Setting up the system after installing the SSD. How to install an SSD as a boot disk Installing and fine-tuning the OS
(Solid-State Drive). This device has many positive aspects, but it is not without its drawbacks. By switching from a magnetic HDD to a drive with no moving parts, your computer will take on a new lease of life. You will immediately notice a severalfold increase in productivity. For example, the system will boot almost instantly, the same with applications. Many graphics programs and heavy games will open faster than they did with the HDD.
With proper use of SSD drives, you will feel the speed of your computer increase several times, let's get the most out of this device.
Using an SSD as a system drive
To effectively use an SSD, you need to take into account that it can be installed as a system drive, in other words, Windows or another OS will be installed on it. Since the system often accesses the disk on which it is installed, using an SSD will reduce the access time by several times.
Although SSDs are very fast devices, they are limited in capacity. The price per gigabyte is very high, you can see this for yourself if you go to any store that sells SSDs. Many users cannot afford even the 250 GB version.
Another disadvantage is the reduction in disk performance due to the full capacity. That's the kind of technology. Therefore, I advise you to leave at least 30% or 40% of the total volume.
Even if you do not fill the disk with some files yourself, the system itself can do this without your knowledge. For example, when downloading files from the Internet, they are saved in the “Downloads” folder located on the system drive. If you don't take care of this, sooner or later the disk will be full.
As a recommendation, I suggest installing only the operating system and a few important programs on the SSD; everything else can be stored on a regular hard drive. This solution is the most optimal; due to the low capacity of the SSD, you will not be able to store large files in any case. Let you have another hard drive of 500 GB or more.
In the case of a laptop, there is the option of replacing the internal hard drive with an SSD. If you have a disk drive, you can use it instead. If there is no disk drive, then you, of course, can replace the existing HDD with a faster, but less voluminous SSD, although you will have to use flash drives or flash drives as an additional drive for storing data. This method has the disadvantage that you can forget the external drive somewhere at any time.
Software Transfer
We have figured out all the nuances of storing data on an SSD. Let's move on to transferring programs to another disk. And then the question arises, how to do this? If we move some programs from one disk to another, they will no longer work correctly. Of course, this can be done with some software, but there are too many exceptions.
I want to say that Windows still allows you to transfer programs without consequences; for this, there are “symbolic signs” that are created to indicate to Windows where the installed program is actually located. For example, you have a program or game installed on C:\ProrgammFiles. We take this software from there and transfer it to an SSD with the same name, then the path will look like this: H:\ProrgammFiles. Now we launch the command prompt and use the mklink command. You need to enter the following:
| mklink /d C:\ProrgammFiles H:\ProrgammFiles |
Now it turns out that the program is on the C drive, but the system will think that it is on the H drive.
Moving system folders
There are so-called libraries in which files of one type or another are stored, for example, “Music”, “Video”, “Downloads”, “Documents” folders. These folders are system folders, but their location can be easily changed.
Typically the folders are located along the path C:\Users\Username. Here we find these folders, right-click on each one and go to "Properties", go to the tab "Location". Click on the button "Move" and select the required disk.
Cleaning junk on SSD
We figured out how to transfer files to a new disk. I would like to note that over time the disk will fill up more and more, and you are unlikely to do anything about it. As an example, we can cite various temporary browser files - cache, driver files from a video card, for example, Nvidia, they are saved in the Nvidia folder, which is located on the system drive.
The program is well suited as a cleaner of all kinds of garbage and temporary files. Outdated entries in , empty folders and remnants of uninstalled programs will be destroyed using this utility.
Last moments
In general, for those who don’t know, there is another point at which users abandon SSDs; it’s the number of rewrite cycles. The lifespan of a solid state drive is very limited; after the overwrite limit is reached, the drive will stop working. Of course, manufacturers are trying to get rid of this problem by increasing the rewrite cycle each time. Now SSDs can easily work for 5-6 years without interruption, I think there is nothing to worry about.To reduce disk wear, you can restrict some software from using the disk, or specify another one as a buffer.
There is an opinion that it is not necessary for an SSD, but it is true, it should not be carried out under any circumstances, as this will shorten the life of the disk. It's just that this operation involves multiple read/write cycles, which is very dangerous.
I think this is where I will end this article. Now you know how to use an SSD correctly, how to transfer files from one drive to another, and also how to increase the lifespan of a drive.
(speed of operation, fault tolerance, low energy consumption, etc.)
Our reader Mikhail Ivanovsky noticed that even if the selected laptop model does not have an SSD, you can easily install it yourself. At the request of the editors, Mikhail wrote a simple and understandable guide for installing an SSD for a laptop.
For those who prefer to watch, we have prepared a video version of this article:
While Windows was loading, you managed to forget why you turned on the laptop in the first place? So it's time to change something. And this “something” is not necessarily the entire laptop.
The reasons for slow loading may vary, but they all affect the speed of the system and installed programs. Only one thing can be said for sure - a system installed on a good old hard drive (HDD) is, in principle, incapable of breaking records. But don’t despair and stock up on glycine!
If previously few could afford a laptop with an SSD drive, today such models are becoming more affordable. Alas, manufacturers are not yet in a hurry to install them on all laptop models, since such an option will still significantly affect the price. Not everyone is ready to overpay for a laptop with an SSD, especially if the purpose of use does not go beyond the usual scope.
Especially for those who want to enjoy all the advantages of a system on a solid-state drive, but do not have the desire or opportunity to purchase a top-end laptop, we have prepared this guide. With its help, you will be convinced that installing an SSD with your own hands is not at all difficult (easier than assembling a chest of drawers from IKEA).
Moreover, the increase in laptop performance and the pleasure from the work done are not comparable with the effort expended.
There may be several installation options. It all depends on your needs, as well as the size and configuration of the laptop. Let's consider the most common case, when an SSD is installed in the standard place of a native hard drive (HDD), and that, in turn, in place of an optical drive. This configuration is recommended, since the interface for connecting an optical drive is not always able to provide the SSD with the required data transfer speed.
Whether we like it or not, CD and DVD drives in laptop computers are becoming an atavism and will probably soon disappear completely (as once happened with floppy disks and dinosaurs). Remember the last time you inserted a disc into your laptop? But the drive takes up space, periodically hums, consumes electricity, and even gets hot.
So, here's what we need for the upgrade:
- SSD standard size 2.5"
- Adapter for HDD\SSD 2.5" for laptop drive
- Utility for transferring system and programs from HDD to SSD
Let us only note that it is reasonable to use an SSD first of all to host the operating system and programs on it, and only then to store data. Therefore, it is logical to determine the volume based on the current load of your C drive, and take into account that for effective operation of the SSD you will need about 25% of the free space on the disk, so it’s definitely not worth taking “back to back”. For most users, a capacity of 80 to 120 GB will be sufficient.
Having decided on the volume, budget and based on reviews in online stores, choosing an SSD will not be difficult.
With adapters the situation is even simpler. Their purpose is to ensure comfortable placement of the SSD in place of the optical drive. You can take any adapter that matches the size of our SSD (2.5”) and the thickness of the drive (usually 12.7 mm, but in thin laptops it can be 9.5 mm). From time-tested options, you can choose Espada adapters.
Adapter
The installation process in general looks like this:
- Turn the laptop over and remove the battery
- We find the cover with the disk storage marking, unscrew the screw securing it (it may be hidden by a plug), remove the cover and carefully remove the HDD, having first disconnected the cable with the wiring
- We install our SSD in place of the HDD, insert the cable, return the cover and tighten the screw
- We install the HDD into the adapter and secure it to it with the screws included in the package.
- We find the screw (may be hidden by a plug) with the drive marking and unscrew it. In most laptops, this is all that holds the optical drive.
- Open the tray using a needle (the hole next to the button) and, holding the laptop with one hand, carefully remove the optical drive with the other
We take out the drive
- We remove the front panel with the button from the tray and replace it with the adapter so that the surgical intervention does not affect the appearance of the laptop in any way
Adapter with bracket
Everyone is here
- Insert the adapter from the HDD into the drive location and tighten the screw
- Don’t forget about the plugs, if there were any.
- Turn on the laptop
We install, follow its simple instructions and voila! Our SSD is ready to go. It's time to arm yourself with a stopwatch and, with bated breath, time the system boot time. Although the difference “before and after” will be noticeable to the naked eye. The system performance index will increase significantly, if not in the overall score, then in the “Main hard drive” column for sure - from 5.9 (the maximum possible index for an HDD) to 7.9 (the maximum performance index in principle).
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning one more important point. Since the operating principle of an SSD has its own specifics, to extend its service life and greater reliability, it is recommended to perform several optional but useful system settings. Windows 7 will already make friends with an SSD without any problems, but by taking a few minutes to configure it, you are guaranteed to extend its life.
Tips for optimizing the system can be easily found, for example. To begin with, we just wanted to convince you that anyone can install an SSD. We hope we succeeded.
Happy upgrades!
Mikhail Ivanovsky
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Unlike traditional hard drives, SSDs do not have any mechanical parts to access data, so switching the boot drive to an SSD reduces read time. The physical installation of an SSD disk is no different from installing a regular HDD, but to optimize work with an SSD, you must configure your operating system and computer firmware.
Replacing old equipment
When replacing an HDD with an SSD, you can either transfer the existing OS from the old drive by cloning it or install a new copy of the OS. Disk cloning requires assigning a partition at least as large as the source, and SSD drives are typically smaller than hard drives, so you need to back up and remove unnecessary files from the source.
On your computer, connect the SSD to the SATA slot, leaving your HDD connected. Also, replace the HDD with an SSD, and then connect the HDD to your computer as an external drive. The USB drive converts the drive's SATA connector to USB format so you can use it as removable storage. Boot from the external drive, select Temporary Boot Options or a similar option in the BIOS splash screen, and then select the external USB hard drive from boot options.
Cloning the boot partition
Before cloning your hard drive, defragment it using a disk defragmentation and optimization tool. Select the partition, then click the “Analyze” and “Optimize” button and defragment the disk if necessary. Next, you need to shrink the partition to fit the new drive using the Disk Management utility; Press the “Windows” key, type “diskmgmt.msc” (without quotes) and press the “Enter” key to open it. Right-click on the partition, select “Shrink Volume” and then, in the “Enter the Amount of Space to Shrink in MB” field, enter the number of megabytes to remove everything unnecessary from this partition so that it is suitable for an SSD. Transfer files to the new SSD using a disk cloning program such as Clonezilla, EaseUS Todo Backup or Acronis. Each of these programs works differently, but they all include an option that directly allows you to transfer files from the old drive to the new one. Select this option from the main menu, and then select your source and destination drives when prompted.
OS installation and fine tuning
When you don't have many applications installed on your HDD, installing a fresh version of the OS is a little easier than cloning since it doesn't require any additional software. Installing an OS on an SSD is no different from installing it on a hard drive, but when using an SSD drive as a boot drive, some minor settings are required. Enable the Enhanced Host Controller Interface for the SSD by opening Regedit and selecting the following directory:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services
Click the “msahci” button, then click the “Start” button twice and make sure that the DWORD type parameter is set to 0. Confirm the same Start DWORD parameter in the pciide directory. Restart your computer and go into the BIOS, then select “Storage” or similar in the BIOS. In your SSD storage options, select “AHCI” so that Windows recognizes the drive as an SSD. Before exiting the BIOS, open the Boot Options menu and follow the on-screen instructions in Boot Order to install the SSD first.
Optimizing your system
After loading Windows onto the SSD, open Defragment and Optimize Your Disks, and then select Your SSD from the menu. The applet displays the SSD next to the drive letter because Windows recognizes it as an AHCI device. Windows doesn't know whether to defragment it or not, which shortens the life of the disk by making unnecessary writes and erasing bytes. Instead, Windows automatically turns on the Trim feature to optimize SSD performance. Trims are special commands that the OS sends to your SSD to compensate for the difference in how the SSD and HDD process data. SSD data is processed instantly, except for a few seconds or minutes, the HDD needs time to move its mechanical head to search for blocks of data that become fragmented as the disk spins. The disadvantage of using it as a boot SSD is that after writing and deleting data, 10,000 to 100,000 times, the flash memory degrades and no longer stores data. To extend the life of your SSD drive, store documents, media and other files on a HDD with large storage capacity.
Frequently asked questions about solid state drives
Before we answer any questions, we'd like to remind you that we are convinced that SSD storage for laptops and desktops (as well as for enterprise servers) has a bright future ahead of it. SSDs are truly capable of delivering high performance, improved system responsiveness, increased battery life, high reliability, faster boot times, and reduced vibration and noise. As prices come down and storage quality improves, we believe more and more computers will be sold with SSDs instead of traditional HDDs. With this in mind, we have focused the necessary engineering efforts to ensure that users can fully experience the benefits of working with a new type of storage device.
Q: Will Windows 7 support tweaking?
Oh yeah. This has already been discussed above.
Q: Will defragmentation be disabled by default for SSDs?
Oh yeah. Automatically running the defragmentation task will not include partitions created on the SSD or identifying themselves as such. In addition, if the system partition shows random read performance higher than 8 MB/s, it will also be excluded from the list for defragmentation. Performance levels were determined through internal testing.
The threshold performance level test was added to the final version due to the fact that only a few of the SSDs on the market identify themselves as SSDs in the system. 8 Mb/s is quite modest. SSD performance ranges from 11 to 130 MB/s. We tested 182 HDDs, and only 6 of them exceeded the 2 MB/s bar in the random read test. The results of the remaining 176 lie between 0.8 and 1.6 Mb/s.
Q: Will Superfetch be disabled for SSDs?
A: Yes, for most computers with SSD. If the drive is an SSD, and if it shows adequate random write/overwrite results, then Superfetch, Prefetch for loading and running applications, ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive will be disabled.
Initially, these features were supposed to be disabled for all SSDs, but we found that this resulted in poor performance on some systems. While investigating the possible causes of this situation, we found that some early SSD models have serious problems with random writes, ultimately leading to the fact that reading from the disk stops altogether and for a long period of time. With Superfetch and Prefetch enabled, performance in everyday use again improved noticeably.
A: Compressing files helps save disk space, but requires additional processor power for compression and decompression, which leads to increased power consumption on laptops. Strictly speaking, for folders and files that are used very rarely, compression can serve as a good tool for saving expensive SSD space - if the free space is really so necessary.
However, we do not recommend using compression in cases where folders and files are constantly in use. Your Documents folders and the files in them are not a problem, but temporary Internet folders and mail directories should not be compressed, since they are constantly writing and rewriting a large number of files in batch mode.
Q: Does the Windows Search Indexer work differently on an SSD?
Q: Is Bitlocker encryption optimized to work with SSDs?
A: Yes, on NTFS. When Bitlocker is first configured for a particular partition, it is read in its entirety, encrypted, and written back. As soon as this happens, the file system will issue a command to perform an adjustment that optimizes the operation of the drive.
We encourage all users concerned about the safety and protection of their data to use Bitlocker on their drives, including SSDs.
Q: Does Media Center do anything special when configured on an SSD?
Oh no. Although SSDs have advantages over traditional HDDs, the price per 1 GB for SSDs is still significantly higher than for conventional drives. For most users, an HDD optimized for multimedia content is still the best option, since such content requires a significant recording and playback load that has sequential read/write characteristics.
Q: Does write caching make sense for SSDs and how does Windows 7 help support write caching if the SSD supports it?
A: Some manufacturers install RAM chips on their devices not only to operate controllers; they should, as with traditional disks, cache reads and, if possible, writes. For drives that cache writes in fast, non-volatile memory, Windows 7 assumes that the presence of overwrite and write-queue commands will be no less effective than for HDDs. Additionally, Windows 7 assumes that user settings that disable caching will be treated by the SSD as if it were a regular drive.
Q: Does it make sense to configure RAID for an SSD?
Oh yeah. The reliability and performance gained by configuring RAID on traditional drives is maintained when using an SSD.
Q: Do I need to place the page file on the SSD?
Oh yeah. The main operations with the paging file are random writing of small volumes or sequential writing of large amounts of data. Both types of operations work fine on an SSD.
By analyzing telemetry focused on estimating writes and reads for the pagefile, we found that:
reading from Pagefile.sys takes precedence over writing to pagefile.sys in a 40:1 ratio,
The read blocks for Pagefile.sys are typically quite small, with 67% of them being less than or equal to 4 KB and 88% being less than 16 KB.
The write blocks in Pagefile.sys are quite large, 62% of them are greater than or equal to 128 KB and 45% are almost exactly 1 MB.
Generally speaking, the typical page file usage patterns and SSD performance characteristics fit together very well, and it is the file that is highly recommended to be placed on the SSD.
Q: Are there any restrictions for using hibernation mode with an SSD?
A: No, hiberfile.sys is written and read sequentially in large blocks, and can be located on either an SSD or HDD.
Q: What changes have been made to the Windows Experience Index to correctly reflect SSD performance metrics?
A: In Windows 7, these are new criteria for evaluating random writes, overwrites, and reads. The best samples can receive an index from 6.5 to 7.9. To qualify for this range, drives must have outstanding performance for the specified types of operations and be able to withstand heavy loads of these types.
During the Windows 7 beta testing, there were cases where the index varied from 1.9 to 2.9, or as if the drive (SSD or HDD) was not performing as expected at all when running a performance benchmark. We received a lot of feedback on this issue, most objecting to such low ratings. As a result, we have simply banned SSDs with potential performance issues from competing for the 6.0+ and 7.0+ tier ratings that were recently added. SSDs that aren't among the favorites in this type of race will end up with indexes that are roughly the same as they would have been in Windows Vista, without benefiting much from the random write performance gains in Windows 7.
Michael Fortin
program manager of the Fundamentals team
In this article we will think about what can be made from a non-working hard drive and a couple of flash drives and memory cards lying around? You probably guessed that you should make your own SSD drive, and also with the ability to connect externally.
To do this, you need to remove all the insides of the old hard drive and install several flash drives into it along with a USB hub. You can see the best way to do this in the attached video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmHBLqYzimE
As you can see, making an external SSD is quite easy and any modder with a minimum set of tools can handle it. Of course, a homemade solid state drive (SSD) will be inferior in speed to commercial solutions due to the limitation of the USB interface. But the whole point is that our SSd propeller will be assembled from unnecessary parts, instead of just throwing them away. So let's save the environment by modding!
How to make your own SSD from CompactFlash cards
The idea of an adapter that connects CompactFlash cards to the SATA interface is not new. We draw your attention to a device manufactured by Addonics Technologies, with which you can turn one or two CompactFlash cards into a solid-state drive that connects to a standard interface.
Century engineers went further - their development allows you to connect three CompactFlash cards to the SATA port at once (as you can see in the picture, two of them are on one side of the adapter board). Of course, you can limit yourself to two or even one card. The total memory capacity can range from 2 GB to 2 TB. The device supports RAID 0 and RAID 5 configurations. The device complies with the SATA 1.0 specification (1.5 Gbit/s), supports exchange modes with IDE PIO Mode 0-6, Multiword DMA Mode 0-4 and Ultra DMA Mode 1-6 cards. The price of the product is approximately $200. Pre-orders are currently being accepted.
DIY SSD drive on SDHC cards
For now, solid-state drives based on flash memory integrated circuits are still too expensive to become a full-fledged alternative to traditional mobile, and not only mobile, hard drives. However, none of the users would refuse the advantages of solid-state drives - low noise level during operation, low power consumption, especially since this possibility is already present. The fact is that the Sharkoon company presents the Flexi-Drive S2S device, which is, in fact, an adapter for connecting up to six SDHC memory cards to a mobile computer.
The media are installed in special connectors on a printed circuit board, which in turn is installed in a metal case of a 2.5-inch form factor. To connect directly to a personal computer, the SATA interface is used.
Using Sharkoon Flexi-Drive S2S, the user can currently organize a drive with a capacity of up to 192 GB, while independently choosing memory cards with suitable characteristics for it: cost, speed, etc. Preliminary testing has shown that the performance of such a flash drive when used Class 6 cards are at the following level: 140 MB/s when reading data and up to 115 MB/s when writing information.