Advice Request System settings for SSD longevity?

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Tutman

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I know part of this was discussed in earlier thread but came across another program that says it does these windows settings to help with SSD life and wanted to know if it's true and just easy to configure manually?

Timestamp deactivation
• Windows stores the access time for each file access. This produces unnecessary write hits and thus will reduce the lifetime of your SSD. Disabling of this feature is highly recommended.

Prefetch off
• Prefetch supports preloading of frequently used applications into RAM. Because of the fast access times off SSDs, this function is useless and can be disabled.

Disabling the defragmentation of boot files
• Because of the way that files are stored in SSDs, a defragmentation of boot files makes no sense and should be disabled as it reduces the lifetime of your SSD. (This is already a no brainer!)

Deactivation of the Windows event logging
• Windows permanently records system configuration changes, as well as crashes and other events from various services and programs. This creates unnecessary write accesses and reduces the lifetime of your SSD.

Storing short name off
• For compatibility with old 16-bit DOS applications, Windows creates short names for folders and files, which results in additional write accesses to your SSD. Current applications do not need those names, which is why they can be disabled.
 

Evjl's Rain

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Additional tweaks:
- Disable Virtual memory/pagefile, only if you have plenty of RAM. Many apps use pagefile even when you have a lot of free RAM (Antiviruses)
- Move browser cache folders to RAM disk
- Use apps that don't constantly write to SSD or write big data (monitored with Process Explorer). Example
- Do not backup your data or image to your SSD too frequently -> backup to HDD, cloud storage instead or reduce the frequency
- Use RAM cache if available (Crucial's momentum cache, Samsung's RAPID mode, apps like Primocache)
 
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rain2reign

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Timestamp deactivation
• Windows stores the access time for each file access. This produces unnecessary write hits and thus will reduce the lifetime of your SSD. Disabling of this feature is highly recommended.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deactivation of the Windows event logging
• Windows permanently records system configuration changes, as well as crashes and other events from various services and programs. This creates unnecessary write accesses and reduces the lifetime of your SSD.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Storing short name off
• For compatibility with old 16-bit DOS applications, Windows creates short names for folders and files, which results in additional write accesses to your SSD. Current applications do not need those names, which is why they can be disabled.
This is also happening is on other operating systems. And in those systems as well as in Windows OS, the writing is so insignificant, it won't reduce any lifespan at all. It used to be a thing to watch out for when SSD's were a recent creation and their maximum storage size was at most 64 GB to 80 GB, but in modern day Windows it has been optimized to the point it quite literally won't even make a 'proverbial dent' in the lifespan.

Prefetch off
• Prefetch supports preloading of frequently used applications into RAM. Because of the fast access times off SSDs, this function is useless and can be disabled.
Most users won't have an issue with the application being (partially) preloaded into the RAM and will never notice the difference. HOWEVER! There are always the rare case where the Windows memory management goes haywire and things go poof. But in my experience it's faster to reinstall the OS than to fix this issue as it's usually connected to other issues in the OS as well. If you don't notice a thing about it, just leave it at default.
(RAM is there to be used)

Disabling the defragmentation of boot files
• Because of the way that files are stored in SSDs, a defragmentation of boot files makes no sense and should be disabled as it reduces the lifetime of your SSD. (This is already a no brainer!)
Windows 10 automatically detects whether the drive in question is an SSD or an HDD, and disabled the defragmentation proces for the SSD's. It will then switch to the optimization algorithm for the T.R.I.M function.

The point being: "don't fix it, if it isn't broken".

Chances are almost guaranteed that whichever TLC/MLC SSD you buy will outlast your PC, with regular use which is the use-case for the vast majority of Windows users. [Write Heavy use cases not included!] These are not HDD's that needs babying. And like @Evjl's Rain mentioned, if a large amount of writes are happening in the background it will be best to disable that program in its entirety.

On another note:
  • Over-provisioning your SSD also helps in your SSD's longevity. Most factory software to the corresponding brand put it somewhere between 10% to 18% of max storage size. But you can also do that yourself in Disk Management and leave it unpartitioned; same result.
 
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Digmor Crusher

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I know part of this was discussed in earlier thread but came across another program that says it does these windows settings to help with SSD life and wanted to know if it's true and just easy to configure manually?

Timestamp deactivation
• Windows stores the access time for each file access. This produces unnecessary write hits and thus will reduce the lifetime of your SSD. Disabling of this feature is highly recommended.

Prefetch off
• Prefetch supports preloading of frequently used applications into RAM. Because of the fast access times off SSDs, this function is useless and can be disabled.

Disabling the defragmentation of boot files
• Because of the way that files are stored in SSDs, a defragmentation of boot files makes no sense and should be disabled as it reduces the lifetime of your SSD. (This is already a no brainer!)

Deactivation of the Windows event logging
• Windows permanently records system configuration changes, as well as crashes and other events from various services and programs. This creates unnecessary write accesses and reduces the lifetime of your SSD.

Storing short name off
• For compatibility with old 16-bit DOS applications, Windows creates short names for folders and files, which results in additional write accesses to your SSD. Current applications do not need those names, which is why they can be disabled.
Yah, I'm not going to do any of that, couldn't be bothered. If my SSD borks, I'll just buy a new one and re-install Windows. All my info is backed up in several ways and to get back up and running would take maybe 3 hours.
 

Tutman

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Additional tweaks:
- Disable Virtual memory/pagefile, only if you have plenty of RAM. Many apps use pagefile even when you have a lot of free RAM (Antiviruses)
- Move browser cache folders to RAM disk
- Use apps that don't constantly write to SSD or write big data (monitored with Process Explorer). Example
- Do not backup your data or image to your SSD too frequently -> backup to HDD, cloud storage instead or reduce the frequency
- Use RAM cache if available (Crucial's momentum cache, Samsung's RAPID mode, apps like Primocache)
Any preference over software like Primocache etc? And would that software also move the browsers cache?
 

roger_m

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As already stated, you don't need to do anything at all. A SSD can potentially last for decades, without any tweaking. Windows knows how to handle SSDs and will issue a TRIM command periodically. Windows 10 will occasionally defrag SSDs if it thinks its needed, and it is perfectly safe to do so.

The only thing I would recommend doing is to occasionally check for firmware updates. New firmware sometimes includes important bug fixes and in some cases will increase the drive's performance. One final point is to stay well away from cheap little known Chinese brands as they typically have a high failure rate, unlike brand name SSDs.
 

Antimalware18

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when my friend was building me a gaming computer (i know next to nothing about hardware), I'm a software guy, (he's hardware and knows nothing about software :ROFLMAO:) we got into a lengthy discussion about this HDD vs SSD.

me being who i am I opted for SDD because it was faster. and as far as I know from research (limited reasearch, ill be hones) its about the same. so honestly im in the ballpark that believes that all the things said about SSD lasting not as long as HDD is pretty much blown out of proportion. so I would say just use windows default and you'll be ok.
 

Brahman

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Additional tweaks:
- Disable Virtual memory/pagefile, only if you have plenty of RAM. Many apps use pagefile even when you have a lot of free RAM (Antiviruses)
- Move browser cache folders to RAM disk
- Use apps that don't constantly write to SSD or write big data (monitored with Process Explorer). Example
- Do not backup your data or image to your SSD too frequently -> backup to HDD, cloud storage instead or reduce the frequency
- Use RAM cache if available (Crucial's momentum cache, Samsung's RAPID mode, apps like Primocache)
I don't think SSD would require such elaborate protection program. Even a 250gb SSD is capable of writing 100tb of data without any issue. If it's Samsung it can go upto 150tb. It's enough to last 15 years for an average user.
 

Evjl's Rain

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Any preference over software like Primocache etc? And would that software also move the browsers cache?
currently, I can't find any good alternative to primocache. Only the ssd managers from crucial and samsung are better and have this feature
I don't use any software to move browser cache. I use a .bat file
I create ramdisk (~150-250MB) with Softperfect RAMdisk 3.4.8 (the last free version)
then, I apply this script on every boot

H: is the name of my ramdisk and I use chromium portable. Edit the file to match your browser's cache folders
@echo off
rmdir "H:\" /s /q
rmdir "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Cache" /s /q
rmdir "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Media Cache" /s /q
rmdir "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\GPUCache" /s /q
rmdir "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Code Cache" /s /q
mkdir "H:\Cache"
mkdir "H:\Media Cache"
mkdir "H:\GPUCache"
mkdir "H:\Code Cache"
mklink /J "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Cache" "H:\Cache"
mklink /J "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Media Cache" "H:\Media Cache"
mklink /J "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\GPUCache" "H:\GPUCache"
mklink /J "D:\Chromium portable\profile\Default\Code Cache" "H:\Code Cache"
 

Evjl's Rain

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I don't think SSD would require such elaborate protection program. Even a 250gb SSD is capable of writing 100tb of data without any issue. If it's Samsung it can go upto 150tb. It's enough to last 15 years for an average user.
sometimes, they are just numbers from the manufactors. We can't fully trust them because everyone has different conditions and different use cases. In case there is something wrong like high temperature, power cut, too much dust,... life expectancy of SSD can be shorter. They can refuse to warrant when the SSD reaches a certain number
By the way, reducing the amount of write data can improve the responsiveness of our PC (slightly) because it won't interfere with our foreground tasks and prolong the longevity of HDD/SSD

browsers and AVs with BD engine) can write 1-3GBs of data per day. It can be more

Those mentioned solutions are mostly set-and-forget + they can inprove performance by using ram as cache -> why not
 
F

ForgottenSeer 85179

Additional tweaks:
- Disable Virtual memory/pagefile, only if you have plenty of RAM. Many apps use pagefile even when you have a lot of free RAM (Antiviruses)
This will make problems and even break programs as they need page file. Always

- Use apps that don't constantly write to SSD or write big data (monitored with Process Explorer). Example
For what reason? SSDs are reliable and durable more then enough years.

- Do not backup your data or image to your SSD too frequently -> backup to HDD, cloud storage instead or reduce the frequency
Doesn't make sense. SSDs are more durable then HDDs.

- Use RAM cache if available (Crucial's momentum cache, Samsung's RAPID mode, apps like Primocache)
Will make problems too and increase attack surface because of own driver which is used.
Also data lost is possible so be warned!
 

TairikuOkami

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I know part of this was discussed in earlier thread but came across another program that says it does these windows settings to help with SSD life and wanted to know if it's true and just easy to configure manually?
Usually SSD manufacturer's take care of that, if you use it's tool to maintain SSD. When I want to trim, it applies optimizations automatically.

capture_03102021_083927.jpg

Code:
rem n - Disable Background disk defragmentation / y - enable
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction" /v "Enable" /t REG_SZ /d "n" /f

rem 0 - Disable Background auto-layout / Disable Optimize Hard Disk when idle
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OptimalLayout" /v "EnableAutoLayout" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

rem 0 - Enables 8dot3 name creation for all volumes on the system / 1 - Disables 8dot3 name creation for all volumes on the system / 2 - Sets 8dot3 name creation on a per volume basis / 3 - Disables 8dot3 name creation for all volumes except the system volume
rem fsutil 8dot3name scan c:\
fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

rem 1 - When listing directories, NTFS does not update the last-access timestamp, and it does not record time stamp updates in the NTFS log
fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 3

rem 0 - Establishes a standard size file-system cache of approximately 8 MB / 1 - Establishes a large system cache working set that can expand to physical memory, minus 4 MB, if needed
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v "LargeSystemCache" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

rem 0 - Drivers and the kernel can be paged to disk as needed / 1 - Drivers and the kernel must remain in physical memory
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v "DisablePagingExecutive" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

rem 0 - Disable Prefetch / 1 - Enable Prefetch when the application starts / 2 - Enable Prefetch when the device starts up / 3 - Enable Prefetch when the application or device starts up
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters" /v "EnablePrefetcher" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

rem 0 - Disable SuperFetch / 1 - Enable SuperFetch when the application starts up / 2 - Enable SuperFetch when the device starts up / 3 - Enable SuperFetch when the application or device starts up
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters" /v "EnableSuperfetch" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

rem 0 - Disable It / 1 - Default
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters" /v "EnableBootTrace" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters" /v "SfTracingState" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

rem Superfetch
sc config SysMain start= disabled

rem Windows Search
sc config WSearch start= disabled

Deactivation of the Windows event logging
This is problematic, there are too many dependencies. EventLog is used by UAC, installers, etc. I have disabled only diagnostics. You can check loggers via perfmon command.
Code:
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener" /v "Start" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\DiagLog" /v "Start" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\Diagtrack-Listener" /v "Start" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\WiFiSession" /v "Start" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

Any preference over software like Primocache etc?
I use AMD RAMdisk, because it is digitally signed, but free version is limited to 4GB only.

mklink /J
Are hard links any better or it does not matter? I just create soft links.
Code:
taskkill /im chrome.exe /f
taskkill /im GoogleUpdate.exe /f
takeown /s %computername% /u %username% /f "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" /r /d y
icacls "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" /inheritance:r /grant:r %username%:(OI)(CI)F /t /l /q /c
icacls "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" /inheritance:e /grant:r %username%:(OI)(CI)F /t /l /q /c
xcopy "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" "Z:\Chrome" /s /i /y
rd "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" /s /q
mklink /d "%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome Beta" "Z:\Chrome"

This will make problems and even break programs as they need page file. Always
I disable pagefile since XP, when I had 4GB and I had problem maybe once or twice, since the software required pagefile, and even that was years ago.
The only problem can be, if a software requires more RAM than it is available. I had Deus Ex crashing, because it used 12GB RAM and I had only 16GB.
 
Last edited:

Tutman

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This article shows you how to change browser cache to memory for Firefox in settings without any other software.

(Middle of article)

Open Firefox and type "about:config" (without quotes here and in subsequent commands) into the browser's address bar. The address bar is where the Web address or URL of the site you're visiting appears.​


Type "browser.cache" into the Search field that appears under the address bar. This will make the browser look for characteristics of its cache settings that can be changed.

Find the entry entitled "browser.cache.disk.enable" in the main display area of the browser below the Search field and double-click it to change the value to false.

Double-click on the "browser.cache.memory.enable" setting to change it to true if it isn't already. The hard disk cache is turned off and the memory cache is turned on.​


Right-click anywhere in the screen that displays the cache configuration options. Click "New" from the context menu that appears, and then select "Integer" from the secondary context menu.

Enter "browser.cache.memory.capacity" in the dialog box that pops up and press the "OK" button to submit it.

Enter either "128000" or "-1" in the new dialog box that pops up and press "OK." That sets the size of your memory cache; for example, 128000 will allocate 128MB of your computer's memory to act as a cache for the browser. Entering "-1" lets Firefox choose the size of its cache depending on your computer's installed RAM capacity. You can also enter other cache sizes in kilobytes.

Close every Firefox tab and window to shut the browser down completely, and then double-click the browser's icon to restart it.
 

Cortex

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One thing I've done for some time not much to do with SSD's is disable Windows Search/ Indexing - I don't need my files indexing or it churning away & I don't use Windows Search or Media Player which is a dependant of Search - Actually remove Media Player.
 

TairikuOkami

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