For experienced computer users, installing an operating system is a simple matter. However, if a novice is at the PC, he is unlikely to succeed in performing this operation the first time. In this case, it is better to familiarize yourself with all its stages, especially if the system unit contains a non-standard hard drive. This article will show you how to properly install Windows 10 on an SSD. In addition to a simple analysis of all actions, the topic of extending the life of the drive will also be touched upon and recommendations on its use will be given.
How to install Windows 10 on an SSD
The entire installation process will be divided into steps, so that it is easier for the user to understand everything. Before you start talking about each of them, it is worth recalling that you first need to prepare a flash drive with a capacity of 8 gigabytes. Although the more, the better.
Step 1: prepare bootable USB flash drive
A flash drive is needed to write to it the installation image of the system. This process is quite simple, although the average person can easily get confused, so we recommend that you carefully pay attention to each paragraph of the instruction in order to prevent mistakes.
Before installing Windows 10 on an SSD in M2, you need to prepare a bootable USB flash drive. We will do this using the official program from Microsoft MediaCreationTool. Accordingly, you can download it from the official website of the company. After doing this, follow these steps:
- Run the program and in the first window accept the terms of the license agreement. To do this, just click the "Accept" button.
- To the question “What do you want to do,” answer “Create installation media.” To do this, just set the switch to the appropriate position and click the "Next" button.
- In the next window, you will need to set the parameters of the installed system. In the "Language" field, select "Russian", in the "Release" - version of Windows 10, and in the latter, determine the architecture of your processor. If your computer is modern, select "64-bit (x64)."
- At this point, insert the USB drive into your computer, select "USB flash drive" and click "Next."
- Now you will be presented with a list of all connected drives, select the USB flash drive and click "Next".
Immediately after completing all the steps, the creation of a bootable flash drive will begin. Wait for it to finish and go to the next step.
Step 2: enter the BIOS
Before you install Windows 10 on a new SSD (although it does not have to be new), you need to configure some option in the BIOS and set the priority disk there to boot the computer from it. But first, let's figure out how to enter the BIOS.
Unfortunately, there is no universal instruction; on each computer this is done differently. But the essence remains one - you need to press a special button when you start the computer. Here is a list of these keys:
Try to press these keys. Although it’s worth saying that when you start the computer it is usually written which key to press.
Step 3: enable AHCI mode in BIOS
In BIOS, the first thing you need to turn on is AHCI mode. This is necessary in order to unleash the full potential of the SSD-drive. In the example, BIOS will be used on the MSI A68HM motherboard, however, the instruction is common to all other versions. This action is performed as follows:
- Go to the settings called "SETTINGS".
- In the menu, go to the "Advanced" section.
- After that, open the Embedded Peripherals option.
- Find the "SATA Configuration" section and left-click on the slot in which your SSD is inserted.
- In the menu that appears, select the "AHCI" mode.
It is also worth noting that often in most modern computers this mode is set by default. But if before that there was Windows XP, then it’s still worth checking the setting.
Step 4: prioritize the BIOS and run the installer
Before installing Windows 10 on an SSD, you need to set a priority disk for boot in BIOS. Accordingly, you need to select a USB flash drive with a recorded installation file. In each version of BIOS, this is done differently, but we will tell you about the most popular ones.
First of all, we will analyze Award, since it stands on most modern computers.
- Go to the Integrated Peripherals section.
- In the list of all parameters, set "Enabled" on all USB controllers.
- Go back to the main menu.
- Go to the "Advanced BIOS Features".
- Highlight the line "Hard Disk Boot Priority" and press Enter.
- In the list that appears, select the name of your flash drive.
In AMI BIOS, this setting is performed a little differently:
- Go to the "Boot" tab.
- Next, select "Hard Disk Drives".
- Press the Enter key on "1st Drive".
- Choose the name of your flash drive.
As for the other BIOS versions, the previous instructions are also suitable for them, the main thing is to follow the algorithm of actions: enter the BIOS, turn on the USB devices, select a USB flash drive from all disks.
After the flash drive was selected as the priority drive, you must save all the changes and restart the computer. This can be done using the F10 hotkey. Click on it and confirm your actions by pressing the Enter key.
Step 5: proceed to disk layout
Now you can proceed directly to the instructions on how to install Windows 10 on an SSD with GPT or MBR, although the first option is desirable. After performing the above steps, the computer will restart the Windows Installer after rebooting.
Before installing, you need to perform disk partitioning. This procedure is difficult at first glance, but with the instructions you will understand everything. So, to complete the task it is necessary to do the following:
- In the window for selecting the operating system language, determine the one suitable for you and click "Next".
- After that, click on the "Install" button.
- The text of the license agreement appears. To continue the installation, you must accept it. To do this, check the box next to "I accept the terms" and click "Next."
- Now you have two installation options to choose from: "Update" or "Custom." You need to select the second item. Just click on it with the left mouse button.
- The layout menu appears. If Windows was previously installed on your drive, then you must erase all drives. To do this, press the "Delete" button until there is only one line left - "Unallocated disk space". If your drive is new, then skip this step.
- After that, click the "Create" button and agree that the "Windows" will add additional sections.
- As soon as all sections are created, click the "Next" button.
Often after this, another window appears in which you must agree with all the changes by clicking the appropriate button. Although it does not always appear.
Step 6: final installation step
If you have reached this step, then you can be congratulated, because you now know how to install Windows 10 on an SSD. All that remains is to wait until the installation of all system components from the USB flash drive to the disk is completed. You can watch this process directly on the screen. By the way, the computer will restart several times - this is normal.
You can also watch the video below, which clearly shows how to perform all the steps of the above instructions.
Is it worth it to install Windows 10 on an SSD
Having completed all the basic steps, you can go directly to thinking about whether to install the operating system on an SSD. And in general, what is the difference between an SSD with Windows 10 installed from the same HHD hard drive?
Firstly, it’s worthwhile to say right away that the installation process is the same on the SSD and on the HDD and is practically no different. Secondly, the damage from the installed Windows 10 for SSD is minimal. We will dwell on this in more detail. The fact is that the “ten” is a relatively new operating system, therefore, during its development all the nuances of working on a solid-state drive were taken into account. Accordingly, you will not need to make many system settings after installation to extend the life of your drive.
But this is for Windows 10, now let's talk about Windows from previous versions on the SSD, for example, XP. Here you need to understand right away that this version is very old and was released at a time when there was no talk of SSDs. Based on this, we can guess that it is not optimized for the operation of a solid-state drive, so it will last an order of magnitude less time.
If you just need Windows XP, for example, to run some old software, then there is a great alternative. You can easily install it on a virtual machine, for example, VirtualBox. By doing this, you will get all the same features and capabilities as on the original Windows XP.
How not to harm the disk
How to install Windows 10 on an SSD, we figured out, now let's talk about how to extend the life of this drive. We will first understand why the SSD fails. The thing is that this disk has a limited number of rewriting cycles, after the critical amount of which the device can be simply thrown out. But we hasten to please: there are so many of them that with the correct use of the computer, the drive will last more than 10 years.
So, to increase the "life" of the SSD, you must adhere to the following rules:
- Do not defragment the disk. On Windows, this option is disabled immediately, so do not try to execute it using third-party programs.
- Refuse to format the disk. If you want to change the file system, it is best to do this in fast mode. But it’s even better to abandon this venture.
- Do not overwrite information using the NSA, DOD, and Gutmann techniques. This is simply pointless, as they are only effective with hard drives.
Conclusion
So we figured out how to install Windows 10 on an SSD. As can be noted, all actions are not much different from installing on a regular computer hard drive. The difference is only in choosing the appropriate AHCI mode in the BIOS, however, this setting could be skipped. We hope the article helped you understand the topic, and you installed the operating system without much difficulty.