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Windows 7 and ssd setup secrets. Optimal SSD disk setup. What is TRIM and how to enable it: detailed video instructions

The advent of solid-state hard drives, or SSD for short, can certainly be considered a breakthrough in the development of technologies for creating devices for recording and storing digital information. The first SSDs to hit the market, with the exception of high speed access to arbitrary blocks of information, were in many ways inferior to traditional HDDs. Not only could their volumes, without exaggeration, be called more than modest, they also had low fault tolerance and cost a lot of money.

What's wrong with SSDs?

The high speed, quietness and low power consumption of solid-state drives have served as good drivers for their development. Modern SSD drives are lightweight, very fast and quite reliable from a mechanical point of view, devices used in tablets, ultrabooks and other compact devices. The price of SSDs has also dropped significantly. But still, they cannot be called perfect. All SSDs have a significant drawback - a limited number of rewrite cycles.

The flash memory of most SSDs is of the MLC type and allows data to be written approximately from 3 to 10 thousand times, while conventional USB exhausts its resource in 1000 or less rewrite cycles. There are also SSDs, for example, with SLC memory type, which can withstand several hundred thousand rewrite cycles. There are many nuances, so it is not surprising that it is precisely this feature of SSD drives that raises a lot of questions among ordinary users regarding their operation, and most importantly, extending their service life. Is SSD optimization necessary in Windows 7/10 or is this just another myth created by the manufacturers and developers of commercial software themselves?

Basic training

Yes, you can leave everything as is on a PC with an SSD, and you might be right, but if you really care about your drive and want it to last as long as possible, it's worth considering customizing it. Let's start with whether you bought a computer with an integrated SSD or just the drive itself, which you want to replace the HDD with, transferring Windows from it. In the first case, you can limit yourself to setting up the system. If you install the SSD yourself, be sure to check whether the AHCI connection mode for the SATA controller is enabled in the BIOS.

There are two points here: after enabling AHCI and transferring Windows to the SSD, the system may not boot, since it will not have the appropriate drivers. Therefore, either install the drivers ahead of time, or run reinstalling Windows from scratch. Second. The BIOS of older PCs may not have AHCI mode. In this case, the BIOS will have to be updated. Now regarding the firmware of the SSD controller. Owners of solid-state drives often ask whether the drive will work faster if you install latest version firmware. Yes, it will, but if you decide to update it and in general, if the need arises, it is better to contact the service center for help.

System settings. Disabling defragmentation

Defragmentation is a useful thing for HDDs, but it can harm SSD drives, so Windows usually automatically disables it. However, it's worth checking to see if it's actually disabled. Run with the command dfrgui Disk Optimization Utility and click Change Settings.

Make sure the “Run on a schedule” checkbox is unchecked. If it is there, be sure to remove it.

Enabling TRIM

The TRIM mechanism optimizes the SSD drive by clearing memory cells of unnecessary data when removing them from the disk. Using TRIM ensures uniform wear of the disk cells and increases its speed. To check whether TRIM is active on your system, run the command in a command prompt running as administrator: fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify.

If the value of the returned parameter DisableDeleteNotify will be 0, it means everything is in order and the trim function is enabled, if 1 it means it is disabled and should be enabled with the command fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0.

This SSD setup is only applicable to Windows 7/10, while Vista and XP do not support it. There are two options: either install a newer system, or look for an SSD with hardware TRIM. Please also note that some older models of solid-state drives do not support TRIM at all, however, the likelihood that they are still sold in digital stores is very small.

During the process, a significant amount of data, comparable to the amount of RAM, can be written to the hiberfil.sys file on the system disk. To extend the service life of the SSD, we need to reduce the number of write cycles, so it is advisable to disable hibernation. The downside to this SSD setup is that you will no longer be able to save open files and programs when the computer is turned off. To disable hibernation, run the command running with administrator privileges powercfg -h off.

Restart your computer and make sure that hidden system file hiberfil.sys has been removed from the C drive.

Disable file search and indexing

What else can be done to properly configure an SSD drive for Windows 7/10? The answer is to disable indexing of the disk contents, because the SSD is already fast enough. Open the disk properties and uncheck “Allow file contents to be indexed...”.

But here's the thing. If in addition to an SSD you have a HDD, then you are unlikely to want to disable indexing on it. What will come of this? By default, the index file is located on drive C and data from drive D will still be written to the solid-state drive.

If you do not want to disable indexing on the user volume, you will need to move the indexing file from the system SSD to the user HDD. Open with command control /name Microsoft.IndexingOptions indexing options.

Now click “Advanced” and specify your index location, having first created a folder on the user disk.

If your PC only has an SSD, you can completely disable indexing and search by opening the service management snap-in with the services.msc command and stopping the Windows Search service.

Disabling system protection

Controversial point. By disabling the creation of system shadow copies, on the one hand, you will reduce the number of write cycles, on the other hand, you will increase the risk of getting a non-working system in the event of some unexpected failure. The use of retractables is one of the most effective and simple ways return Windows to a working state, for this reason we would not recommend disabling this function, especially since points are created infrequently and do not take up much space.

It does not recommend disabling system protection for your Intel SSDs; Microsoft shares the same opinion. However, it's up to you to decide. If you are using other means Reserve copy, for example, Acronis True Image, system protection can be disabled. To do this, go to system properties, on the “System Protection” tab, select the SSD drive and click “Configure”. Next, in the recovery options, activate the “Disable system protection” radio button, move the slider to zero and click the “Delete” button.

Should I disable the page file or not?

An even more controversial solution is to disable the page file. Some people advise moving it to the HDD, others completely disabling it, but it’s not that simple. The paging file is necessary to optimize the performance of the system and programs that require significant RAM resources. Disabling paging can indeed reduce disk load, but the resulting effect will be very small. In addition, this shutdown can significantly reduce the performance of the computer.

There is also no particular point in transferring the swap file to a hard HDD, since it is many times slower than an SSD, and the system’s constant access to it will slow down its operation. Disabling, or better yet, reducing the paging file is only permissible in one case - if your computer has more than 10 GB of RAM, and you do not use resource-intensive applications. And so, of course, it’s better to leave everything by default. You can perform all manipulations with the paging file in the performance parameters window, called up in the “Run” window with the command systempropertiesperformance(hereinafter Advanced – Change).

Prefetch and Superfetch

In theory, it’s also better to leave everything here as default. The function does not affect the durability of solid-state drives in any way, since it does not produce any records. Moreover, when installing Windows on an SSD, the system automatically disables it. Want to make sure it's disabled? Go to Registry Editor at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session Manager/Memory Management/PrefetchParameters and look at the parameter value EnableSuperfetch. It should be set to 0. You can also disable it through the service management snap-in.

As for Prefetch, the disk writes it produces are so insignificant that it can be ignored. However, you can turn it off, nothing bad will happen. To do this, in the same registry key, set the value of the parameter EnablePrefetcher 0.

The same can be said about disabling the additional Prefetch ReadyBoot feature, which logs the process of downloading applications. The volume of records it produces in the folder C:/Windows/Prefetch/ReadyBoot is negligible, but if you want to disable them too, set the Start parameter in the key to 0 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/WMI/Autologger/ReadyBoot.

Programs for optimizing SSD disks

Almost everything that was shown in the examples above can be done using special utilities. How to set up an SSD under Windows 7/10 using third party programs? Very simple. Most of them have an intuitive interface, presented with a set of options that can be turned on or off. There are many SSD optimizers, but we will focus only on the most popular ones.

SSD Mini Tweaker

The most convenient portable program for optimizing solid-state drives. The utility supports work with the functions of defragmentation, hibernation and system protection, Trim, Superfetch and Prefetcher, management of the paging file and Layout.ini, indexing, cache file system and some other settings.

The SSD Mini Tweaker interface is represented by a window with a list of functions available for management. After applying the new settings, you may need to restart your PC.

Shareware utility for optimizing and tuning performance SSD drive. There is no Russian language in Tweak-SSD, but there is a convenient step-by-step wizard that offers optimal settings. Features of this program include disabling file indexing, Program Compatibility Assistant, hibernation, paging file, defragmentation, recording the last access time of a file, working with TRIM, increasing the file system cache, removing the NTFS memory limit, and moving the kernel into memory instead of unloading parts of modules to disk.

SSD Fresh Plus

Another SSD optimizer. Unlike analogues, it supports working with S.M.A.R.T. data. With Abelssoft SSD Fresh Plus, you can disable defragmentation, the use of short names for folders and files, timestamps, Windows log, and prefetch services.

In total, the utility supports nine different settings that optimize the operation of the SSD. Additional program features include viewing detailed information about the disk. Distributed in paid and free editions.

Conclusion

That's probably all. There are also other recommendations for optimizing SSDs, but for the most part they are either dubious or harmful. In particular, it is not recommended to disable write caching for the SSD disk and the USN journal of the NTFS file system. You should also not transfer programs and Temp temporary folders, browser caches, etc. from the SSD, because then what is the point in buying an SSD drive? We need programs to run faster, but transferring them to the HDD will only slow down the system.

And finally, here's some good advice for you. Don't bother too much with SSD optimization. It will take you at least a dozen years to reach the lifespan of even a budget 128GB solid-state drive, unless you write and delete terabytes of data every day. And during this time, not only the disk model, but also the computer itself will become hopelessly outdated.

Hello!

After installing an SSD drive and transferring a copy of Windows to it from your old hard drive- The OS needs to be configured (optimized) accordingly. By the way, if you installed Windows “from scratch” on an SSD disk, then many services and parameters will be configured automatically during installation (it is for this reason that many recommend installing “clean” Windows when installing an SSD).

Optimizing Windows for SSD will not only increase the service life of the disk itself, but also slightly increase the speed Windows operation. By the way, regarding optimization, the tips and recommendations from this article are relevant for Windows: 7, 8 and 10. And so, perhaps, let’s begin...

1) Is ACHI SATA mode enabled?

how to enter BIOS -

You can check in which mode the controller operates quite simply - look BIOS settings. If the disk operates in ATA, then you need to switch its operating mode to ACHI. There are really two nuances:

The first is that Windows OS will refuse to boot, because... it does not have the necessary drivers for this. You need to either install these drivers first, or simply reinstall Windows (which is preferable and easier in my opinion);

The second caveat is that your BIOS may simply not have the ACHI mode (although, of course, these are already somewhat outdated PCs). In this case, most likely, you will have to update the BIOS (at least check the official website of the developers to see if the new BIOS has such an option).

Rice. 1. AHCI operating mode ( Laptop BIOS DELL)

By the way, it would also be a good idea to go to device Manager(can be found in the Windows Control Panel) and expand the tab with IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. If there is a controller with “SATA ACHI” in its name, then everything is in order.

AHCI mode of operation is required to support normal operation TRIM SSD disk.

REFERENCE

TRIM is an ATA interface command required so that Windows can send data to the drive about which blocks are no longer needed and can be overwritten. The fact is that the principle of deleting files and formatting in HDD and SSD drives is different. When using TRIM, the speed of the SSD drive increases and uniform wear of the drive's memory cells is ensured. Windows 7, 8, 10 OS support TRIM (if you use Windows XP, I recommend updating the OS, or buying a disk with hardware TRIM).

2) Is TRIM support enabled in Windows?

To check whether TRIM support is enabled in Windows, just run command line on behalf of the administrator. Next, enter the command and press Enter (see Fig. 3) .

If DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (as in Fig. 3), then TRIM is enabled and nothing else needs to be entered.

If DisableDeleteNotify = 1, then TRIM is disabled and you need to enable it with the command: fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0. And then check again with the command: fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify.

Optimizing Windows (relevant for 7, 8, 10) for SSD drive

1) Disable file indexing

Moreover, when this function is disabled, the number of writes to the disk decreases, which means its lifespan increases. To disable indexing, go to the properties of the SSD disk (you can open Explorer and go to the “This PC” tab) and uncheck the box next to “Allow indexing of files on this disk...” (see Fig. 4).

2) Disabling the search service

This service creates a separate index of files, which speeds up the search for certain folders and files. An SSD drive is fast enough, and besides, many users practically do not use this feature - which means it is better to turn it off.

First open the following address: Control Panel/System and Security/Administration/Computer Management

3) Disable hibernation

When using an SSD drive, this function somewhat loses its meaning. Firstly, Windows system and so it starts quite quickly from the SSD, which means there is no point in saving its state. Secondly, unnecessary write-rewrite cycles on an SSD disk can affect its service life.

Disabling hibernation is quite simple - you need to launch the command prompt as an administrator and enter the command powercfg -h off.

4) Disable auto-disk defragmentation

Defragmentation is a useful operation for HDD drive ov, which helps to slightly increase the speed of work. But this operation does not have any benefit for SSD drives, since they are designed somewhat differently. The access speed to all cells in which information is stored on the SSD disk is the same! This means that no matter where the “pieces” of files lie, there will be no difference in access speed!

In addition, moving “pieces” of a file from one place to another increases the number of write/rewrite cycles, which shortens the life of the SSD drive.

If you have Windows 8, 10*- then you don’t need to disable defragmentation. The built-in Storage Optimizer will automatically determine

If you have Windows 7, you need to go to the disk defragmentation utility and disable its autorun.

5) Disable Prefetch and SuperFetch

Prefetch is a technology thanks to which the PC speeds up the launch of frequently used programs. It does this by loading them into memory in advance. By the way, a special file with the same name is created on the disk.

Since SSD drives are quite fast, it is advisable to disable this function; it will not give any increase in speed.

SuperFetch is a similar feature, the only difference being that the PC predicts which programs you are likely to run by loading them into memory in advance (it is also recommended to disable it).

When you open the registry editor, go to the following branch:

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

Next, you need to find two parameters in this registry subkey: EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch (see Fig. 8). The value of these parameters must be set to 0(as in Fig. 8). By default, the values of these parameters are 3.

Rice. 8. Registry Editor

By the way, if you are installing on an SSD Windows disk“from scratch” - then these parameters will be configured automatically. True, this does not always happen: for example, failures may occur if you have 2 types of disks in your system: SSD and HDD.

Utility for automatically optimizing Windows for SSD drive

You can, of course, manually configure all of the above in the article, or you can use special utilities for fine-tuning Windows settings(such utilities are called tweakers, or Tweaker). One of these utilities, in my opinion, will be very useful for owners of an SSD drive - SSD Mini Tweaker.

SSD Mini Tweaker

An excellent utility for automatically configuring Windows to run on an SSD drive. The settings that this program changes allow you to increase the operating time of the SSD by an order of magnitude! In addition, some parameters will slightly increase the speed of Windows.

Advantages of SSD Mini Tweaker:

completely in Russian (including tips for each item);
works in all popular OS Windows 7, 8, 10 (32, 64 bits);
no installation required;
completely free.

Many people also recommend transferring browser caches, swap files, temporary Windows folders, system backup (and so on) from an SSD drive to an HDD (or disable these features altogether). One small question: “why do you need an SSD then?” So that the system just starts in 10 seconds? In my understanding, an SSD drive is needed to speed up the operation of the system as a whole (the main goal), reduce noise and rattles, increase the battery life of the laptop, etc. And by making these settings, we can thereby negate all the advantages of an SSD drive...

That’s why, by optimization and disabling unnecessary functions, I only mean something that really won’t speed up the system in any way, but can affect the “lifetime” of the SSD drive. That's all, good luck everyone.

SSD is a device that has the same purpose as HDD, but in terms of structure and principle of its operation it is very different from its counterpart. In particular, if the matter concerns the operation of Windows installed on an SSD, you should properly optimize this device to significantly extend its service life.

SSD optimization for Windows

Let's assume you have already installed the Windows operating system, starting with version seven, on a brand new SSD. If not yet, you can follow the link below to learn a short guide that will allow you to perform this procedure correctly.

The main feature of a solid state drive is that it has a limited number of rewrite cycles. This means that as little data as possible on the disk should be erased and rewritten. First of all, it is this point that we will take into account when optimizing SSDs for operating system Windows family.

Step 1: Checking TRIM Activity

TRIM is a special feature introduced in Windows 7 that finds unused areas and allows you to clear them for later recording. If this function is undesirable for HDDs, then in the case of SSDs it will extend the service life of the drive.

Step 2: Disable automatic defragmentation

The next point that can seriously affect the service life of a solid-state drive is automatic defragmentation. The fact is that defragmentation is a useful tool for hard drives. It optimizes records on the disk, which allows you to speed up work with the HDD. In the case of SSDs, the less information is overwritten, the better.

As a rule, if an SSD is installed on your computer, Windows automatically disables this procedure, however, you should still check if this is the case.

To do this, press the keyboard shortcut Win+R to open the “Run” window and enter the following command in it, followed by pressing the Enter key:

The disk optimization menu will be displayed on the screen, in which, by highlighting the item "Solid State Drive", in the lower area of the window you should see the value "Off". If you see the item "On", click on the button to the right "Change settings".

Uncheck the “Run on a schedule (recommended)” option, and then save the settings.

Stage 3: Deactivate the page file

The paging file is a system file that allows you to make up for the lack of RAM when it is fully loaded.

The idea is that the page file takes over unused data from RAM to the hard drive (solid state drive). It becomes clear that with activity this file Information on a solid-state drive is regularly overwritten, which needs to be minimized.

Alternatively, you can completely deactivate the paging file, which will reduce the number of rewrite cycles on the solid-state drive, however, if several resource-intensive games or programs are running on the computer, RAM may end completely, which means the following message will be displayed on your screen:

Step 4: Disable Windows Hibernation

Hibernation is a popular mode for turning on a computer, in which, after finishing work, the computer turns off completely, but after turning on it continues from the same place where you left off. Thus, the user does not have to re-launch all programs, open files, etc.

To disable hibernation, run Command Prompt as an administrator (as described above), and then run the following command in it:

Powercfg -h off

From this moment on, hibernation will be disabled, and the file responsible for it will be deleted from the system.

Step 5: Disable File Indexing

The file indexing procedure allows you to quickly find files on your computer, but due to constant rewriting, it negatively affects the life of the SSD.

Step 6: Enable Record Caching

Activating the record caching function will benefit both the solid-state drive and the hard drive.

Step 7: Disabling Prefetch

Prefetch is a special technology for speeding up system loading, which is aimed at working with slow media. As you understand, this function is useless for SSDs.

Launch the Run window using the Win+R keys and enter the following command:

A registry window will appear on the screen, in which you will need to go to the following branch:

HKLM SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control Session Manager Memory Management PrefetchParameters

Double click on the option "EnablePrefetcher" and set the value in it «0» . Save your changes.

These tips will allow you to reduce the number of SSD write cycles without affecting system performance. But even if you do not resort to the tips listed in the article, the solid-state drive will delight you with its excellent performance for a long time. If you know what other SSD optimization techniques exist, share them in the comments.

In this article, we will look at the operating system settings for optimal operation of the SSD, features of the operation of Windows services, as well as some “tricks” for more stable operation of the SSD drive and increasing its service life.

Introduction: SSD and HDD drives

Solid State Drive (SSD) significantly superior to a classic hard drive ( HDD) in the speed of reading and writing files.

This is achieved thanks to completely new technology for storing information and methods for reading and writing it. At the same time, solid-state drives have limitations associated with their service life, and also have a number of operational features that affect performance.

Why are classic hard drives (HDDs) slow and what affects their speed?

On a hard drive, data is stored on rotating magnetic plates, and the speed of reading information on different parts of the plate is different. In addition, the different arrangement of files on the platters requires constant movement of the read head, which makes copying or writing a large number of (especially small) files very slow.

Sometimes one file may be written in parts on different parts of the platter, which will also reduce the speed of reading such a file: the reading head must move to a new position and wait for the magnetic platter to rotate to begin reading the next part of the file.

Why is an SSD drive several times faster and what determines the quality of its work?

In SSD drives, data is stored on flash memory chips (usually NAND memory is used). The NAND controller is responsible for accessing the cells, whose tasks include performing cell read and write operations, as well as distributing the load.

The speed of access to an individual memory cell of an SSD disk is much higher than that of an HDD disk. In addition, the SSD disk controller can perform a large number of operations with memory cells simultaneously, which makes it possible to further increase the speed gap over classic hard drives.

The disadvantage of this technology is that memory cells have a limited rewrite cycle.
The guaranteed resource is approximately 300 thousand to 1 million times.

So the qualitySSD disk depends on the type of flash memory, as well as on the quality of the controller, which must balance the load so that all cells are rewritten evenly, as well as implement other important management issues SSD disk.

What operating system settings and services affect the lifespan of an SSD drive.

Freezes, freezes and blue screens of death (BSOD) after installing a new SSD drive.

If you encounter freezes (second-long computer freezes) or frequent blue screens of death after you started using a new SSD drive, then most likely you need to:

Install all the latest updates to the Windows operating system.
Update the SSD firmware.
Update the motherboard BIOS.

This set of actions in general is the first thing that is best done after switching to an SSD drive, even before working on optimizing the operating system. The last two points are complex procedures for untrained users, so it is better to seek help from experienced users to carry them out.

Why is it so important to leave 10 to 30% of the space on your SSD unallocated or unallocated?

It is advisable to always leave at least 20-30% of the space on the SSD free.

This is necessary so that the NAND controller, through which all the logic for working with the disk’s flash memory is implemented, has a large number of free blocks. These free blocks can be actively used in the process of garbage collection, wear leveling, and also for replacing flash memory blocks that have failed.
In fact, solid state drives have a special reserve for such purposes.
It is called " reserve zone» SSD disk. This reserve zone is not accessible to the operating system and can only be accessed by the controller.
When most of the free disk space is gone, the controller has to carry out operations to move information to temporary blocks of the reserve area.

You've probably noticed that SSD disk capacities have a strange format: for example, 240GB instead of 256GB. And if you look at the amount of available space, it will be even less, about 222GB. In fact, most likely your disk has a capacity 256GB, and about 8-13% The flash memory of the disk is used as a “reserve zone”.

A large volume of the reserve zone is needed for uniform speed of operation of the SSD disk (especially noticeable under heavy load), as well as its uniform wear, regardless of how much space you occupy on it - 25% or 95% .

But all manufacturers behave differently: some expensive drives from the company Intel may have up to 30% reserve zone(in excess of the volume available to the user), while other manufacturers, trying to make the cost SSD disk as cheap as possible, cut this area to 6-7% , or even release firmware that allows users to change its size themselves. Using utilities for testing SSD disk performance, you can independently compare the speed performance of the same disk with a large amount of free space and a small amount when the disk is full 95% .
Only very high-quality disks with a sufficient reserve area should not reduce stability in operating speed.

Which Windows 7 services are useful for an SSD, and which are best disabled?

Defragmentation, temporary files, indexing - all this requires a lot of disk access, which is very undesirable for SSDs due to the presence of a limited number of write cycles, which is definitely not the case in HDDs.

Windows 7 cannot fine-tune services in accordance with the operating characteristics of SSD drives. But you can independently disable some services that definitely do not help the operation of the SSD drive (and sometimes are even harmful, such as disk defragmentation).

You can also decide to disable some services that are not relevant to you. Further in the article you will find a description of such services in Windows 7 and an algorithm for disabling them.

Disabling SSD disk defragmentation in Windows 7

An absolutely unnecessary (moreover, wearing out SSD) process, relevant only for a simple hard drive (HDD), transfer fragments files scattered throughout the drive in different areas to speed up reading from the disk.
Fragmentation is the natural splitting of files into parts on a hard drive, which are subsequently recorded in areas that are physically distant from each other on magnetic information storage.
The SSD disk independently distributes data into blocks using the controller and does not need defragmentation.

Let's look at how to disable the defragmentation service in Windows 7:

Step 1.
Open the menu “ Start "→ enter in the search bar: " defragmentation " → select the item " Defragmenting your hard drive" .
Figure 1. Find and launch the Hard Disk Defragmenter application.
Step 2.
In the window that appears, click on the button “ Set up schedule" → uncheck “ Execute on schedule" → « OK » → close the dialog box.
Figure 2. Window for setting up a disk defragmentation schedule.
Ready.
Attention! This action disables defragmentation for all system drives, incl. and HDD. If necessary, start the process manually.

Disabling the Prefetch Service in Windows 7.

This service has a fairly good effect on the operation of the hard drive, increasing the loading speed of the OS and user software.

The service accumulates data about which files and programs are opened when the OS boots and the first seconds of its operation in order to optimize methods for accessing such files. But the SSD already works extremely quickly and does not need such optimization.

That's why " Prefetch "You can safely turn it off, freeing the drive from unnecessary (albeit small) wear and tear. To do this, use the registry editor (regedit):

« Start "→ enter in the search: " regedit » → click right click(hereinafter RMB) on the line with the found program → run on behalf of the administrator. Next, we look in the hierarchy (on the left in the window) for the following key: « HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters».
Now on the right side of the window we find the item Enable Prefetcher , right click on it → « Change… ».
Change the value 3 (or 1) to 0, save, close the registry editor, and restart the PC.

Figure 3. Changing the registry key to disable the Prefetch service.
Made!
Note.
Services Superfetch And Readyboot it is not necessary to disable it, because they have virtually no effect on the SSD, sometimes only writing log files of only a few megabytes in size, which help the system work and boot a little better. Now let's move on to controversial functions, disabling which can slightly reduce PC performance, but significantly extend the life of the solid-state drive.

Optimizing useful Windows 7 services

Transferring temporary files to HDD

Quite a controversial decision. Further actions will allow you to transfer:

browser cache.
temporary software files.
installation and auxiliary files.

This will slightly reduce the speed of the system, but will make it possible to save the life of the SSD.

Here the choice is entirely yours.

If you decide to transfer temporary files to the HDD, then below are the instructions using Windows 7 as an example:

Step 1.
Button " Start " → search: " Environment Variables "→ select " Changing the current user's environment variables" . Figure 4. Window for changing environment variables in Windows 7.

Step 2.
Now we change the values in the variable column one by one by clicking the “ Change… " We indicate the full desired path for storing files, starting with the letter HDD (for example, “ D :\...\ Temp "), first in case TEMP, and then similarly TMP.

Save the values and close the window by clicking “ OK ».
Warning.
It’s better to leave temporary files in their places, because an SSD is bought precisely to increase comfort during work, and not to constantly blow away dust particles from it, protecting it “like the apple of your eye.”
Of course, programs will open quickly, but, for example, loading pages in a browser will take much longer.

Disabling indexing in windows 7

Indexing speeds up the search process the desired file on disk.

On an SSD it is completely disableable, even if you often search for something by typing queries into Explorer. It will take a little more time to search for files, but the disk will no longer be written to logs, which create additional write operations even when the system is idle on the desktop.

Indexing is disabled in " Properties » disk. Let's take a closer look:

Open " My computer" , find our SSD (based, for example, on memory capacity) → right-click → select the last item “ Properties ».

Figure 5. Local disk properties window.

Uncheck " Allow the contents of files on this drive to be indexed in addition to file properties »
Close the window by clicking " OK ».

Made.

Now let’s give an example of optimization methods that are found in many sources, but I strongly do not recommend listening to them for the sake of preserving valuable system files in the event of a virus infection or hardware failure.

Do not disable the paging file completely - move it to a HDD with a smaller capacity.

It is strongly not recommended to disable this file even if there is enough RAM, because mini-dumps are written to it system errors when BSOD (blue screen of death) and other problems with software and hardware.

And it is precisely without a paging file that you will not be able to accurately know the full essence of the problem that has arisen if the OS does not boot for some reason.

Also, data from programs or services can be written to it during installation. windows updates or when installing software that will be requested after restarting the computer.

However, there is a way out– leave a small amount of the paging file on the HDD (by default it is written to the SSD, like any other system drive).

Step-by-step instructions on how to move the page file to another drive in Windows 7.

On the menu " Start » click right mouse button (RMB) under item " Computer » → further " Properties » .
In the window that appears we find “ Advanced System Settings "(usually in the middle left) and select with the left mouse click.
Under the item " Performance "Click on the button " Options… »

Figure 6. “Advanced” tab for changing virtual memory settings in Windows 7.

Next in the window that appears “ Performance Options "select the tab " Additionally " and click on " Change " under the item " Virtual memory ", the paging file window will open.

Figure 7. Virtual memory settings window in Windows 7.

Uncheck " Automatically select paging file size ».
We configure it by removing the swap file from the SSD, then install the recommended “ by system choice » on HDD. Save the changes and reboot.

Ready!
Now dumps will be recorded without any problems, and the solid-state drive will be freed from the unnecessary load of this file.

Do I need to disable hibernation and sleep modes? Advantages and disadvantages.

Disabling hibernation and sleep mode may be relevant in the following situations:

You don't use these Windows 7 features, but always use the " shutdown».
When using an SSD, you experience freezes (the computer or laptop cannot wake up from sleep or hibernation mode). BSOD's ( blue screens death) when using these modes.

Let's touch on these issues in a little more detail.

Installing an SSD speeds up the startup and shutdown of the OS several times.
So, “Hibernation,” which is familiar and useful to many, becomes less relevant than on a slow HDD. Moreover, when Windows does not shut down completely, it writes files from temporary memory (RAM) to the system disk, and when turned on, it unloads them back.

Consequently, each time the mode is used, the SSD is forced to write to itself a file that reaches approximately 70% of the RAM capacity. And to save already limited SSD write cycles, you can completely (reversibly) disable hibernation (as well as “Sleep Mode”) using the standard “Shutdown”.

This way we will get some advantages:

Disadvantages of disabling hibernation and sleep mode.

Disadvantage there is a small loss of time while waiting for the OS and programs to fully load, which may be needed instantly, which happens, you see, quite rarely.

So, in most cases, “Shutdown” will be the most successful solution when turning off the PC, and it is quite possible to do without “Hibernation” when using a high-speed SSD.

"Sleep mode" no way does not write files to RAM, but only reduces the consumption of the PC by reducing the power supply to many of its hardware parts (all the data that was in the temporary memory remains there).

So you only need to disable it in case of BSOD and other system errors.

Prohibition of turning off disks in terms of power supply.

Stuck in sleep mode.

Sometimes, according to the settings, the power supply board, computer or laptop turns off the hard drives to save resources. This can happen at the same time as sleep mode is turned on, or after sleep mode has already begun.

The computer screen goes blank and then, either immediately or over time, windows will turn off the hard drives. Old drivers or firmware for SSD drives may behave incorrectly in this situation, and the computer freezes because... The hard drive does not initialize after turning off the power.

This problem can be mistaken for a computer with an SSD drive freezing in sleep mode.

To solve this problem, try disabling disks in terms of power supply.

To do this you need to go to the menu " Start " → enter in the search bar: " power supply

Figure 8. Go to power settings.

Next click “ » → go to item « Change advanced power settings "(Figure 9).

Disable sleep mode and/or hibernation.

4.5.1 Let's start with sleep mode.

As we described above, to do this you need to go to the menu “ Start " → enter in the search bar: " power supply » → select the appropriate item (Figure 8).

Next click “ Setting sleep mode " (located approximately in the left middle of the window that appears), and then select the value " Never " in the parameter " Put your computer into sleep mode "(Figure 11).

Figure 11. Disable putting the computer into sleep mode.

Ready! Sleep mode is disabled.

4.5.2 Let's move on to disabling hibernation.

Hibernation is a shutdown mode in which all processes are removed from RAM copied onSSD, forming a file hiberfil.sys which wastes resources (rewrite cycles, in this case) of the solid-state drive. Disabling hibernation is done by entering a specific command in the command line console ( cmd.exe). First you need to open the command line by entering “ Start " request: " cmd "and run it on behalf of administrator(by pressing RMB and selecting “ Run as administrator »)

Now copy (or enter manually) the following into the line:

powercfg.exe -h off

Attention!
Combination Ctrl+V doesn't work in cmd.exe. Use your mouse to insert a command ( RMB → Paste). It should look something like this (Figure 12):

Figure 12. Entering data into the command line to disable hibernation.
Press Enter, wait a couple of seconds, close the command line.
After rebooting the PC, the hibernation file will be erased from our SSD, and writing to the disk will not happen again until you enable the function back (in the same command, change “off” to “on”). Done. Hibernation will no longer plague your SSD drive.

Why you can't disable Windows restore point

It will do impossible the simplest correction of system files in case of incorrect installation or removal of software, drivers, etc. The checkpoint sometimes helps a lot, so disabling it is impractical and even harmful.

Automatically configure an SSD drive using the free SSD Mini Tweaker program

A program that will help you quickly automate some of the actions listed here - SSD Mini Tweaker. This software is portable, i.e. does not require installation, and also free.

The window of this optimizer program (V 2.7) with recommended (universal) settings will look like this: Figure 13. SSD Mini Tweaker program window for optimizing an SSD drive.

Conclusion

Now, having become acquainted with the methods windows optimization 7 for fast and durable operation of an SSD disk, you can make a choice in the direction of performance and service life of the SSD, or make the most correct balance, in your opinion.

An SSD is a device that has the same purpose as a hard drive, but in terms of its structure and operating principle it is very different from its counterpart. In particular, if the matter concerns the operation of Windows installed on an SSD, this device should be properly optimized in order to significantly extend its service life.

SSD optimization for Windows

The main feature of a solid state drive is that it has a limited number of rewrite cycles. This means that as little data as possible on the disk should be erased and rewritten. First of all, we will take this point into account when optimizing the SSD for the Windows operating system.

Step 1: Checking TRIM Activity

Step 2: Disable automatic defragmentation

As a rule, if an SSD is installed on your computer, Windows automatically disables this procedure, however, you should still check if this is the case.

To do this, press the keyboard shortcut Win+R to open the “Run” window and enter the following command in it, followed by pressing the Enter key:

Uncheck the “Run on a schedule (recommended)” option, and then save the settings.

Stage 3: Deactivate the page file

The paging file is a system file that allows you to make up for the lack of RAM when it is fully loaded.

The idea is that the page file takes over unused data from RAM to the hard drive (solid state drive). It becomes clear that when this file is active, information is regularly overwritten on the solid-state drive, which needs to be minimized.

Alternatively, you can completely deactivate the page file, which will reduce the number of rewrite cycles on the solid-state drive, however, if you run several resource-intensive games or programs on your computer, the RAM may completely run out, which means a message will appear on your screen the following plan:

Step 4: Disable Windows Hibernation

To disable hibernation, run Command Prompt as an administrator (as described above), and then run the following command in it:

Powercfg -h off

From this moment on, hibernation will be disabled, and the file responsible for it will be deleted from the system.

Step 5: Disable File Indexing

The file indexing procedure allows you to quickly find files on your computer, but due to constant rewriting, it negatively affects the life of the SSD.

Step 6: Enable Record Caching

Activating the record caching function will benefit both the solid-state drive and the hard drive.

Step 7: Disabling Prefetch

Prefetch is a special technology for speeding up system loading, which is aimed at working with slow media. As you understand, this function is useless for SSDs.