Setting up ssd for windows 7 64 bit. Full Speed: A Guide to Optimal SSD Configuration

Solid state drives (SSD), due to their design, are noticeably faster in operating speed than the good old mechanical hard drives (HDD). However, they also have a significant drawback. For each gigabyte of SSD capacity, the user has to pay much more than the cost of a gigabyte of HDD. But if you need a really fast drive, then SSD is an excellent option, even taking into account their high cost. The speed of an SSD out of the box is impressive compared to an HDD, although some venerable hardware gurus claim that SSDs can be accelerated even further with simple methods. Let's figure out whether we need to speed up the SSD if Windows 7, 8 or 10 itself is doing the optimization?!

Even if you just purchased a drive, came home and installed it in your computer, you should not immediately search the Internet for a guide on optimizing SSDs in order to ruin all the efforts of Microsoft specialists in optimizing SSDs in a few minutes and slow down the system as a whole. Yes, yes, this is exactly what will happen if you start following optimization tips, even two years ago, not to mention optimization materials from older years.

SSDs are not as fragile as they seem

As I wrote above, there are many guides on the Internet about optimizing SSDs, but I do not recommend using most of them. The fact is, since the Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft has done a lot of work to ensure maximum performance of its operating system on SSDs, so most of the recommendations of third-party software developers and hardware manufacturers are outdated.

Most recommendations for optimizing Windows for SSDs involve reducing the number of writes to the SSD. This is because each flash memory cell on the disk has a limited number of write operations, after which it will no longer be possible to write to that cell. All guides state that you should try to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on the SSD by minimizing the number of writes.

But concerns about SSDs suffering from such wear and tear are exaggerated. The guys at Tech Report ran an 18-month stress test in which they wrote as much data as possible to the SSDs to see when they would fail. And this is what they found:

Over the past 18 months, we've seen that modern SSDs easily accept far more data than most consumers will ever write to them. The Samsung 840 series drive started experiencing sector failure errors after 300 TB of data was written to it; during the test it also withstood 700 TB of data transfer. The fact that the 840 Pro series exceeded 2.4 PBytes is not surprising, even if this achievement is a kind of academic height of data recording.

Even considering that 700 TB is the lowest failure threshold you could get at work or at home, writing 100 GB to a drive every day for over 19 years before the drive failed. 2 PB is the threshold that you can reach in 54 years by writing 100 GB to disk every day. Agree, it is unlikely that you will write such a large amount of data to disk every day. In fact, the chances of other PC components failing are much higher than an SSD failing from overwriting.

But one way or another, everything wears out, and SSD drives are no exception. But they do not wear out as quickly as the Internet community would like you to believe. With them, as with regular HDDs, there is a possibility of failure, but it is not so impressive.

Still, I recommend that you regularly back up important files, since SSDs can fail for other reasons, not just wear. And for very intensive use, for example, for a database server, an SSD can be as vulnerable as an HDD.

Optimization settings on the Windows side, which allow you to write a little less to the disk, are practically unnoticeable and do not provide a large increase in performance, much less an increase in the lifespan of the SSD disk.

Some guides recommend that you reduce the number of files you store on the SSD to save space. This is because SSD drives can slow down once the free disk space is full. But this recommendation applies not only to SSDs, but also to all modern means of storing information, be it an SSD, HDD or a flash card.

What optimizations can Windows perform automatically on an SSD?

There are several important optimizations that need to be monitored and enabled if they are disabled. But it only applies to Windows XP or Windows Vista. Starting with Windows 7, the operating system performs all optimizations automatically.

So if you used an SSD with Windows XP or Vista, you need to manually enable TRIM. This function will allow you to automatically erase deleted files on the SSD, and then record again on the free space. In this case, the HDD simply overwrites files on top of the deleted ones, which somewhat slows down its operation. That's why SSD is faster here. Since Windows 7 was first released, TRIM has been automatically enabled for any SSD drive that is present on the system.

The same applies to disk defragmentation. Performing a typical defragmentation operation on an SSD will not bring benefits, unlike an HDD. But Windows 7, 8, 10 already know about this and when they detect an SSD, they will simply disable defragmentation on them. In addition, Windows 10, even if you want to check this, will not allow you to defragment the SSD.

In Windows 8 and 10 operating systems, whenever memory is optimized, the system will try to optimize SSD drives using the TRIM principle. Windows will send the command retreat, which will cause the SSD to actually delete data that should have been deleted, even if TRIM is disabled.

Windows 8 and 10 will also automatically disable the service SuperFetch for solid state drives. Leave SuperFetch enabled in Windows 10 and the system will automatically turn itself on for slower mechanical drives and self-lock for fast SSD drives. You don't need to configure this manually if you have a hybrid storage system consisting of SSD and HDD. Windows 10 will do everything for you and do it right. Windows 7 will disable SuperFetch system-wide if you have a fast SSD. Here you can’t do without manual settings.

In addition, Windows Update will automatically update hardware drivers, including SSDs, if the manufacturer releases a new version. You no longer have to worry about whether a new driver version provides performance improvements. Windows will do everything for you.

Myths about SSD optimization

The main myth of SSDs is that if a modern SSD disk is completely filled with data, it will begin to slow down like all other types of drives. This is far from true. Modern SSDs contain an additional amount of data that is not available to the user for writing and serves solely to ensure performance while filling the main capacity of the disk.

Here are some useless tips that would seem to optimize the disk and the system as a whole:

By default, Windows uses a "balanced" power plan, which will automatically turn off power to your drives when not in use to save power. You can switch plan High performance, and Windows will keep power on for all drives at all times. The drives will only turn off in sleep mode when you are not using them, you will not see a noticeable drop in performance. It makes no sense to change your diet plan to increase productivity.

It's an inherently bad idea because some programs simply won't run properly without a page file, even if you have a lot of RAM. Of course, having a page file can lead to more writes on the SSD, and the page file also takes up a lot of space. But again, this is not a problem with modern SSDs. And Windows 7, 8, 10 automatically manage the size of your paging file.

This will remove the hibernation file from your SSD and you can save some extra space. Again, the problem does not apply to modern disks. Gone are the days when we saved for every extra gigabyte. The advantages of sleep mode completely cover the disadvantage of excess storage space. Those who are used to working on their computer with a bunch of windows open may appreciate the benefit of keeping all open programs when you turn off the computer at night. In the morning, you don’t need to remember all yesterday’s work, the location of windows, or the information that the browser displayed. Just turn on the computer, which will wake up from sleep mode and return everything that was on it yesterday.

Some gurus say that you should disable the search and indexing feature, which makes searching faster. They claim that with an SSD, search is already fast enough. But this is not entirely true. Indexing builds a list of files on your disk so that you can see search results instantly. And if you disable indexing, Windows will have to scan the entire disk again each time, which takes some time and wastes processor resources.

Claims that indexing is bad because Windows writes data to disk are not entirely true. At the beginning of this article, I gave small calculations of data recording, and how many of them are needed for the disk to last 54 years.

Do not do that. If you disable this feature, you may lose data in the event of a power failure. To disable this feature, your drive must have a separate power supply, which will allow it to clear its buffer and save data to disk in the event of a power failure. In theory, disabling the Windows write buffer could speed up some SSD drives, but it could cause other drives to slow down or crash. So this optimization does not guarantee improved performance.

Windows 10 allows this by default, as does Windows 8. Windows 7 does not offer this feature for SSDs.

These features are really not necessary for SSDs, so in Windows 7, 8 and 10 they are already disabled for SSD drives in cases where your SSD is fast enough.

It is important that TRIM is enabled. TRIM is always automatically enabled on modern versions of Windows with a modern SSD. You can check this if you have Windows 7 or higher and a fresh SSD. Open a command prompt window and run the command fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify. If it is set to "0", TRIM is enabled and all is well. If it is set to "1", TRIM is disabled and you need to enable it.

Set your power plan for high performance
Disable System Restore
Disable System Protection and Windows will not create system restore points. You could do this for Windows 10. Some people argue that system recovery is bad because recovery files take up a lot of space. Given the modern storage capacity of SSDs and especially HDDs, there is no need to worry about this. System Restore is an extremely useful function that can help you out more than once in case of serious hardware failures.
Disabling the page file
Disabling sleep mode
Disable indexing or Windows Search Service
Disable Windows write buffer to disk.
Optimizing SSD disk according to schedule
Disable Superfetch and Prefetch
Check TRIM operation

TRIM operating mode

These are not really optimizations for SSDs. It hides the Windows boot logo during system startup. At best, it can make Windows boot up a fraction of a second faster. This kind of optimization really doesn't matter. If you want to make your computer boot faster, use the tab in Task Manager to disable unnecessary startup programs. This will help a lot more than disabling the loading logo.

If you have multiple versions of Windows installed and you see a menu listing them every time you turn on your computer, you can disable this menu to save boot time. But since you have several operating systems, then you hardly need such optimization. At most, you will reduce the time it takes to select the system you need from 30 seconds, for example, to 5 seconds.

Enable "No GUI Boot" in MSConfig
Disable Time for displaying a list of operating systems

So, you shouldn’t apply all sorts of advice about optimizing SSD drives. They do not increase the performance of the SSD and the operating system as a whole.

Install Windows on the SSD and enjoy the operating system as Micsoft has provided for it. You should not waste time and effort on optimizing the SSD; it is better to devote it to a more in-depth study of the operating system.

Optimizing an SSD drive is very important, because despite its high speed and reliability, it has a limited number of rewrite cycles. There are several ways to extend the life of a disk under Windows 10.

To ensure your SSD lasts as long as possible, there are several ways to optimize it. These tips are relevant for the system drive. If you use an SSD to store files, then you won't need most of the optimization options.

Method 1: Disable hibernation

During hibernation (deep sleep mode), the information contained in RAM is converted into a special file on the computer, and then the power is turned off. This mode is useful because the user can return after a while and continue working with the same files and programs. Frequent use of hibernation mode negatively affects the SSD drive, because the use of deep sleep leads to frequent rewriting, which in turn wastes disk rewriting cycles. There is also no need for hibernation because the system on an SSD starts up quite quickly.

Method 2: Setting up temporary storage

The Windows operating system always saves service information in a special folder. This function is necessary, but it also affects the rewrite cycle. If you have a hard drive, then you need to move the directory "Temp" on him.

It is important to understand that due to the transfer of this directory, the system speed may drop slightly.

Method 3: Setting up a swap file

When the computer does not have enough RAM, the system creates a paging file on the disk, which stores all the necessary information, and then gets into RAM. One of the best solutions is to install additional RAM sticks, if possible, because regular rewriting wears out the SSD.

Method 4: Disable defragmentation

Defragmentation is necessary for HDD drives, because it increases their speed by writing the main parts of files next to each other. This way the recording head will not have to spend a long time searching for the right part. But for solid-state drives, defragmentation is useless and even harmful, as it reduces their service life. Windows 10 automatically disables this feature for SSDs.

After purchasing a solid state drive (SSD), many people do not think about additional system settings to For optimal SSD operation, you need to do 12 steps to unlock the full potential of your SSD. In this article we will analyze all 12 steps, let's get started!

1. Enable AHCI mode

Advanced Host Controller Interface ( AHCI) is a paramount feature to ensure that the Windows OS will support all the functions of running an SSD on a computer, especially the TRIM function so that the SSD does not directly access affected sectors/pages on the drive.

To turn on AHCI, you need to log into your computer and enable it somewhere in its settings. I can't tell you exactly where, it may be in a different place in each BIOS. Most likely, new computers have this enabled by default. It is recommended to enable this feature before installing the operating system, although you can enable it after you have installed Windows.

2. Enable TRIM

We have said enough in the previous section about TRIM. This command gives a big increase in speed and stability.

Open a command prompt and enter the following command:

Fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0

3. Disable System Restore

This is not necessary, but be aware that your SSD has a write limit and a space limit. System Restore slows down performance and consumes SSD space. Why don't you just get rid of it?
Click the Start menu, right-click “Computer” - “Properties” and click “System Protection”:

Once in the window, click the “Configure” button, for example like this:

Click the "Turn off system protection" button. Click "OK" and you're done!

4. Disable indexing

A significant portion of your SSD speed is consumed in indexing files for Windows Search. This can be useful if you store everything on an SSD; there is a slowdown in performance after re-indexing, which happens every time you add new data to the disk. In order to disable indexing on SSD do the following:

Click the Start menu and select Computer. Right-click on the SSD drive and click Properties. Uncheck "Allow the contents of files on this drive to be indexed in addition to file properties" and click OK. Once you do this, the operating system will apply this to all files and folders on the drive. If you see a dialog box saying that it cannot remove the file from the index, click Ignore All. This will streamline the process and ignore all errors.

5. Disable scheduled defragmentation

An SSD is a solid state hard drive, with no moving mechanical parts, so there is no need for the drive to defragment itself offline. That's why we're going to disable it!

Click on Start, select “All Programs”, “Accessories”, click “System”, “Disk Defragmenter”, and then click the “Schedule Setup” - “Disk Defragmenter” button:

Uncheck the "Run on schedule" checkbox. Click OK.

6. Windows swap file

The Windows page file refers to a file on disk reserved for storing application components that would otherwise fit into physical memory. It's like a form of memory on a hard drive. Disabling the page file on a solid state drive will significantly increase system speed. Don't do this if you only have one SSD drive. If you pair an SSD with an HDD, then you can easily configure the HDD to process the page file. The most ideal solution is if you have two SSDs, run a swap file on the first one, and on the other one to run Windows and store files.

The process for setting up the page file varies depending on the settings, so I'll show you how to get to the configuration window.

Right-click Computer in the Start menu and select Properties. Click the Advanced System Settings button on the top left side of the window and go to the Advanced tab. Click the "Options" button in the "Performance" section:

Go to the "Advanced" tab and click the "Change" button, uncheck "Automatically select paging file size" and select "No paging file"

7. Disable sleep mode

Sleep mode takes up at least 2 GB. If you want to save this volume, write on the command line:

Powercfg -h off

8. Disable Prefetch and Superfetch

Windows places information in physical memory and virtual memory that belongs to programs that you don't currently use but use very often. This is known as "Prefetch" and "Superfetch." You can disable this through the registry editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

as two values: EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch. Set both values to zero (0)!

9. Setting up caching

Disk caching can have different effects for many users, check how your computer will work without caching, then with caching, this function is enabled very easily:

To get to the configuration window, right-click Computer in the Start menu and select Properties. Click "Device Manager", expand "Disk Devices", right-click the SSD, and click "Properties". Select Policy. In this tab, you will see an option that says “Enable device write caching.”

Compare your SSD with and without the option.

10. Disabling services for Windows Search and Superfetch

Even with the above registry tweak and index removal, your computer may continue to load your hard drive. Press "Win + R" and see "services.msc" press the "Enter" button. Find both services mentioned in the title of this section and disable them.

11. Disable ClearPageFileAtShutdown and LargeSystemCache

SSD runs on flash memory, making it easy to write data to the disk. This way, files do not have to be erased when the computer is turned off. This will make the Windows shutdown process much faster. LargeSystemCache, on the other hand, exists primarily in Windows server versions, and tells the computer whether to use a large page cache on disk.

Both of these options can be found in the Registry Editor according to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management

Set them to 0.

12. Set the power supply to “High Performance”

Perhaps you notice when, after a long absence from the computer, the system slows down a little, for this you need to set high performance throughout the entire work session.

To toggle the power setting, click the System and Security button, and then click the Power Options button. Select "High Performance" from the list. You may need to click the Show More Diagrams button to find it.

SSDs are much faster than their older counterparts and are becoming increasingly popular. The operating system installed on such a disk starts up and runs faster, increasing the performance of the entire computer. If you want to get the most out of your SSD, you'll need to spend a little time setting it up.

Do you need to optimize your SSD?

According to manufacturers, in modern operating systems, solid-state memory drives do not require additional configuration or optimization. Any manual settings, according to Microsoft, can only slow down your disk or lead to system problems.

However, quite often a situation may arise when an SSD with Windows 10 installed does not produce the performance result that the user wants to expect. The reasons for this can be completely different. In such a case, users have to intervene and optimize the disk themselves.

There are several tips that will help improve the performance of your SSD and extend its life:

always leave about a sixth of the disk free: free space is required for stable operation of the disk without a drop in performance;
if you have several disks, install your operating system and heavy programs that you often work with on the SSD;
try not to change the standard SSD settings: disk optimization and other system functions were developed together with solid-state drive manufacturers and are the most optimal;
do not defragment the SSD: it is not only useless for them, but also shortens the service life of the drive;
Periodically update the firmware of your drive, but don’t do it too often: new firmware comes out all the time, and it doesn’t make much sense to install each of them.

SSDs have a limited number of data rewrite cycles, and therefore defragmentation shortens their service life

Automatic SSD setup

When you connect the SSD to your computer, Windows 10 configures the disk itself. This setting includes:

disabling disk defragmentation;
SSD power optimization;
enabling TRIM and Superfetch functions;
disabling the ReadyBoot function.

Some users may find that the SSD is automatically defragmented from time to time.

The reason for this is that Windows 10 does defragmentation and disk optimization using the same tool. What you might think of as defragmentation is another process that benefits your SSD.

Manual SSD setup

Just like with hard drives, there are several ways to speed up an SSD. However, these methods involve refusing certain functions of the system, which may not suit some users.

It is worth disabling the paging file only if your computer has a large amount of RAM installed. But even then it is a controversial decision. Disabling the paging file can increase the life of your disk: there will be much less calls to it from the system to constantly overwrite files.
Open Control Panel. It can be found through search.
Open Control Panel
Open the System and Security category. Open the System and Security category
Go to the "System" section.
Go to the "System" section
Click on "Advanced system settings"
Next to the “Performance” inscription, click on the “Options” button.
Click on the "Options" button
Open the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Change...” button.
Click on the "Change..." button
Uncheck the box “Automatically select paging file size”, check “Without paging file” and confirm the changes made.

Disable the page file

Disabling hibernation

Hibernation is used to quickly turn on the computer. When entering hibernation mode, the computer does not turn off completely: information about all running programs remains in active processes. Disabling this mode will have a positive effect on the lifespan of your SSD, but may cause inconvenience for some users.
Open Control Panel and go to the Hardware and Sound category.
Go to the "Power Options" section.
Go to the "Power Options" section
First, you should remove hibernation from the computer shutdown buttons. Click on “Power button actions”.
Click on “Power button actions”
Click on the inscription “Changes to settings that are currently unavailable”, uncheck the hibernation mode and confirm the changes made.
Now let's disable auto-switching to hibernation mode. Return to the “Power Options” section and click on the inscription “Setting the power plan” next to the mode you are using.
Click on the inscription “Setting the power plan” next to the mode you are using
Click on "Change advanced power settings."
Click on "Change advanced power settings"
Go to Sleep, then Hibernate After, and change both to Never.
Disable auto hibernation

Indexing files for search

Indexing puts a fairly large load on the performance of the system and SSD. It is necessary to quickly search for files on disk. Indexing means that an additional record is created in the system for each file on your disk. Disabling file indexing will increase the speed of your drive, but will significantly reduce the speed of searching for files.

Disabling system protection

The System Protection feature is used to create restore points. Every time you install something, the current state of your computer and the status of installed programs are saved in the computer's memory. Disabling the system protection feature will increase the life of the SSD, but it will become more difficult to troubleshoot any problems with the system.

Right-click on the “This PC” icon and select “Properties.”
Go to computer properties
Click on "Advanced system settings".
Open Advanced System Settings
Open the “System Protection” tab and click on the “Configure…” button.
Click on the “Configure…” button
Select "Disable protection" and confirm your changes.
Disable system protection

Switching the drive to ANCI mode

ANCI mode, intended for hard drives, can also be useful for SSDs. It should improve computer performance and reduce energy consumption.

When you start enabling ANCI mode for your SSD, be aware that you are going beyond the system settings and risk damaging your SSD.

You can make sure that ANCI mode is not enabled in Device Manager.

Enabling ANCI mode is done in your computer's BIOS. Since the BIOS and the ways to get into it are different on all computers, each case must be considered individually. In the BIOS you will need to find the disk settings and change its operating mode. It is better to find out how to correctly enable ANCI mode on the manufacturer’s website.

Even if your SSD's ANCI mode is already activated, the system will not use it. To fix this, you need to change several settings in the system registry.

Find regedit through the Start menu search and open Registry Editor.
Reset the parameter value to zero and click OK
In the same way, reset the following parameters:
- start parameter at “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci”;
- parameter 0 at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorAV\StartOverride";
- parameter 0 at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\StartOverride".

Firmware update for SSD

The SSD drive has its own firmware (a set of system programs that are similar in principle to drivers).

If there are any problems with the firmware or it is very outdated, you may notice a slowdown in the disk. The appearance of any errors or conflicts with the system may also be due to outdated firmware of the solid-state drive. Specific methods for flashing a disk depend on its manufacturer. Most often, a special program is offered for this. In other cases, it is enough to simply save the firmware to disk and restart the computer. And sometimes the user will have to do everything manually via the command line.

You will find detailed instructions for flashing the disk on the manufacturer's official website.

Here are some general tips before flashing a disk that you should follow in any case:
save the most important information to another drive;
study the installed firmware version: read the official developer forum or user comments on the latest updates. Sometimes new firmware contains a number of bugs that will only be corrected in future versions. In this case, you should pay attention to the latest stable version;
do not install every new firmware update: if everything works stably for you and there are no problems, you can hold off on updating the firmware;

check the operation of the SSD drive after installing the firmware to make sure that the firmware did not introduce new errors. A good solution would be to use special programs to check the disk.

Video: SSD setup

Special programs for SSD optimization

SSD Mini Tweaker is a very small and easy-to-use program that allows you to fully prepare your system for working with solid-state drives in a few minutes. It does not require installation.

All you need to do in the program itself is to tick the boxes you need and click “Apply changes”. When the process is complete, restart your computer.

Select the required options and click "Apply Changes"

SSD FRESH 2017

SSD FRESH 2017 is very similar to the previous program: the same settings and the same operating principle. A more visual interface allows you to evaluate how much your disk optimization has changed. However, the veracity of this assessment is rather conditional.

Now you know which SSD disk settings are made automatically by Windows 10, and which you will have to configure yourself. Keep your drive up to date and keep it in good condition so it will serve you for a long time.

Even in very powerful PCs, hard drives (HDD) remained the main brake for a long time. The reason for this phenomenon is that the operating principle of such a disk is associated with the rotation of the spindle, and the rotation speed cannot be increased above a certain limit. This manifests itself in the form of delays when accessing data. Modern solid state drives (SSDs) are free of this drawback, but SSD drives require some optimization to get maximum performance. The article discusses issues related to working in Windows 7.

Intended use of SSD drives

If we take into account that the cost of SSDs is still significantly higher than the cost of HDDs (although there is a tendency for it to decrease), then the main area of application for SSDs remains the media on which the operating system is installed. The performance of the system partition usually determines the overall speed of the PC, including boot and shutdown speeds, and the execution time of most OS functions while the PC is running, which are sometimes even invisible to the user. Moreover, such an application does not require a large-capacity SSD; usually no more than 80 GB is enough, and the price of such a drive will not greatly affect the user’s wallet.

The need for SSD optimization

Modern operating systems, not excluding Windows 7, were designed to work with SSDs, but many OS functions designed for HDDs were still allowed for solid-state drives, although they did not provide a performance increase, and sometimes even reduced it. These are functions such as indexing, defragmentation, PreFetch, SuperFetch, ReadyBoot and some others.

An SSD, unlike a HDD, has a large but limited number of write cycles, which determines its “lifetime” and the reliability of the entire system as a whole. To achieve maximum effect and maximum lifespan of such a drive, it is necessary to optimize (tune) both the SSD itself and Windows.

SSD optimization

Before installing Windows 7 on an SSD, you must complete the following settings:

Make sure that the SSD has the latest firmware version. You can find out the current firmware version using the CrystalDiskInfo utility. Then you need to go to the SSD manufacturer’s website and compare the current version with the latest one listed on the website. If the need for a firmware update is discovered, you need to know about this before installing the OS, otherwise after the update all data will be lost!
The firmware must be updated in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions;
1. Switch the SATA disk controller to AHCI mode. This mode allows you to use the latest technologies to improve disk performance, in particular SSDs. This mode supports technologies such as:
2. Hot Plug, which provides “hot replacement” and installation of the drive (without turning off the PC);
3. NCQ, which supports deep command queues;
TRIM, which significantly increases the performance of SSD drives and their service life.
Switching to this mode is done through the BIOS, but this is only if done before. Switching to AHCI mode when the OS is already installed means getting an unpleasant effect - you will not be able to load the OS; In cases where the "seven" is already installed, you can also switch to this mode if you know how to edit the system registry. To do this you need to follow the branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci
, find the Start parameter and set its value to 0. Then restart the PC, go into the BIOS and change the SATA controller mode to AHCI. After rebooting, Windows 7 will detect the new device and install it;

When installing the OS, it is advisable to leave about 15-20% of the total SSD capacity unallocated. This area will be used as the drive gradually wears out.

When optimizing, you need to keep in mind that some actions will require editing the system registry. Therefore, before performing optimization, you should create a restore point or a copy of the registry. Also, before optimization, it is advisable to determine the Windows 7 performance index, so that after it you can see the result of the settings made.

Setting up an SSD disk when working in Windows 7 consists of performing the following steps:

Disable indexing for SSD drive. To do this, click Start - Computer. Then right-click on the system disk and select Properties. In the window that appears, there is an option “Allow the contents of files on this disk to be indexed in addition to the file properties”; you need to uncheck it;
Disable automatic defragmentation of the SSD drive. The easiest way to do this is to type the word “defragmentation” in the search bar (on the “Start” button) and click OK. A window will appear in which the only thing you need to do is uncheck the “Run as scheduled” option and click OK;
Disable NTFS file system logging. To do this, click “Start” and enter cmd in the search bar. A command line window will appear (administrator privileges are required), in which you need to enter a command like fsutil usn deletejournal /D C: (if the system drive is C:) and press Enter;
Disable sleep mode. If the OS is located on an SSD disk, then it will boot very quickly even without sleep mode, so there is no need for it. To do this, you need to do the same as in the previous paragraph, but then enter the line -powercfg –h off and press Enter;
Disable the swap file. It is advisable to perform this action if you have a 64-bit OS and a RAM size of 4 GB or more. To do this, you need to follow the path Computer - Properties - Advanced system settings - Advanced - Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual memory - Change. Uncheck the automatic selection option and check the “Without” option;
If the swap file is still used, then disable unloading of kernel and driver codes from RAM. If they remain in RAM, the number of entries on the SSD will be reduced and the system’s response to user actions will improve. To do this you need to open the registry key KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management, find the DisablePagingExecutive parameter in it and change its value to 1.

Optimization with SSD Tweaker

Many PC users do not have sufficient training to manually configure Windows 7 for an SSD. The SSD Tweaker utility was developed specifically for them. It exists in several versions - free and paid. In the free version, some functions are disabled, but even without them you can achieve optimal interaction between Windows 7 and the SSD, and do this both manually and automatically.