AHCI Mode for SSDs

[rotini]

Hello all. I've just installed my new SSD and have been doing some research on optimizing the installation and configuration of SSD's. There really is a vast amount of information on this subject, and I was hoping some of you could enlighten me on the subject.

First, I installed my SSD in the default (IDE) mode, not knowing that ACHI mode even existed. For an Intel X25-M 120GB and Windows 7 64 Bit configuration, should I completely reinstall Windows to get it in the preferred ACHI mode? I've read some conflicting information that ACHI supports automatic TRIM functions. I am mainly concerned with maintaining the life of my SSD, and performance.

My second question ties in with performing "secure erases" of SSD's. I've read that performing these erases essentially reset the SSD to "as new" condition and all performance degradations are eliminated. At the same time, one of the touted drawbacks of using SSD's is that their write performance does degrade over time. Does completely erasing a SSD truly reset its performance levels? I found this hard to believe, especially with how prominent this issue is in discussions.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[sub.mesa]

TRIM works on both AHCI and IDE legacy mode. It's NCQ that you want and it only works when you're using AHCI. You should change a registry variable (google on it) and then you set the SATA controller type to AHCI in your BIOS; then you can boot Windows without getting a blue screen.

So you don't need to reinstall. A secure erase will indeed reset the SSD to factory performance conditions; note that this is NOT the same as deleting/erasing a file. A Secure Erase is done under HDDErase.exe DOS program, under Linux or under FreeBSD. Secure Erase is nothing else than TRIMing the entire surface of the SSD. You should consider all data to be destroyed when performing this action.

If you have TRIM capability you may not need to use the Secure Erase feature, but if you ever do a 'fresh install' you may want to do it.

 

[rotini]

So you don't need to reinstall. A secure erase will indeed reset the SSD to factory performance conditions; note that this is NOT the same as deleting/erasing a file. A Secure Erase is done under HDDErase.exe DOS program, under Linux or under FreeBSD. Secure Erase is nothing else than TRIMing the entire surface of the SSD. You should consider all data to be destroyed when performing this action.

If you have TRIM capability you may not need to use the Secure Erase feature, but if you ever do a 'fresh install' you may want to do it.

Wow.. that sounds almost to good to be true. I was somewhat hesitant in reinstalling Windows only because it would have to write another ~15 gigs (yes, I know I'm being anal) - and since I literally installed the SSD today, I'd rather have to reinstall a few programs then mess with the registry.

So.. in essence, the whole lifespan issue of SSD's is essentially resolved, then, once and for all...?

 

[Forceman]

The lifespan issue is resolved - it is no issue. As for the AHCI change - it is changing one entry in the registry and is easy as pie. I'd do that rather than reinstall Windows.

Here's the step (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976):

Exit all Windows-based programs.
Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.