Until recently, all computers worked with HDD, with low speed and low efficiency. But they have been replaced by a new generation of drives, the so-called SSDs, which work much faster than their old counterparts. Like all new devices, at first they were expensive, and their volumes were not very large in capacity.

But over time, manufacturers began to increase their volumes, and due to competition, the cost began to decline. It would seem, what else does the average user need? But they have one person

problem: excessive overwriting of data can completely disable it. But it will help to avoid troubles Windows setup 7 for optimal performance with an SSD, and this will lead to an increase in the service life of the solid state drive.

Why do you need to configure the OS?

All flash drives have their own memory, it is based on microcircuits. They do not have moving parts like HDDs, and therefore they are not afraid of any shocks. SSD memory consists of many cells that can wear out with a lot of rewriting.

And very important point is setting up the OS to transfer data to a flash drive, since calling some services and operations from the drive is slow if you don’t configure Windows.

The setting will reduce the use of space and access to it, which will certainly lead to an increase in the service life of removable media. If an SSD is used in normal mode, it can last for a decade, and if you use it actively, the period is reduced to 2 years.

To install Windows on the drive, you need to prepare the system. We check:

  1. We go to the website of the computer or SSD manufacturer and check that the versions are up to date. If you intend to reflash it, you can erase all data, and you should be aware of this before installing the OS. Find information about the update, download it to your computer;
  2. we transfer the system startup to BIOS setup on AHCI, that is, we set removable storage first. Use the latest modes, otherwise it will work with glitches;
  3. Removable media must be formatted. Can be used windows tools, it can cope with this task;
  4. You should check the system boot from removable media, connect it, create logical partitions on it. If it was previously split, then update them, delete the old split, and split again. Now install on it latest version disk controller driver, downloaded in advance from the manufacturer’s website.

Video: Optimizing SSD drives

Disabling services and functions

Many services and functions enabled by default in Windows 7 greatly slow down the startup of a system with an SSD; we will tell you how to disable them correctly, and which services are not rational to disable. Since running services consume a lot of computer resources, disabling them will speed up the start and operation of the removable media.

Indexing and caching

To disable cache entries, do the following:


The option to create a write cache in windows 7 constantly accesses random access memory device, and records the most requested commands, and then they will be executed on removable media. But SSD is much faster than HDD, and this option is unnecessary.

Indexing is only useful for operating a system with an HDD, but it is not effective for removable media: it will not affect the speed, and the disk will last much less, since the index data will be constantly updated.

Disabling this feature will not affect the database, and therefore the disabling operation will occur without the system starting:

  • My computer;
  • storage device;
  • properties.

In the window that opens, uncheck the “allow indexing” option, and if the system gives you an error warning, then you don’t need to return everything back, and uncheck it anyway.

Defragmentation

Disable defragmentation in automatic mode, this function is not needed, it will only reduce its capabilities.

We do:


Hibernation

Windows has useful features energy saving: sleep mode and hibernation. These functions are designed specifically for laptops for which energy saving mode is relevant.

Photo: setting sleep mode and hibernation

Hibernation is the saving of computer data when it goes into sleep mode; Windows records it and stores it in the Hiberfil.sys folder on the HDD. When you exit this mode, all data is unloaded and the computer starts working from where it was stopped.

If you disable this mode, you can significantly increase the space, and if you start the system from it, then there is no need for them.

The system will start up much faster, and you can disable it from the start menu:


You should run the service as a computer administrator, right click mouse, the command line opens: enter:


After these steps, the service will be disabled.

System Restore

Using this function, you can roll back the system if some glitches begin. Windows creates restore points, writes everything to separate file, which takes up a lot of space. You can disable this feature, but it will be better if you limit the size of the file intended for system recovery.

To do this, open the “my computer” folder:


Prefetch and SuperFetch

SuperFetch is responsible for caching the most popular files, but to run from a drive this service is not needed and should be disabled.

The Prefetch service is responsible for loading programs into the computer's RAM, and in our case it is useless, so we disable it:


Video: Disk setup

Moving the swap file

It is advisable to do this if the OS is 32-bit, the page file needs to be moved to another location, you should run a number of commands:

  • Control Panel;
  • System;
  • Additionally;
  • Performance;
  • Options;
  • Additionally;
  • Virtual memory

If your computer has 64-bit Windows installed with more than 8GB of RAM, then you can safely disable the paging file option:


Is TRIM enabled?

With the TRIM command, the OS transmits important information to the SSD about unused data blocks that can be cleared by it itself. Since the option to format and delete files can lead to poor drive performance, this feature allows you to reduce the number of unnecessary files, and clean it.

This is one of the most basic commands that must be enabled, otherwise the write level will be low, which will lead to reduced functionality of the disk space.

To make sure this feature is enabled:


Setting up Windows 7 for an SSD drive, SSD Mini Tweaker program

If you are not a computer genius, but want to transfer the OS to an SSD, then use the small SSD Mini Tweaker utility. The program does not take up much space, but copes with its task quite quickly, and is relevant for those users who are planning to postpone the launch Windows systems 7 bits 32 and 64 on SDD.

The window of the launched program looks like this, and you can immediately configure required parameters.

Many functions for transferring Windows are not needed; they can only slow down the process itself:


The program will help you configure about 13 parameters that will increase performance if it starts with an SSD. The goal of optimization is to reduce access to removable media, which prolongs its performance.

Your operating system can be activated if you run it from an SSD drive, and Windows 7 is perfectly adapted to run from a solid-state drive. Even if you have a lot of power-hungry programs installed, with proper optimization you can debug it to run from an SDD, paying special attention to Superfetch/Prefetcher and defragmentation.

If you have a large operating memory, then this is even better: you can successfully optimize it, which will only lead to faster performance and a longer service life of the removable storage device.

SSDs are getting cheaper every day, and let's hope this trend doesn't change.

Many new computer models already contain this type of drive; manufacturers themselves have optimized the operating system for efficient operation from a solid-state drive.

Of course, you need to choose the optimization method yourself, and we only gave the most important tips on how to do this without losing important data when transferring the system to an SSD.

Setting up an SSD under Windows 7

Introduction

Solid-state drives, as manufacturers claim, work noticeably faster hard drives based on mechanics. Of course, their cost is much more expensive. Although performance indicators SSD drives tall, many users claim that they can be raised. All that is required is appropriate optimization and configuration of the SSD under Windows 7. The most effective ways This article will cover:

  • Enabling AHCI and TRIM
  • Disabling system protection
  • Disabling the page file
  • Disabling hibernation
  • Disable Windows 7 record caching
  • Disabling Super fetch and search Windows 7
  • Power Options Settings

Enabling AHCI and TRIM

Before you start executing optimization, you need to make sure that the SATA controller can operate in AHCI mode and the TRIM function in Windows 7 is activated.

During system startup, press DELETE key and see that AHCI mode is activated in the BIOS for your SATA controller. This mode is required to support TRIMa on SSD. You can also verify this by performing the following steps in the system:

  • IN start menu“Start” select “Control Panel”
  • Select “System” and switch to classic view (small and large icon mode)
  • Go to "Device Manager"
  • Look for an item with a list of ATA / ATAPI and IDE controllers
  • If such an item is present, your system is already loaded with AHCI mode enabled

If operating system was installed in IDE mode, you need to switch to AHCI mode in the BIOS, provided that the motherboard supports this functionality.

  • Check that TRIM support is activated
  • Check TRIM to ensure that mode commands are sent by the Windows 7 operating system to the SSD.
  • In the Start application launch menu, type [cmd] on your keyboard to search for the built-in command line
  • Right-click on it and select “Run as administrator”
  • On the command line you should write [ fsutil behavior query Disable Delete Notify ]

If the Disable Delete Notify parameter is 0, the TRIM function is activated. If the value is 1, it is disabled.

When entering a command, do not use parentheses.

The SATA – TRIM protocol command will tell the OS which blocks of previously recorded data on the SSD will never be needed in the future due to file deletion or disk formatting.

Disabling system protection

The “System Protection” function should be disabled to limit the number of write operations on SSD drives, as well as to return the space freed up by disabling it back to solid state drive.

Disable disk indexing

Description of the deactivation process:

A pop-up window may appear indicating an error in applying attributes to the files, which is normal. Selecting the “Ignore all” option, continue with your steps.

The meaning of disabling disk indexing is as follows:

  1. Disk indexing was developed for mechanical devices to provide quick access to information. Considering that the response time of an SSD drive is approximately 0.1 ms, there is no need to enable this technology.
  2. By eliminating unnecessary read-write operations on the SSD, the effect is minimal. But keep in mind that taking steps to limit the number of write cycles on your SSD will help extend the life of your SSD.

Disabling the page file

  • Right-click on the “My Computer” icon
  • Select the “Properties” item
  • Select the “Advanced” tab
  • In the “Performance” item, click on the “Options” button
  • Select the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Change for virtual memory” button
  • Remove the checkbox “Automatically select paging file size”
  • Agree to accept the changes, confirming to reboot the system, and the next step is to disable paging for your SSD drive.

A paging file is a Windows functionality that is designed to help the computer's physical memory in case of insufficient capacity, allowing the movement of some information from the RAM to HDD to free up available RAM. Disabling the PageFile function will free up the space reserved for swapping on your hard drive.

Disabling hibernation

Disabling hibernation mode will free up 2 Gb (possibly more, depending on the amount of installed RAM) of SSD disk space. This functionality will not provide significant benefits due to fast loading.

Description of the deactivation process:

  • In the Start search menu, type [cmd] to search Windows utilities 7
  • Right-click on the cmd program and run it as administrator
  • IN command line type [powercfg -h off]

Hibernation helps to quickly restore the system after inactivity. When using it, the information contained in the random access memory device is written to disk and then read when waking up.

Disable Windows Record Caching

Description of the deactivation process:

  • Right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Properties”
  • Select Device Manager
  • Select "Disk devices"
  • Right-click on the SSD, selecting "Properties"
  • On the “Policy” tab, remove the “checkbox” from the “Allow caching of records on this device” item.

The record caching functionality in Windows 7 can access high-speed RAM and accumulate commands that then need to be executed on the SSD drive. SSD drives are faster than mechanical drives hard disks, therefore there is no speed gain when using the cache.

Disabling Superfetch and Windows Search

Description of the deactivation process:

  • Press Windows key + R to enter the application launch dialog.
  • Type and press the Enter button.
  • Scroll down to the “Superfetch” item, right-click on it and select “Properties”
  • From the Startup Type drop-down menu, select Disabled and click OK.
  • Scroll the “scrollbar” to the “Windows Search” item, right-click on it, selecting “Properties”
  • Click on the “Stop” button, then on “Startup Type” and select “Disabled”.

Windows Search creates an index of some folders, files, and additional items on your devices. It is located in the Program Data Microsoft Search folder on the TRIMa:/ drive and takes up approximately 10% of the content of the indexed information. When searching for a file, parts of the indexes are loaded into memory. This will ensure a fairly fast search. This functionality will not make much difference and can also negatively affect the performance of the SSD drive.

Disabling Clear Page File At Shutdown and Large System Cache

Description of the deactivation process:

  • Type in the Start menu
  • Select the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM Current Control Set Control Session Manager Memory Management
  • Right-click on “Clear Page File At Shutdown” and “Large System Cache”
  • After selecting "Change", change the value from 1 to 0, and then restart the system.

This OS functionality is designed to clear the page file. This leads to an increase in the number of read-write operations. Since the page file was previously disabled, there is no longer any reason to use cleanup since there is nothing left to clean up.

The Large System Cache parameter indicates whether the operating system supports standard size cache or increased, and is also responsible for the frequency of processing cached data. Enabling Large System Cache mode will reduce the amount of physical memory available to applications and services.

Setting up energy options:

  • Open your “Control Panel”
  • Select "System and Security"
  • Select Power Options
  • Check the “High performance” checkbox and apply it with the OK key
  • Select "Power Plan Settings" for your "High Performance" plan
  • Click on Change advanced power settings
  • In the “Hard Drive” item, set the drop-down menu to disable hard drive"Never" mode
  • Click OK to save the setting.

Conclusion

Setting up an SSD under Windows 7 can affect system performance, both positively and negatively. Let's assume that there is no need to enable record caching when using the Intel X25M/G2, since, as is usually the case, there is no increase in performance in this case. So is it even worth performing the actions discussed in the article?

One important factor SSD optimization is the increase in storage capacity.

This will provide an undeniable advantage if the Windows 7 operating system is installed on the SSD. It becomes possible to install more software, games and other software. If you disable system protection, disk indexing, paging file, and hibernation mode, there will be a slight increase in performance, but the free capacity of the solid-state drive will increase significantly.

The most discussed issue among SSD drive users is disabling, moving or saving the page file. There is no clear opinion here and there are many supporters of various options. If you plan to disable the paging file, you need to check the amount of memory used by Windows 7. Make sure the volume installed memory half more than the maximum used. In this case, the page file can be disabled without losing PC performance. Alternatively, its size can be reduced or moved altogether.

Disabling unnecessary operations when reading and writing data to an SSD drive effectively affects the service life of the device. Considering the cost of SSDs, this is an important advantage.

As a result, the user himself decides whether he needs to configure an SSD for Windows 7 or not. This OS from Microsoft already works very well with SSDs, but with the help of additional optimization steps, there is the possibility of a small gain in increased performance compared to working with the “default” settings.

The popularity of solid-state drives is growing exponentially.

Once inaccessible to many due to their high cost, SSD drives are now confidently ousting HDD devices from the market.

And although prices between SSD and HDD analogues still vary greatly, in terms of price per 1 gigabyte of memory, this gap is constantly decreasing and this process cannot be stopped.

The main advantage of SSD drives over others is their quiet and reliable operation, and most importantly, high data processing speed.

It would seem that having become the owner of a modern, high-tech disk, you can calm down, satisfied with the excellent speed of its operation.

But it was not there. Many users want to optimize SSD for Windows 7/8/10, trying to achieve of this device even greater results.

And here I would like to go into more detail. Is it possible to optimize the operation of an SSD under Windows 7/8/10, and if so, in what ways?

Indeed, there are such methods and there are several of them, but first let’s talk about something else that is no less important.

Required presets

Before you start optimizing your SSD for Windows, you first need to check some settings.

Is the TRIM function enabled in Windows 7 and does the SATA controller operate in AHCI mode (checked in the BIOS).

What is AHCI?

This is a specially designed mechanism that replaced the ATA controller, thanks to which it became possible to connect to the device various media information, including SSD drives, using the .

This mechanism makes it possible:

  • 1. Disconnect and connect SSD drives, and not only, while the computer is on. The so-called hot plug (HotPlug);
  • 2. Use Staggered Spin-Up technology.

This technology ensures that several hard drives are connected sequentially with a delay, rather than simultaneously, when the system starts, if they are installed in the computer.

This is done so that the power supply does not burn out if it is weak.

  • 3. Use Port Multiplier technology, which makes it possible to simultaneously connect several SSD drives or other devices to the computer through a port multiplier.

But you need to understand that the data flow will be divided evenly between all channels, and this reduces the speed of information transfer.

  • 4. Native Command Queuing support.

Translated as a hardware installation of the command queue.

A short summary.

Not all motherboards support AHCI technology. But if in their chips ( south bridge) even though it is provided, there are times when it is not visible in the BIOS.

Look at the documentation for motherboard, and if this technology is supported, enable it in the BIOS, and if you didn’t find AHCI there, you will have to update the BIOS to the latest version.

There are situations when, after turning on AHCI, with already installed system, a blue screen immediately appeared.

This issue is resolved by installing and activating a separate AHCI driver for a specific operating system version.

Ideal option when this mechanism is activated even before the system has been installed. During OS installation, the driver is registered automatically.

How to check the operation of controllers in AHCI mode.

Everything is very simple, go to the device manager in a convenient way for you (through the control panel or the “Computer” icon on the desktop).

Find the menu item “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” and expand it by clicking on the triangle on the left.

Operation in AHCI mode should be displayed like this.

Otherwise you will have to activate it.

Enable TRIM.

Many people don't know what it is. Let's find out.

TRIM, this is a command that clears space on the SSD disk in background from those files that you deleted. Differently this command also called a "garbage collector".

The fact is that when deleting data from regular HDDs, the areas where the deleted information was located are marked as no longer occupied.

New information is written on top of the deleted one. This provides the stated speed HDD operation drives.

In SSD drives, everything happens differently; new files are not written to deleted ones, but simply replace them.

It happens like this. You deleted some file from the SSD disk, it is marked as no longer needed, but is not actually deleted.

When new files are sent to the disk, and if there is no free space on it, new information replaces the old one and this greatly slows down the operation of the SDD drive.

To prevent this from happening, the TRIM command was introduced, which, through the bus controller, in the background, goes to the SDD disk and clears it of unnecessary files in advance.

All this happens unnoticed by the user, between other operations.

Now, when writing new files to an SDD disk, not only unnecessary time and resources are not wasted on deleting unnecessary files, everything happens much faster.

The TRIM command has been implemented in all operating systems since 2009. It is enabled by default. All modern SSD drives support it.

The TRIM command is not supported on Windows XP and Vista. To solve this problem, you can use third-party software from the flash drive manufacturer and other developers, for example, the hdparm program.

But over time, this problem becomes less and less relevant.

Do not forget that the TRIM command will only work if the SATA controller is operating in AHCI mode, which we wrote about above. IDA TRIM mode is not supported.

Proceed as shown below.

Basic commands you can copy and use:

  1. Check - fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify;
  2. Enabling the TRIM command - fsutil behavior query|set DisableDeleteNotify = 0.

Ways to optimize SSD

It is necessary to understand that optimization of SDD disks implies an increase in its volume and speed.

An attempt to optimize SDD devices may not always lead to an improvement in their operating speed; this must be understood.

After the changes are made, it is imperative to monitor and, if necessary, return everything to its original state.

Method 1 - disable hibernation.

The essence of hibernation is that when it is activated, data from RAM is temporarily written to the disk in a specially reserved area, or rather to a file.

By starting hibernation at any stage of the computer’s operation, we thereby make a snapshot of the running system and programs, and when the computer is restarted, everything will return to its original state.

This is very convenient for laptops with an HDD drive, as it significantly saves time and battery power.

In desktop computers this is not so relevant, especially if an SDD drive is installed there. The system will start up quickly anyway.

Therefore, if desired, hibernation can be disabled. In this case, strong acceleration will not occur, but it will be possible to free up additional and literally precious space on the SDD disk.

It is not recommended to disable hibernation in laptops and other portable devices unless they are used as a stationary device.

There is only one way to disable it 100%, through the command line with administrator rights; see above for how to access it.

Commands used:

  1. powercfg.exe -h off – disable hibernation;
  2. powercfg.exe -h on – enable.

You can try to manually delete the file, or use the built-in power settings options.

But, as a rule, this does not help, since the hiberfil.sys file appears again. Only through the command line will there be a guaranteed result.

Total: This method of optimizing an SSD drive is 50% justified; a lot depends on how you will use the laptop as stationary device or portable.

Method 2 – deactivate disk indexing.

This function is largely intended for HDD devices to provide accelerated access to the requested files.

SDD drives work much faster and the file indexing function is less relevant here.

By disabling it, we reduce the number of unnecessary requests to the disk, thereby speeding up its operation.

To do this, just go to the logical drive manager.

Activate the SSD drive and after right clicking, go to the properties section as shown below.

In the “General” section, look at the very bottom line, where you can disable indexing.

Confirm your intentions by clicking “OK”.

Result: The method is 100% justified.

Method 3 – Deactivate the protection system.

First of all, let's find out what system protection is.

Many people have probably heard about restore points and system rollback.

So, a component that periodically creates restore points through which you can then roll back the system to its previous state is called system protection.

Such recovery points are automatically created once a week and recorded on system disk.

They occupy a certain disk space on which current and working ones are recorded. certain moment time computer settings and system files.

It also provides automatic creation of restore points before major changes to the system, such as installing drivers and programs or, conversely, removing them.

The size of the disk space where all recovery point files are written can be adjusted.

If you wish, you can completely disable this component for any of the drives, and if you decide to do this for your SSD device, this will give you the following advantages:

  1. Increase disk space by 2 gigabytes or more;
  2. Reduce the number of requests to the disk, as well as write operations to it.

What do you have to lose:

  1. Possibility to restore working version system in case of failure;
  2. The ability to restore working versions of programs and drivers in the event of disruptions in their operation;
  3. It is safe to conduct experiments when working with unfamiliar software.

That is, having slightly optimized the operation of the SSD drive, the slightest failure in the system, software, or drivers can cause big problems.

Whether it's worth doing is up to everyone to decide, but we don't recommend it.

But if you still decide to take this step, then to disable system protection, go to the computer properties and go to the appropriate section.

Here you can immediately restore the system if unwanted changes have been made, as well as configure protection settings.

You can disable them completely, or adjust the amount of disk space allocated for this function.

Method 4 – Deactivate the cache Windows entries.

This function allows you to cache write commands coming to the disk so that they are subsequently executed as soon as it is physically possible.

Write commands are collected in high-speed RAM and sent to the disk based on the physical ability of the latter to accept them.

The presence of a Windows write cache for HDD devices is very justified, as it greatly speeds up their operation.

The same cannot be said about SDD drives, which work much faster.

But the problem is that SSD drives from different manufacturers behave differently when the Windows write cache is disabled.

How to do it.

Go to Device Manager through Computer Properties or Control Panel.

Find the "disk devices" section.

Right-click on the SSD disk icon and go to the “properties” section.

Here you can disable or enable the Windows write cache.

Method 5 – disable the page file.

Main role this method, this is an increase in disk space on an SSD drive, which is much more expensive than on similar HDD devices.

This will not greatly affect the increase in the speed of the SSD device, and in some cases, when there is not enough RAM, it can even lead to a decrease in computer performance.

The paging file is a reserved space on the hard drive that begins to be used when the computer's physical RAM is rebooted.

Files loaded into RAM that are not yet in use are temporarily moved to the page file and, if necessary, retrieved from there.

If there is not enough physical RAM, or little space is allocated for the paging file, the computer begins to slow down significantly.

On SDD devices, the paging file is much more efficient than on HDD analogues, since the former work much faster, so think carefully about whether the game is worth the candle.

It is recommended to disable or manually reduce the page file only if the RAM is equal to or greater than 8 GB or you can use another approach.

For example, the computer has 4 GB of RAM. When running all the programs that the user usually uses, 2 GB of RAM are used (look in the task manager).

Not a photo, slightly different numbers, but that doesn't matter.

We take 50% of 2 GB, i.e. 1 GB, add them to the two already in use. The result is 3 GB, which is less than the 4 GB available. This means that the paging file can be reduced to a minimum or disabled completely.

As a rule, if the RAM is constantly loaded by more than 50%, it is not recommended to disable the page file (provided that if the RAM is up to 8 GB).

From 8 GB, 50% will be 4 GB. And in order to load all these 4 GB into RAM, you need to try very hard, so in this case the page file is often disabled.

And if you decide to do this, then go to the “Computer Properties” section and go to the “advanced system settings” section.

Select "Performance" - "Options".

Here, click “Change” and make the necessary settings by unchecking the “Automatically remove ...” box.

The changes will take effect after you restart your computer.

If these changes are not justified, change everything back.

The way to optimize SSD disk 6 is to disable Prefetch and Superfetch.

What's happened ? This is a technology thanks to which programs frequently used by a PC user are loaded into memory in advance, while disk resources are also affected, since a special Prefetch file is created on it.

Since SSD devices are quite fast, this feature can be disabled.

What is SuperFetch? This technology tries to predict which programs the user will be running at a certain point in time and loads everything in advance necessary files into computer memory.

This is relevant for HDD drives, but not so much for SSD drives, so you can also disable it.

The good news is that when you connect SDD devices to your computer, Windows OS starting with version 7 recognizes them and automatically disables these technologies.

But sometimes, for various reasons, this does not happen. In particular, when the computer has two hard drives, one HDD, the other SDD.

In this case, if you disable Prefetch and Superfetch manually, then all programs and system files should be kept only on the SDD device. Only then will all the actions described below be justified.

How to disable and manually.

Disable Prefetch. Proceed as shown below.

Required commands for copying: Windows + R, Regedit.

Don't close the window.

Disable SuperFetch. We find under the already known EnablePrefetcher line EnableSuperfetch.

We change the same thing from 3 to 0.

Restart your computer.

Also, you didn’t find it in the registry; you can disable this feature through services.

Commands used: Windows+R, services.msc.

The operating system services window will open. Find the line there, double click go to properties on it. First stop and then disable this feature.

Method 7 – Disable Windows Search.

A significant increase in the performance of SSD drives is achieved by disabling the Search function.

This fast search function, fast work which is achieved through a preliminary index of documents and files on disk.

Index data is concentrated in special file Search, which can take up quite a lot of disk space.

SDD devices have a much faster response speed than their HDD counterparts, so the Search function can be disabled on them.

But you need to disable it only if you do not use search and do not intend to do so. Because in fact, the function is very useful and makes life much easier for a PC user.

If you nevertheless decide to take this step, then the shutdown occurs in the “Services” section.

Commands already known to us are used:

  1. Windows+R;
  2. services.msc.

We find Windows string Search and double-click to go to settings.

Click stop. We wait a few seconds and change the startup type to “disabled”. Click “OK” and reboot the system.

Method 8 – Disable ClearPageFileAtShutdown.

This function should be turned off if the paging file has been disabled (see method 5).

Removes all data from the paging file when the computer shuts down. Unnecessary requests to the disk occur, slowing down its operation.

To disable we use the commands already known to us: Windows + R, Regedit.

Go to the registry section as shown in the picture.

And find the line there.

As shown in the screenshot below, double click on settings and change the value of 1 to 0.

You can also change the parameter, the line is below.

Change 1 to 0.

Reduces the size of RAM and periodically sends cached documents to the main disk.

This is a useful feature when working with HDD devices; you can omit it with SDD drives.

Method 9 – ensure that TRIM (“garbage collector”) is always running.

This is done through the power settings.

The point is that at the set certain settings power supply to the hard drive, through certain time, will be disabled, thereby suspending the TRIM command. For example, if the computer goes into sleep mode.

In order for SSD drives to work continuously, you need to make the necessary changes in the settings.

Through the control panel, go to the “Power Options” section.

Switch to High Performance mode and the screen may become dim.

Go to the Power Plan Settings section. And then “Change advanced power settings.”

Find the line “Hard disk” and set “Online” to 0.

Make the “On Battery” settings at your discretion, but keep in mind that the latter will discharge faster. Click OK.

Method 10 – disable scheduled defragmentation.

This is a controversial point, since Windows 7, for example, does not provide defragmentation of SSD drives at all. It just doesn't make sense.

Again, for HDD drives, automatic defragmentation is quite justified.

Therefore, if you have two disks installed on your computer, then you should not disable this function. If there is one disk, and it is SDD, then defragmentation in Windows 7 will not be carried out by default.

But if you still decide on this little adventure, then to disable scheduled defragmentation, click the start button and enter the word “Defragmentation” in the bottom search bar.

The following lines will appear.

Click the top one.

The message “Scheduled settings are being used by another program” may appear.

This can happen because third-party software is running on the computer, for example, TuneUp Utilities or O&O Defrag.

Click “Set up schedule” as shown above.

Deactivate the “Run on a schedule” setting.

In Windows 8, instead of defragmentation, a disk optimizer was introduced.

Many PC users make a big mistake by turning off this function for SSD devices, thinking that this will optimize their performance.

In fact, they disable both defragmentation and additional commands TRIM, which are sent according to a schedule (not to be confused with those commands that work in the background).

We already know what disabling TRIM leads to on SDD devices; they begin to work much slower.

Therefore, it is better not to disable the disk optimizer in Windows 8. Or look for a solution on the Internet, in which only defragmentation will be disabled, and the TRIM command will be executed.

Main mistakes in optimizing SSD drives

As a rule, SSD drive optimization errors occur when there is a second HDD device.

There is an opinion that if you move the browser cache, temporary files, ProgramData and AppData folders, custom folders from the system SSD disk to the secondary HDD, this will speed up the work of the first one. And there seems to be more space.

Yes, indeed, there will be more space. But in fact, you need to start from the position of which disk works faster. Obviously SDD.

So why should we move files from it to a slower HDD, because the response time on the second one is much longer than on the first one. Or not?

Using the SSD Fresh program under Windows 7

The program somewhat simplifies the optimization of SSD drives for Windows 7.

The program is free and easy to find on the Internet.

The program is easy to install. After launching it, select required disk and click optimization.

Earlier versions of the program may ask for an activation key, which can be obtained for free on the program website. This was not noticed in the 2015 version.

The program itself will suggest to you what needs to be optimized and what not.

Let's sum it up

From all of the above, we can conclude that optimizing SSD drives for Windows 7 or another OS has two sides to the coin.

On the one hand, we gain in space, but may lose in speed; on the other hand, we gain in speed, but lose a number of useful functions.

Particularly controversial issues arise with disabling the paging file, transferring user files to a second, slower HDD drive, disabling indexing of files, folders, as well as hibernation, deactivating disk optimization in Windows 8.

Therefore, optimization of SSD drives requires a competent and harmonious approach.

Every owner of this disk must decide for himself whether it is worth squeezing 100% or even greater performance out of this device, or whether he will be satisfied with its already fast operation.

And we hope that the methods described above for optimizing SSD drives will only help you figure this out.

I would be grateful if you share this article on social networks:

Until recently, all computers worked with HDD, with low speed and low efficiency. But they have been replaced by a new generation of drives, the so-called SSDs, which work much faster than their old counterparts. Like all new devices, at first they were expensive, and their volumes were not very large in capacity.

But over time, manufacturers began to increase their volumes, and due to competition, the cost began to decline. It would seem, what else does the average user need? But they have one person

problem: excessive overwriting of data can completely disable it. But setting up Windows 7 to work optimally with the SSD will help you avoid trouble, and this will lead to an increase in the service life of the solid-state drive.

Why do you need to configure the OS?

All flash drives have their own memory; it is based on microcircuits. They do not have moving parts like HDDs, and therefore they are not afraid of any shocks. SSD memory consists of many cells, which can wear out with a lot of rewriting.

And a very important point is setting up the OS to transfer data to a flash drive, since calling some services and operations from the drive is slow if you don’t configure Windows.

The setting will reduce the use of space and access to it, which will certainly lead to an increase in the service life of removable media. If an SSD is used in normal mode, it can last for a decade, and if you use it actively, the period is reduced to 2 years.

To install Windows on the drive, you need to prepare the system. We check:

  1. We go to the website of the computer or SSD manufacturer and check that the versions are up to date. If you intend to reflash it, you can erase all data, and you should be aware of this before installing the OS. Find information about the update, download it to your computer;
  2. We switch the system startup in the BIOS setting to AHCI, that is, we set the removable drive first. Use the latest modes, otherwise it will work with glitches;
  3. Removable media must be formatted. You can use Windows tools, it will cope with this task;
  4. You should check the system boot from removable media, connect it, create logical partitions on it. If it was previously split, then update them, delete the old split, and split again. Now install on it the latest version of the disk controller driver, previously downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.

Video: Optimizing SSD drives

Disabling services and functions

Many services and functions enabled by default in Windows 7 greatly slow down the startup of a system with an SSD; we will tell you how to disable them correctly, and which services are not rational to disable. Since running services consume a lot of computer resources, disabling them will speed up the start and operation of the removable media.

Indexing and caching

To disable cache entries, do the following:


The option to create a write cache in Windows 7 constantly accesses the device's RAM, and records the most popular commands, and then they will be executed on removable media. But SSD is much faster than HDD, and this option is unnecessary.

Indexing is only useful for operating a system with an HDD, but it is not effective for removable media: it will not affect the speed, and the disk will last much less, since the index data will be constantly updated.

Disabling this feature will not affect the database, and therefore the disabling operation will occur without the system starting:

  • My computer;
  • storage device;
  • properties.

In the window that opens, uncheck the “allow indexing” option, and if the system gives you an error warning, then you don’t need to return everything back, and uncheck it anyway.

Defragmentation

We disable defragmentation in automatic mode, this function is not needed, it will only reduce its capabilities.

We do:


Hibernation

Windows has useful energy saving features: sleep mode and hibernation. These functions are designed specifically for laptops for which energy saving mode is relevant.

Hibernation is the saving of computer data when it goes into sleep mode; windows records it and saves it in the Hiberfil.sys folder on the HDD. When you exit this mode, all data is unloaded and the computer starts working from where it was stopped.

If you disable this mode, you can significantly increase the space, and if you start the system from it, then there is no need for them.

The system will start up much faster, and you can disable it from the start menu:


You should start the service as a computer administrator, right-click, open a command line: enter:


After these steps, the service will be disabled.

System Restore

Using this function, you can roll back the system if some glitches begin. Windows creates restore points, writes everything to a separate file, which takes up a lot of space. You can disable this feature, but it will be better if you limit the size of the file intended for system recovery.

To do this, open the “my computer” folder:


Prefetch and SuperFetch

SuperFetch is responsible for caching the most popular files, but to run from a drive this service is not needed and should be disabled.

The Prefetch service is responsible for loading programs into the computer's RAM, and in our case it is useless, so we disable it:


Video: Disk setup

Moving the swap file

It is advisable to do this if the OS is 32-bit, the page file needs to be moved to another location, you should run a number of commands:

  • Control Panel;
  • System;
  • Additionally;
  • Performance;
  • Options;
  • Additionally;
  • Virtual memory

If your computer has 64-bit Windows installed with more than 8GB of RAM, then you can safely disable the paging file option:


Is TRIM enabled?

With the TRIM command, the OS transmits important information to the SSD about unused data blocks that can be cleared by it itself. Since the option to format and delete files can lead to poor drive performance, this function allows you to reduce the number of unnecessary files and clean it up.

This is one of the most basic commands that must be enabled, otherwise the write level will be low, which will lead to reduced functionality of the disk space.

To make sure this feature is enabled:


Setting up Windows 7 for an SSD drive, SSD Mini Tweaker program

If you are not a computer genius, but want to transfer the OS to an SSD, then use the small SSD Mini Tweaker utility. The program does not take up much space, but copes with its task quite quickly, and is relevant for those users who are planning to transfer the launch of a Windows 7 system of 32 and 64 bits to an SDD.

The window of the launched program looks like this, and you can immediately configure the necessary parameters.

Many functions for windows transfer are not needed, they can only slow down the process itself:

The program will help you configure about 13 parameters that will increase performance if it starts with an SSD. The goal of optimization is to reduce access to removable media, which prolongs its performance.

Your operating system can be activated if you run it from an SSD drive, and Windows 7 is perfectly adapted to run from a solid-state drive. Even if you have a lot of power-hungry programs installed, with proper optimization you can debug it to run from an SDD, paying special attention to Superfetch/Prefetcher and defragmentation.

If you have a large operating memory, then this is even better: you can successfully optimize it, which will only lead to faster performance and a longer service life of the removable storage device.

SSDs are getting cheaper every day, and let's hope this trend doesn't change.

Many new computer models already contain this type of drive; manufacturers themselves have optimized the operating system for efficient operation from a solid-state drive.

Of course, you need to choose the optimization method yourself, and we only gave the most important tips on how to do this without losing important data when transferring the system to an SSD.

compsch.com

How to set up an SSD drive for Windows 7

For many users, replacing a hard drive with an SSD is the most effective PC upgrade. In terms of reading information, an SSD drive is many times faster, therefore, the performance of the computer significantly increases. But they have one drawback - the limitation on the number of rewrite cycles, characteristic of flash drives.

Setting up an SSD under Windows 7 is necessary because you need to minimize unnecessary write cycles to flash memory cells in order to increase the life of the solid-state drive.

If you have Windows 10 installed, then it already automatically detects SSD drives and makes adjustments to their operation to achieve maximum performance. Therefore, on Windows 10, setting up an ssd is not so important and is performed at the operating system level.

Disable disk defragmentation

During the defragmentation process, logically interconnected data blocks that are scattered throughout the media are arranged in a single sequence. SSD drives do not need to be defragmented. If for hard HDDs defragmentation can increase efficiency in reading speed and thereby speed up the PC, but in the case of an SSD this process can only do harm.

Disabling Perfetch and SuperFetch

The Perfetch folder is designed to speed up windows loading and program launches. The folder contains information about frequently used programs on the computer and stores them in the initial (system) part of the hard drive.

The SuperFetch service monitors the programs you use frequently and loads them into random access memory (RAM) when you start your computer, so they start faster when accessed. Thus, when you run a program, the computer begins to read its files faster from RAM than from the hard drive.

But considering high speed reading solid-state drives, these functions are superfluous.

To disable them, go to the editor windows registry with administrator rights.

In the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” directory, find the “SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/SessionManager/MemoryManagement/PrefetchParameters” key and change the “Enable Prefetcher” and “Enable Superfetch” values ​​to “0”.

Disabling ReadyBoot

ReadyBoost speeds up Windows and works together with the SuperFetch service. While SuperFetch loads program files into random access memory (RAM), ReadyBoost uses the flash drive as a cache for the slow hard drive.

To disable ReadyBoost you need to do the following:

  • Start;
  • Control Panel;
  • System and safety;
  • Administrative tools;
  • Performance Monitor;
  • On the left side, expand the Data Collector Groups section and select Startup Event Tracking Sessions;
  • double click on “ReadyBoost”;
  • Tracking sessions;
  • Uncheck the box next to “Enabled”.

Disabling or moving the paging file to the HDD

The page file increases the size of your computer's cache. In the event that there is not enough physical RAM memory, the Windows operating system moves some of the data from the RAM and thus prevents software or system errors.

If the computer is equipped with a small SSD and a traditional HDD, then the page file can be placed on the SSD. If you have windows x64 installed, the page file can be disabled.

TRIM function

In the Windows 7 operating system, it is important to check whether the TRIM function is enabled. Note that this function informs the SSD drive which area on the disk is no longer in use and can be cleaned. If the feature is disabled, it may reduce the performance of the SSD.

To check:

  • go to the command line as administrator;
  • enter the command “fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify”;
  • If after execution DisableDeleteNotify = 0 appears, then the service is enabled.

Disabling sleep mode (hibernation)

The hibernation feature clearly reduces the time it takes for the Windows operating system to start from the hard drive. Compared to hard drives, SSD drives are much faster in terms of readout time, which makes the startup process much shorter. Therefore, hibernation mode in computers with SSD does not bring tangible benefits and can be disabled.

When entering sleep mode, all data from RAM is saved to the hard drive in the hiberhil.sys file, which is quite a decent size. This is especially true for small SSDs; disabling sleep mode frees up valuable space on the SSD drive.

To disable, use the Win+R keys to launch a command prompt as administrator and type the command “powercfg -h off”.

AHCI mode

For full operation of the SSD drive, including using the TRIM function, you need to enable AHCI mode in the BIOS. If you simply change the mode, then after turning on the Windows boot process may be interrupted by an error (blue screen).

For correction:

  • go to the windows registry editor as administrator;
  • find the entry “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Msahci” or “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/lastorV”;
  • Click twice on “Start” and change the value to “0”;
  • restart your computer;
  • change in BIOS SATA mode AHCI controller.

InstComputer.ru

Setting up Windows 7 for optimal operation with an SSD drive

Here I will not tell you what an SSD is and why it is better/worse than a regular hard drive. I recommend that you first read previous articles on this topic, which talk about the Combination of an SSD and HDD drive for a desktop computer and recommendations for installing MS Windows 7 on an SSD. If you listened to the advice in these articles, Windows 7 should already “fly” on your PC with an SSD. You won’t be able to speed it up even more, even after optimizing many system functions, the results of which have a much greater positive effect on HDDs than on new SSDs. These possibilities are discussed in 4 parts of the article “Setting up Windows 7 from A to Z”. In this same article, I want to describe those manipulations that are designed to extend the life of your solid-state drive (by reducing the load on it) and free up about 5-10 extra gigabytes of space, which in our case is very important. Today we make all changes manually. If the process is not important to you, download the SSD Tweaker (Pro) program, which will perform steps 3,5,6 for you. and much more... What are we going to do today? Here's a summary:

  • 1. Transfer the paging file to another disk (HDD)
  • 2. Disable the creation of system restore points
  • 3. Turn off the indexing function
  • 4. Disable the defragmentation service
  • 5. Disable the Hibernation feature
  • 6. Disable Prefetch and Superfetch

First. Moving the paging file will increase the amount of free space on the SSD exactly as much as the file itself weighs. It’s better to have it on the HDD, where there is much more space (especially since the swap file is used only when there is insufficient RAM and is required by at most 5% of applications). We follow the path “Start” - right click on “Computer” - “Properties” - select “Advanced system settings” on the left and look at the following three screenshots (stole from my other article): As a result, our paging file will become a fixed size, which will prevent its constant fragmentation; and will be stored on another drive (not SSD).

Second. Disable the system's creation of restore points. I don’t know how it is for anyone, but it was always easier for me to roll back a fresh operating system from an image than to guess at what recovery point it was 100% working. But in the case of SSDs, everything is much more categorical. The function of creating restore points MUST be disabled. About a year ago it became known that when the creation of recovery points is enabled, the operation of the “TRIM” function, which is vital for SSDs, is blocked. Due to this, over time there is a gradual degradation of the drive’s operating speed. Well, two auxiliary factors - as a result, we will reduce the load and increase the amount of free space on the SSD. We follow the previous path: “Start” - right click on “Computer” - “Properties” - select “System Protection” on the left and look at the following screenshot:

Third. The indexing feature was created to speed up searches in Windows. Its work is that during inactivity, the operating system checks, updates and saves indexes for all files on your disks in order to quickly display the results of possible search queries. This increases the load on the disk (or rather, the load time increases) and the index files themselves take up a certain space on it. I windows search I don’t use it at all, and thanks to the high response speed of the SSD, this function simply makes no sense. Open "Explorer", right-click on the SSD - "Properties" - uncheck the box next to "Allow the contents of files on this disk to be indexed"

Fourth. The defragmentation service on SSDs is unnecessary (due to a completely different operating mechanism than on HDDs) and contraindicated (NAND memory used in SSDs has a limited number of rewrite cycles). If it so happens that Windows 7 left this function enabled (usually when installing the operating system on a solid-state drive, the defragmentation service is disabled by default) - follow the path: "Start" - "Run" - enter "services.msc" (without quotes) , look for the "Disk Defragmentation" service in the list, double-click on it, select "Disabled" in the "Startup type" field, click in the order "Stop" - "Apply" - "OK".

Fifth. Hibernation. This function is only needed when using HDD and is mainly used on laptops. This is a kind of “Deep Sleep Mode”, in which all contents from RAM are written to disk to speed up further system loading. This is not relevant for SSDs and, in addition, disabling Hibernation will free up about 2 GB of disk space... Click “Start” - “Run”, enter the text “cmd” (without quotes), in the window that appears, write the command “powercfg -h off” " (without quotes), press the "Enter" button.

Sixth. Prefetch - Preload frequently used applications and libraries into RAM. When using an SSD, the performance increase is not noticeable. When disabled, space in RAM is freed and the number of requests to the drive is reduced. Superfetch - caching frequently used files. Absolutely useless on SSD. To disable both functions, go to “Start” - “Run” - enter “regedit” (without quotes), in the windows registry editor go to the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\MemoryManagement\PrefetchParameters right-click on each of the items : "EnablePrefetcher", "EnableSuperfetch", select "Change", enter the number "0":

rapidsoft.org

Setting up SSD for Windows 7 - optimization, program, TRIM

Windows 7 was not originally designed to run on SSDs. Since their introduction, Microsoft has released numerous updates designed to improve the performance of the OS on solid-state drives. However, you need to carry out additional optimization manually, which gives much more effect.

SSD drive

Solid State Drive ( Solid State Drive) is a storage device based on flash memory and a control controller.

They are widely used in computing and have some advantages over HDDs:

  • high speed;
  • impact resistance;
  • heat resistance;
  • small size and weight;
  • noiselessness.

In Windows 8 and above, they work stably and quickly, but under older OS, problems with wear and tear are inevitable. To avoid this, you need to optimize the parameters, which is what this article is devoted to.

What does optimization give?

Windows 7 has several services that increase the performance of regular hard drives. But with SSDs, they not only do not bring any benefit, but interfere with operation and significantly reduce the service life of the device. Setting up Windows 7 on an SSD negates all attempts by the OS to destroy it, and allows you to achieve better performance.

Even if you compare the maximum read/write speed declared by the manufacturer, the difference will be huge.

The linear speed of solid-state drives is 3-4 times higher.

A typical hard drive can rarely achieve a read speed of 180 MB/s. At the same time, he does not waste time moving the head, but focuses on reading the data.

For a regular SSD, such as the Kingston SKC380S3, the limit is 550 MB/s. for reading and 520 for writing. In linear read mode, it uses all channels and reads data in large blocks. However, if you take a deeper look at performance, the superiority of SSDs becomes even more impressive.

When testing the reading speed of 512 KB blocks (small files), the gap becomes even larger. The SSD does not spend much time searching for a block, as a result of which its speed still remains within 500 MB/s. The hard drive spends more time moving the head than reading files. Its speed is reduced by three times and averages 60 MB/s, which is 8 times slower than an SSD.

Photo: reading test of arbitrary blocks of 512 KB in size

If we go deeper into the tests and check the speed on 4 KB blocks, the SSD will outperform the hard drive by 50 times. Loading the OS, copying documents, small images and launching programs - all this corresponds to this mode of operation. In addition, solid-state drives can simultaneously handle multiple requests, while HDDs are single-threaded.

Video: how to properly configure the system for operation

Setting up an SSD in Windows 7

This process, requires patience and includes the following procedures:

Setting up Windows 7 for an SSD begins with flashing the drive's firmware. All manufacturers regularly release new versions of software for their devices, which eliminate errors and weaknesses previous versions. You can download it from the official websites of the brand. The software package also usually includes instructions for installing it and updating the firmware.

AHCI and TRIM

SATA interface has many functions that speed up data exchange. In order for them to become available, you need to enable the AHCI controller, since most PCs are still configured by default to work with the legacy ATA controller. You can switch to AHCI either automatically or manually.

Automatic switching:

During the next start windows 7 will do the rest of the work itself. If for some reason the utility does not work, then you can do everything manually.

Manual switching:

As a result, after a reboot, the AHCI controller will be visible in the device manager.

AHCI is finished, the TRIM command is next. It helps the OS notify the SSD about what data file system no longer contains, and which the drive can delete. That is, this command removes garbage and does not allow it to reduce the level of performance.

You can enable TRIM if the following conditions are met:

  • The SSD controller supports this command;
  • SATA: AHCI mode is enabled.

If the conditions are met, you can proceed to enable TRIM:

Disabling system protection

The instructions are quite simple:

It is important to understand that by disabling protection, the OS will not make recovery checkpoints and, in case of failure, will resort to windows recovery will be impossible. Therefore it is worth taking advantage software other developers to provide recovery functionality, for example Acronis True Image.

Disable disk indexing

Indexing is carried out only to speed up the search process on the hard drive. Given the SSD's multi-threading and performance, indexing and searching services are not needed.

Disable search like this:

We disable indexing like this:

  1. open “Computer”;
  2. Right-click on the section -> Properties;
  3. at the very bottom of the window that opens, uncheck the “allow indexing...” checkbox;
  4. apply and close the window.

Along the way, you can also disable defragmentation, which is useless on SSD drives due to quick access to cells.

You can do this:

Disabling paging

The paging file is necessary for running programs that require a large amount of memory. If there is not enough RAM, then temporary data is loaded into this file. You can disable it only if you have sufficient RAM installed on your computer (at least 8 GB). Otherwise, it is better to move the swap to another partition, that is, to the hard drive.

Disable:

Disabling hibernation

Computer hibernation or deep sleep was invented by Microsoft so that the computer does not spend a lot of time starting up. This feature allows you to turn off the computer's power without closing applications. When you wake up the next time, all programs continue to work.

At the same time, when the PC goes to sleep, a large amount of data is written to the drive and the SSD wears out faster. Also, for many people, hibernation is not needed, since PCs with solid state drive loads very quickly.

If you decide to disable hibernation, you can do it like this:

SSD Tweak Utility

To optimize your system to use the SSD drive automatically, you can use the SSD Tweak Utility. The program allows you to quickly and easily do everything that was stated above, except for enabling the AHCI mode. The program is published with a different set of tools.

Eat free version with a basic set of functions:

  • disabling defragmentation;
  • disabling recovery;
  • stop indexing.

IN paid version Other features available in Tweaker Pro:

  1. enable and disable services;
  2. setting hibernation settings;
  3. validation and experimental optimization of the TRIM command.

The program also allows for deeper customization, which includes many more parameters. After starting the program, on the right side of the window you can see detailed description and tips for setting up the system.


To start optimization, just click big button In the middle of the program window is the auto-tuning configuration. The utility itself will configure the basic parameters and provide a report.

Setting up and optimizing Windows 7 for SSD is not a quick process, accompanied by several system reboots and visits to the BIOS. However, if you do not configure it, you cannot disable unnecessary services, then after a few months the once-fast SSD may exhaust its supply of write cycles and stop working.

Do you need a USB WIFI adapter for your LG TV? Find out how to choose here.

What to do if the laptop does not see wifi? All the answers are here.

proremontpk.ru

How to optimally configure an SSD drive under Windows 7

In this article we will talk about setting up an SSD drive for the Windows 7 operating system. We will consider what needs to be done for this and why to set up SSD devices in Windows 7 in general.

So, just recently a friend of mine bought powerful computer. And for greater speed, it was decided to install an SSD drive there to install the operating system on it.

Let's figure out how an SSD differs from a regular HDD. As Wikipedia tells us:

SSD - Solid-state drive (English solid-state drive, SSD) - a computer non-mechanical storage device based on memory chips. In addition to them, the SSD contains a control controller.

Unlike SSD, HDD is a hard magnetic disk drive or HDD (hard (magnetic) disk drive, HDD, HMDD), a hard drive, in computer slang “hard drive” is a random access storage device (information storage device) based on principle of magnetic recording. It is the main data storage device in most computers.

The main advantage of an SSD over a standard hard drive is the absence of mechanical (moving) parts, which increases its reliability. Another advantage of an SSD is its high operating speed, it heats up less and does not make any sounds during operation. But SSDs, in addition to many advantages, also have disadvantages. The main disadvantage of SSDs is the limited number of write/rewrite cycles. Conventional (MLC, Multi-level cell, multi-level memory cells) flash memory allows you to write data approximately 10,000 times. More expensive types of memory (SLC, Single-level cell, single-level memory cells) - about 100,000 times. In order to reduce the number of accesses to the SSD drive and, accordingly, extend its life, it is necessary to fine tuning. Well, another drawback is incompatibility with older OS (below Windows Vista).

Next, we’ll look at what exactly needs to be done to set up a solid-state drive under the Windows 7 operating system. Since when I set up an SSD for a friend, I didn’t take screenshots, I’ll perform these settings on my old computer with a regular HDD.

So let's go.

Point one: disable hibernation. You need to disable it for the reason that every time the computer switches to this mode, a large amount of information is written to the hard drive, and I always turn it off because sometimes it is difficult to exit this mode. In addition, by disabling hibernation, we will free up space on the system disk approximately equal to the amount of RAM. Hibernation is needed to quickly load the operating system, but since we have an SSD drive installed, Windows already boots in just 5-10 seconds. To disable hibernation, launch the command line (Start - Run here write cmd command) . In the command line we write powercfg.exe /hibernate off . After you restart your computer, you will see free space on the system disk.

Or go to “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Power Options” - “Setting the power plan” - “Change power settings” - find the “Sleep” item, open it, enter the “Hibernate after” item and enter the value “0”.

Point two: move the folder for storing temporary TEMP files to a regular HDD.

To do this, right-click on the “My Computer” icon – “Properties” – “Advanced system settings” – “Advanced” tab – “” button Environment Variables" - and change the path of the TMP and TEMP variable to another folder (I created it in advance on the D:\ drive).

Point three: disable “System Protection”.

To disable system protection, right-click on “My Computer” - “Properties” - “System Protection” - “System Protection” tab - “Configure” - “Disable system protection”.

By disabling system protection, in the event of a system failure, we will not be able to recover from backup copy, but we don’t need it, because the system is installed in about 10-15 minutes.

Point four: transfer the swap file to the second hard drive. To do this, right-click on “My Computer” - “Properties” - “Advanced system settings” - the “Advanced” tab - the “Performance” section - the “Settings” button. Here we change the parameters as in the figure (depending on the free space on the D:\ drive, you can set a larger volume).

Point five: disabling indexing.

Indexing is necessary to speed up disk searches. But, for example, I have never used the search, and besides, the search works quickly on an SSD even without it. Therefore, this option can be safely disabled. To do this, go to “My Computer”, right-click on the C:\ drive, and select the “Properties” drop-down menu item. In the “General” tab, uncheck the “Allow the contents of files on this drive to be indexed in addition to file properties.”

Or you can remove indexing for all disks by disabling the “windowsSearch” service. To do this, go to “Control Panel” - “Administration” - “Services” - find our service and double-click on it - select the startup type “Manual” and click the “Stop” button.

Point six: disable Preftch and RedyBoot.

Prefetch is a technology that allows you to speed up loading windows by proactively reading data from disk. It is not needed for SSDs, because SSDs already have a high speed of random data reading.

To disable Prefetch, launch the registry editor (Start - Run - write regedit and press Enter). Next, open the registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

and change the value of the Enable Prefetcher key to “0”.

RedyBoot is an extension to Prefetch. In order to disable it, we follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\ReadyBoot

Here we change the value of the Start parameter to “0”.

Point seven: transferring application caches. Here, first of all, we mean transferring the browser cache to second hard disk. I won’t describe how to do this, because each browser has its own method. Therefore, if you decide to transfer the cache to a second hard drive, then Google will help you. But I wouldn’t do this at all, because we installed the SSD to speed up work, and moving the cache to the second HDD will not increase our speed. In general, it's up to you.

It is also necessary to disable defragmentation, but for Windows 7, unlike Vista, defragmentation is automatically disabled when installed on an SSD drive (the same is written about Prefetch and RedyBoot, but I did not have them set to “0”, so check) .

That's all. You can find more tips on the Internet for optimizing SSDs for Windows 7, but they are not as important as these. However, even without such a setting, the SSD will last quite a long time, but if you want to extend its life as much as possible, then I recommend following the above points. Plus, we will free up some space on the system drive, and considering the cost of a gigabyte of memory for an SSD, this is quite justified.

Hello! Decide to prepare an article in which you will talk about how to properly install Windows 7 on an SSD drive, and how to configure Windows 7 on an SSD drive after installation so that it works for a long time and without problems. I recently bought a laptop, took an Asus K56CM and immediately bought an OCZ Vertex 4 128 GB SSD drive for it, I really wanted to experience all the speed that an SSD gives.

In our case, the model of laptop/computer and SSD drive does not matter; my instructions can be said to be universal. I will write what needs to be done immediately after SSD installation drive into the computer and how to configure the operating system after installation on the SSD.

If this is your first time encountering an SSD, then you are probably wondering why there is such attention to setting up the operating system for these drives compared to conventional hard drives. I will now explain everything in simple words.

SSD drives have a limited failure time compared to hard drives. Simply put, they have a certain number of rewrites. Now I won’t say what this number is, it varies and what is true and what is not is difficult to understand. For example, for my OCZ Vertex 4 in the characteristics it was written that the operating time between failures is 2 million hours. And the operating system writes a lot during operation, deletes and writes again various temporary files, etc. Services such as defragmentation, indexing, etc. serve to speed up the system on normal hard drives. And they only harm SSD drives and reduce their service life.

In fact, installing Windows 7 on SSD almost no different from installing on a hard drive. But after installation you will need to make some settings in Windows operation 7, but there is nothing complicated there either, we will do everything using the utility SSD Mini Tweaker 2.1.

What should you do before installing Windows 7 on an SSD drive?

Well, first you need to install an SSD drive in a laptop or computer, it doesn’t matter. I will not describe this process. There is nothing complicated about this, and this is a topic for another article. Let's say that you have already installed the SSD, or it has already been installed.

If you will use a regular hard drive in your computer next to the SSD drive, then I advise you to disable it while installing Windows 7, this is so that you do not get confused when choosing a partition to install the OS, but this is not necessary.

All you need to do before installation is to check if our solid state drive is working in AHCI. To do this, go to the BIOS; if you don’t know how, read the article. Next, go to the tab "Advanced" and select the item “SATA Configuration”.

Select the item, a window will open in which we select AHCI(if you had another mode enabled). Click F10 to save settings.

Now you can start Windows installation 7. The installation process on a solid-state drive is the same as on a hard drive. I just want to give you one piece of advice:

Try to install the original image of the Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system. I recommend installing only one of these operating systems, because only seven and eight can work with SSD drives. Do not use different assemblies, and if you install Windows assembly 7, or Windows 8 downloaded from the Internet, then try to choose an image close to the original.

We install the operating system. You may find the following articles useful:

Once the operating system is installed, you can proceed to setting up Windows for SSD.

Setting up Windows 7 to work with an SSD drive

More precisely, Windows 7 will work anyway, our task is to make sure that our solid-state drive lasts as long as possible and without various errors.

As I already wrote at the beginning of the article, for Windows optimization for a solid-state drive, we will use the SSD Mini Tweaker utility. You can disable all unnecessary options manually, but in the SSD Mini Tweaker program this can all be done in a few clicks. You will only need to manually disable indexing of files on local drives.

First we need to download SSD Mini Tweaker. Download version 2.1 from the link below:

There is no need to install the program, just extract it from the archive and run it.

Launch the SSD Mini Tweaker utility.

You can tick all the boxes, or rather, it’s not possible, but it’s necessary. I have checked all the boxes, except that you can leave only SuperFetch; disabling this service may increase the startup time of programs. Check the boxes for the required services and press the button “Apply changes”. Almost everything, in the same utility there is a “Manual” item, this means that you need to manually disable services. There are two of them, disk defragmentation on a schedule and indexing the contents of files on the disk.

If scheduled defragmentation is disabled automatically after the changes we have made, then indexing of files on the disk must be disabled manually on each local partition.

Let's go to "My computer", and right-click on one of the local drives. Select “Properties”.

A window will open in which you need to uncheck the item “Allow the contents of files on this drive to be indexed in addition to file properties”. Click “Apply”.

Another window will appear, click “Ok”.

We are waiting for the process to complete.

When you do this procedure on drive C, you will most likely receive a message stating that you do not have rights to change system files. I just clicked “Skip all”, I think that if you skip a few files, nothing bad will happen.

That's all, setting up Windows for a solid-state drive is complete. You know, many people say that these are different myths, that nothing needs to be turned off, etc. Maybe so, but if they came up with it, then it means it’s necessary and I think that in any case it won’t hurt.

It seems that I wrote everything I wanted, if you have additions, comments, or something is not clear, then write in the comments, we’ll figure it out. Good luck!

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Updated: February 7, 2018 by: admin