What should be on my SSD along with the OS

MrNLM

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I have a 128GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD with Windows 8 running on it as of one hour ago. I thought I was good to go and I started to wonder... what SHOULD be on my SSD and what SHOULD be on my 2TB HDD?

So, does anyone have a helping hand to get me started on my quest for knowledge? I consider myself a novice with enough know-how to get me by. I am good at following instructions as long as they make sense to me, of course.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 1348
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel B75
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7750 2GB
Install programs to the SSD to take advantage of it's speed. Put data on the 2TB drive, especially stuff you don't access very often.

I'm treating my SSD just like I do any other drive. The only thing I did was make sure automatic defrag was disabled for the SSD. I was going to move the swap file but decided that too should be on the fastest drive so left it.

I'm sure others will disagree, but that's how I'm using mine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Install programs to the SSD to take advantage of it's speed. Put data on the 2TB drive, especially stuff you don't access very often.

I'm treating my SSD just like I do any other drive. The only thing I did was make sure automatic defrag was disabled for the SSD. I was going to move the swap file but decided that too should be on the fastest drive so left it.

I'm sure others will disagree, but that's how I'm using mine.

Thanks for the quick answer... I will do the same. Music and movies will go onto the HDD for sure.

I had not thought about the defrag issue! Upon the research I did, I came upon this in regards to Windows 8.

"Did a search on SSD defrag in the Windows 8 IT forums and found this answer which explains why defrag is still enabled for SSDs in Windows 8:
Hello, In Windows 7 - we turned off defrag for SSDs as you mention in your entry; but in Windows 8, we have changed the defrag tool to do a general optimization tool that handles different kinds of storage, and in the case of SSD's it will send 'trim' hints for the entire volume;
SSDs are storage devices made of flash memory; flash memory unlike hard disks are block erasable devices - they can be written to at a byte level but need to erased at a block level; Trim is a storage level hint that was introduced in the Windows 7 days to indicate that Windows is not using certain regions of the storage device; NTFS will send these trim hints when files are deleted or moved from those regions; SSDs consume these hints to perform a cleanup in the background called as 'reclaim' that helps them get ready for next writes. The SSD may choose to perform the optimization immediately, store the information for later optimization or throw away the hint completely and not use it for optimization since it does not have time to perform this optimization immediately.
In Windows 8, when the Storage Optimizer (the new defrag tool) detects that the volume is mounted on an SSD - it sends a complete set of trim hints for the entire volume again - this is done at idle time and helps to allow for SSDs that were unable to cleanup earlier - a chance to react to these hints and cleanup and optimizer for the best performance. We do not do a traditional defrag (moving files to optimizer there location for space and performance) on SSDs.
Thank you for your question and I hope this clarifies the need to run the Storage Optimizer on a regular basis."


I'm not saying you should turn it back on but, it is food for thought.

I am still very foggy on whether Windows 8(or whatever is responsible to do so) supports the TRIM function. Being the owner a beautiful new rig and SSD I am very protective of my investment right now. I thirst for knowledge!!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 1348
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel B75
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7750 2GB
It seems to me that with Windows 8 the developers spend a lot of time saying how features should work, but in reality they don't. They done the same when saying how brilliant their new boot system was supposed to work, but yet when your PC fails to boot, it won't even allow you to boot in safe mode.

With regards to the SSD defrag, they said it doesn't do a traditional defrag on SSDs, but if you look at the first screenshot from the below post, you can see that this is not true, as it's carrying out a full 6-pass defrag on a Solid State Drive:

http://www.eightforums.com/performa...t-re-trimming-ssd-drive-during-automatic.html

I think they should spend less time writing about how features should work, and more time actually making them work in real life.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 64-bit
Windows 8 supports trim on a SSD. Just run defrag with the /O flag on the command line ir click "optimize" in the GUI.
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Server 2012 Standard w/Hyper-V
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP ProBook 4430s
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2310M
    Memory
    16GB DDR3
    Hard Drives
    80GB Intel 320 SSD
    500GB Samsung Momentus
I have turned off the Optimization Service, use Samsung Magician.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

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
Put anything you can onto the SSD, except for files like music, video, pictures, etc. These all just consume large amounts of storage space, but don't necessarily need fast storage space.

Some will argue that you shouldn't put games onto an SSD because it doesn't help the game. True, it doesn't make the game, once loaded, work better. But it sure can save a ton of time launching the game. And for many of us, waiting on game launches is the #1 time killer...as they take longer than anything else to open.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Thanks for all the info everyone! This has been very informative. I hope that I do a good job at maintaining my drive and not screw anything up. I am probably just going to try this out because I am curious but, WHAT IF I decided I wanted to run some apps from the HDD? Would they run properly since they are not located on the same drive as the OS? I figured, if I wanted to, I might someday utilize an email app like Thunderbird and I would be ok with it occupying space on my HDD in lieu of the SDD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 1348
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel B75
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7750 2GB

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
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