I'm looking at purchasing this and installing a SSD. Do I need to buy a Windows 7 license and it install it? Or can I transfer it from the old HDD?
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As Stan Lee mentioned -- there are various tools that allow you to mirror the installed drive to another drive. Something like Acronis True Image 2015 for PC should work.
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You can always do mirror image of you ssd which basically means its making a replica of the HDD to the SSD. So, YES
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The ad for it states, "Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Mac OS." I have used it extensively with Windows 7, versions Home, Premium, Professional, and Ultimate on Crucial SSDs and Toshiba, Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi and HP HDDs. You should have no problem with Windows 8.1. If the target device on the included USB to SATA cable is not recognized in Windows, then you can boot from the software CD and all drives will be recognized. You just select your source and target drives and proceed with the clone, which takes an hour or two depending on the size of the drives and the amount of data being transferred. Good luck, The ad for it states, "Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Mac OS." I have used it extensively with Windows 7, versions Home, Premium, Professional, and Ultimate on Crucial SSDs and Toshiba, Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi and HP HDDs. You should have no problem with Windows 8.1. If the target device on the included USB to SATA cable is not recognized in Windows, then you can boot from the software CD and all drives will be recognized. You just select your source and target drives and proceed with the clone, which takes an hour or two depending on the size of... » Read More The ad for it states, "Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Mac OS." I have used it extensively with Windows 7, versions Home, Premium, Professional, and Ultimate on Crucial SSDs and Toshiba, Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi and HP HDDs. You should have no problem with Windows 8.1. If the target device on the included USB to SATA cable is not recognized in Windows, then you can boot from the software CD and all drives will be recognized. You just select your source and target drives and proceed with the clone, which takes an hour or two depending on the size of the drives and the amount of data being transferred. Good luck, « Show Less
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You can swap it out for a SSD, but just make sure you have a copy of all the drivers and some back-up discs of the OS.
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Absolutely! I replaced the HD with an SSD (Samsung Pro 840 250GB). The computer works amazingly fast and it is so reliable especially after it was upgraded to Windows 8.1.
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The first thing I did with mine was to swap in a SSD, so similar situation with a new blank drive. The Windows 8 activation is in the hardware so just get a copy of the Windows 8 installer (friend's disc or download the ISO and burn a disc or USB from another computer). Once installed you'll have to use the hard-line Ethernet to update Windows (WiFi won't be working at this point). Once all the Windows Updates are done put in the model number on Asus's support site for the rest of the software and drivers. Then run Windows Update one more time just in case. At least that's how I spent my first Saturday with mine.
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changing the drive is easy, any SSD SATA would do. I would go about 250g or bigger if you can afford it. Don't forget to clone from the original to get all the proper drivers .
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I'm using a "Crucial M500 M.2 2280 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT120M500SSD4 " that I caught on sale for $46 for boot and antivirus, with a 500GB ssd for pgms and a 1TB for snapshots and data. No problems with install from optical disk, no problems running Win7. Not any faster than a standard ssd. Consider what you will do when the M.2 ssd fails, do you have a back up replacement ready to go? Or will you revert to a standard ssd?
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Hi There,From what I understand about this version of Windows 7, is that once you have registered windows 7 with Microsoft, it will be tied to this computer, in other wordsyou could install windows 7 on a different hard drive as long as it is used in the same computer you registered the first windows 7 on.I don't know this as fact, for I have not tried it myself, but this is what I read from others who have installed it. I hope this has helped some. Good Luck.Steve
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I wouldnt! I think it is used for cache and is software and hardware based. You would probably waste it. You need to look further but I though about buying a 256GB SSD for $120 on sale and replace the 500GB spinning drive with the new SSD and let it still cache if it likes I guess??? not sure lol.
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Matt, check this link out and hope it works out for you: http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/
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All Windows 8, 8.1, 10 versions that are pre-installed on any type of PC DO NOT REQUIRE A LICENSE. That is, the license is buried in the OS and is not easily accessible. So, I you back up the entire hard drive and use it to re-install in case of a hard drive failure YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY A NEW LICENSE. You -already- bought the rights to the OS to use any way you want on the PC it came with. Don't let any ignorant fools tell you otherwise !
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In order to install Windows 7, the HD would need to be reformatted. Then you would need to purchase a copy of Windows 7. Installing an SSD drive and RAM is relatively simple.
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all you need is a data transfer cable, you can get it anywhere or just order a kit (cable and ssd) from crucial dot com. it clones your hard drive to your new ssd. look it up on youtube.
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I bought one in March. Put an SSD drive in it and love it. It has NO extra software, except HP stuff and a DVD Player Ap (Cyberlink). It comes with Windows 7 loaded and working, with Windows 8 setup discs if you want to go that route, and with Windows 7 setup discs which I used to install Windows 7 on my ssd drive. (The Windows 7 discs do not have the latest drivers so you have to go to HP on line to download and install these. The hard drive comes with A Windows 7 setup partition so you can do an original install from there if you like.) David Long
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HiReally depends on the age of your machine. This version is for system builders, meaning you'd have to wipe windows xp and install win7 fresh. This won't upgrade an existing windows installation.If your machine is older than 4 years, I'd suggest a new machine.The install took 15gb of my hard disk
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A handy guide. http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid+state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows
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You can but you will need a new copy of Windows (unless you manage to transfer your OS files to the new drive) and you may want a hot swap USB adapter if you want to transfer your files from the current HD to the new one or use it without throwing it in a desktop. The SSD should noticeable speed up your Dell, too. And look up tutorials on removing and installing laptop hard drives