Looking for a post to explain everything that should be done after a fresh install

[alanwest09872]

(I know there all about the same but have specific things you may wanna do if your using the computer for Gaming, Video and picture encoding and burning, Internet Networking) So on and so forth
I am hoping to find a full list of almost everything I can do to help improve performance. Turn off different things adjust others so on so forth.

Like first do this 2nd do this so on.

Example:::

1. Install
2. Update
3. Download drivers from manufactuors website
4. So on and so forth.


Then one for a ssd drive.
1. Turn off defrag
2. update firmwire
3. Turn off hibernation
4. Turn off restore.

So on and so forth to help save drive space and make the d rive last longer. (like less things writing to the drive will cause it to last longer.

I know theres tons of post out there but nothing to give a full guide.
Just like in the bedroom I like to be told what to do and thats what I am looking for (lol JK)


I hope this post makes sense I know it does in my head but when it comes to typing it out seems like my fingers don't know what to say.

 

[Nothinman]

Then one for a ssd drive.
1. Turn off defrag
2. update firmwire
3. Turn off hibernation
4. Turn off restore.

All of those except for #2 are bogus IMO. Win7 should automatically turn off defrag when it detects an SSD and while System Restore and hibernation take some space, they're too useful to turn off IMO.

 

[alanwest09872]

I back my data up every 2 days. keeping only 5 of the last backups. I dont need restore becuase I restore back from a backup and as for hibernation when you turn that off you save a ton of harddisk space between system restore and hibernation I think I got at least 10g back from a 80g drive that had windows 7 only install.

even now I only have windows 7 installed on that drive (and the user files from a bunch of games). and i still take up about 20g of space.

thats why I am looking for a long list of everything that I can do to help setup everything.


As for turning of hibernation and turning off restore. From what I was made to understand the ssd can only be written to so many times and the more it is written to the higher chance you have of it going defective. If you cut back the amount of stuff being written to it wont it last much longer. So there are benefits to turning it off. Thats why I want the list if I find everything that windows 7 automatically writes to the drive and either turn it off or direct it to another drive then it should improve performance and the longevity of my drive. Which cost 600 bucks originally.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

another thing i would recommend is only install what is absolutely necessary, which should help speed things up.

 

[Nothinman]

I back my data up every 2 days. keeping only 5 of the last backups. I dont need restore becuase I restore back from a backup

If that's true, you're the exception and not the rule. Even most corporations have backups that are shitty or untested. If you're confident in your backup scheme then more power to you.

even now I only have windows 7 installed on that drive (and the user files from a bunch of games). and i still take up about 20g of space.

And? Windows gets bigger with every release, this isn't news. 20G is at least average.

From what I was made to understand the ssd can only be written to so many times and the more it is written to the higher chance you have of it going defective.

Obviously, but the MTBF is high enough that it's usually not worth worrying about. Do you let off the gas and coast to stop signs 100s of yards early to conserve your brakes? No and you'll probably replace your brakes at least once or twice before you replace that SSD.

Thats why I want the list if I find everything that windows 7 automatically writes to the drive and either turn it off or direct it to another drive then it should improve performance and the longevity of my drive. Which cost 600 bucks originally.

And it'll defeat the purpose of owning the drive in the process. In order to see the benefits of running off of an SSD you have to actually use the drive.

 

[alanwest09872]

Lmao actually I do coast when it comes to stop signs and lights. It was a one and a million shot you would say something like that sorry I got a kick out of it.

I get your point and I def understand where your coming from but I already have had one intel ssd die on my so I am over anal about the new one and I am trying to baby it.

At one point I turned off everything extra windows installed and I sware if I remeber right I got it down to less then 10g. Thats what I am trying to do now. If I find everything that I did last time then I know how low I can get it.

Right now I am at 27g used which seems way high. It should be much lower I am trying to figure out how or why its that high. I have installed quite a few games on another drive buy I dont think theres anyway that the user files could be that large lol.

So if I have a list of everything I can do then I will know what I didnt do then do it and get the extra space



I use the drive for windows starting up and everything else. I figure if I keep that running perfect that will increase the performance of everything else.

 

[thedosbox]

Lmao actually I do coast when it comes to stop signs and lights. It was a one and a million shot you would say something like that sorry I got a kick out of it.

I hope by "coast", you don't mean stick the car in neutral. D:

I get your point and I def understand where your coming from but I already have had one intel ssd die on my so I am over anal about the new one and I am trying to baby it.

What's the point of buying an expensive SSD if you're not using it for the purpose it was designed for - fast storage? After all, it sounds like you're diligent with your backups.

 

[alanwest09872]

I may be wrong by thinking this but the operating system is the backbone of system. (software wise) If I make that run at 100 percent capability then that will improve the performance of all the other drives. Since windows software Loads the programs that are stored on the different drives. If it isnt at top performance then wont it slow everything down. Since I use the ssd for the operating system doesnt that mean I am using it the way it was designed. If I took an HD tv and hooked it up with S video you wouldnt get what you paid for. Same thing with a ssd if I placed an operating system on a normal sata drive then put all my games on the ssd I wouldnt be getting the top performance out of it. Now if my thinking is wrong here please tell me.

For my side drives I run a normal sata drive and I ran a raid veloraptor drive

Normal Sata drive has stuff like
1. Codec
2. Drivers
3. Spyware and antivirus
4. Daemon tools.

Velo Raptor Raid (2 drives)
1. Games
2. Video encoding (now if I did one video a week thats about 8g over the process of a year that would be 52 * 8 = 416g of data Now I do more then one movie a week I usually do a few 3-4 the way I look at it since I am doing this stuff on a different drive then my ssd it is saving it a ton of ware and tare. Even if I only did 1 movie a week over a 5 year period that would still be 2080g of ware and tare that I am saving on the $600 drive.

I know the MTBF is very high but I am the type of guy every little bit helps. And just as an

example: if I know that at 100,000g written to the drive will greatly increase the chances of it going defective If I do what I stated above right there with one program I just saved 2% of my drive to last longer (mind you if I did it with the real amount of the movies I did that number would be closer to 10%) So the drive would end up lasting me 10% longer then it would if I ran the software on the ssd.

As for speed differences
The ssd (mine runs at about 210MB/s)
VeloRaptor 150MB/s

Yes the video would encode much faster but on the raptor drive it is still pretty good and to be a bit slower to have the drive last that much longer.


I know the prices have gone down alot but still to spend 300 bucks a year on a ssd isnt something that I wanna be doing. I want a fast operating system so it can load all my programs quickly and run efficiently no matter where they are installed.


I appoligies if this doesn't make any sense and I hope you don't consider this an argument I more consider it a discotion. I enjoy trying to sway someone's feelings from one topic to another. But I am going more by my own opinions here instead of facts. So like I said if I am wrong here please let me know.

 

[sourceninja]

3. Download drivers from manufactuors website
1. Install
2. Update
4. So on and so forth.

Fixed that for you.

 

[alanwest09872]

Fixed that for you.

Oh I'm not trying to make a post on how to do it i am trying to find a post or something to tell me what I need to do. But thanks for fixing for me. I appreciate it. I really like how to guides. I enjoy setting things up and like I said earlier I wanna make sure i am 100 percent set up correctly

 

[rasczak]

maybe you should make your own guide? i don't mean that in a nasty manner. I mean that in the sense that everyone has their own way of doing things. if you document your steps for every install then you can make minor adjustments as you see fit. no one knows your system better than you do, and once you have your setup complete, and you've documented each and every step to your liking, then you'll have your own guide for future reloads.

as for what you've got above, sourceninja pretty much hit it on the head,

3. Download drivers from manufactuors website
1. Install
2. Update
4. So on and so forth.

 

[alanwest09872]

you know your right. I should make a list just so every time I reinstall windows I ha ve what I need to increase the performance. Still having a preexicsting list would get me started lol.

 

[sourceninja]

Actually you should install it once the 'right' way. Then you should image it.

I'm not a believer in updating things just because they have updates. So I only update drivers when I have a bug or security issue. So

1) download all drivers
2) Install OS
3) install drivers
4) patch OS
5) create image
6) Install apps
7) (optional) create new image with common apps
8) Use computer.

Then if you need to reinstall your process is
1) install image
2) patch OS
3) depending on step 7 maybe install software
4) Use computer.

Put all things you know won't change for that computer in your image. Like I know I'm always going to want chrome so I would put it in my image. I wouldn't put a game in the image because I know I swap games often.

For imaging, I recommend clonezilla

 

[SimMike2]

As an example of updates being wrong, even MS updates, my when I updated the Alps touchpad on my notebook, using the Windows Update drivers, I suddenly lost the scroll section on the side of the touchpad. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. This is especially true with a new OS like Win7 which has pretty recent, certified drivers.

 

[Muse]

Oh I'm not trying to make a post on how to do it i am trying to find a post or something to tell me what I need to do. But thanks for fixing for me. I appreciate it. I really like how to guides. I enjoy setting things up and like I said earlier I wanna make sure i am 100 percent set up correctly

Seems like a nice goal. Myself, I'm certain I've never gotten anywhere close to it.

 

[tcsenter]

Then one for a ssd drive.
1. Turn off defrag
2. update firmwire
3. Turn off hibernation
4. Turn off restore.

#2. should be #0 (i.e. before the OS is installed) because a number of SSD firmware updates will result in data loss/erase.

Its generally a good rule to update the firmware and BIOS of all components before installing the OS.