Questions for Samsung Magician users

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  1. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
       #1

    Questions for Samsung Magician users


    I just upgraded Magician to v4.3.
    It's the first time I've looked at the program in many months. I made some choices when I first installed the SSD, but I'm wondering about some of these now.

    Program: Do you allow Magician to run at startup? Reasons?

    Over Provisioning: Do you enable this? Why?

    Rapid Mode: Do you enable this? Why?

    Firmware Update: Do you bother doing a full backup before updating the firmware?

    Thanks for any instruction or opinions.
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  2. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #2

    I'm glad you asked those question.
    I can't give you answers but I do have a Samsung ssd coming and that information should be handy to all Samsung ssd users.
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  3. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #3

    Program: Do you allow Magician to run at startup? Reasons? No. Magician is useful when first setting up an SSD and occasionally optimizing it in case TRIM isn't fully doing its job.

    Over Provisioning: Do you enable this? Why? No. Samsung SSDs are already over provisioned by the manufacturer and additional overprovisioning isn't really necessary. Studies have shown that Sammy SSDs will last longer than what has been projected by Samsung.

    Rapid Mode: Do you enable this? Why? Yes and no. I tried to enable RAPID when it became available on the 840 Pro in my desktop machine but I couldn't see any difference in real life performance or in benches. I've since learned that I would have to update the firmware first and, being the coward I am, I would rather not do that. I've also seen posts in various forums reporting occasional problems with RAPID on the older 840 Pros like mine. The 840 EVO I put in my notebook, on the other hand, responded reasonably well to RAPID. Performance improved noticeably; the benches were much higher. Be aware that RAPID works by stealing 1-2GB from system RAM to cache the SSD. I upgraded the RAM in my notebook from 4GB to 8GB before enabling RAPID.

    Firmware Update: Do you bother doing a full backup before updating the firmware? Being a confirmed coward, I've never updated the firmware of my SSDs but, if I were to, I most definitely would do a full backup first. I do make a full image of my boot drive (or partitions, in the case of my notebook's SSD) once a week and anytime I make a major change, such as install a new program. You would be very wise to make a full image before attempting to update the firmware.

    Thanks for any instruction or opinions.
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  4. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks for the input Jeannie!
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  5. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #5

    No problem, I'll send you a bill at the end of the month,
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  6. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #6

    TVeblen said:
    Program: Do you allow Magician to run at startup? Reasons?
    Yes.

    I have a 256GB 840 Pro on a Lenovo M93p desktop machine (along with a second 1TB spinner), and also have a 512GB 840 Pro on a Lenovo W530 laptop (replacing the original 512GB spinner).

    Both machines have Magician installed, and both installations launch Magician at Windows startup. I assumed it was necessary to provide all the functionality (but I may be wrong). I rarely open it (from the system tray icon), but I certainly was automatically advised the other day with a popup message about a firmware update that was available.

    Can't see why it should not be run at startup.


    Over Provisioning: Do you enable this? Why?
    Yes, on both machines.

    This required leaving out just a bit under 10% of total capacity for each 840 Pro as "unallocated" to partitions. So obviously there is about twice the unallocated space on the 512GB 840 Pro than on the 256GB drive.

    These two drives were my first experience with SSD, and from what I read (documentation HELP available with Magician) it seemed to be something to improve performance or longevity if you selected it. Seemed reasonable, and the 10% loss of storage capacity was not critical or objectionable to me.

    So I went with it.


    Rapid Mode: Do you enable this? Why?
    Yes.

    I have 8GB of memory on both machines. Aida64 shows memory utilization on both rarely go above 50% and quite regularly sit at 25-40% tops. So I have 4GB of main memory in the machine that's not being used, and might as well be re-purposed for use by the SSD drive if that aids SSD performance.

    So why not do it? That was my reasoning. I believe SSD performance is definitely improved on both machines.


    Firmware Update: Do you bother doing a full backup before updating the firmware?
    I didn't, though it might have been appropriate.

    But on both machines I already have regular automatic "system image" backups taken weekly to an externaal USB 3.0 drive. And I also have regular automatic monthly FULL "data" backups taken, along with regular automatic daily INCREMENTAL "data" backups taken.

    I had confidence enough in Samsung (and my existing backup system) to not feel the need to do a one-off special backup before upgrading the firmware. But I suppose it wouldn't have been wrong to do so.

    Now my regular "system image" backups are only of the system reserved and C-partitions, not for the other partitions I've allocated on the SSD (which are backed up as "data"). So in theory I would have needed a "system image" of the ENTIRE SSD (i.e. all of its partitions) for proper protection. Just didn't seem necessary.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #7

    As with each person we all have opinions.
    Program: Do you allow Magician to run at startup? Reasons?
    No, it's not needed to startup, all settings made "keep" without it running. I like to have a very clean startup.

    Over Provisioning: Do you enable this? Why?
    Yes. It's used as part of the TRIM and Garbage collection features of the SSD.


    Rapid Mode: Do you enable this? Why?
    I do have it running, but as Jeannie said, I really don't see any performance boost.


    Firmware Update: Do you bother doing a full backup before updating the firmware?
    I didn't and it all went fine. The pro version had a FW update just a few days ago and I installed it successfully.

    I also have let Super Fetch continue running but not indexing. With SSD speed indexing isn't a real need.
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  8. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thanks Gents!
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  9. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #9

    TVeblen said:
    Thanks Gents!
    You're welcome. Jeannie may not like that.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #10

    She got her thank you!
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