Adjusting for a new SSD drive

dc2000

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Portland, OR
I have recently upgraded hardware on my desktop. The major change is that I installed a new Solid State Drive as my drive C:. I think I also read somewhere that these drives "don't like" being written on too much and that one needs to enable/disable certain OS features for such drives.

So I checked the properties for the drive C in Windows 8 and here's what I got:

capture ssd indexing.PNG

As you see "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" is checked.

Does it need to be checked for that drive?

And also, is there anything else that I need to change in the settings to accommodate for the SSD?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
Hello dc2000,

I personally have opted to uncheck that option because the inherent speed of the SSD is adequate for searches without the need for indexing (which runs as a background process). You can uncheck it but be aware that your SSD will take off like a shot and unindex everthing it has indexed thus far (takes a bit of time to complete). Now, as far as optimizing the SSD, there are plenty of tutorials but the only other option that I recommend is to turn off defrag on a scheduled basis. Windows 8 has an inherent function called TRIMS and that is all that is needed to keep you SSD running smoothly. The other stuff, like turning off super-fetch, etc, I don't even bother with. Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thanks. What about disabling page file?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
there are plenty of tutorials but the only other option that I recommend is to turn off defrag on a scheduled basis. Windows 8 has an inherent function called TRIMS and that is all that is needed to keep you SSD running smoothly. The other stuff, like turning off super-fetch, etc, I don't even bother with. Good luck.

They say defrag is already disabled for SSD's on Win8.
The system runs maintenance in the background but it's ssd-aware.
Good thing not to disable superfetch, it does it's work.
Keep the pagefile on the SSD and keep it fixed, 1-2GB in size is more than enough on usual user systems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
Thanks. What about disabling page file?

If you do not have a great deal of experience in that area, I would leave it alone; however, if you absolutely need to know more, I will try to explain but I don't want to turn this thread into a podium for disagreement between forum members. Your SSD has adequate space to easily support the page file so I say do not touch!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
@JustATest
: Yes, I think I can handle it. I also have a regular HDD as D: with 2TB storage space. My RAM is 16GB but I may run a bunch of VMs on it, plus I have a tandency of keeping a ton of Google Chrome tabs open that eat up a lot of RAM. So I'm assuming that a page file may be used in some situations.

I was thinking to redirect it to use drive D. Is such possible? Or even a good idea?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
@JustATest
: Yes, I think I can handle it. I also have a regular HDD as D: with 2TB storage space. My RAM is 16GB but I may run a bunch of VMs on it, plus I have a tandency of keeping a ton of Google Chrome tabs open that eat up a lot of RAM. So I'm assuming that a page file may be used in some situations.

I was thinking to redirect it to use drive D. Is such possible? Or even a good idea?

OK, with 16GBs of RAM, you do not need a paging file; period! I have run XP w/3GBs of RAM, Win7 w/4GBs of RAM, Win8 w/8GBs of RAM and Win 8.1 w/8Gbs of RAM. I have never had a single BSOD, I do a fair amount of graphics and movie editing. Now be prepared for the masses to waring you about watching a 20GB video and the consequences thereof (or similar situation). As I said, I didn't want to turn this into a podium for debate but you asked for additional information and I provided it accordingly. The only downside to disabling the paging file is that you may get an associated Event Viewer log warning that crash dumps cannot be initialized and large kernel dumps will not be saved. This is my last response to this thread so good luck in whatever decision you may make. BTW, I have done several Win 8 installations recently, and they all had scheduled defarg enabled. Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
I turned indexing off, disabled the page file, disabled hibernation to remove the hyperfile.sys file, and turned system restore off. To some that will seem excessive. I am prepared to deal with any consequences from this decision. The few times I've used system restore it didn't fix the issue so I won't loos any sleep by turning it off. My laptop boots up in about 10 seconds and that's with fast boot etc turned off. I never use hibernate or sleep on it anyway so I disabled hibernation from the command line.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
You should consider leaving 25% or so free space on your SSD to keep performance high. With TRIM enabled, as it is by default, you shouldn't need to overprovision by leaving space unallocated, though it doesn't hurt, and it enforces the policy.

For my 16 GB system, I set the pagefile to 1 GB minimum and 16 GB maximum. I see it's currently allocated to 1.7 GB while I'm using HandBrake, even though my System Commit is only 4 GB per Sysinternals Process Explorer. I've since rebooted following a power outage, and it's still 1.7 GB. Other than trying to avoid data leakage when using encrypted containers, I don't know of any legit reason to disable the pagefile. ETA: I fooled myself. My "reboot" was from hibernation. I've since done a real reboot, and the pagefile is back to 1 GB.

I was delighted to find that 7x64 automatically disabled StupidFetch and ReadyBoot when I recently reinstalled 7x64, which is otherwise part of my 25 step plan for all new installs. It didn't do this the last time I installed Windows on my Samsung 830. I TrueCrypt all my drives, and the difference this time has to be the AES instructions on my new i5-4670 build. My previous i5-750 didn't support the instructions, and apparently this adversely affected Windows' decision-making process WRT those useless services, which are among several I originally began disabling when using hard drives to stop the incessant disk grinding that otherwise characterizes Windows. I never observed any degradation in performance after disabling them, but my computer was a lot quieter.

Concerning hibernation, I leave it on, but I do turn off Hybrid Sleep on my main system, which I sleep several times a day, to avoid writing extra tens of GB per day to the SSD. It's connected to an APC XS1500, and the PowerChute software will wake the system from sleep to hibernate it when there is a power outage, like the one we had just a couple of hours ago. For my gaming system, I leave Hybrid Sleep enabled, but it has only 8 GB RAM, I sleep it much less frequently, and it isn't overseen by PowerChute, so there's no safety net should a power outage occur during sleep.

And indexing? Leave it on, and install PDF-XChange Viewer or equivalent to get an IFilter that will index PDF files.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
SSDs do have limited writes but because of features like wear leveling this is not a real problem. Under normal use the drive should last for several years at least. Most likely you will replace the drive because it is too small and too slow (compared to new drives) not because it is worn out.

The performance characteristics of an SSD are a perfect match for the typical usage of the pagefile. While with 16 GB RAM you probably won't need a pagefile that doesn't mean you would not benefit from having one. The pagefile is not some kind of slow alternative to RAM, as misinformed articles all over the Internet will tell you. It was designed to enhance performance and it usually works.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
SSDs do have limited writes but because of features like wear leveling this is not a real problem. Under normal use the drive should last for several years at least. Most likely you will replace the drive because it is too small and too slow (compared to new drives) not because it is worn out.

The performance characteristics of an SSD are a perfect match for the typical usage of the pagefile. While with 16 GB RAM you probably won't need a pagefile that doesn't mean you would not benefit from having one. The pagefile is not some kind of slow alternative to RAM, as misinformed articles all over the Internet will tell you. It was designed to enhance performance and it usually works.

Very well written but I am sensing the OP's main objective is to recover the allocated pagefile space. And I do agree with you that the wear concern is very over-hyped. Specifically, I have a test rig that I have done over a dozen clean installs and over 50 image restorals and my SMART data still show the drive as 100% good. However, if anything changes, I'll be the first to let the forum know.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
The only reason really to do anything with the page file or hibernate, system restore, is if you need the GB's. Outside of that you are chasing ghosts and will never see the difference.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7
I also set the recycle bin to delete immediately do not save trim works less they say. I also have the Laptop to High Performance setting never shutting drives off etc. I found Page file is better left on and setting for the drive buffer flushing is another gray area does it help or not i like watching the read and write speeds in the new windows 8.1 task manager when using the SSD to move big file get good actual reading. Disable hibernation if you have to save space and there is a good site for SSD Forums just Google and you will find the info . Enjoy have two 120 SSD in the old dv9720US and made a nice difference in performance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built Antec P-180B Case
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    Asus P5QPro Turbo
    Memory
    Kingston PC6300 4 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD5670
I am sensing the OP's main objective is to recover the allocated pagefile space.

He's got 170 GB free per the screenshot in his first post. He can afford a variable-size pagefile starting off at 1 GB.

I don't see the point in setting it variable with a max of 16GB.
You've already seen that in action and it uses 1GB a lot and sometimes 1.7GB... when will it use 16GB?

For instance I got min:1GB - max:1GB and no problems at all.

But for each their choice, if your settings work well, keep those. :thumb:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
I don't see the point in setting it variable with a max of 16GB.
You've already seen that in action and it uses 1GB a lot and sometimes 1.7GB... when will it use 16GB?

For instance I got min:1GB - max:1GB and no problems at all.

But for each their choice, if your settings work well, keep those. :thumb:

Good to know. I guess I do it because Windows wants a large pagefile by default, and the CreateFileMapping API can create a file mapping that is backed by the pagefile, so there's at least one way for programs to specifically ask to use the pagefile. It doesn't cost anything to let it be variable size, and when it stays small, I figure an SSD can use the unallocated space for overprovisioning.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
Thank you for your suggestions, guys.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
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