Installing on an SSD

[wakeboardr116]

I tried to search but couldn't really find anything on the subject. I just got a 64gb SSD and am getting ready to put it in my machine and do a clean install. Is there anything special I need to do before or during the install? I've heard a couple things like reformating or aligning the partition? Do I need to do any of these things?

Also, once its finished I know you are supposed to disable defrag and windows should turn it off automatically, but is there anything else I need to check and turn off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[iseeuu]

I tried to search but couldn't really find anything on the subject. I just got a 64gb SSD and am getting ready to put it in my machine and do a clean install. Is there anything special I need to do before or during the install? I've heard a couple things like reformating or aligning the partition? Do I need to do any of these things?

Also, once its finished I know you are supposed to disable defrag and windows should turn it off automatically, but is there anything else I need to check and turn off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Have you seen this thread?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/70822-ssd-tweaks-optimizations-windows-7-a.html

Cheers!
Robert

 

[wakeboardr116]

I tried to search but couldn't really find anything on the subject. I just got a 64gb SSD and am getting ready to put it in my machine and do a clean install. Is there anything special I need to do before or during the install? I've heard a couple things like reformating or aligning the partition? Do I need to do any of these things?

Also, once its finished I know you are supposed to disable defrag and windows should turn it off automatically, but is there anything else I need to check and turn off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Have you seen this thread?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/70822-ssd-tweaks-optimizations-windows-7-a.html

Cheers!
Robert

Thanks. No I hadn't seen that thread before or I just overlooked it. It seems to have alot of great information on after you have installed the SSD. I'm wondering more about what I need to do to install it. Can I just plug it in right out of the box and install windows, or should I do anything to prepare the drive? Like reformating to a certain setup or realigning the partition and such. Also should I set it up as ATA or AHCI? I'm pretty new to this so I don't know what alot of these terms mean.

Thanks again

 

[whs]

After you install the SSD, it will only showin Disk Management - probably as RAW space. I suggest you initialize it (right click on the left side where it says Disk0, Disk1, etc). Then right click on the right side and create a primary, active partition, make a quick format and assign a drive letter.
Alignment, switching defrag off, etc. will be done by the Win7 installer. It also switches Superfetch off that I always switch back on.
ATA AHCI is fine. It is supposed to give you a smidget more performance - although I run mine as IDE.

 

[wakeboardr116]

OK thanks a bunch. I figured the windows installer would do most of whats needed but just wanted to make sure. Time to hurry up and eat dinner so I can get going on setting it up.

 

[raboot]

I have installed Win7 Pro on SSD's (OCZ Vertex, Crucial RealSSD, and currently Intel X25M 160GB). All I have done is make sure the SSD is connected to SATA port 0 to begin with. This is important for your BIOS to see the drive. I believe it can be 0, 1, or 2. but for one SSD, port 0 is best to begin.

Before installing SSD in your computer, go to BIOS and select AHCI or IDE in BIOS for your SATA connection. Boot to your Win7 install disc, and just run setup, no need to format, just select the SSD, and go. Win7 will automatically format and align the drive.

Like I said, after doing this for many SSD's, it is all you need to do.

Great Windows 7 and SSD tweaks here: (also a great forum in general, lots of great guides and info).
Guide * Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities *

 

[wakeboardr116]

Well I got it installed and up and running. I think I've got just about everything set up like it should. Defrag and superfetch are off. Is there anything else I should turn off or disable?


Oh and SSD's are AMAZING! My restart time is now 30seconds flat. It was 70sec on my old drive.

 

[Sanvean]

Go to your drives properties and uncheck indexing.

Oh and SSD's are AMAZING! My restart time is now 30seconds flat. It was 70sec on my old drive.

Aren't they great, photoshop here opens in 2-3 seconds!

 

[wakeboardr116]

Got it. Thanks


I haven't gotten all my programs and stuff reinstalled yet but I can't wait to see how fast things open up and run on it.

 

[stormie1341]

have fun

 

[whs]

You may want to test with Superfetch turned on. I found this to be faster - but there are differing opinions on that.

 

[Wishmaster]

You may want to test with Superfetch turned on. I found this to be faster - but there are differing opinions on that.

Win7 will, by default, set Superfetch to manual after the first run of WEI.

It is also recomended by many to do so if Win7 doesnt do it on its own.


I used to do leave it manual. However, after some testing, I have since changed my tune and whole-heartedly agree with whs.

After 1 week of superfetch enabled, I could start telling the difference.
It does help, even with SSDs.

I think the reason for it is simple. While the SSD is much faster than the traditional HD, it still isn't as fast as RAM, which is where Superfetch & Prefetch help.

Also, the writes it does do are quite insignificant. I think that whole thing is a bit overblown TBH. at least when it comes to SF & PF.

Agree or disagree, its food for thought.

 

[whs]

I think the reason for it is simple. While the SSD is much faster than the traditional HD, it still isn't as fast as RAM, which is where Superfetch & Prefetch help.

Exactly!

 

[Sanvean]

Yep, I turned my Superfetch back on also.

 

[whs]

When it comes to SSDs, some people worry too much about the "damage" the write operations could have on the SSD. I think this fear is exaggerated. Even with frequent write operations, the SSDs will last longer than we care to keep them (which is probably an average of 3 to 4 years).
So keeping Superfetch, the Page file, etc. away from the SSD is counterproductive in my book. Besides, both afore mentioned operations do infrequent writes and in big blocks. They do a lot more reads.

 

[wakeboardr116]

These are all interesting points. Right now it is performing great even with superfetch off. I might turn it back on to see if I notice any difference.

 

[whs]

These are all interesting points. Right now it is performing great even with superfetch off. I might turn it back on to see if I notice any difference.

No wonder you are happy. SSDs are so much faster than the spinners. If it suits you as is, no need to change anything.

 

[pparks1]

I leave superfetch turned on with my SSD drive. I cannot say I noticed things really improving with it on..but I certainly have not seen performance go down.

I'm not concerned with the lifespan of my SSD at all. I'm sure it will long outlast it's useful size life.

 

[wakeboardr116]

Well so far everything is running great. Reads are very fast programs open quicker than ever. I have noticed though that it seems like the write speed has gotten slower so I decided to run a benchmark and test it out. My write speeds have dropped from 110's down to the 20's?!?!?!?! What could have caused this? Is there any way to fix it?

 

[wakeboardr116]

NVM. From now on I'll stick to reading advice on this forum only. I read on another one to turn off write caching. As soon as I turned that back on my speeds jumped right back up to where they were.