HDD->SSD ENVY17 using HPs SRD

[Au_equus]

I have a brand new HP Envy 17 (as a mobile dtr) and have a 128gb ssd (crucial m4) to replace a 750gb 7200rpm hdd. A drive caddy has been ordered for the second drive bay, but, while that comes in a couple of days, there's no need to wait to continue with this upgrade. Besides what comes with the envy 17 package there's no other software installed. So here's a couple of questions: (Since there was no reply, I went ahead with the upgrade and wrote in the answers in myself in case anyone is interested)

1. I have a systems recovery disk(s), which should contain all the normal software (OS: win7 hp64, and bloatware). Is it as simple as, creating a recovery disk, replacing the hdd with the ssd, and then reloading the OS from the SRDs or do I still need to clone the hdd? all I needed was the srd's, just plug in the ssd and insert the srd

2. if the former, would the srd automatically install the system recovery partitions on the ssd? yes

3. what sata interface am I dealing with, II or III? III, my AS SSD benchmark read/write (MB/sec) 400/185 (advertised for sata III @ 415/175)

 

[Au_equus]

The installation of the ssd went without a hitch. installed the ssd, turned on the laptop, and immediately inserted the SRD. after a couple of input commands, the envy17 was up and running within an hour with all previously loaded software.

The system recovery disks came for an additional cost, $19 for hp. I have not purchased a laptop in a while (mostly those cheap ones from the BF sales), but I do recall they came with srd's. I read some earlier posts that laptop companies are no longer providing them for free. I figured since I was doing an ssd upgrade for ~50% for what they were charging, the $19 was worth the upgrade.
Other notes:
Not that it matters, but my wei score is 7.1!
Of course its the hd6850M (close to an underpowered hd5750?) holding it back, but gaming is not what I bought this for (I have my i5-2500k/CF'd 6950s for that purpose), though it can handle a lot of games at med to med-high settings.