Looking for SSD Windows install recommendations

[dnavarrojr]

In my current system I have a 2TB boot drive and five 2TB drives in a RAID5 setup.

A friend of mine recently added an SSD drive to his system and is using it for the Windows swap file and as a scratch drive for video rendering. I was about to order one and do the same thing when I got to wondering if there would be a benefit from installing Windows on the SSD and just moving the "Program Files" and "Users" folders to the RAID so that the SSD is only used for the O.S.

 

[Ztruker]

There is a good tutorial here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/149969-ssd-install-transfer-operating-system.html

 

[dnavarrojr]

Thanks, what I'm looking for is advice. Is t worthwhile to install the O.S. on an SSD? Or should I just stick the swap file on the SSD?

 

[karlsnooks]

Put the os on the ssd. Put your programs on the ssd. Everything else can go elsewhere.

I use SSDs for this purpose.

 

[gregrocker]

The best performance improvement for the OS comes from installing on SSD.

Back up your User folders externally, unplug all other hD's during Clean Reinstall

Afterwards copy the User folders to data drive, rightclick on each to add to the related Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums .

 

[DeaconFrost]

I agree. I'd install the OS and your apps to the SSD and redirect nothing. That's the best way to get the most out of an SSD upgrade. It defies logic that people consider an SSD drive and then ask how to move everything off of it.

 

[rcanino]

I agree; don't worry about moving anything off the SSD - get one that uses synchronous DRAM, put your OS and your programs on it and experience instant joy . Loading programs, even my heavyweight video/effects programs now load in under 10 seconds. AfterFX is ready to go in 8 seconds. That's incredible considering it used to take >60s on a Caviar Black.

The few tweaks I remember I did - use AHCI mode, a SATA 6.0Gb/s port, disable hibernation, change page file size to something reasonable, enable write-caching and double-check that TRIM is active and working. That's all I can think of right now.

 

[karlsnooks]

Forget all of rcanino's advise. Win 7 takes care of everything for you. Don't go messing around with the wisdom of the microsoft experts.

This is Win 7, not Vista, and not XP.

 

[rcanino]

Forget all my advice? Exactly what do you have a problem with? Kindly be specific and explain what is wrong with anything I wrote.

 

[Brink]

Forget all of rcanino's advise. Win 7 takes care of everything for you. Don't go messing around with the wisdom of the microsoft experts.

This is Win 7, not Vista, and not XP.

Personally I prefer to let Windows handle it as well, but I also didn't see anything wrong with rcanino's advice/recommendations if that's what the OP wishes to do to tweak it to meet their own needs or wants. Not sure what the fuss is about.

 

[BugMeister]

- sounds like a good idea to put your OS on the SSD and use the remaining drives for storage..

- there is a definite advantage in putting some of your progs on the SSD as well..
- also, moving some OS files away from the SSD to avoid them eating up space in the background..
- stuff like MyDocuments, etc.. they have a wierd way of becoming huge without you noticing..
- 'spose if you get a larger SSD (say 128 or 256G) you wouldn't need to worry so much, though..

 

[Dwarf]

I install the OS on the SSD, activate and then deactivate the built-in administrator account to create its profile, and then execute a simple registry file to move all future user profiles over to a HDD. Unless I'm doing something (such as updating drivers or my AV/antimalware programs) that require explicit administrative access, I log in to one of the accounts that are based on the HDD (all of which are standard users). Programs will still be installed on the SDD, but user data associated with them will be placed on the HDD.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Forget all my advice? Exactly what do you have a problem with? Kindly be specific and explain what is wrong with anything I wrote.

You're tweaks aren't wrong...they just aren't necessary to mention, as WIndows 7 handles them automatically. That's all.

 

[F5ing]

I install the OS on the SSD, activate and then deactivate the built-in administrator account to create its profile, and then execute a simple registry file to move all future user profiles over to a HDD. Unless I'm doing something (such as updating drivers or my AV/antimalware programs) that require explicit administrative access, I log in to one of the accounts that are based on the HDD (all of which are standard users). Programs will still be installed on the SDD, but user data associated with them will be placed on the HDD.

Dwarf, can you post a copy of the reg file you use to set this up?

 

[dnavarrojr]

Thanks! I do video/graphics work for a living and my current 2TB boot drive is nearly full. I'm hoping to make due with a 240GB SSD. I'm not sure if it will hold Windows and all of the software I regularly use... Hence my considering moving stuff. At the very least, I need to move my Doc and Pictures folders as they total over a TB right now. Most of that is probably the camera RAW files from Lightroom imports. I've done a decent job of keeping all my video on an internal RAID.

 

[Dwarf]

I install the OS on the SSD, activate and then deactivate the built-in administrator account to create its profile, and then execute a simple registry file to move all future user profiles over to a HDD. Unless I'm doing something (such as updating drivers or my AV/antimalware programs) that require explicit administrative access, I log in to one of the accounts that are based on the HDD (all of which are standard users). Programs will still be installed on the SDD, but user data associated with them will be placed on the HDD.

Dwarf, can you post a copy of the reg file you use to set this up?

Sure, it's from one of our Tutorials, viz OPTION TWO here:http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/87555-user-profile-change-default-location.html

 

[F5ing]

Thanks Dwarf!

 

[DeaconFrost]

I'm asking out of curiosity, but what's the point of moving the user profile off of the SSD? I don't store anything in my user profile on purpose...never have.

 

[F5ing]

I'm asking out of curiosity, but what's the point of moving the user profile off of the SSD? I don't store anything in my user profile on purpose...never have.

Only because the OS stores other stuff there even though you might store your regular user data elsewhere.

I was just looking for all the various combinations folks use to separate user data from OS/apps (automatically), while taking into account how one would go about recovering from a disaster (image/clone restores of the OS/apps and restoring user data from standard backup).

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Only because the OS stores other stuff there even though you might store your regular user data elsewhere.

How much space is that on a typical home PC??

Like Deacon, I never put anything in C Users deliberately. All my personal data is saved to D outright.

I just checked my C Users directory nevertheless. It's about 900 MB.