An SSD is the most effective way to make your PC go faster. With our tips, the purchase, the installation and the operations will be made easy – For optimal speed and a long service life
If your goal is to make your day-to-day computing run smoother and faster, an SSD upgrade beats every other option. The delayfree call-up of data accelerates the boot-up procedure, the launching of software and the response to every click of the mouse. All in all, the advantages are significantly more visible than the advantages associated with an upgrade of the CPU or the RAM. However, certain factors deter users from an upgrade or make them feel uneasy during the device’s operations: SSDs are considered to be too expensive and too small for a single drive. Apart from that, many users want to avoid the complicated task of re-installing the operating system. Finally, reliable statistics are not available regarding the actual lifespan of SSDs, whose Flash cells are always subject to a certain amount of wear and tear. Regardless of whether you’re a little hesitant about making the upgrade or whether you’re already using an SSD, we’ll show you how you can avoid all these problems.
From Purchase To Operation
As we will describe in points 1 through 5, certain things have to be kept in mind when it comes to selecting the optimal SSD and putting it in operation. The task of choosing the right SSD and the manner in which you migrate to the SSD will depend on your system and your preferences. The section beginning with step 6 addresses the operations. There are always some differences between an SSD and a conventional magnetic hard drive. For example, these differences be can related to the deletion of files or the rectification of errors.
1 Best all-round drive
Most users who are upgrading from a magnetic hard drive or an old and small SSD would be well-served with a SATA SSD with about 500GB of storage. These are available for prices ranging from RM600 onwards, and usually offer enough storage space for the operating system, programmes and user data. On top of that, the SSD’s 2.5-inch chassis fits into notebooks and desktop PCs. Although the SATA 3 interface limits the data rate to a maximum of 600 MByte/s, SATA SSDs transfer data four or five times as quickly as magnetic hard drives. Modern SSDs with a minimum warranty period of three years are designed to be compatible with a large amount of written data: If the device is used in conjunction with a private desktop, this limit is often reached after a good ten years
2 When only the performance matters
If you want the fastest possible SSD, it has to use PCI Express 3.0 instead of SATA – This usually requires an Intel Skylake motherboard. There are currently two such products: Some options in this category include the Intel SSD 750 and the Kingston HyperX Predator which feature a plug-in card for the PCIe slot in PCs. The Samsung SSD 950 Pro meanwhile features the M.2 form factor, and it fits into compatible PC motherboards or Skylake notebooks featuring an M.2 slot. These products feature data transfer rates of over two GByte per second, and these data transfer rates are three to four times as fast as those of SATA SSDs – However, in comparison with the jump from an HDD to a SATA SSD, this advantage is less noticeable during daily usage.
3 Transferring the operating system to an SSD
Before you start installing the SSD, you should think about whether and how you would like to transfer your existing system from the old drive to the new SSD. In order to attain the best performance, you should re-install the operating system and the programmes after the installation procedure has been completed; you should then copy the files.
The task of mirroring the old drive on the SSD is simpler, but it doesn’t always work out. The easiest way to do this is to perform the task while Windows is running, with the help of a software that has been supplied by the manufacturer (such as ‘Samsung Data Migration’). If that doesn’t work, experienced users can try the Clonezilla live system. In any event, you should first connect the new SSD to the system. In case you’re using a PC, you can use a free SATA port. Since notebooks only have a 2.5-inch shaft and a SATA port, you will have to buy an external 2.5-inch hard drive casing that has a USB 3.0 port. Alternatively, you can use a SATA-to-USB adapter, such as the item that can be found in Samsung’s ‘SSD installation kits’. Connect the SSD using this device for the transfer; you can then use the hard drive that has been removed as an external drive.
4 HDD and SSD in the notebook
In case of most notebooks, you can only replace the existing HDD with a SATA SSD that is in an ordinary 2.5-inch casing. If the notebook has an optical drive, it can often be replaced with an ‘OptibayHD’ adapter, which is compatible with a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. Under certain circumstances, your notebook will also be able to accommodate an additional SSD as an mSATA or M.2 module. You can find out whether this will work by entering your notebook model into the ‘Advisor Tool’ on the website www.crucial.de: If M.2 or mSATA SSDs are listed, these devices will be compatible with your computer. Use the notebook manual to find out where the M.2 or mSATA slot is, and install the SSD in accordance with the accompanying instructions.
5 Installation in a desktop PC
Typical PC cases often have no space for installing small SSDs since 2.5-inch slots for SATA SSDs are quite rare. Some casings have bore holes on the rear side of the mainboard base plate, onto which the SSD can be screwed. Otherwise, you can install the drive in a 3.5-inch slot with the help of adapter rails. However, in most cases, all you have to do is use two screws to attach the SSD to the side wall of a 3.5-inch slot. M.2 models present no problems whatsoever as they fit directly onto the mainboard.
6 Optimising the operating system
In any event, you should install and use the manufacturer’s SSD software. Tools like Intel SSD Toolbox ensure that the SSD runs with the newest firmware. Furthermore, the tool tests whether the partition alignment and the settings of the operating system are as they should be. If necessary, it tells you how to optimise these points. In case of a newly installed version of Windows (from version 7 onwards), this shouldn’t be required, but it’s definitely necessary in situations involving a mirroring operation or the old Windows XP system. If the manufacturer does not offer a tool that can run such tests and optimisation measures, you should use the benchmark tool ‘AS SSD’ to check the alignment (i.e. whether the partitions have been created such that they are compatible with the storage structure of the SSD).
The upper left section of the screen will display an offset value such as ‘1024 K’, and a green ‘‘OK” will be right next to it. Alternatively, a red ‘‘Bad” will be displayed. In such a case, you must use the Parted Magic live USB system to adjust the alignment, by shifting the partition boundaries.
7 Optimal distribution of data
If your computer uses an SSD with a maximum capacity of up to 500 GByte as a mass storage device, a single ‘‘C:” partition for the operating system, programmes and files would be the most sensible solution. It would be conducive to the service life of the SSD if you could keep a few percentage points of the available space empty during the creation of the partition (e.g. during the Windows installation). By doing so, you would be enhancing the active ‘overprovisioning’ facility. This relates to the extra memory cells, which replace cells that malfunction due to age.
If you are using the SSD and the hard drive simultaneously, the operating system and the programme should be stored on the SSD (drive ‘‘C:”), along with your home directory (‘‘C:\Users\[User name]”). In the case of the latter, you should transfer the directories containing space-consuming user data onto the hard drive. In order to ensure that you can quickly access these files from any Explorer window and save/load dialogue, you should, under Windows 7, add them to the Windows libraries. To do so, open the respective library in the Explorer (e.g. ‘‘Pictures” or ‘‘Music”), and click the link behind ‘‘Include:”. In the following dialogue, remove the folder associated with the SSD, and add it to the HDD. Under Windows 10, navigate to the target folder on the hard drive and drag the folder symbol from the URL tab into the “Quick access” section.
8 Vacate space regularly
Since the capacity is usually limited, the SSD can fill up more quickly than a hard drive, and operating the device at the limit of its capacity also damages the performance of the Flash cells. Consequently, you should clear up the SSD on a regular basis: This means that you should transfer the files that have been downloaded onto the SSD to the hard drive, or use CCleaner to delete temporary files. If these measures do not lower the fill level below 90%, you should run the Windows data carrier clean-up operation (right-click the respective drive in Explorer, and then click “Properties > Disk Cleanup”).
9 Delete securely from the SSD
If you want to store particularly sensitive data on your SSD, you should note that in comparison with an HDD, it is much harder to delete such data from an SSD. In case of an HDD, a tool such as Eraser can overwrite the physical storage section associated with the file to be deleted with random data. However, the controller of the SSD would, on account of so-called ‘wear levelling’, write the random data in a different storage section, in order to guarantee the balanced attrition of all Flash cells.
Theoretically, the original data remains readable until all the free memory of the SSD has been overwritten. In practice, you must delete the files in Windows, and then use Eraser to repeatedly overwrite the ‘free memory’, in order to also delete the overprovisioning sections that cannot be addressed by the operating system. It would be more practical to use the secure erase (refer to the ‘Refurbish old SSDs’ section) option to completely clear the SSD before you sell it or hand it over to a third party.
This Is How To Solve All SSD Problems
According to the market researchers from IHS, SSDs have a lower annual malfunction rate for the warranty period (1.5 percent) than HDDs (5 percent). However, there are often several things you can do if you encounter problems.
Refurbish old SSDs
SSDs that are more than five years old lack the ‘garbage collection’ mechanism, which preserves the write-performance for a drive which is increasingly being filled up. Such SSDs become slower and slower. Their speed can be re-enhanced through deletion and reinstallation. First, use Clonezilla to create an image of the SSD on an external drive.
You should then save the data separately. The secure erase command can be executed by the manufacturer’s tool (but only if the system is not currently using this SSD) or the Parted Magic live Linux system. Use the UNetbootin tool to store it on a USB stick, boot up from the USB stick and use the ‘‘System Tools > Erase Disk” option. Now, select the “Internal Secure Erase..” option and the SSD that is to be deleted. The computer is then switched over to the stand-by mode, after which it is woken up to execute the secure erase operation. The SSD will then be irretrievably deleted. The Clonezilla image can then be used to make it as good as new.
A defect isn’t equivalent to a total loss
When Windows stops booting up from the SSD, write access operations are often the only things that do not work. If you remove the ailing drive and connect it to a running PC (first the slender SATA data plug, and then the broad power plug), the SSD’s data can be recovered – In the best-case scenario, this can be done with the help of Explorer. If the files cannot be seen, you should try to use recovery software such as Recuva. Otherwise, experts will be able to integrate the SSD into a (live) Linux system for read-only access.
Solving more complexs problems
Inexplicable SSD problems can often be traced back to incompatible hardware or UEFI settings. For example, some Lenovo Thinkpad T540s completely erased each and every Samsung SSD 840 Evo. The only solution is to update the firmware of the SSD. Another problem: After being upgraded to an SSD, computers featuring Intel’s ‘Rapid Start’ technology get stuck during the boot-up procedure. In such a case, the simplest solution would be to deactivate ‘Rapid Start’ in the UEFI settings. When it comes to such sporadic problems, you should check whether the
SSD Tricks For Specialists
An SSD can usually be used as a system drive, but other configurations should be used for special purposes.
High speed in an old PC
If older mainboards are equipped with a fast multi-core CPU and a sufficient quantity of RAM, they can perform quite well. However, when it comes to SSDs, their SATA 2 interfaces that provide a transfer rate of just 300 MByte/s represent a genuine bottleneck. You can circumvent this problem by linking two smaller SSDs and connecting them to a RAID-0 system that is twice as large and almost twice as fast. However, in order to be able to install Windows on the RAID system, the system must be created at the BIOS level of the motherboard.
Turbo-speed USB 3 drive
If you are replacing an older SSD on account and impervious external drive. If your computer supports USB 3.0 or 3.1, you should insert the SSD into an appropriate USB casing (refer to point 3).
SSD-speed in the network
If the NAS features two interconnectable gigabit LAN ports (‘link aggregation’), doing so would be advantageous in environments in which multiple users simultaneously use the network to access large volumes of data – In such a case, two users would be able to work on the files in conjunction with the full gigabit-LAN speed.