Fresh install on DELL of Windows 10 and adding a SSD boot disk, advice.

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nutshellml

New Member
Hi All... I'm planning a little remodel on my PC, adding a SSD as a boot drive, probably 500GB, and wanting to do a fresh install of Windows 10 on my Dell (that originally had 7 I belive).

Wondering 1) is this possible, since I don't have a windows boot disk?
2) Any advice for this?
3) Will the SSD drive just "plug in" or will I need additional cables/adapters for inside? ANy advice is appreciated.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
If your original installation was only windows 7 then I don't think you can install 10. The upgrade to 10 is still free. If you can still access your old setup then upgrade that to 10. Then you can do a fresh install of 10 and it will activate when it gets to the desktop.

However.. @Darren would his dell oem windows 7 key activate fresh install of 10?
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
johnb35 said:
If your original installation was only windows 7 then I don't think you can install 10. The upgrade to 10 is still free. If you can still access your old setup then upgrade that to 10. Then you can do a fresh install of 10 and it will activate when it gets to the desktop.

However.. @Darren would his dell oem windows 7 key activate fresh install of 10?
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In my personal experience, any Win 7 product key can activate 10 that isn't currently in use. Done it with more machines than I can count that were first time 10 installs and it took the 7 key for activation. Even OEM keys on Dell laptops. My boss at work (repair shop) says that sometimes this isn't true but for me it always has worked and he's been wrong about stuff before... :D

If it's the same machine, like this one, you should be fine. It kind of sounds like he already had 10 on it though since he said "fresh install". If that's the case then just reinstall with the 10 Media Creation Tool and it should automatically be activated.

SSD uses the same connections as your old drive, should be a direct swap. What model is it, just curious?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
nutshellml said:
@Darren, thanks! I'll give it a go, I haven't pull the trigger on the SSD, leaning toward the Samsung EVO 500GB.
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So did you already have 10 on there or has it always been 7?

The 850 EVO's are good drives but I'll go ahead and recommend the Crucial MX300 as well. It's considerably cheaper (170 for the Evo and 140 for the MX300) and has nearly identical read/write speeds and an extra 25GB of storage. For the lower cost and extra storage I felt the speed difference was worth it, although I'd guess you probably wouldn't know the difference outside of benchmarks.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX30...?ie=UTF8&qid=1485412215&sr=8-1&keywords=mx300
 
Calin

Calin

Well-Known Member
Just a quick question, what's the exact model of your Dell PC? If it's an older one it's possible that it only has Sata II 3Gb/s which would limit your SSD.
 
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nutshellml

New Member
@Darren - Win 10 home is on here now, the Dell came with 7 and I upgraded. Thanks for the recommendation on the Crucial... Def going to look at that

@Calin - I have the DELL XPS 8700 i7 4770 3.4, probably about 5+ years old. How can I definitely determine it's the latest to take full advantage of my new SSD. If not, how much speed and I'm loosing and/or is there a way to upgrade?

THANKS !!! Really appreciate the info!
 
Calin

Calin

Well-Known Member
nutshellml said:
@Calin - I have the DELL i7 4770 3.4, probably about 5+ years old. How can I definitely determine it's the latest to take full advantage of my new SSD. If not, how much speed and I'm loosing and/or is there a way to upgrade?
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That's the CPU not the actual model of the PC itself but the i7 4770 came out in 2013. I'm pretty sure all motherboards that support it do have Sata 3.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
nutshellml said:
@Darren - Win 10 home is on here now, the Dell came with 7 and I upgraded. Thanks for the recommendation on the Crucial... Def going to look at that

@Calin - I have the DELL XPS 8700 i7 4770 3.4, probably about 5+ years old. How can I definitely determine it's the latest to take full advantage of my new SSD. If not, how much speed and I'm loosing and/or is there a way to upgrade?

THANKS !!! Really appreciate the info!
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In that case yeah just make a USB drive with the media creation tool I linked earlier and you should be all good to go.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
nutshellml said:
@Darren quick question regarding the crucial v Samsung. Any weight out to this benchmark? http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-850-Evo-250GB-vs-Crucial-MX300-275GB/2977vs3642

Seems like the Samsung comes out ahead.
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Yeah the Samsung will be a faster drive overall, no question there. Do keep in mind that even same models of SSD's will have variations in speeds depending on the size. Generally higher capacity drives will be faster within a product line, so the 525 will be faster than the 275. My point was that you get a little extra storage, lower price tag, good reliability, with slightly slower speeds. I felt the trade off was worth, particularly since I paid 130 for mine and it's just as fast as the 120GB Samsung 840 it replaced that also cost $130 2 years prior. . Yeah the benchmark scores will lean in favor of the Samsung, just a matter of value. I'd also hazard a guess the 525GB Mx300 vs the 500GB 850 would be closer in scores.

It's your call obviously, but for the purposes of a boot drive and some games the speed is more than adequate. If you really need fast go M.2
 
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nutshellml

New Member
@Darren I was reading something about not being able to use usb install and UEFI or another method in order to create the boot usb drive. Have you heard of any of this?
 
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