There is no doubt that installing a new SSD on the PC is one of the best hardware upgrades that can be done in terms of performance, especially if you previously had a traditional hard drive. In this article we are going to tell you how to configure your new SSD not only so that you have the best performance from the first day, but also to maximize its useful life and that it lasts for many years.
Windows 10 has a fair amount of features that help SSDs operate at full capacity, but they are not always enabled by default. Additionally, there are some “mandatory rules” that we should have taken into account long ago, with the first SSDs, but which are now unnecessary and, in some cases, even counterproductive.
How to configure the SSD to have the best performance
Here we are going to review everything you can do to be sure that you are getting the most out of your SSD, both in terms of performance and durability.
Before you go, update the firmware
It is always a good idea that even before installing the operating system on a new SSD you connect it to another PC and update the firmware (if you do not have that possibility, nothing happens to do it with the operating system already installed, but the ideal is to do it first of all).
Each SSD manufacturer has its own update method, so we recommend you visit the manufacturer’s website to download the latest version of its firmware and update it .
Enable AHCI in BIOS
AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is a primary feature to ensure that Windows will support all the advanced features of your new SSD, so setting it up in BIOS is something you should always do. For example, the TRIM function, which allows Windows to help the SSD perform garbage collection (when the drive gets rid of information that is no longer used), is very important to maximize the life of the SSD.
Each motherboard model is different, so each parameter is in one place. Normally you should find it under Advanced Options -> SATA or Storage Settings.
Make sure TRIM is working
As we just mentioned, the TRIM command of SSDs is of great importance to maximize its useful life, so it is always good to make sure that your SSD has it enabled. Normally by default Windows 10 already has it enabled, but as we say it is worth making sure. To do this, simply open a command prompt window and type the following command:
fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0
This is all there is to it, except that you get an error, so you make sure that TRIM is enabled.
Configure SSD without indexing
By default, Windows comes with an indexing service that is literally an index that “points” to where everything is, and goes a long way toward improving speed when searching for files. However, one of the advantages of having an SSD is its speed, so this service is not only practically unnecessary, but it will also be constantly spending read and write cycles of your SSD, reducing its performance and useful life, so it is recommended to disable it.
To do this, open a “Computer” window, right-click on your SSD and select properties. In the window that opens, uncheck the box that says “Allow files on this drive to have indexed content in addition to file properties.”
After unchecking it, simply click on Accept and it will be done.
Keep defragmentation active
In the past, the utility of defragmentation on an SSD was counterproductive, since its function was to “relocate” the file fragments so that they were together and thus have faster access to them. With SSDs it was unnecessary given its speed, and harmful since it produced many write cycles, reducing its useful life.
However, in the latest versions of Windows 10 this has changed and in fact is now not even called Disk Defragmenter but “Optimize Drives”. This tool now detects whether the device is an SSD or not and acts accordingly. The optimization it performs could be called “reTRIM”, since what it does is manually run the TRIM command to make sure that the collection toll engine does its job.
To check it, simply click on Start and type “Optimize units”. There you can see how it is configured and change the configuration to your liking.
Disable Prefetch and Superfetch
Sometimes Windows places information in the physical or virtual memory of programs that you are not currently using, but that you use frequently. This is known as “Prefetch” and “Superfetch”, and it is something that is really not interesting to have in an SSD because it is unnecessary given their speed, and in fact it is counterproductive because it also generates write cycles and “wastes” the drive .
To configure your SSD without these features, you will have to open the Windows registry (Click on Start -> Type “Windows Registry”) and navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINECurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters
Here you will find the “EnablePrefetcher” and “EnableSuperfetch” parameters (or just one as in our example). Double-click on it and replace the value with a zero.
Disable Windows Search and Superfetch service
Even if you have made the above modifications, Windows still keeps the services active causing SSD performance to drop. To also disable services, click on Start and type “Services”. In the window that opens look for the services “Windows Search” and “Superfetch”, right-click on them and click on properties.
Where pine “Startup type”, select “Disabled” and click OK. The next time you restart your PC, they will be disabled.
Configure SSD write cache
On many SSDs, user-level write caching can have a detrimental effect on performance. To solve this, you can disable the option manually in Windows and see how it works. You can always activate it again in the event that you notice that it is going to get worse, and that is that this depends on the SSD and the use you give it.
To do this, right click on the Start button -> Device Manager. Here find your SSD drive, right click on it and open Properties.
Here you can enable and disable the write cache.
Turn off paging file cleanup
Windows continues to implement many things that are no longer necessary. An SSD operates with Flash memory, making it possible to quickly and easily overwrite data on the disk, so the paging file no longer needs to be emptied every time you restart or shutdown the PC, as it does not generate performance improvement and instead it does which spends write cycles to the SSD.
To disable it, you must go to the Windows registry editor (Click Start -> Type “Registry editor”) and look for the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINECurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management
Here you should look for the values “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” and “LargeSystemCache”, double click on both and change the value to zero (0). If you don’t have either of these two values, you don’t have to do anything.