SSD setup

I have some questions re setting up an SSD, I have:

# Samsung Evo 860 1TB SATA SSD.

# Windows7.

Initially I wanted to just add the SSD as additional storage to put DCS on.

Q1) In BIOS my storage mode is IDE, does the SSD *need* AHCI enabled to run with all it's features enabled - particularly TRIM function? (I believe with Windows7 I would have to reinstall Windows after enabling AHCI.)

Q2) I was going to:

# Upgrade the SSDs firmware.

# Enable Performance power profile.

Is there anything else I need to enable in windows to help maximise performance of the drive?

Q3) Does the choice of filesystem matter for an SSD in terms of performance?

Q4) I was going to disable:

# Windows search.

# Windows indexing service.

# System restore on the SSD drive.

Is there anything else I need to disable in windows to avoid unnecessary writes?

Q1. Yes, you cannot change afterwards. AHCI is needed to fully support the features

Q2. No

Q3. Not that you would have a choice as you need NTFS for Win7 to operate properly, Do not use exfat and for sure not fat32 or fat16.

Q4. Install Samsung Magician and use those Profiles suggested, that will take care of all settings you want to change. You can then also revert with 1 click.

Better move to 10 imho if you want better speed and proper SSD support.

AHCI is needed to fully support the features.

So in that case I'll be reinstalling Windows7 on the SSD:

Q5) Other than AHCI mode, is there anything else I need to set in BIOS for SSD compatibility?

Q6) Any suggestions on what I do with the windows swap file? My PC has 16GB of RAM.

Q5. No, not that I know of

Q6. Set it to 32GB fixed size on one of your SSD drives. That is the save size done by many forum members.

Q1. Yes, you cannot change afterwards. AHCI is needed to fully support the features

That's not correct, you can change from IDE->AHCI without a new Windows install

-Click the Start Button and type cmd

-Right-click the result and select Run as administrator

-Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)

-Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup

-Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID

-Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.

-Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).

-Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)

-Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

or search for other manuals "win10 IDE to AHCI"

That's not correct, you can change from IDE->AHCI without a new Windows install

 

-Click the Start Button and type cmd

-Right-click the result and select Run as administrator

-Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)

-Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup

-Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID

-Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.

-Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).

-Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)

-Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

 

or search for other manuals "win10 IDE to AHCI"

He uses Win7, does it apply for that as well ? I wasn't aware of that option tbh, great find !

Set it to 32GB fixed size on one of your SSD drives.

Q7) Any advantages to having a dedicated SSD for the swap file, perhaps a cheaper smaller size drive?

He uses Win7, does it apply for that as well ? I wasn't aware of that option tbh, great find !

+1

There is a workaround for win7, too.

In Windows 7

-Open the Registry editor.

-Navigate to the following key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci.

-Change the Start DWORD value from 3 to 0

-Reboot your PC and set the SATA mode to AHCI.

Django, you got this ?

Thanks schroedi !

It helps to keep you away from a lot of extra work by not doing a complete New Win install, but did I understand that right that you are still using Win 7?

Microsoft stoped the security support in January, so I would recommend that you do at least do an update to Win 10 or (the better way but more work) do a fresh win 10 install.

You can use your Win 7 key for 10. Or you do the Win 7 -> Win 10 update and you don't have to use your key at all, Win 10 will accept it automatically.

So I enabled AHCI in BIOS did a new Win10 Pro install on my 860 Evo. There were no Win10 AHCI drivers from my motherboards manufacturer. Samsung Magician shows:

"ACHI Mode Deactivated".

:wallbash:

Any ideas?

So I enabled AHCI in BIOS did a new Win10 Pro install on my 860 Evo. There were no Win10 AHCI drivers from my motherboards manufacturer. Samsung Magician shows:

"ACHI Mode Deactivated".

:wallbash:

 

Any ideas?

Oh, you have to check AMD I guess. If it was an Intel system it'd be Intel IRST driver that has that function.

Tell your motherboard specs and we can find out, google can actually, we can't :smilewink:

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*edit

Doesn't seem to be that easy, read this https://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/3254/ahci-78lmt-windows-clean-install , it looks like there are issues with Samsung and those AMD chipsets.

Looks like time to upgrade

There is a workaround for win7, too.

 

In Windows 7

-Open the Registry editor.

-Navigate to the following key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci.

-Change the Start DWORD value from 3 to 0

-Reboot your PC and set the SATA mode to AHCI.

This is complementary of the procedure you described before, or at Win 7 is the only thing yo must do ?

Thanks