What to do after installing a ssd in a laptop?

[paulobao]

Hi,

I'm less that 24 hours of receiving my M5P 523GB ssd!

I saw many tweaks around but could anyone, please, tell me exactly what are the really necessary tweaks (and things that i must do before installing the ssd) ?
For example, I will not deactivate hibernate since I've 512GB! Of course I will deactivate defrag (if not automatically disabled by Win7 Pro).

I will not clone my actual hdd but instead I will restore my laptop to the factory state! (of course with the ssd installed!).

SSD like the sleep function? (I mean if I press F3 my lap go to sleep! Is this possible with the SSD?)

Thanks a lot,

paulo

 

[NoN]

Could this be handy?:

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
and
SSD Tweaks and Optimizations in Windows 7

 

[ignatzatsonic]

tell me exactly what are the really necessary tweaks (and things that i must do before installing the ssd) ?
For example, I will not deactivate hibernate since I've 512GB! Of course I will deactivate defrag (if not automatically disabled by Win7 Pro).

I will not clone my actual hdd but instead I will restore my laptop to the factory state! (of course with the ssd installed!).

SSD like the sleep function? (I mean if I press F3 my lap go to sleep! Is this possible with the SSD?)

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything you need to do differently than an HDD.

Is your hard drive alignment OK on your current drive?

There are a few things to check after you restore such as defrag, page file, System Restore, and alignment.

A factory restore will create the same partition structure on the SSD that your laptop had from the factory. Are you sure that is what you want?

I'd normally do a clean install, but you may have some reason you don't want to do that.

 

[paulobao]

Thanks a lot for the tips
Yes my hdd is aligned and working great now!
I removed most of the bloatware (just kept some Toshiba apps that I found nice and not intrusive!). My system is booting really fast now and everything are function great!

I kow that the system restore will create the same partition structure but, could I change it after the restore?
If so, I will remove the sytem restore partition (since I created the recovery media just in case: DVDs and a USB flash!)

I like the restore to a virgin ssd/hdd because it is simpler: windows 7 Pro SP1 and all the drivers will be installed automatically from the restore media! After this, I only need to remove the "bloatware" that I do not want and remove the items I want at the startup (and I tested these stuff in the hdd to see if everything was ok and there was no issues!).

These are only my thoughts since I do not know much about it and all that I want is a reliable and robust system! A little speed boost will ok too .

paulo

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I kow that the system restore will create the same partition structure but, could I change it after the restore?
If so, I will remove the sytem restore partition (since I created the recovery media just in case: DVDs and a USB flash!)

I like the restore to a virgin ssd/hdd because it is simpler: windows 7 Pro SP1 and all the drivers will be installed automatically from the restore media! After this, I only need to remove the "bloatware" that I do not want and remove the items I want at the startup (and I tested these stuff in the hdd to see if everything was ok and there was no issues!).

Yes, you can change the partition structure after the restore, however.......

I wouldn't remove the factory restore partition. Why? Because the recovery partition is the most reliable method of restoring to factory specifications.

Your plan on restoring to the new SSD will likely work, but you should be aware that restorations can fail or require troubleshooting.

I can understand an aversion to a clean install if that would require a lot of program re-installation and configuration. It's worth a try.

But know exactly what your plan will be if it fails.

 

[paulobao]

Thanks again ignatz
Hope everything works as planned!

I restore it to the factory fresh state 2 times (to test)! One from the partitition,and one using the 5 DVDs created by the Toshiba Recovery Media creator! Both worked 100% and with the same results

The ssd will be delivered by ups portugal between 11:35 and 12:00 (it is 10:24 now!)

paulo

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You will be king of the hill with a 512 GB SSD. I can't recall anyone else buying one that large.

What brand did you get?

First thing I would do after the install is confirm the SSD will boot and then look at Windows Disk Management.

Then get your Internet working and post a screen shot of Disk Management if possible.

Then update Windows and get anti-virus going.

Then take a look in Device Manager, looking for errors.

Do you have your laptop's Ethernet driver downloaded and saved already? That's a good idea. The last thing you want to have happen is to not have a connection. You shouldn't need it since you are doing a factory restore, but I'd ALWAYS have that driver stored away somewhere safe.

 

[paulobao]

It is a Plextor M5Pro.
I will do that, thanks!

When you say "after install" do you mean after the hardware install or after the sw install?

There is a new firmware available for this model! I will check for the fw of my ssd and if it is not the updated version, I will try to make the update as the first step (after installing the ssd in the hdd bay). I have already the FW ISO file in a DVD and the boot order starting at the Optical device!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I meant I would do those things immediately after I had done the system restore to the SSD.

Good idea on the firmware. It might not matter, but you may as well get it.

Be aware that firmware flashing is a delicate procedure. If it goes bad, you would be in a major problem. Be sure you are connected to AC power, not battery, when you make the change.

You never know what you might see in Windows Disk Management. You could have some unallocated space, but you should be able to add it to some existing partition.

 

[paulobao]

...my ssd has arrived! No need for firmware update....
Manufact. Aug 2012; FW: 1.01.

I'm glad to receive a still hot one, and already with the new firmware .

Now I'm going to read the manual! First thing (and I like to read manuals, realy!).

Thanks for all I will be post my "findings" here when I start the "activity"! But I need to calm down and only then I will start!

Cheers,
paulo

 

[paulobao]

First look at the manual and sw:
- Quick guide it's very simple!
- SW: Acronis True Image OEM HD
User Manual

Do I need to format the ssd?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

First look at the manual and sw:
- Quick guide it's very simple!
- SW: Acronis True Image OEM HD
User Manual

Do I need to format the ssd?

I'd seriously doubt it since you are doing a factory restore. Try it without and see if it fails.

But formatting is easily done if needed.


You don't even have to specifically do it on a clean install.

I'd immediately check alignment after the first boot to confirm that is OK.

 

[paulobao]

Thanks again! I will check alignment at the first boot!

 

[paulobao]

Hi,

I could not resist and worked on it! Installed everything...what a difference in performace!
Everything untill now occured as planned! No issue at all! Zero untill now (hope it remains like this for long time!)
Ignatz, here the screen you asked for!

Defrag is off (I think because is schedulled for "never") but what about pagefile and system restore? Should I turn anything off/on?

And should I disable Write-caching to the ssd?

And should I disable "allow files in this drive to have contents indexed in adition to file properties" ?

Cheers,
paulo

 

[NoN]

And should I disable Write-caching to the ssd?

I would not do that on SSD either on HDD. Just let it on!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Hi,

I could not resist and worked on it! Installed everything...what a difference in performace!
Everything untill now occured as planned! No issue at all! Zero untill now (hope it remains like this for long time!)
Ignatz, here the screen you asked for!

Defrag is off (I think because is schedulled for "never") but what about pagefile and system restore? Should I turn anything off/on?

And should I disable Write-caching to the ssd?

And should I disable "allow files in this drive to have contents indexed in adition to file properties" ?

I would not disable write-caching.

I turn off indexing on all drives. As far as I know, it's only purpose is to allow you to search the contents of files with the Windows search tool. I search only for file names rather than file contents and even then I do not use the Windows tool.

You need to keep a page file, but you can reduce its size to save some space. I use 1024 MB as a minimum and 2048 MB as a maximum.

I like System Restore and use it probably once a month. You can certainly adjust how much disk space is devoted to it. Mine is set to use a maximum of 8 GB and that allows me to have a dozen or so restore points dating back several weeks.

What is the purpose of that 14.47 GB partition?

Have you confirmed proper alignment?

If it seems to be working well, I'd run a benchmark using a couple of the best known tools, such as AS SSD and ATTO. Post screenshots of the results here or in this thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/213193-show-us-your-ssd-performance-2-a.html

I'd keep the screen shots for later reference if the drive starts acting poorly.

You could also test your boot time by downloading the measurement tool in this thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/592-reboot-time.html

and then making a post about the results. A typical good score is around 30 seconds.

Looks like you are doing fine. Enjoy the drive.