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Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs - Page 296

post #2951 of 4623
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Webster View Post

Quote:
*shrugs* I don't know, that is why I was asking.biggrin.gif

I know in your guide you state that moving the user folder off the ssd can save space and stuff, so I was wondering is that the only thing really gained from moving the user folder to the hdd? Any loss in performance with the user folder on the hdd?

I am debating whether on my fresh install of windows to move the user folder again, or just set up a videos/music folder on my hdd and just link it to my videos/music library.

I suggest only moving the User folders, not the User folder itself. The User folder has the AppData folder in it which contains program files which are sped up because they are on your SSD.
doh.gif All this time I could have had better performance.
post #2952 of 4623
Thanks for the guide! Even though a lot of the stuff was done for me by the computer, its nice to know a little bit more of whats going on behind the screen. My computer is fantastic now! Its been needing a format for a while. The only thing I'm having trouble with is what to do with my old drive. I would like to use it for storage and use steam mover to switch games between them. As of right now I haven't touched my old drive and it still has windows on it. Should I keep it that way or should I format it? I've got all the files off of it that I want except for all my software. I don't mind reinstalling stuff but I don't want to download all my games again (even if I wanted to I can't, my internet is incapable)

So how can I save all my games, format, then put them back on? I moved my entire steam folder to an external hard drive, so should I just move it back after that and call it good?
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post #2953 of 4623
Hi Sean..

I am new here so first of all I say hello.I followed all your instructions,you mapped everything out to perfection ,I originally installed windows 7 on a 64gb ssd from crucial,After the clean install I was left with 15gb of free space(also installed 16gb of ddr3 ram)I have now reinstalled the o/s and followed your instructions,I now have 50gb free on my ssd,my system is booting in 8-10 seconds and shutting down in 3-5 seconds..It must have taken you a lot of your time to put this thread together..

Well done and keep up the good work..

Stevomac:thumb:
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post #2955 of 4623
Quote:

See the FAQ section. I've already said about this. thumb.gif
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post #2956 of 4623
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by magic8ball88 View Post

Thanks for the guide! Even though a lot of the stuff was done for me by the computer, its nice to know a little bit more of whats going on behind the screen. My computer is fantastic now! Its been needing a format for a while. The only thing I'm having trouble with is what to do with my old drive. I would like to use it for storage and use steam mover to switch games between them. As of right now I haven't touched my old drive and it still has windows on it. Should I keep it that way or should I format it? I've got all the files off of it that I want except for all my software. I don't mind reinstalling stuff but I don't want to download all my games again (even if I wanted to I can't, my internet is incapable)

So how can I save all my games, format, then put them back on? I moved my entire steam folder to an external hard drive, so should I just move it back after that and call it good?
If you only use steam games you can simply drag and move the steam folder and all your games will be fine, you may just need to get the game saves.

Just drag everything important off the HDD to another and format, or make a partition to move everything on and shrink the older one then once the important data is moved off the old partition delete it and expand the new partition with all your data.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevomac View Post

Hi Sean..

I am new here so first of all I say hello.I followed all your instructions,you mapped everything out to perfection ,I originally installed windows 7 on a 64gb ssd from crucial,After the clean install I was left with 15gb of free space(also installed 16gb of ddr3 ram)I have now reinstalled the o/s and followed your instructions,I now have 50gb free on my ssd,my system is booting in 8-10 seconds and shutting down in 3-5 seconds..It must have taken you a lot of your time to put this thread together..

Well done and keep up the good work..

Stevomac:thumb:

Thanks biggrin.gif

Quote:
I already have a guide on realigning your SSD.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1226963/how-to-properly-re-align-your-ssd-hdd-partitions

thumb.gif
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post #2957 of 4623
Sean, why do you think it isn't recommended to enable NTFS compression on an SSD where the main OS is installed? Doesn't it improve performance?
post #2958 of 4623
Got the Replacement Intel 520 Series SSD. It works well though i was nervous installing windows to it so I only left 4 screws in the bottom panel of the laptop in case i had to pull it again. Intel had a few hoops to jump through, so rather then review just the drive i should be able to do a write up on the replacement processes and how painful/painless that was. All is well with it and the guide was very helpful to getting it installed and space saving set up on it. Thanks Sean!
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post #2959 of 4623
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snakes View Post

I'm building a new system and am going to use my current Windows 7 system disk SSD in the new build. I've been reading about this sysprep method to avoid having to reinstall Windows from scratch and wondered if that's compatible with the rest of the steps in your guide. My partition starting offset is divisible by 4096 so I think my partition formatting is fine already. As I understand it, this just speeds up the process so you can skip over the initial Windows installation steps, it seems really convenient and almost too good to be true.
Just wanted to report that Sysprep did not work for me. I don't know if it was something I had set up wrong or not, but my system refused to boot off the SSD that I had Windows installed on and had run Sysprep on. I was forced to delete the partition and do a fresh Windows install, had almost everything backed up so it's no big deal. Sysprep was too good to be true in my case.
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post #2960 of 4623
Hey Sean,

I have my new PC up and running...however, I got 1 quick question for ya (Sorry!). I have 4x SATA 6.0 ports...I *think* 2 of them are controlled by Intel and the other 2 are controlled by Asrock Motherboard chip? right?

My mobo manual is horrible...but I found this: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ASRock-Z77-Extreme4-Motherboard/1509/4 (see 3rd paragraph) and this: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1469/pg2/intel-z77-chipset-launch-roundup-asrock-z77-extreme4.html (see below)

" Three use the Intel chipset and are split into 4x SATA 2 with 2x SATA 3 and the additional sockets run off a ASMedia ASM1061 controller. The Intel ports support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 as well as AHCI and hot-plugging."

And this: http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/asrock_z77_extreme4_review,4.html

"The 2x grey ports on the left are supplied by Intel Z77 and the 2x grey ports on the right are supplied by AS Media (ASM1061)."

I think I need to connect my SSD to the grey SATA 6.0 port (Intel?) right next to the black SATA port....not the grey SATA port on the outside edge (ASMedia ASM1061 controller, where it's connected now).

Is that correct? Or are all the SATA 6.0 ports the same...hope you can help!

I'm working thru your guide now. smile.gif

FYI - I decided to install some of the utility programs that game with the drivers...not sure if that was a good or bad idea...

EDIT: Actually, im pretty sure I'm right, lol. No worries.
Edited by malikq86 - 5/7/12 at 7:27pm
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