Installing win 7 to the ssd- Avatar Mercury ultrabook

merkwier

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Sep 23, 2012
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So I just got the Avatar mercury 14" ultrabook and it seems to be a solid performer, however windows 8 is just not my thing. Also, the OS comes installed on the 500gb hdd instead of the 32gb ssd. Which is stupid since 32gb is enough for the whole os. So I tried installing win 7 to the ssd but I'm coming across some problems. (Installing off a USB) it loads it off he USB fine, but then it asks for me to insert the cd with drivers. Obviously this computer doesn't have an optical drive. I has the driver installer on an ad card, so I would've been all set. Also when I switch the sata config from raid to achi, it complains that windows has to repair itself blah blah and it won't boot. So if anyone could give me any advice that would be great.
 
Solution
Can you put the drivers on the same USB drive as Win 7? Do you notice if the SSD drive shows up as a separate drive? The SATA controller may be designed to only use the SSD as a cache, you can tell from the BIOS.

merkwier

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I understand how it's initially set up, but it seems like you should be able to use it as an actual drive
 

Jim_L9

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Mar 10, 2006
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Even if you could set it up as the O/S drive you will quickly find trying to manage keeping the O/S and supporting files under 32 GB to be a major pain. Does the BIOS show it as a separate drive?
 

merkwier

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Well when you choose where to boot from, youn scholar from the ssd. But if you think it's a bad idea? Then I won't Persue it. However, I still wasn't able to install win 7.... Do I need to cometely uninstall win 8 first?
 

Jim_L9

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I didn't understand all of that.
 

merkwier

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I'm sorry, I was at work and didn't realize auto correct and my typing just didn't agree :/ Anyways, when I try to install 7, I get a message saying I need the driver disk. But I don't have an optical drive. I do however have the drivers on an SD card but it doesn't recognize them. Also, concerning your question about the ssd, it is not a hybrid drive, the ssd is similar to a ram stick.
 

Jim_L9

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Can you put the drivers on the same USB drive as Win 7? Do you notice if the SSD drive shows up as a separate drive? The SATA controller may be designed to only use the SSD as a cache, you can tell from the BIOS.
 
Solution