BSODs after win7 installation(520 series 120gb)

[idata]

This is my first SSD(bought off newegg). I was already kind of apprehensive about buying one(read about ssd failure rates), so I went with the most reliable brand, hoping I had made the right choice.

Anyway, after installing win7(64 bit). I started installing my motherboard drivers, starting with the chipset driver. During the installation, that's when I got my first bsod. After rebooting and successfully reinstalling that driver and all other drivers, as well as windows updates, I moved on to the nvidia driver, bsod again. Then another bsod after attempting to install an antivirus.

I figured a quick firmware update might solve this, so I went ahead and downloaded the intel toolbox and updated the firmware. I also ran a full diagnostic hoping to find the problem, everything was normal. Before I had a chance to reboot, another bsod came outta nowhere.

BlueScreenView couldn't find any logs, minidump folder was empty(???). I reinstalled windows, no fix. Reinstalled windows onto my hdd for now, everything is working.

What I DIDN'T try was a secure erase. How does secure erase work exactly? Is it the same as formatting? Should I do a secure erase and try again? Not sure what to do at this point other than RMA the damn thing.

[idata]

Secure erase isn't going to help you.

In general, Windows 7 loves SSDs. It knows about them and automatically sets the most important O/S related options when it detects an SSD in the system.

BSODs are typically caused by memory problems, sometimes brought on by improperly coded device driver software, but given the vast number of Windows 7 PCs successfully using SSDs as system drives (including mine) there in little probability of a generic fault in the O/S. From this we can deduce that the problem is something specific to your system, or perhaps the SSD itself.

BSODs always present an error code. It's not always particularly helpful, but it's an error code none the less. However, Microsoft's default is to reboot the machine rather than freeze the display so you can read the code.

Click on start then click on control panel. Type "advanced" in the search bar and then select "view advanced system settings" from the result dialog. In the Startup and Recovery pane click on "settings." In the system failure section make sure there is a checkmark in the "Write an event to the system log" and no checkmark in "Automatically Restart."

Make sure the SSD is connected to one of the SATA ports controlled by the Intel ICH, and preferably the port labeled SATA0. This will probably be one of the blue SATA connectors if your motherboard supports the SATA III (6GB/sec) standard, or one of the black SATA connectors if it does not.

Also, temporarily disconnect any other SATA devices that may be on the machine except the optical drive if that is a SATA device. Make sure the optical drive is connected to a black SATA port. You can reattach other SATA devices once things are up and working.

Also, disconnect all the USB devices attached to the machine except the keyboard and mouse, if they are USB devices.

While not strictly necessary, I've always found it useful if, in the BIOS settings, the primary SATA controller is set to run in the SATA as AHCI mode. This facilitates installing the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver later on.

Once you have checked/set all that, try to Install WIndows 7 to the SSD again. Report the error codes associated with any BSOD here.

[idata]

the ssd is connected to the sata III port, so thats good..

the only other sata device besides the optical drive is my hdd, what should I do with that?