[GUIDE] UX32VD - How to install Windows 7 on the integrated 32GB SSD

[muktimahat]

Hi Dunces, I have sent you a Private Message regarding a possible FAQ section.

This is a wonderful idea

[aznhandles]

do you, possibly, have any advice on how to make a clean install on a new SSD drive (replacement of the original HDD)?

any recommendations (if not a step-by-step guidance) from an experienced users would be really beneficial (i.e. which from the 86 firmware files should be installed - clearly the drivers, but any comments on the software? is the sequence important in some cases?... etc.)

I would like to know that too.

[chippysteve]

Great find.

Looking at the SSD speed though, it doesn't look that fast at all. Reminds me of the SSD in the new Samsung Series 9 which is a U100 and I noticed that it was slower in-use than, say, a Toshiba Z830 that has faster 4K write speeds. The size will eventually be an issue too as Windows grows.

Personally I find ExpressCache to be a good solution for a hybrid system (as tested on Samsung Series 5 ultrabook) and would never put Win 7 on a 30GB drive (i've tried it before) but for those who are good at keeping a Win 7 system clean, this is a good project.

As far as the upgrade process goes, wouldn't the standard Win 7 imaging process work? I.e. create an image from Windows Backup and Restore, create the boot drive and boot and recover to the SSD or does that fail because the original partition sizes are too big?

Chippy.

[Ishman]

Here is what I did:
1. Uninstalled all the Asus bloatware I did not need or want.
2. I merged the two partitions on the Hybrid drive to have 1 large and the hidden restore partition. This was done using Windows Disk manager.
3. I had pre-purchased a Samsung 830 SSD and 8 GB RAM
4. I downloaded the 30 day trail of Acronis and did a disk clone of the Hybrid drive to the SSD. Size does not matter in this case as long as the SSD can hold the installed information.
5. Shut down the device and install RAM and swap the drive.
6. Removes the need to reinstall and boots incredible quicker. I also converted the 30 GB drive to a standard partition as well.

[Eckenlieger]

I linked this thread on my German Ultrabook Blog and felt free to send the link to Steve from Ultrabooknews.com too. Again: Very nice work

[dunces]

Great find.

Looking at the SSD speed though, it doesn't look that fast at all. Reminds me of the SSD in the new Samsung Series 9 which is a U100 and I noticed that it was slower in-use than, say, a Toshiba Z830 that has faster 4K write speeds. The size will eventually be an issue too as Windows grows.

Personally I find ExpressCache to be a good solution for a hybrid system (as tested on Samsung Series 5 ultrabook) and would never put Win 7 on a 30GB drive (i've tried it before) but for those who are good at keeping a Win 7 system clean, this is a good project.

As far as the upgrade process goes, wouldn't the standard Win 7 imaging process work? I.e. create an image from Windows Backup and Restore, create the boot drive and boot and recover to the SSD or does that fail because the original partition sizes are too big?

Chippy.

Hey Chippy,

The soldered-on Sandisk i100 is indeed slower than a new generation fullsize SSD, but the purpose is foremost to get pretty much the full experience of having your OS on an SSD for free. You also get the unique ability to have a two-drive setup in an ultrabook.

It's really no slouch in real world performance at all. Windows boots in 8 seconds, after 13 seconds it has loaded the desktop and is fully responsive. I've compared the experience with my OCZ gen3 sandforce equipped desktop computer - and the UX32VD running on the Sandisk is surprisingly quick. I'd say only those who care about benchmark results, or work with very specific SSD demanding tasks are going to notice much of a difference.

Considering stability and reliability, the Sandisk (with 4 million hours MTBF) even seems to be better than many fullsize SSDs.

I agree that the original ExpressCache configuration is the easiest solution, and after some time when it gets to know the usage patterns it will be reasonably okay in speed - but it's still far from a real SSD experience.

The size of 30GB is really not that bad when disabling hibernation and the page file. In my opinion 15GB of free space will allow the Windows to grow. It will perhaps grow two-three GBs or so over the years, and that headroom is right there. When SSDs were new I ran my main desktop OS on a 30GB SSD for well over a year of daily usage - it was really no issues. As long as you don't expect to put huge files on your desktop, and divert all storage heavy files to your mechanical drive it's really alright. But yeah, you have to be able to handle the available SSD storage with some measure of frugality.

I wouldn't recommend the Windows Backup method, as that might introduce some new issues. It might work, but the bloat of the original Windows install is nice to completely leave behind.

Cheers to both you and Eckenlieger for linking to the guide from your blogs and thanks for your input. A lot of people might be interested in this.

[seaDonkee]

Perhaps I missed it, but I might suggest disabling Windows System Restore to save another 4-5 GBs of space

[dunces]

Perhaps I missed it, but I might suggest disabling Windows System Restore to save another 4-5 GBs of space

That is a good advice in case you don't have any use for the System Restore feature. I've disabled it on mine, and plan to add it to the guide.

Originally it takes up about 300-400MB, but will grow as more restore points are created. I definitely recommend to disable it in the long run.

[jedighost]

That is a good advice in case you don't have any use for the System Restore feature. I've disabled it on mine, and plan to add it to the guide.

Originally it takes up about 300-400MB, but will grow as more restore points are created. I definitely recommend to disable it in the long run.

I prefer to have it, it can save a corrupt system from reinstall. WinXP almost always could be saved with a repair install. Win7 can't. Just maximize it's size manually with the slider, to 3-400MB and you are set.

[dunces]

Here is what I did:
1. Uninstalled all the Asus bloatware I did not need or want.
2. I merged the two partitions on the Hybrid drive to have 1 large and the hidden restore partition. This was done using Windows Disk manager.
3. I had pre-purchased a Samsung 830 SSD and 8 GB RAM
4. I downloaded the 30 day trail of Acronis and did a disk clone of the Hybrid drive to the SSD. Size does not matter in this case as long as the SSD can hold the installed information.
5. Shut down the device and install RAM and swap the drive.
6. Removes the need to reinstall and boots incredible quicker. I also converted the 30 GB drive to a standard partition as well.

That's real good to know, thanks for sharing.

Using that program it's really easy to migrate the iSSD OS install onto a faster fullsize SSD later on. Just plug in the new drive, do a clone of the iSSD onto the target SSD, and format the iSSD. I plan to get one when I feel like it's affordable enough. Doing video work in Premiere CS6, so the 500GB Hitachi has the space I require. The 32GB Sandisk iSSD manages the OS install just fine in the meantime.