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Tutorial-Running low on space on your SSD?

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So, SSD's are fast and all, but the problem everyone has, is that they are very expensive, for a small amount of space. So this is a little tutorial for people that want to squeeze every last gigabyte out of their SSD.
This is for Windows 7, i'm sure it is similar on other versions of Windows.
Things Required-
  1. An SSD (Oh really?)
  2. The ability to change and remove windows files
  3. [Optional] A 2nd drive/HDD
WARNING
You will be moving/changing/removing windows files. I am not responsible for you corrupting your windows or drives. I have done all the things shown in this tutorial, so there is some hope that is is safe:pimp:
WARNING

Some of the Data in the tutorial is from me, some is from websites, they will be credited.

Well, Lets get going.
Pagefile.sys
This file is used on computers that do not have enough ram. When you computer Maxes out its ram, it starts writing the RAM data onto your hard drive in the Pagefile.sys File. This file size is equivalent to your RAM, e.g. 8gb ram, 8gb Pagefile.sys.
So if know that your computer never maxes out its ram, or you have more then 8-12GB of ram, here is where your 2nd HDD comes in handy.


Control Panel/System/Advanced system settings/Performance/Settings/Advanced/Change
(Yeah, thats allot of advanced dialogue boxes, if your scared about venturing this deep into windows, leave now)
So there are 2 Options you can do here-

A)Move the File too your second HDD(Recommended)
On your first drive, set the paging file too, "No Paging file" Then hit set.
On the second drive, set the paging file too, "System Managed Size" Then hit Set.
The reason I like this option, is if your system ever maxes out, there is still a backup, just it won't be as fast.

B)Change The amount of space allocated or REMOVE the Pagefile.sys File(Not Recommended)

I'm not going to go into much detail about this, as it does not leave you much room for error on your pc, just incase it ever maxes out by allot, and crashes because there is not enough backup allocated on the PageFile.sys
Pretty much just Set a Min and Max size, i'm gonna let you explore with that.

hiberfil.sys
Hibernation is feature that only normally people with laptops, or people that want faster "resume" speeds on slow hard drive use.
On a Computer that is Running 24/7, or is turned off when not in use, the Hibernation file is not used.
Really all this file is, is when you put your computer into hibernation, it saves all the states of the files and RAM data currently running onto the hiberfile.sys file, to allow for a "quick" resume.
So, if you don't need this file, Here is the way to go.

So open up Command prompt with administrator privileges(right click). Then type this command. "powercfg –h off" Without the quotation marks. If you ever want to turn hibernation back on, just do the same command, replacing off with on.

Cleaning Temporary Files
So if using the windows temporary file cleaner isn't cutting it for you, here is a nifty little program I have found.
I find this Program, Called "System Ninja" works better then it's competitors, such as CCleaner.
http://singularlabs.com/software/system-ninja/
Just run it, scan your computer, and clean the files. I've once cleaned up ~1GB of Temporary files in 1 scan.

Well, I hoped this helped you. I will try to add some pictures as soon as possible.

Thanks,
ALMOSTunseen


Resources Used-
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/windows-7-and-ssds-cutting-your-system-drive-down-to-size_p3/2941
My Mind
 
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95Viper

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If the point of your "Tutorial" is to make room or save space on your SSD that is your OS drive, then you may want to do some more research; as, there is more you can do to create more breathing room on a space limited main OS SSD.

Examples:

1. Move your library folders to a second drive. For some with large amounts of data in them (picture, music, downloads, videos, etc.) it will free up a lot of space, not to mention cutting down on writes to the SSD.
2. Place caches (OS, IE, chrome, opera, firefox, and any other programs that write a large amount of data or frequently updates (again, to reduce writes to the SSD, also.) data to a secondary drive.
3. Move temp, tmp, and other temporary data to the secondary drive.
4. There are few more that can be moved... however, you are writing the tutorial, I'll let you research it.;)

You then need to explain why & how to accomplish the items you state for it to be a tutorial.
I am not saying you are doing it wrong, just trying to help.:)
 
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1question that has not been addresed, if the point of going Ssd is speed, why move OFTEN accessed files to the HDD? Thats a question for the real w1zzards! ;)
 

de.das.dude

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^most often accessed files are small.
 
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^most often accessed files are small.

Well then that would be another reason for not moving them to the HDD, small files will not "damage" much the SSD. I am refering to TEMP and internet CACHE for example....

Plus, the HDD would otherwise (when no TEMP or CACHE on it) go into Suspended Mode, saving energy and heat, but with the "move all kind of system files to the HDD" trick your drive is gonna be running all day long.


Just questions that do not let me sleep so well...
 

95Viper

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1question that has not been addresed, if the point of going Ssd is speed, why move OFTEN accessed files to the HDD? Thats a question for the real w1zzards! ;)

Well, I assume that would be personal preference.
Speed as a goal versus drive longevity, or a balance.

The OP seems to be addressing space savings on a space limited drive, which, some people are faced with.
 

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While moving your pagefile off of the SSD is a valid method to save space, it's kind of a catch 22.

It does free up space, but you want access to your pagefile to be as screaming fast as possible.
When the OS generates a hard page fault (needs the pagefile), you want the transfer between RAM and the PF to have the lowest possible impact on system performance.
In the past people would move the pagefile off the main OS HDD to increase performance, as it would not have anywhere near the Disk I/O contention as it would being on the OS drive.

Personally, I would leave the PF on the SSD and using performance monitor see how much you regularly use the PF and tweak it's size down to only what is really needed.

Just my 2 cents.
 

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I didn't do anything special. I have 6GB RAM and made a 12GB pagefile on the SSD and nowhere else. The SSD is many times faster than a hard drive and isn't slowed down by multiple access requests, so the SSD can take it. Writes are going to happen to your SSD. If you don't want writes on your SSD, don't take it out of the box it came in. It's rather unavoidable if you ask me...

As for moving things off the system drive that would normally be there, I can't see why you would want to do this. SSDs are about speed, I would think you would want your browser cache and such to be on the SSD anyway.
 
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You could always just use a blazing fast RAM disk for the page files and temp folders if you have enough RAM, which a lot of us do thanks to the low prices recently. The RAM disk program is free too iirc
 

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Well, there are times when stuff will look for a pagefile on C:, even if you have plenty of RAM available, and there's a pagefile on another drive, and they get upset and don't work.
 
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SSD's are fast, and moving temp files and caches to mechanical drives may make programs start fast, but then run slow.

Write combining.
TRIM
Wear leveling
Cached writes

More research is needed before you start spewing how failure prone SSD's are.
 
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I just picked up an Adata 256GB drive, do I need really a mechanical drive as well? There is sooo much info and a lot of it conflicts so its hard for douche... I mean n00bs like me to figure out what the best setup is :eek:

I was thinking to just wait for another sale and grab another one of these, but no RAID as im n00b lol

It seems counterintuitive to buy an SSD only to pair it up with a spindisc???

Good thread! I need to learn this shtuff :p
 
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I just picked up an Adata 256GB drive, do I need really a mechanical drive as well? There is sooo much info and a lot of it conflicts so its hard for douche... I mean n00bs like me to figure out what the best setup is :eek:

I was thinking to just wait for another sale and grab another one of these, but no RAID as im n00b lol

It seems counterintuitive to buy an SSD only to pair it up with a spindisc???

Good thread! I need to learn this shtuff :p

HD's are great for storing things like all of your music, video files, pictures, even games at times. So yes, they're still needed. I couldn't live with just 256GB of storage space.
 

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These days it's best to keep your OS and programs on the SSD, but that's about it. Depending on the size, you can move some games to it as well. We still need spinners for mass storage, as 512GB SSDs are still $300 for the cheaper ones on newegg, and anything over 512GB is just stupid in price. Meanwhile, you can get a 2TB hard drive for just a little over $100...
 
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What if I only need ~500Gb total? Would I HAVE to have a spin disc, could I not use only SSD? Just seems odd to be so driven to tell people to get SSD but still have to run a spin disc. My main querry is because my case is very small and I have no room for a standard drive... I could always fit one if needed but the spots are already there for a few SSDs :eek:
 
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The best of all worlds for me came at quite a cost but has made me happy. My Z68 rig has 3 crucial M4 drives not in raid.

1 is for OS, programs and PF and so on, the other one is for steam and games and the last is for recording games as SSDs are awesome for that. There is a 1TB WD black for media.

SSD's are going down in price enough to where multiple or larger ones are within grasp of most enthusiast.
 
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Is it impossible to use a SSD for "media"?
 
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Is it impossible to use a SSD for "media"?
From the mouth of Audrey Hepburn, He says "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible!"
You can use the SSD for "media", well, that's what it's built for, the ability to view it, and transfer it quickly. It's just that SSD's are so expensive for large sizes, and "media", takes up allot of space. Answering your previous question, You could splurge out on a 512GB ssd, or 2 256GB ones, and you should have plenty of space, if you just wana keep some movies, music, games etc. This is why most people still get an old spinner, because its soooo cheap, for allot of space. SO you might as well have one, for archiving old files, that are large, but you still want to use again, or if speed doesn't matter.
 
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I cant understand why you would move your page file. A SSD page file is one of the benefits of having it in the first place. You can however make it smaller without any side affects given you have a the ram to support your programs.

Shut of System Restore
make your page file 1Gb
unscheduled defrag

Done..total Windows 7 install 22Gb after all updates. I just did it today. I got a new OCZ 120Gb SSD
 
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Those that use their PC to work for a living, with multiple programs and settings, should carefully consider if System Restore can be turned off, without affecting their productivity/recovery needs. For some of us, if things go wrong, it is not just "Hey, reinstall Windows and Steam".
 
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