Basic Install Instructions

It really irritates me when I buy a product and cannot find a simple guide to install and use it.  Can someone leed me to a simple Manual Guide that tells me in which order I would go about installing my Windows 8.1 on new Sandisk SSD Plus?  I have already put it in my HP g7 laptop and am ready to go.

I found the Dashboard link, but no link to tell me the basics.  I assume I will just install the OS and then install the Dashboard right?  

Also, I think I need to go into BIOS and set as AHCI first, and this would be important, but this info is not found anywhere on this site?

It was also impossible to find any official info on OverProvisioning, which not I understand is built in, but not after wasting a ton of time reading through multiple posts here and elsewhere.

Thanks, AgentSmith

Installing an OS is not really supported by the SSD manufacturers. This is a computer skill. It is pretty easy these days with modern operating systems but you will need to find instructions on the net somewhere. Youtube and google are good resources to find OS install instructions. 

You do not NEED the dashboard. You can use it to check for FW update and drive health but it is not needed. You can install it after you install the OS or you can install it abefore to get the cloning software. You will need the orginal HDD in the PC and a USB to SATA cable to clone the HDD to the SSD.

Yes for a fresh install make sure the BIOS is set to AHCI. This will give you best performance. If you are cloning the SATA mode can’t be changed as the wrong driver would load. If you need to change the SATA mode a fresh install is always recommended. 

There is not much need to over provision the SSD as there is some already built into the drive. if you want additional over provisioning simply leave some unallocated space when you are creating your partitions. 

Thank you very much drlucky, hope I was not to irritable, as I ususally am lol.  I’m getting on well so far with my new install.  Installed Dashboard and used Trim to Optimize anything after install.  

Can I run “Disk Cleanup” because I usually do on a new install, or anything else you can tell me to enhance my experience?  I’m guessing I can run this, and then just let Windows 8 Trim Automatically, Manually, or turn it off and use the Dashboard to do it, which way do you do it?  

Last SSD I installed, I read to disable “Drive Optimization” under “Defrag and Optimize Drive” which I believe Defrag’s the Disk and reports any Performance issues.  This was Windows 7 though, and I think Samsung wanted to have the user use the provided software for the Samsung SSD.

EDIT: I read up a little on this, and it appears that Windows 8 recognizes as SSD and runs Trim, or trim like process once a week, which is what I see when I open Drive Optimazation, that it actually recognizes as SSD.  I may turn this off and only run it when I want to.

Thanks, AgentSmith

honestly I would just suggest letting windows handle it. It is automatic and there is really no need to do any TRIM handling manually. 

Good advice, but I think I’ll trim Manually once a month.  I don’t install, download or anything much and then delete it after initiall Install, so I’ll Trim on a need to do basis, I think it will prolong life a little.