SSD Questions

[ROBO731]

Once again I have some questions about my SSD. I have a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD. I have my user folders on a 2 TB Seagate SSD. I'm looking to optimize the performance. In my bios, it says that my system boots in AHCI mode (See images). The registry also has the appropriate value set to zero. When I open Samsungs software, SSD Magician it says that I'm not booting in AHCI mode (See images).

My other questions are about OS customization:

1. This software recommends that I allot 23.8 GB of space for over provisioning. I have plenty of space left on the drive so do you think this would be a good idea or should I adjust the amount?
2. I have 16 GB worth of RAM. What would be good parameters for my virtual memory or should I just let windows handle it?
3. Should I deactivate Prefetch/Superfetch?
4. Should I activate Write-Cache Buffer Flushing?
5. How should I adjust System Restore?

Some of these settings I can judge for myself, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions on them.

​

 

[TwoCables]

Once again I have some questions about my SSD. I have a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD. I have my user folders on a 2 TB Seagate SSD. I'm looking to optimize the performance. In my bios, it says that my system boots in AHCI mode (See images). The registry also has the appropriate value set to zero. When I open Samsungs software, SSD Magician it says that I'm not booting in AHCI mode (See images).

I'm glad to see that it's in AHCI mode.

My other questions are about OS customization:

1. This software recommends that I allot 23.8 GB of space for over provisioning. I have plenty of space left on the drive so do you think this would be a good idea or should I adjust the amount?
2. I have 16 GB worth of RAM. What would be good parameters for my virtual memory or should I just let windows handle it?
3. Should I deactivate Prefetch/Superfetch?
4. Should I activate Write-Cache Buffer Flushing?
5. How should I adjust System Restore?

Some of these settings I can judge for myself, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions on them.

​

1. I don't know if over-provisioning is necessary, so I'll let someone answer that who has the definitive answer. However, I thought the days of needing to over-provision were long gone.
2. I recommend disabling the Page File entirely. It will free up about 16GB of space and it will also show you if you really need the Page File.
3. I recommend disabling both, but I don't remember why. I think it has something to do with those only benefiting hard drives.
4. You can, but if you have a power failure, then you could lose data (I don't know how much or if it's all of your data, but it sounds risky to me). Therefore, if you have an Uninterruptable Power Supply, then go ahead and enable it. Otherwise, I wouldn't enable it.
5. I have System Restore disabled, but I would leave it enabled at its default setting if you feel you'd like to be able to use it just in case.

 

[ROBO731]

Thanks for the suggestions. So do you think that the message from Samsung Magician is wrong? I think it's either wrong or maybe because I also have my HDD.

1. Okay, I'll wait for someone else to chime in.
2. I have disabled the page file for the SSD, is there any benefit to enabling a page file on my HDD?
3. I deactivated prefetch and superfetch. I don't think that SSDs use this feature. How will this affect my HDD?
4. I have enabled "Write Cache Buffer" which improves performance and I also enabled Write-Cache Buffer Flushing which helps prevent data loss in the event of a power failure.
5. I forgot that I have already configured System Restore, by turning it off for this drive.
6. What is the benefit of disabling the Indexing Service/Search?

 

[DavidE]

A page file is needed on the C drive to capture Dump files if your system ever crashes and you need that info.
Some programs require a page file or you can get an error.
I always have a 200MB min. page file on C, and a larger one on another non-OS spinner...
Hasn't caused me any problems, and doesn't use too much space imho.
I've never had Win increase the space used from the minimum I set, but that could depend on the programs a person uses...

 

[TwoCables]

Thanks for the suggestions. So do you think that the message from Samsung Magician is wrong? I think it's either wrong or maybe because I also have my HDD.

1. Okay, I'll wait for someone else to chime in.
2. I have disabled the page file for the SSD, is there any benefit to enabling a page file on my HDD?
3. I deactivated prefetch and superfetch. I don't think that SSDs use this feature. How will this affect my HDD?
4. I have enabled "Write Cache Buffer" which improves performance and I also enabled Write-Cache Buffer Flushing which helps prevent data loss in the event of a power failure.
5. I forgot that I have already configured System Restore, by turning it off for this drive.
6. What is the benefit of disabling the Indexing Service/Search?

1. Cool beans. hehe
2. If you find that some program needs the Page File, then create a small one on your solid state drive.
3. I think Prefetch and Superfetch are only for launching programs.
4. No, enabling Write-Cache Buffer Flushing presents the risk of data loss in the event of a power failure. Disable it to avoid this risk.
5. Oh, ok.
6. I don't know of any benefit to disabling Indexing/Search. I leave it enabled because of the benefits it provides to the user-friendliness of Windows 7.

 

[essenbe]

Your picture of Bios shows you have a Hatchi Hard Drive plugged into Sata port 1 and shows no SSD. The SSD should be in sata port 1 where the Hathci is currently plugged in. I suspect you have an ASMedia controller on the board, and your SSD is plugged in there which may be why it is not showing as AHCI mode. I suggest you set a 1GB (1024MB) page file. With 16GB of ram, I doubt it will be used, but it is required to write dimp files in case of a BSOD. Without a dump file the cause of a BSOD is near impossible to hunt down. The overprovisioning is to allow for more namd to be replaced if/when the nand gets used/damaged. System restore can save you many a headache, I suggest you enable it, but set it's space as 5%. Like TwoCables, I know of no reason to disable Indexing/Search.

 

[TwoCables]

Your picture of Bios shows you have a Hatchi Hard Drive plugged into Sata port 1 and shows no SSD. The SSD should be in sata port 1 where the Hathci is currently plugged in. I suspect you have an ASMedia controller on the board, and your SSD is plugged in there which may be why it is not showing as AHCI mode.

Good catch. For some reason, I read it as this: "SSD Magician it says that I'm booting in AHCI mode (See images)." (that is, I didn't see the word "not").

That changes everything and it tells me that you're correct: the solid state drive is plugged into one of the SATA ports that are controlled by either the Marvell or ASMedia controller (whichever the case may be for this specific ASUS motherboard). It needs to be plugged into one of the brown SATA ports!

 

[essenbe]

Just lucky, I guess.

 

[ROBO731]

I have noticed that some strange things happen with the drive, like the option to eject the drive and something which happens at boot which didn't with my HDD. I was going to ask about it, but it looks like you guys hit the nail on the head. I'll adjust next time I shut down.

Thanks for the suggestions. So do you think that the message from Samsung Magician is wrong? I think it's either wrong or maybe because I also have my HDD.

1. Okay, I'll wait for someone else to chime in.
2. I have disabled the page file for the SSD, is there any benefit to enabling a page file on my HDD?
3. I deactivated prefetch and superfetch. I don't think that SSDs use this feature. How will this affect my HDD?
4. I have enabled "Write Cache Buffer" which improves performance and I also enabled Write-Cache Buffer Flushing which helps prevent data loss in the event of a power failure.
5. I forgot that I have already configured System Restore, by turning it off for this drive.
6. What is the benefit of disabling the Indexing Service/Search?

1. Cool beans. hehe
2. If you find that some program needs the Page File, then create a small one on your solid state drive.
3. I think Prefetch and Superfetch are only for launching programs.
4. No, enabling Write-Cache Buffer Flushing presents the risk of data loss in the event of a power failure. Disable it to avoid this risk.
5. Oh, ok.
6. I don't know of any benefit to disabling Indexing/Search. I leave it enabled because of the benefits it provides to the user-friendliness of Windows 7.

Well, here's what the software says about Write Cache Buffer and Write-Cache Buffer Flushing:

If you are using the Windows Write-Cache Buffer and experience a loss of power or a device failure, any data stored in the cache memory could be lost or corrupted. Windows Write-Cache Buffer Flushing should be enabled to ensure data integrity. In particular, this feature is important if your SSD is being used in a server application. When using an SSD and HDD together, this feature should also be turned on.

Right now, I have both enabled.

Here's what it says about the Indexing Service/Search:

Windows automatically indexes the contents of data files stored on the disk in order to produce very fast keyword search results.
In addition to taking up extra space on the storage device, this feature requires frequent read/write operations.

However, I like having fast searches so I think I'll keep this enabled.

I've also created a 1 GB page file as essenbe suggested as well as a 1600 MB page file on my HDD and I also adjusting system restore according to your suggestion. I'm not short on space right now so it's not really a big deal.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[TwoCables]

I was confused earlier. The option says "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on this device". If you enable this, then it turns off write-cache buffer flushing. If you disable it, then write-cache buffer flushing is allowed to stay on.

I was thinking that you wanted to enable this option so that it turns off write-cache buffer flushing which is exactly what you don't want to do. So do not place a check mark on this option.

 

[essenbe]

In device manager, expand disk drives, right click on your SSD, select the policies tab. This is the way it should be unless you have a battery backup power source in case of power failure. In either case a power failure can cause data corruption, but without enabling write caching you will suffer serious performance loss. I think it is a bigger corruption problem to check the second box.

 

[Britton30]

I leave indexing for my SSD off but have it enabled for my 2 spinners. The SSD can work just as fast without it, unless you have some really fancy timing equipment, you won't notice any difference. It will also lessen the read/write cycles.
I leave Super Fetch turned on as well, it takes little space and helps the system open programs faster than without it, even with a SSD. I gleaned this from my own science experiments and from member whs, our SSD guru.

 

[TwoCables]

I leave indexing for my SSD off but have it enabled for my 2 spinners. The SSD can work just as fast without it, unless you have some really fancy timing equipment, you won't notice any difference. It will also lessen the read/write cycles.
I leave Super Fetch turned on as well, it takes little space and helps the system open programs faster than without it, even with a SSD. I gleaned this from my own science experiments and from member whs, our SSD guru.

Do you have Prefetch enabled too?

 

[Britton30]

I think super fetch replaced pre fetch in w7. I don't even have it listed in Services, so I guess I do not.

 

[essenbe]

Prefetch is part of superfetch.

 

[TwoCables]

I think super fetch replaced pre fetch in w7. I don't even have it listed in Services, so I guess I do not.

It can be changed in the Registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Look for "EnablePrefetcher". 3 is enabled, and 0 is disabled.

 

[Britton30]

Yup, it IS enabled, I don't delve into the registry for Services as a matter of practice though. What would values 1 and 2 do?

 

[TwoCables]

Yup, it IS enabled, I don't delve into the registry for Services as a matter of practice though. What would values 1 and 2 do?

I don't know yet.

 

[A Guy]

0 = Disabled
1 = Application launch prefetching enabled
2 = Boot prefetching enabled
3 = Applaunch and Boot enabled (Optimal and Default)

Source

A Guy

Lol, was going to rep all 3 of you, I don't spread it around enough (I know, I spread something pretty good, lol).

 

[bobafetthotmail]

In addition to taking up extra space on the storage device, this feature requires frequent read/write operations.

To ease your worries, more or less any modern SSD will last decades even if you write 3-4 GB on it per day.

The "limited read-writes before the drive fails" are an issue for servers and companies, as both move hundreds of GB per week like they were peanuts.