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SSD Trim

The document discusses using an SSD with Windows XP. It explains that Windows XP does not automatically trim SSD drives, which is important for performance. It provides instructions for installing XP in AHCI mode and using O&O Defrag 14 to enable trimming and maintain SSD performance when used with XP.

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19561989
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42 views2 pages

SSD Trim

The document discusses using an SSD with Windows XP. It explains that Windows XP does not automatically trim SSD drives, which is important for performance. It provides instructions for installing XP in AHCI mode and using O&O Defrag 14 to enable trimming and maintain SSD performance when used with XP.

Uploaded by

19561989
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Firstly, why persevere with XP when we have WIndows 7?

Without wishing to invite a barrage of


objections, my own personal reasons are as follows: - Seven looks nicer but I find it less stable, especially
with network/internet connections.

The layout and behaviour of Windows Explorer in Seven makes it annoyingly difficult to use. I am not
convinced that Seven does anything overly better than XP except on occasion perhaps transferring files
a little faster. Overall XP has far less program crashes and last, but not least, I like using it even if to
simply fly in the face of MS trying to march it to an early grave.
The problem with XP if used on an SSD is that there is no inbuilt provision for "trimming" of the drive,
thus after time the SSD's ability to function efficiently will be severely degraded. Trimming, for the
unitiated, is the regular sending of an instruction by the OS (or some other third party software) to the
SSD to force the SSD to render all recently deleted file space into usable (writable) space. Why this
process is not automated on all SSD's is totally beyond me, but it is not. Windows 7 performs this
"trimming" command on a regular basis on any SSD that supports the command.

OK, so how to get XP to trim the SSD?

If you have one of the drives that have third party software available to trim them (notably some of the
Intel SSD's, and some of the OCZ SSD's) then you can use that software, if not then the only other
software that I know that will definitely do the job is O & O Defrag 14....but, in any case you must have
AHCI mode activated for the SATA drives in BIOS for this software to work in trimming mode. Herein lies
the major problem (aside from spending the money to buy O & O Defrag), as Windows XP does not like
to install or run in AHCI mode. To get it to install in this mode you must provide the correct AHCI SATA
driver(s) either using the f6 prompt with floppy disk or by slipstreaming the diriver(s) into an XP
installation CD. The latter method is highly recommended and is the way I have successfully got my
system to run.
I used "nLite" to produce a slipstreamed XP SP3 disk with the added AHCI driver (specifically for Intel
ICH10R southbridge chipset on my Asus P5Q-Pro board) extracted from the Intel Matrix Storage
Manager driver disk files. nLite makes this process very easy.
Once XP is installed (with the SATA mode set to AHCI in BIOS) and running you can install the remaining
drivers for your system and then install O & O Defrag 14 to enable the trimming function. End result is a
very fast and efficient XP system that will remain so for the natural life of the drive.
BTW, anyone who recommends CCleaner as being an alternative to O & O Defrag 14, is well and truly
dreaming. This program, free that it is, may tidy up files and registry, but it does not perform the trim
function.

Did you partition it with the correct offset to align with the NAND pages (as mentioned here and
detailed in numerous other posts around the web when SSDs were new and Win 7 was still unreleased)?
It may be less necessary now with more recent controllers, but if I was putting an SSD into an XP system
I would still consider it.
Yes, wisely pointed out. The short answer is no I didn't partition to avoid the XP 63 sector offset. I was
under the impression that the problem this causes with SSD's was only manifest on early drives which
used the Indilinx Barefoot Controller. Since those early days the firmware in most if not all SSD's has
come a long way. Native trim is now standard in almost all drives and, although the manufacturers aim
for sales to Windows 7 users, overlaps in writing caused by misalignment should be a thing of the past.
The firmware should enable an SSD to self align (be "alignment agnostic") according to the OS, providing
that OS has some type of alignment to begin with (which XP does). The trimming function should more
than compensate for any other loss of rewrite space problems.
My experience is that the Adata drive suffers little reduction in performance during the first few months
of use, even if trim is not enabled (when running XP 32 bit). I cannot comment on the use of 64 bit
operating systems however. At present I have faith that the modern firmware has more than
compensated for these early problems. If I notice any reduction in performance over the proceeding
months I will certainly look to reinstalling with an initial custom offset in the partitions.

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