How to CORRECTLY optimize your SSD for windows 7

[taltamir]

Have a good sleep..

thanks, I needed that

 

[flamenko]

Couple really quick things before I get going for the day.

First off with respect to ANY program that is being brought up that may potentially not work with Pagefile off, can we confirm this with an ample amount of RAM and an SSD?

The next is with respect of being able to recover information in the event of a crash. Myself, I haven't experienced a crash since the days of XP and I have to admit that I know of not a single instance of all the people I have spoken to or assisted with this specific change in their system...not one. Having said that, I find it necessary to back my data up as much as I can. I lost a 350 page document back in the days of Win 3.1 and I still shiver to think of the aftermath of that loss.

The issue of recovering data, should there be a crash, is an unnecessary safety net, IMHO, if you are a responsible data who saves his valuable work. You can get back anything that may be lost, however, as I said, I havent had a crash in so many years I don't know what its like anymore.

Its kind of like owning two cars, the second of course being in case the first breaks down even though you are capable of fixing the first.

 

[taltamir]

First off with respect to ANY program that is being brought up that may potentially not work with Pagefile off, can we confirm this with an ample amount of RAM and an SSD?

Yes we can.

The next is with respect of being able to recover information in the event of a crash. Myself, I haven't experienced a crash since the days of XP and I have to admit that I know of not a single instance of all the people I have spoken to or assisted with this specific change in their system...not one. Having said that, I find it necessary to back my data up as much as I can. I lost a 350 page document back in the days of Win 3.1 and I still shiver to think of the aftermath of that loss.

The issue of recovering data, should there be a crash, is an unnecessary safety net, IMHO, if you are a responsible data who saves his valuable work. You can get back anything that may be lost, however, as I said, I havent had a crash in so many years I don't know what its like anymore.

In my opinion, backups are meant to protect your data. I consider trim and the way SSDs work to be a BOON as they allow me to more safely delete.
with a HDD I must manually zero it out to ensure my data's safely. With an SSD a deleted file is gone and that is a good thing.

 

[Zoeff]

Probably a bit of performance. You can enable it after-the-fact. Did a quick search and this popped up as one of the most concise guides:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=313676


Note that you normally would want to do the Regedit first before touching BIOS. I've heard of instances where Windows BSOD'd afer changing IDE>AHCI and it never recovered.

Thanks, that worked. Windows did seem to startup slightly faster as well but that might just be the placebo effect.

 

[Synomenon]

Gaaah! I'm more confused now on what to do to optimize my SSD. I've read a couple of different "guides" on this topic and they all have different opinions and methods. Don't know which to follow.

 

[Golgatha]

Quote:
First off with respect to ANY program that is being brought up that may potentially not work with Pagefile off, can we confirm this with an ample amount of RAM and an SSD?
Yes we can.

Photoshop 7.0. I have 12GB of RAM and a Crucial 256GB SSD. Pagefile must be present and I have a static one setup for 12GB because I have plenty of space to do this with. System restore and Hibernation are turned off though to free up space because I'll never use either one.

In reality I probably don't need a 12GB pagefile, as any program that's going to use it will most likely be limited to addressing 2GB of memory anyway. I'd probably update Photoshop to a SMP + 64bit aware version, but I can't afford the newer full versions and 99%+ of my Photoshop usage is with images which aren't going to require more than 2GB of memory. Thus, I stick with my old and decrepit purchase .

 

[Golgatha]

Gaaah! I'm more confused now on what to do to optimize my SSD. I've read a couple of different "guides" on this topic and they all have different opinions and methods. Don't know which to follow.

Easy guide:

1) Install Vista or Win7 fresh with AHCI enabled in the BIOS.

2) Make sure the disc is properly aligned.

3) The rest are just details which are not nearly as critical as successfully accomplishing steps 1 and 2.

4) Make a freaking full disc image backup with a 4k sector aware backup program once everything is Kosher. I would advise restoring the image with said program just to be sure you can actually recover your system. I will whole heartedly recommend Acronis 2010, as it is rock solid and has never let me down in a pinch. Their support has been very attentive the couple of times I've needed to utilize them as well.

 

[jimhsu]

Ok, I can definitely confirm that system restore is doing something screwy with TRIM. SSD toolbox run times have gone down from 20 minutes to a few seconds.

Going to try out Acronis now. It looks like the interface improved a lot ... I remember trying it several years ago and it was just horrible to use.

 

[Zap]

Yeah, Acronis is pretty easy. Boots into a GUI where you can use the mouse to click on the options that you want. The latest 2010 version supposedly understands about 4k and partition offsets.

Note that you can also use the backup/imaging built-in to Windows 7. I've played around with it and it works fine. Only problems so far are lack of options, lousy compression ratio and I've seen several times when it didn't want to create system images onto blank disks when using a slim optical (like in a notebook) and will basically coaster the blank disc. Other than that... well, it is free and it works.

 

[flamenko]

Ok, I can definitely confirm that system restore is doing something screwy with TRIM. SSD toolbox run times have gone down from 20 minutes to a few seconds.

Going to try out Acronis now. It looks like the interface improved a lot ... I remember trying it several years ago and it was just horrible to use.

This is fairly standard with many across the board. I usually suggest most get the crystal scores before and after... They are drastic different which would almost confirm that TRIM does not work while system restore is on...

 

[jimhsu]

I guess it has to do with the Shadow Copy system more than anything. That's essentially how system restore works...

Really I don't need full system images because Crashplan already handles that (and unfortunately I don't have a terabyte of external storage lying around). Having a OS image will help though.

 

[jimhsu]

Some detective work:

1. System Restore is designed with work with the Volume Shadow Service (i.e. Shadow copy):

Beginning with Windows Vista, VSS is also used by the System Protection component which creates and maintains periodic copies of system and user data on the same local volume (similar to the Shadow Copies for Shared Folders feature in Windows Server) but allows it to be locally accessed by System Restore. System Restore allows reverting to an entire previous set of shadow copies called a Restore point. Prior to Windows Vista, System Restore was based on a file-based filter that watched changes for a certain set of file extensions, and then copied files before they were overwritten.[2]

Incidentally this explains the improvements in how System Restore works beginning with Vista re: taltamir's experiences.

2. Intel's toolbox works "around" VSS when attempting manual TRIM:

"The VSS (Volume Shadow Copy) service is either disabled or not functioning properly. If you run the Intel® SSD Optimizer with the VSS service disabled, previously-created restore points or other shadow copies created by the operating system or third-party applications may become corrupt. If you intentionally disabled the VSS service for performance or other reasons and wish to continue running the Intel SSD Optimizer, click Continue."

3. More evidence of VSS interfering with TRIM (error message in SSD toolbox):

Intel SSD Optimizer could not run due to the presence of Volume Shader Copy Service data. Likely cause is a backup in progress. Please try again when the backup is finished.

4. Direct advice from readme.rtf in the SSD Toolbox documentation:

To reduce the amount of time the Intel SSD Optimizer takes to run, reduce the number of System Protection restore points. The amount of time the Intel SSD Optimizer takes to complete is related to the number of System Protection restore points and the number of total files of the system. See Microsoft FAQ on System Protection restore points here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions

I think we have pretty good evidence, though not incontrovertible, that System Restore does indeed interfere with TRIM.

Can we suggest articles for Anand to cover? [ed: Tweet sent.] I'd like to know more about the technical details of what exactly is happening.

 

[flamenko]

I tried with Intel to no avail...asking if there was any thought there. Its a sensitive issue where they really don't want to say "Its best to turn off System Restore" yet Intel has advised on at least one occasion that it should be done (although I cannot remember the article but I seem to remember it being in a ssd installation guide somewhere)

 

[Idontcare]

Easy guide:
2) Make sure the disc is properly aligned.

How does one go about doing this?

 

[Binky]

How does one go about doing this?

Try the links here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=107126

 

[Synomenon]

I thought if you're installing Windows 7, all you have to do with a fresh drive during Windows 7 setup (to have it properly align the partition) is choose "Custom (Advanced)" instead of "Upgrade" and then instead of manually formatting and / or creating separate partition, let Windows install / use the whole blank drive?

 

[flamenko]

I thought if you're installing Windows 7, all you have to do with a fresh drive during Windows 7 setup (to have it properly align the partition) is choose "Custom (Advanced)" instead of "Upgrade" and then instead of manually formatting and / or creating separate partition, let Windows install / use the whole blank drive?

Thats all you do have to do. You can also manually set your logical partitions as I have done without problem whatsoever.

 

[Synomenon]

4) Make a freaking full disc image backup with a 4k sector aware backup program once everything is Kosher. I would advise restoring the image with said program just to be sure you can actually recover your system. I will whole heartedly recommend Acronis 2010, as it is rock solid and has never let me down in a pinch. Their support has been very attentive the couple of times I've needed to utilize them as well.

Yeah, Acronis is pretty easy. Boots into a GUI where you can use the mouse to click on the options that you want. The latest 2010 version supposedly understands about 4k and partition offsets.

Note that you can also use the backup/imaging built-in to Windows 7. I've played around with it and it works fine. Only problems so far are lack of options, lousy compression ratio and I've seen several times when it didn't want to create system images onto blank disks when using a slim optical (like in a notebook) and will basically coaster the blank disc. Other than that... well, it is free and it works.

Does Acronis require installation of software IN Windows or is it something you burn to a CD or install to flash drive that you can then boot off of to run?

 

[Idontcare]

Try the links here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=107126

That was perfect :thumbsup: thanks!

 

[radaja]

quick question for you guys.i have a corsair 128GB SSD and its has an installation of windows 7 on it.but i need to do a reinstall.so can i just do a reinstall like i would normally do with a regular HD?i mean,is there anything i need to do besides start my new install and with the win7 disc and just install?
im only asking because i thought i read somewhere about not neing able to re-write over and over.

 

[Synomenon]

So can anyone recommend a drive imaging program that can backup / image your current hard drive to a blank hard drive AND :

- that does not require installation of the actual imaging program on your Windows install

- runs from a bootable CD or flash drive

- understands about partition offsets and is 4k sector aware

 

[Sunburn74]

Hey,

If you have an SSD, you should definitely disable hibernate. Here's why. Hibernate creates a file on your SSD (its impossible to move this file as far as I know) that is equivalent to the size of your total amount of ram. Hibernate literally takes your ram image and writes it to your hard drive. If you disable hibernate, you delete that file and free up space on your HD equivalent to the amount of RAM you have. For example, I have 8gb of ram. When i disabled hibernate, I freed up 8gb of space on my SSD.

Anyway here's proof. You can also try it at home if you currently have it enabled.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2238&page=15

 

[Synomenon]

..

 

[Idontcare]

Hey,

If you have an SSD, you should definitely disable hibernate. Here's why. Hibernate creates a file on your SSD (its impossible to move this file as far as I know) that is equivalent to the size of your total amount of ram. Hibernate literally takes your ram image and writes it to your hard drive. If you disable hibernate, you delete that file and free up space on your HD equivalent to the amount of RAM you have. For example, I have 8gb of ram. When i disabled hibernate, I freed up 8gb of space on my SSD.

Anyway here's proof. You can also try it at home if you currently have it enabled.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2238&page=15

Hibernate is a useful way to gracefully shut down a computer without losing/trashing any unsaved/modified files if you have battery backup of any kind (laptop w/battery or desktop with UPS).

That said, windows update which forces unattended reboots on occasion has caused me more lost production from losing unsaved files than the total damage I have suffered at the hands of virus/worms/etc.

I don't personally use the hibernate feature on my desktop but I keep it enabled so my UPS can hibernate my rig (160GB G2) in the event of power outage while I am away from the desk. If a power outage were to force a shutdown w/o hibernation I would lose my unsaved work which would mean there is basically no value added in having the UPS in the first place.

 

[radaja]

anyone have any answer for my question above/about doing another install?
with the limited lifetime due to limited read/write episodes.