OK, my first hiccup while installing the SSD drive was not having an extra SATA cable! Solved for $10 (probably $9 more than I needed to spend) with a quick trip to Radio Shack on my wife’s scooter. Decided to time the installation since I got to figure the SSD will make a significant difference.
Total installation time for Windows 7 Ultimate: 17 miinutes, 30 seconds. Subtract at least a minute for my typing and pauses.
Unfortunately, it took me twice that time to put the machine back together and get all the cables reconnected. Digital Cable connectors can be quite problematic at times.
Step #2. Download latest ATI Catalyst software for the video card. Windows Update automatically found something, but it didn’t install the full ATI Catalyst system.
That’s as far as I got yesterday. Family responsibilities cut into my fun and I needed to switch back to Vista to record shows during prime-time. Copying over the channel and recording settings is going to be the most time consuming part of the project.