copy" the same as a recovery disk, or is it similar to a copy of windows, or is it literally a copy of your current pc installed windows with personal settings? (I am a bit confused with the terminology).

Thanks.

 

[Harrie-S]

Hi, thanks again everyone.

I got some feedback from the microsoft community. One member said it was better to de a "system image copy" from HDD to SSD than cloning.

Can people confirm this is true in practice?

Is a "system image copy" the same as a recovery disk, or is it similar to a copy of windows, or is it literally a copy of your current pc installed windows with personal settings? (I am a bit confused with the terminology).

Thanks.

Terminology is indeed a pain.

But a problem with cloning is that your SSD is probably smaller than your HHD and cloning is a copy so you copy more than you need.
I installed a Samsung SSD in my laptop and used the Samsung data migration software. This prevent copying unneeded parts like "all" the recovery point you made in the past or the copy of installed updates.
And al ssd manufacturers have this kind of migration software.
I did not do a clean install because the laptop was original Vista and I upgraded it to windows 7 so the migration software look to me the most easy way.

Furthermore I installed an SSD in a new Win 8.1 laptop with the use of a recovery USB recovery drive.
( Your PC might have come with a recovery image which is used to refresh or reset your PC. The recovery image is stored on a dedicated recovery partition on your PC, and is typically 3-6 GB in size. Windows 8.1 includes a built-in tool to create a USB recovery drive. Windows will let you know how big the recovery partition is, and you'll need a USB flash drive at least as big as that.)
And I just used this USD to install the 8.1 on my new laptop.

Now to me a recovery disk/USB is the same as a copy of windows on CD.
The only difference is that in the past you got a CD with windows and after that they put the windows in a recovery partition so no CD where needed anymore.

Not sure if this adds to the confusion but it was intended to reduce it.

But what ever you do you always have the original HHD so you can always place it back in your pc or copy it again on your SSD.

 

[Wevenhuis]

Terminology is indeed a pain.

But a problem with cloning is that your SSD is probably smaller than your HHD and cloning is a copy so you copy more than you need.
I installed a Samsung SSD in my laptop and used the Samsung data migration software. This prevent copying unneeded parts like "all" the recovery point you made in the past or the copy of installed updates.
And al ssd manufacturers have this kind of migration software.
I did not do a clean install because the laptop was original Vista and I upgraded it to windows 7 so the migration software look to me the most easy way.

Furthermore I installed an SSD in a new Win 8.1 laptop with the use of a recovery USB recovery drive.
( Your PC might have come with a recovery image which is used to refresh or reset your PC. The recovery image is stored on a dedicated recovery partition on your PC, and is typically 3-6 GB in size. Windows 8.1 includes a built-in tool to create a USB recovery drive. Windows will let you know how big the recovery partition is, and you'll need a USB flash drive at least as big as that.)
And I just used this USD to install the 8.1 on my new laptop.

Now to me a recovery disk/USB is the same as a copy of windows on CD.
The only difference is that in the past you got a CD with windows and after that they put the windows in a recovery partition so no CD where needed anymore.

Not sure if this adds to the confusion but it was intended to reduce it.

But what ever you do you always have the original HHD so you can always place it back in your pc or copy it again on your SSD.

Thanks.

Question?
Did you have any issues with your registration key when using the recovery disk to install windows 8?

Question 2?
Data migration tool. Do you mean a program that actually migrates the whole OS from drive A to drive B (literally copy-paste the operating system + files)?
Or do you mean migration tool that migrates your personal data?

 

[Harrie-S]

Question 1?
Did you have any issues with your registration key when using the recovery disk to install windows 8.
Answer
No, I just changed the start up in the BIOS to USB and that was it never needed to key in the key or whatever.
Below I googled but whatever it means I had no problems at all.
In Windows 8 or later version of Windows OEMs have stopped pasting ?Proof of license. Certificate of Authenticity? sticker at the back of the PC which usually includes Windows product key. OEMs are now embedding the product key into the BIOS/UEFI instead.

Question 2?
Data migration tool. Do you mean a program that actually migrates the whole OS from drive A to drive B (literally copy-paste the operating system + files)?
Or do you mean migration tool that migrates your personal data
Answer
It "smart" copies your OS and your data.
See SSD White Paper | Samsung SSD

 

[Wevenhuis]

Question 1?
Did you have any issues with your registration key when using the recovery disk to install windows 8.
Answer
No, I just changed the start up in the BIOS to USB and that was it never needed to key in the key or whatever.
Below I googled but whatever it means I had no problems at all.
In Windows 8 or later version of Windows OEMs have stopped pasting “Proof of license. Certificate of Authenticity” sticker at the back of the PC which usually includes Windows product key. OEMs are now embedding the product key into the BIOS/UEFI instead.

Question 2?
Data migration tool. Do you mean a program that actually migrates the whole OS from drive A to drive B (literally copy-paste the operating system + files)?
Or do you mean migration tool that migrates your personal data
Answer
It "smart" copies your OS and your data.
See SSD White Paper | Samsung SSD

Thanks!

Had a look at the white paper. In essence, my situation will be cloning with the data migration tool, seeing I indeed move data from 500 Gb (I use only a margin of that) to 128 Gb. I'm not sure how my laptop is configured. I can't speak of the 'windows 8 era' because my laptop is before that time. It would be nice to know if I can find info on the bios-key-embidding. Any idea where I can find that for my windows 7 asus laptop?

I think the best way would be do a "clean install" of windows 7, but I want to do it with my current laptop key and not buy a new license. that's my issue. I get the impression a recovery disk might not work and I'm stuck with the uncertainties of cloning. If I know that the laptop has the key-stored in the bios, that would give me hope that I can do systems recovery on a new ssd drive on the same laptop without losing the key-registration validity. If I could get the answer to that question I'm happy and I can move on to installing the ssd.

 

[Guytronic]

I use Belarc Advisor when needing to find system keys.
It should find all your installed software and system details.

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.