Want to share this great optimization for SSD

[antares]

I'm in the process of migrating my XP PC to a new Win7 PC with SSD. I noticed that Google Earth uses HD cache but you can't change the cache location from the Preferences menu. So I found this tweak which works great, if you have a 2nd internal HD and don't want to use your main SSD for cache, this is the way to do it (credit goes to "Xenofon" from Google Product Forums):

"here is the solution in case anyone wishes to move the Google Earth cache. This works in Vista and Windows 7. If you are using XP, read the Vista/Windows 7 section first, then read the note on XP at the end.

1. Create a directory on the disk where you want to move the cache to. I'll call it S:\GoogleEarthCache.
2. Start Google Earth. Click <File> and <Server Log Out> to log out of the server. Keep Google Earth open.
3. Click <Tools> and select <Options>. Click the tab marked "Cache". Click the button marked "Delete Disk Cache". Close the Options windows, but keep Google Earth open.
4. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the directory C:\Users\{username}\AppData\LocalLow\Google. This is where Google Earth stores its cache, in a subdirectory at this level called GoogleEarth. This is the directory you want to move.
5. Cut and paste in Windows Explorer to move the GoogleEarth directory from C:\Users\{username}\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth to S:\GoogleEarthCache\GoogleEarth. Change the location to the actual path to the location where you wish to move the cache.
6. Open an elevated command prompt (right click on Command Prompt and choose "Run as Adminstrator"). At the prompt type:
mklink /J "C:\Users\{username}\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth" "S:\GoogleEarthCache\GoogleEarth"
Again, change the path to reflect the actual location you where you moved the cache directory. Also remember to replace {username} with your actual user name, without the curly braces.
7. Click <File> <Log back in to Server> in Google Earth.

That's it. You've created a junction (a type of symbolic link) from the original location of the cache to the new location. Google Earth doesn't know about this, so it continues to think it's storing cache files in the default location. But the cache directory has moved, and the files are really being stored at the new location.

Note for XP Users

XP supports symbolic links, but there is no command line tool to make symbolic links. You will need to download a utility to give you this option. There is one available from Microsoft Technet. It's called Junction, and you can download it from Technet at Junction."

HERE is the link to the original article. Enjoy.

 

[whs]

And why are you doing this ??

 

[antares]

And why are you doing this ??

Well, firstly to save space on my SSD, secondly to increase its lifetime and finally to increase its performance, not the best performance if you have the program and its cache in the same drive. (If I'm wrong on this let me know)

 

[whs]

Iunderstand the space argument if you have a very small SSD. Life is no argument and performance will actually be worse when you move things to a spinner. But that is all very marginal.

 

[Thorsen]

i might be able to use this elsewhere. Thanks for the steps

 

[antares]

Life is no argument

Why? If you decrease a drive's usage (write/read), doesn't that increase its lifetime? Or that's marginal for SSD's?

performance will actually be worse when you move things to a spinner. But that is all very marginal.

Yes, a spinner always performs much slower than an SSD, maybe this "advantage" applies to the spinner age and not to SSD's

 

[whs]

I would not worry about the SSD's lifetime. My oldest SSD which is nearly 4 years old has a projected lifetime until 2021 - it will probably survive me. :sarc:

 

[LittleJay]

I would not worry about the SSD's lifetime. My oldest SSD which is nearly 4 years old has a projected lifetime until 2021 - it will probably survive me. :sarc:

I suspect that might be the same in my case. LOL!

 

[gregrocker]

I'd keep all elements of a program on the SSD if space permits, to benefit fully from it's faster speeds. You don't want it referencing a slower HD to slow performance. The exception seems to be User data but even that can fit on SSD's now that their prices are coming down.