But before you start to install, check your hard disk controller in the BIOS. Recall the settings by pressing [Del] or [F2]. It should be here set to AHCI or RAID. In some motherboards instead of the above will have the option Enhanced. In addition, make sure that the SSD is connected to the motherboard via SATA 600th Place the plug in the first slot SATA 600 (SATA3_0). If your motherboard does not have an outlet of this type, for it supports PCI Express 2.0, you can purchase the appropriate controller card in the form of an adapter.

Then run the system with the Windows 7 installation disc and install as usual. Remember to set the BIOS drive with a newly installed system on top of the list check the drives in the Boot menu. Then you need to check (as described in Optimizing Windows for SSD), and system settings are optimal for use with SSD.

When in the future you will be missing SSD space, or at least you are such a threat, you connect an additional conventional hard drive. Install its components absorb a large amount of space (eg games) and put an extremely large files. Even in the case of portable computers can use the external hard drive. If Your PC is equipped with a USB 3.0 port (it will recognize the blue slot), through it, you are able to move pretty quickly, even large files.

And if you want to install Windows XP on the SSD drive, you must first align the partition (the partition alignment). Otherwise, decrease the half life of your drive. Accomplish this work, eg by using the free GParted Live environment. Moreover, in case you need to upload the Windows XP AHCI driver at the start of installation (pre-press the [F6]), because the default is only available in Windows XP SP3. That driver downloaded from the web site the motherboard manufacturer. Keep in mind that there are often problems when the AHCI driver is not loaded from a floppy, because many motherboards do not offer the benefit of the USB drive. In this situation, will only help the individual, installation CD made using nLite.

Moving Windows on the SSD

If you reinstall Windows is not an option, you can copy the installed copy of Windows on the new SSD. If the Windows partition contains more data than can fit on the SSD, you must first uninstall unnecessary software and transfer large files to another hard drive. Then mount the SSD drive in your computer. Copy operation of the system have the best program specialized in this type of tasks, such as Paragon Drive Copy. We describe the various steps on the example of what this program.

Stage 1:
After running Paragon Drive Copy skip to the section Migration $ $ in the left pane. Then click $ Migrate OS to SSD $. Now you will see a warning message that will delete all data stored on the destination disk. So make sure that you select the correct drive. Otherwise you may lose valuable files. Once you confirm click Next, the program will examine the hardware configuration.

Stage 2:
Content of the information displayed by Paragon Drive Copy is dependent on the configuration of your computer. In the simplest case the hard disk is only one copy of Windows, and as a destination drive comes into play only one disk. In this situation, simply click the copy button to initiate the action. However, if you have multiple copies of Windows and / or the target drive, you must select the system and drive. If the hard initial SSD is not enough space to accommodate the copied operating system, the program displays a warning. Then you can exclude folders in which you do not care.

Stage 3:
When you have finished copying the source remove the hard drive of your computer and try to boot from the SSD. Windows should load up as usual. You may need to re-activate the operating system at Microsoft.

SSD as a cache

If you have a computer with Intel Z68, you can use the SSD as an additional memory buffer. To make this possible, the hard disk controller must be in RAID mode. AHCI mode is not enough. Both the hard drive and SSD drive should be connected to the SATA 600th

Stage 1
Install the latest disk controller driver provided by Intel. Download it free from your computer manufacturer or motherboard, or directly from Intel. Then invoke the program controller. You'll find it in the Start menu under the name Intel Rapid Storage Technology. Click the Accelerate, and then click Enable acceleration. In the next dialog box, you can determine how much of the SSD drive to use for the buffer memory - 18.6 GB or the entire surface of the disk. The maximum buffer size is 64 GB.

Stage 2
You have a choice of two modes of acceleration. In extended mode, data is written in parallel to conventional hard disk and SSD. Although more time consuming, but provides enhanced data security. Conversely, if you select the maximum mode, the controller will write data to the SSD first, and then - within certain time periods - the hard drive. In this mode, you get more effect acceleration, but accompanied by a risk of data loss in case of separation of the two drives as a result of any failure.

Stage 3
After all the settings, click OK. Then you have to restart the system. Recalling again the program of the controller, you can exit from the buffer memory to again be at the disposal of all solid state disk capacity. In addition, you can always change the acceleration mode, without risking data loss.

Optimizing Windows for SSD

Environment Windows 7 itself detects when it is installed on the SSD drive, and then should select the appropriate settings. However, it is recommended to verify the configuration. This is particularly true of Windows copied to the SSD, as described in the frame. By using the entire disk as a memory buffer, does not need to change or check settings.

Turn off unnecessary services
Press [Windows R], then type services.msc and click OK. Now double-click Disk Defragmenter on the list of services, set to Disabled in the Startup type list box and click OK. Make the same settings for services SuperFetch and Windows Search. In addition, turn off the automatic indexing of SSD, because it performs unnecessary operations on the drives of this kind. To do this, open Windows Explorer and right-click the disk icon SSD. Point to Properties, then uncheck Allow indexing of files on that drive with their properties on the General tab.

Trim command
Use the Trim command system informs the SSD which data blocks are no longer in use. Then the disk can remove redundant data blocks. In this way, manages to maintain consistently high performance during write operations. Using the Intel SSD-Toolbox will determine whether the Trim command is supported by your drive. After you install this application, run it, select the SSD and jump to the characteristics of the drive. In the row starting with the number 169 you will find the entry Bit 0 - Data Set Management Supported. If the entry contains the number 1, your drive supports the Trim command. Otherwise, you will probably solve the problem by updating the internal software (firmware) SSD. Firmware version, see the list of parameters drive in the Intel SSD-Toolbox. Both updates and upload their programs to be available in the drive manufacturer's Web site.

System restore
System Restore is recommended to turn off only when preparing a regular backup copies of your stocks using an external archiving software. In any case, but you can minimize the amount of space for restore points. Click on this, right-click Computer and select Properties. In Windows 7 and Vista, click Advanced System Settings on the left. In the next window, jump on the System Protection tab, then click the Configure button. Then drag the slider Maximum use of the left edge.

Prefetch and SuperFetch features
Recall the registry editor by pressing [Windows R] and enter regedit. Next, open the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters". Assign values "EnablePrefetcher" and "EnableSuperfetch" 0 in the Value data box.

Updating the firmware

SSD file as the latest version of firmware, you can not just equip it in - perhaps missing - Trim command, but also in other functions. To check the current version of the firmware, install the tool CrystalDiskInfo. When you run it, select the SSD in the second row from the top menu. Just under the model name entry appears with firmware firmware version number. Now invoke the web browser, visit the drive manufacturer and go to technical support (usually under the name of Support). Perhaps you'll find a newer version of firmware to download.

Especially convenient firmware updates in SSD controller SandForce. To do this, simply run the Field Updater files that came with aktualizacyjnymi. The tool runs under Windows, and will automatically detect and display SSD model name on the list. Check the box before the name of the disk in the box and click on All Firmware Update in the lower left corner of the window. Now open Windows Explorer, where you select the update file. Confirm with Open and close the warning message you click Proceed. Wait until the right of the All will be green bird. Now restart CrystalDiskInfo. Should display the version number of the new firmware.

In the case of SSD controller for a different type of update files are usually placed in an ISO. With this picture to burn a bootable CD. Alternatively, you can save the contents of the ISO image on a pocket USB drive using UNetbootin. However, before thoroughly read the manufacturer's instructions drive (Firmware Update Guide). When updating firmware'uz bootable media in many cases is required to make the appropriate settings in the BIOS. For example, in the model Crucial m4 need to set the AHCI mode to IDE Legacy mode or compatibility, because the update fails when it is here set to AHCI.

SSDs on Linux

SSDs can be used in Linux as well as in Windows. But wanting to have at their disposal all the features you need to use the current distribution with kernel 6.2.33 or later. Also, these hybrid drives such as Seagate Momentus XT work perfectly in Linux because they do not require the use of special software. But you can not use the SSD as a cache memory (on computers with Intel Z68), because it lacks the appropriate driver. Was, however, several projects, which the authors are trying to introduce support for the buffer to SSD in a Linux environment. As examples are worth mentioning even Bcache and dmcache. However, none of the projects was not yet in any of the official Linux distribution. Therefore, these solutions will probably installed only by experienced users.

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