Trying to figure out logistics of Windows 7 installation on new hard drive

Question

I have a laptop with two internal 250GB hard drives in a RAID configuration and no CD/DVD drive. I'm replacing the two 250GB hard drives with a 256GB SSHD plus a 500GB drive, and I want to upgrade to Windows 7 at the same time (with the SSHD as the boot drive).

I'm trying to figure out the logistics of installing Windows 7 on the new drive. I currently have the two new drives in a USB hard drive dock, and the old drives in the laptop where they've always been; but Windows won't install on the SSHD when it's in the USB dock - says it needs an internal drive to install to.

I can't replace just one of my two internal drives with the SSHD, since they're in a RAID.

Can I just copy the Windows 7 install files to the SSHD (with setup.exe, autorun.inf, etc. in the root), replace my old internal drives with the new ones, and boot from the SSHD?

Answer 1

Here is a tutorial that explains how you can copy the files onto one of the drives, boot to the drive, then install from there. It sites Windows 7 RC, but should work for the RTM as well. I would recommend putting the files on your hard drive, installing onto your SSD then you should be able to delete the installation files.