Migrating to an SSD

[Yousuf Khan]

Okay, got myself an SSD now. So I want to migrate my Windows boot drive
to it. I have access to a couple of cloning utils that can properly copy
system disks and make them bootable, so that's not a problem. However,
I'm wondering if it's really that simple? I understand that there are
some tuning that needs to be done to SSD's, such as setting its cluster
sizes, etc. Also there is something called TRIM support that Windows 7
needs to implement. Is this something that's built into Windows 7 right
away, or is it something that needs to be installed? Anything else?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Flasherly]

Okay, got myself an SSD now. So I want to migrate my Windows boot drive
to it. I have access to a couple of cloning utils that can properly copy
system disks and make them bootable, so that's not a problem. However,
I'm wondering if it's really that simple? I understand that there are
some tuning that needs to be done to SSD's, such as setting its cluster
sizes, etc. Also there is something called TRIM support that Windows 7
needs to implement. Is this something that's built into Windows 7 right
away, or is it something that needs to be installed? Anything else?

Yousuf Khan

PCMAG-

A third-party utility, CrystalDiskInfo, confirmed that this disk did
not offer support for the TRIM command, which is one of the key
requirements for proper SSD operation. (Using the TRIM command allows
the system to properly erase blocks of data in the background; for an
explanation, see this excellent article by Anand.) Windows 7 supports
the TRIM command natively; earlier Windows versions don’t.

what's the firmware. . .is it great?
disc cntrl (BIOS) - AHCI Mode (b4 W7 install)
use manufacturer's - do NOT use W7 for full format, out-of-box
condition
DO use W7 for create partition (unless U like misaligned disks)
INTEL SATA controller drivers. . .are they great?
W7: Windows Experience Index. Score should be greater than 7.
2nd level confidence: Get and run CrystalDiskInfo. Verify NCQ & TRIM.

 

[dweebken]

Okay, got myself an SSD now. So I want to migrate my Windows boot drive
to it. I have access to a couple of cloning utils that can properly copy
system disks and make them bootable, so that's not a problem. However,
I'm wondering if it's really that simple? I understand that there are
some tuning that needs to be done to SSD's, such as setting its cluster
sizes, etc. Also there is something called TRIM support that Windows 7
needs to implement. Is this something that's built into Windows 7 right
away, or is it something that needs to be installed? Anything else?

Yousuf Khan

On a new SSD, first I had to create a partition and format the drive. I
then used Acronis trueimage Home 2012 to clone my laptop's HD to the
SSD. Then swapped the drives and the SSD booted up just fine. Then
Windows recognised a new drive in the system and loaded the drivers for
the SSD quite happily. then rebooted and just enjoyed the incredible
speed. It was as simple as that. Windows 7 has TRIM support built in.

My SSD is a Corsair Performance3 256 GB device, on a Toshiba Portege
R830 Laptop using Intel Core i5, and Win 7 Professional 64 Bit. Also
have 8GB RAM.

Also, once I had it working, I installed SSD tweaker from
http://elpamsoft.com/Downloads.aspx?Name=SSD Tweaker
and ran that.

Oh, you might want to also run ATTO Disk Benchmark before and after too,
to see the speed increas for yourself. It's free.

My laptop used to take 10 min and more to boot up from cold to useable.
Now it does a full reboot in under a minute.


hth

 

[Bob I]

You will see a LOT of opinions, some good, some not so. For my
installation, I decided on the drive, and then followed the
manufacturers recommendations for installation, setup and configuration.
For me that meant a clean install and load. So before creating your own
install procedure, read up.

 

[Drew]

Okay, got myself an SSD now. So I want to migrate my Windows boot drive
to it. I have access to a couple of cloning utils that can properly copy
system disks and make them bootable, so that's not a problem. However,
I'm wondering if it's really that simple? I understand that there are
some tuning that needs to be done to SSD's, such as setting its cluster
sizes, etc. Also there is something called TRIM support that Windows 7
needs to implement. Is this something that's built into Windows 7 right
away, or is it something that needs to be installed? Anything else?

Yousuf Khan

Recently did the same with a drive that had become too small to hold my
windows7.I installed a new Intel 120 gig ssd into my "box' and then
using the included Intel migration software it took approx 15 minutes or
less to migrate my boot drive to the new ssd. I then rebooted and
changed the boot order.At that point it changed my new drive to c: and
changed the old drive to L:. Worked perfectly and after 1 month I
formatted the old drive and it is now storage. Intel Migration Software
is just a free somewhat limited version of Acronis I believe and it is
updated frequently.I was leery about doing it but I found it was
amazingly easy and required very little on my part to perform this.
What brand of ssd did you purchase Yousuf?

 

[Yousuf Khan]

You can simply clone your system drive as I did at first when I
upgraded all my systems but that is not always the best option. You
need to know about SSD partition alignment
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/113967-ssd-alignment.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/70822-ssd-tweaks-optimizations-windows-7-a.html

Good info, I'll read through these.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Besides all of the above, there is another, perhaps quite important
consideration. SSDs are a good host for "static" files, and not so good
for dynamic ones. It would seem that windows should be reorganized on
that basis, with static directories and files on the SSD.
The registry will likely need manual editing to accommodate the changes.

That's actually something I was thinking about. Should I move things
like the swapfile, Thunderbird data, and just "User" folder in general,
off to regular storage?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Okay, got myself an SSD now. So I want to migrate my Windows boot drive
to it. I have access to a couple of cloning utils that can properly copy
system disks and make them bootable, so that's not a problem. However,
I'm wondering if it's really that simple? I understand that there are
some tuning that needs to be done to SSD's, such as setting its cluster
sizes, etc. Also there is something called TRIM support that Windows 7
needs to implement. Is this something that's built into Windows 7 right
away, or is it something that needs to be installed? Anything else?

Windows 7 supports trim, no problem.

The issue that matters is that a simple copy onto the drive will
produce a misaligned layout that will be bad for performance. There
are programs out there that will take a drive and correctly align the
data, I have never looked into them.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Besides all of the above, there is another, perhaps quite important
consideration. SSDs are a good host for "static" files, and not so good
for dynamic ones. It would seem that windows should be reorganized on
that basis, with static directories and files on the SSD.
The registry will likely need manual editing to accommodate the changes.

(I have two SSDs (120G each) in systems that I'm going to "reorganize",
as soon as I figure out a reasonable way to accomplish the task.

That's the theory at least but even though I didn't do anything to
keep the dynamic stuff off the SSDs I'm happy with how they are
performing.

I have a 256gb that hosts my Win7 system and a 128gb that hosts two
virtual machines. They've been in use for a year now and I've managed
to write so much to the 128gb one that it's life is down to 99%. The
256gb is still at 100%.

 

[BillW50]

In

They've been in use for a year now and I've managed to write so much
to the 128gb one that it's life is down to 99%. The 256gb is still at
100%.

What are you using that tells you what the wear level is?

 

[Yousuf Khan]

what's the firmware. . .is it great?
disc cntrl (BIOS) - AHCI Mode (b4 W7 install)
use manufacturer's - do NOT use W7 for full format, out-of-box
condition
DO use W7 for create partition (unless U like misaligned disks)
INTEL SATA controller drivers. . .are they great?

Should I use the Intel drivers even for a non-Intel SSD (I got Corsair
Force 3 240GB).

W7: Windows Experience Index. Score should be greater than 7.
2nd level confidence: Get and run CrystalDiskInfo. Verify NCQ& TRIM.

Okay.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Paul]

In

What are you using that tells you what the wear level is?

SMART for SSDs has some different info than SMART for hard drives.
It's possible "percent life" is a parameter in the new SMART.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

"233 0xE9 Media Wearout Indicator

Intel SSD reports a normalized value of 100 (when the SSD is new)
and declines to a minimum value of 1."

Paul

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

That's actually something I was thinking about. Should I move things
like the swapfile, Thunderbird data, and just "User" folder in general,
off to regular storage?

Yousuf Khan

When it is said that they "are a good host" or "not so good", is that in
terms of performance, or longevity? I'd have thought that in terms of
performance, even if non-optimal, having almost any file on an SSD would
be better; but I could also believe that certain much-written files
would significantly shorted the life of the SSD, especially if not
optimised (is that what this "Trim" thing is about?).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

He spoke in sentences that made up paragraphs, with immaculate grammar and
punctuation. - Barry Cryer on Clement Freud 1924-2009, in Radio Times, 25 April
- 1 May 2009.

 

[Drew]

Windows 7 supports trim, no problem.

The issue that matters is that a simple copy onto the drive will
produce a misaligned layout that will be bad for performance. There
are programs out there that will take a drive and correctly align the
data, I have never looked into them.

Not trying to be argumentative but wondering where you got that info. My
ssd scores a 7.2 (older motherboard does not support higher speeds) on
the WEI and I would think that is pretty good for a 6 year old system. I
am running a Intel 320 series 120gig drive and my old Intel x25 40 gig
had the same score. Running any programs or even everything open and
doing any work is like changing channels on a tv, it is instantaneous.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, Allen Drake

Intel's claim is actually "at least" 5 years at 20GBytes of writes per
day.

[]
I presume that's 20G randomly spread around the drive.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

a little bit of me still feels that some southerners think we northerners are
issued at birth with doomed kestrels. - Alison Graham, Radio Times,
3-9/11/2007.

 

[Paul]

In message <[email protected]>, Allen Drake

Intel's claim is actually "at least" 5 years at 20GBytes of writes per
day.

[]
I presume that's 20G randomly spread around the drive.

It's spread by wear leveling inside the drive. The
drive has a layer of indirection so that the flash
blocks wear evenly.

Paul

 

[Char Jackson]

In message <[email protected]>, Allen Drake

Intel's claim is actually "at least" 5 years at 20GBytes of writes per
day.

[]
I presume that's 20G randomly spread around the drive.

My understanding is that it's taken care of for you automatically,
i.e., wear leveling.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Did you mention which SSD you have? I just received number 10 a few
days ago. I have mostly Crucial and have had to update firmware twice
so far. Not a problem though.

Corsair Force 3 240GB.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I would think it would depend on the capacity of the SSD. I use 256GB
SSDs and so far I have only used 60 GB. I do have backup HDDs
installed along with USB3 external for large video and music, etc.

No, I'm not worried about space, I bought one big enough to accommodate
everything that I have in my current boot drive. I'm more worried about
writing too much to the SSD. My understanding is that SSD's wear down
with too much writing to them. Thunderbird and the swapfile would be
some major recurring write events.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

When it is said that they "are a good host" or "not so good", is that in
terms of performance, or longevity? I'd have thought that in terms of
performance, even if non-optimal, having almost any file on an SSD would
be better; but I could also believe that certain much-written files
would significantly shorted the life of the SSD, especially if not
optimised (is that what this "Trim" thing is about?).

Yeah, longevity is my major concern here too, so should I avoid putting
anything that has too much writing happening to it? As for Trim, it's a
command that tells the SSD that a sector is no longer in use, so it can
go in and erase that area during idle moments in the background.

Yousuf Khan