How to install and use an SSD (Windows 7 & general info). updated 05/30/2011
Step 1: Enable AHCI in BIOS. (alternately RAID)
Step 2: Install Windows 7.
That's it!
With Windows 7, you use an SSD just like you would use a hard drive, with two differences. You want to enable AHCI in BIOS, and you don't want to run Defrag. I repeat, THAT'S IT!
Since apparently everyone thinks that using an SSD with Windows 7
MUST BE A LOT HARDER THAN THIS, be advised that Windows 7 understands the basics of what SSDs need, and thus will automatically create a properly aligned partition, and automatically disable Defrag. If you absolutely need something extra to do, how about getting the latest chipset drivers? Sometimes older drivers don't allow the Trim commands to be passed through. Your best bet is the chipset manufacturer, as the included driver disc and sometimes even the motherboard manufacturer's site isn't the most up to date.
STOP and take a deep breath.
Solid State Drives are not rocket science. Too many people try too hard and over-think these things.
"But don't I have to..."
No.
"How about..."
No.
"Should I do..."
No.
"How does it compare..."
No.
Just read the rest of this post. It tells you EVERYTHING you NEED to know/do with an SSD (for Win7 at least). There is NOTHING else that is needed. NOTHING!
Got that, tiny grasshopper?
THINGS TO NOT DO ON AN SSD
Do NOT defrag an SSD.
First, it is completely unnecessary. The purpose of defrag is because of hard drive access times. SSDs are so near-instantaneous for access times that defrag makes no sense to do.
Second, defrag only works if the software knows where the data is stored in relation to other data. Data location on an SSD is not known to software defrag, so defrag will be unable to actually do anything useful.
Third, defrag on an SSD causes extra wear and anecdotally can damage the SSD.
Do NOT endlessly run benchmarks on an SSD.
Chances are you will NOT get the advertised performance or even match benchmark numbers that reviewers get, due to a lot of reasons (different chipsets, chipset driver revisions, stuff running in the background, etc.). Don't worry, because it will still run circles around the HDD you used to have.
Do NOT endlessly run anything that writes huge amounts of useless data to your SSD.
Amazed at how fast Windows installs on your SSD? Great! Don't do it 10 times in a row just to watch it fly along. Amazed at how high your SSD benchmarks, especially in random writes versus your HDD? Great! Just don't do it every time your buddies drop by just to brag. Amazed at how fast files copy from your RAIDed VelociRaptors to your new SSD? Great! Just don't copy files you don't need over and over again just to watch the progress bar zip across.
The thing is that an SSD has a finite life. Each NAND cell can only be written to a certain number of times. Now, SSD controllers have BlackMagic™ that allows you to be able to use an SSD for many, many, many years before the NAND gives up the ghost, but useless writes to the drive only serves to reduce the life span. (True that some SSDs die pretty quickly but usually for other reasons - why does ANY computer part die prematurely?)
Regarding Trim
If you are running RAID, any SSD in the actual RAID array will not get Trim commands, so they will be at the mercy of the drive's built-in garbage collection. Some drives are better than others at doing this. If you are running a RAID array on an Intel chipset (ICH10R for example) and you are using the
latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers (RST version 9.6.x) then any SSD on the controller but NOT part of the actual RAID array will get Trim commands. If you aren't actually running a RAID array, then there's probably no need to install Intel RST.
If you are using an SSD that does not natively support Trim, then you may want to see if the manufacturer has a utility for the drive that can manually restore performance.
To check if Trim is enabled in Windows 7 (it should be by default) run the following command from an elevated command prompt (right-click, run as admin):
fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify
You will get back one of the two responses (parenthesis explains):
DisableDeleteNotify = 1 (Windows TRIM commands are disabled)
DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (Windows TRIM commands are enabled)
According to
this post Windows 7 will always send Trim commands. There's nothing to see here folks. Just move along.
To check if your SSD supports Trim (some that do needs firmware update) use
Crystal Disk Info.
Small SSD in a dual drive system updated 11/17
Note: I've only tried this once about two months ago so I'm going off memory. LMK if anything is wrong with this info.
So, you bought a small "boot SSD" and are now trying to figure out how to conserve space? If you are running a HDD for data and are using Windows 7 (and maybe Vista, can someone verify?), there's an easy way to move your documents and media.
Windows 7 (maybe Vista)
1) Create a new data folder on your HDD and name it something obvious. This folder is important because it is what you want to keep backed up.
2) Find your "My" folders. By this I mean My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and My Videos. Many Windows software saves to these folders by default, and they can get pretty huge. While you're at this you can also find your Downloads folder. All these folders are located in C:\Users\---- where ---- is your username. Some of these folders may have the shortcut arrow on the icon. Ignore the shortcuts, you want the actual folder.
3) Move these folders to the new folder you created on your HDD. I drag/drop while holding SHIFT, but you can cut/paste or whatever.
4) ...
5) Profit.
That's it. Windows 7 seems to adjust the pointers for you. Not positive it works for Vista, can someone verify?
Windows XP
1) Create a new data folder on your HDD and name it something obvious, such as My Documents. This folder is important because it is what you want to keep backed up.
2) Point your current "My Documents" to the new folder. Do this by finding it in Explorer and viewing Properties. Then, change the path to point to the new folder.
3) Find your "My Documents" folder. It should be in C:\Documents and Settings\---- where ---- is your username. Move everything in the folder to the new location.
4) ...
5) Profit.
I'm writing this from memory, so YMMV.
Other useful tips
These are
not required but some people just like to tinker, so...
Page File
Leave it enabled (proven that
some software needs it) but if you have lots of RAM then reduce the size and make min/max the same.
Indexing
I personally would leave it enabled since SSDs are so fast there really isn't much to be gained from disabling it, like there was with hard drives.
Hibernation
Those with notebook computers should use Hibernation, but it really isn't needed on a desktop system. If it isn't being used, of course you can disable it. Also, it leaves a big file that can be removed. If you don't do this, performance will not be affected. However, you may want to look into this if you are running out of disk space.
System Restore
Ahhh, what enthusiasts and techies love to hate! Contrary to public opinion, System Restore is not a useless steaming pile of something-or-other. Well, at least not the recent versions in Windows Vista and 7. Windows XP version was meh, and the Windows ME version was so awful that it made a whole generation of techs hate Windows Restore for ever and ever. With Windows 7 it actually works reasonably well for what it was intended. However, it does eat up a bit of performance and of course it does take up disk space. You can limit the disk space it takes, or disable it altogether if you are merely running a small capacity SSD boot drive. Otherwise you can leave it enabled if you don't need the disk space and don't feel that it is impacting performance. To put it into perspective it does not impact the performance nearly as much as not being aligned or not having Trim/garbage collection. Not even close.
NOTE: All of these "useful tips" apply to hard drives as well, and thus are not SSD specific. If you weren't doing these things with your hard drive and you have a big enough SSD, then they aren't necessary. Will they hurt? No. Will they help? Maybe, or maybe not. Will they save disk space? Some of them definitely will, so worth checking out for those that need more disk space.
Upgrading firmware
Know that
upgrading the SSD firmware might lose all your data. Always make sure you have current backups.
There has been two main reasons why a company will release firmware updates.
#1 A major feature is added
This happened with Trim. Intel's G2 and Indilinx Barefoot were originally released without Trim. Current drives on the market have Trim, but if you had an original, you had to update the firmware to get Trim support. This is unlikely to happen again in the near future, so it isn't something to worry about at this time.
#2 Major bugfix
Some drives were released with, shall we say, problems. For instance the Crucial RealSSD C300 was originally on my "do not buy" list because it liked to brick itself. They released a firmware which fixed the problem, and new ones on the market have that firmware already installed. Also, OCZ in particular likes to shove new SSDs into the market with essentially beta firmware. If you like to pay money to be a beta tester for OCZ, by all means do so (many happily do). If you would rather your SSD just plain work like it should, then do not be an early adopter of any new SSD that comes out. Wait for it to be in the market for a couple months before making the jump, so that most firmware issues are ironed out by then. This will avoid being a paying beta tester.