SST or STD??

GET A SOLID-STATE DRIVE FOR YOUR NOTEBOOK

What is an SSD?
 
Basically, a solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store data. SSDs have the same purpose as conventional mechanical hard drives, but there is one crucial difference – they are electronic devices and don’t have any mechanical parts. They use flash memory to store your data instead.
 
Because of this they are more rugged and shock-resistant than standard hard disk drives, which makes them perfect for notebooks that get moved around a bit. This is especially important for people who travel frequently (like myself). The number of times my heart skipped a beat when my notebook got handled like a rugby ball by airport security staff! Now that I’ve switched to SSD storage, I don’t have to worry quite so much. SSDs offer fabulous read performance too, although their write performance can vary.
 
REASONS TO HAVE SSD
SSDs have a lot of benefits, but the two most important ones are speed and reliability. Compared to conventional hard drives, solid-state drives are a lot faster.
 
HDDs are the most common performance bottlenecks on any system. Why? Simply because unlike RAM and CPU, hard drives have mechanical moving parts. This means that every time you need to open, save, modify a file or do anything else, the disk needs to spin up. Also things like file fragmentation can dramatically reduce a hard drive’s speed. As for SSDs, fragmentation doesn’t affect their speed because they can simultaneously grab bits of information from anywhere on the drive.
 
So, if you want a huge performance gain – switch to SSD storage. My notebook has a three second boot time from off to ready to use, and that is from a full shut down not sleep mode!
 
Another major SSD benefit is reliability. Unlike HDDs, solid-state drives don’t suffer from shock or drop damage.
 
SSDs use less power so you should also see an increase in battery life, they produce less noise, heat and vibration.
 
Maintenance is minimal, no need to run disk defrag using traditional HDD defragmenters ever again.
 
DISADVANTAGES OF SSD
Don’t get me wrong, I am very pro SSD. Nevertheless, there are some disadvantages that should be noted here.
 
The most noticeable disadvantages of SSDs are limited storage capacity compared to traditional hard drives and the high price per GB of storage. You can buy a 1000GB hard drive for something like $100, whereas a 128GB SSD drive costs around $200.
 
Another disadvantage of SSD drives is that each flash memory cell on an SSD can endure only so many write cycles. This means that if you subject your SSD to heavy rewrite use, its data retention will be shorter than with a conventional hard drive.
 
IS YOUR NOTEBOOK READY?
Here are a few concerns to keep in mind.
 
If you have an older notebook that shipped with Windows XP, using an SSD is not a good idea. While SSDs can work with Windows XP, that Operating System isn't as well optimized for SSDs as Vista and more particularly, Windows 7 or 8.
 
I do not recommend replacing your XP laptop's hard drive with a SSD.
 
The BIOS of some older laptops won't work properly with solid-state drives. Before you buy, try doing a Web search for your notebook model and "SSD compatible" to see if other users have had any upgrade issues.
 
Some notebooks don't allow for easy access to upgrade the hard drive. Make sure that upgrading won't void your warranty or require you to perform any serious disassembly.
 
BACK UP YOUR DATA!
Whenever you make a dramatic change in your storage situation, you should first back up your system.
 
MAXIMIZE YOUR SSD PERFORMANCE
SSDs are very fast right out of the box, but there are a few things that you can do to make them perform even better and increase their lifetime:
 
Use the latest firmware – make sure you update your SSD’s firmware before you start using it. Updating the firmware will ensure top performance and support for the latest Operating System features. Updating firmware can require a drive format, so make sure your data is backed up.
 
Enable AHCI – make sure Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is enabled in the system BIOS.
 
Do not use NTFS compression for frequently used folders, as it decreases SSD performance.
 
Disable scheduled disk defragmentation.
 
Disable hibernation. You can free up a lot of space on your SSD (roughly the amount of your RAM) by disabling hibernation. Disabling hibernation will prevent you from using this power-saving mode, but the free space benefit can be worth it on a smaller sized SSD.
 
In case of a clean installation of Windows 7 or 8 do not disable anything as these systems will configure everything for you.

We all love fast computers and installing an SSD (Solid State Drive) can speed up your notebook more than you ever thought possible.

Cliff Salter
www.pchardware.co.nz