Install SSD with HD data drive under Win 7

Britton30 · 04 Dec 2013

I was under the impression that the hiberfill is written to the drive when hibernating, then copied back into RAM when restarting? If so then there is a lot of read/writes going on with a very big file, 16GB in my case.

Ranger4 · 04 Dec 2013

Samsung recommend disabling Hiberfile for their SSD'S as it causes a lot of unnecessary read/writes.

Kaktussoft · 04 Dec 2013

Britton30 said:

I was under the impression that the hiberfill is written to the drive when hibernating, then copied back into RAM when restarting? If so then there is a lot of read/writes going on with a very big file, 16GB in my case.

you're correct

richnrockville · 04 Dec 2013

whs said:

Matter of personal taste. I never use hibernation and over night I shut everything off. On a small SSD, the hiberfile is a pita because it takes a lot of useless space - 4, 8 or 16GB depending on RAM size. Who needs it.

I agree that the hyberfil is a waste of space for those with SSD's. Also, I have had at least a couple of occasions that the user had serious problem after hibernating. Just my experience. I always turn it off which saves space as well as aggravation when there are problems. In a corporate environment, it is not a good idea for our users who leave their machines on for long periods of time. (By Corporate, I mean my life as a Volunteer for a non-profit..)

All in all, I recommend not having the hyberfil available. With fast machines and SSD's, it is not necessary IMHO

Rich

gregrocker · 04 Dec 2013

Hibernate is a perfected feature in Win7. I've never seen any problems associated with it in tens of thousands of installs. It adds great convenience with no known downside as seen in XP.

whs · 04 Dec 2013

Hmm, I have seen quite a few postings where people had problems with hibernation. But I never persued those because I know nothing about hibernation since I have no use for it.

gregrocker · 04 Dec 2013

Never seen one, and I've watched for them. Like CCleaner it seems to be leftover wives tale's from XP.

I consider Win7 to be the greatest invention in tech, and Hibernate to be one of its perfected ingenious features.

camner · 05 Dec 2013

[QUOTE=whs;2612971]1. AHCI speeds up the transfer times from the SSD. Set it after the installation is complete - in both the BIOS and Windows 7.

AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista

Well, poking around I've learned that Dell "crippled" the Inspiron 620 by installing a BIOS that doesn't support AHCI, although the H61 Intel chipset on board DOES support AHCI. Hmmm..

I also found a spot Dell Insprion 620/Vostro 260 AHCI request where someone has created a patched BIOS update file that will allow AHCI to be enabled on this machine.

So, a couple of questions:

1. How important is AHCI to SSD performance? Is it just for those who want to tweak their systems for maximum performance, or does it make a substantial difference?

2. I presume that once I enable AHCI (in both Windows and in the BIOS) I will no longer be able to boot off the existing hard drive with a Windows 7 install that was created while in IDE mode. Do I understand that correctly?

whs · 05 Dec 2013

ad 1) I found that it wasa not that important. You might see a difference in the results of the measurement tools, but not in real life.

ad 2) I am not 1--% sure. You might still be able to boot from the HDD necause the whole OS is set to AHCI. Matter of trying.

Btw: If your BIOS has 'RAID" as a setting, that is just as good. Raid comprises AHCI.

gregrocker · 05 Dec 2013

What are the exact SATA controller or other storage settings available? If possible please post back a camera snap with all related listings expanded. Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums - Windows 7 Forums