If we have problems with our computer, or it is running slowly, probably needs maintenance and this maintenance includes disk optimizationSo today we are going to teach you how to optimize an SSD in Windows 10, 7 and 8.
The disks accumulate a series of files that are very harmful to our equipment, but not only that, they also they have a memory limit that if it is completely covered begins to affect the operation of the computer. For this reason, optimizing a disk brings positive consequences on the state of the computer’s health.
This tutorial shows a series of methods that shows how to do the process in a simple and explicit way in all senses, so that anyone with or without computer knowledge can do it without any problem.
Why is it important to keep the SSD drive optimized?
Keeping the SSD disk updated provides many advantages that guarantee an excellent experience while handling or using the equipment.. There are many things that we do with our computers and for this reason, there are also many things that stored on our disk taking up unnecessary spacesuch as disk errors, junk files, failure to install software and other things.
these files not only do they take up disk space, but they also slow down performance. But luckily all these problems are eliminated if you optimize the performance of the SSD regularly, as well as having the advantage of . With a constantly optimized disk, the PC will not present any type of error.
How often do you have to optimize the SSD so that it always works at its best?
Computers are more like humans than you think. Just as you must go to the doctor at least twice a year, the components of your equipment also need maintenance from time to time. Although there is no established norm to know how often to perform disk optimization, computer experts establish a standard according to the use that is given to it.
- For office and daily tasks: if you use your computer to do work in Word or Excel, as well as to browse the internet and see your social networks, it will be enough to perform an optimization once per year.
- For editing and content creation: if you are one of those who use the equipment to create and edit audiovisual content for your YouTube channel or other platform, it will be necessary to do a good cleaning every 4 months.
- To play: if you are one of those who gives your computer cane all day installing online or offline video games, you will have to take the time to optimize the SSD at least once every 3 months.
It should be noted that these are not established norms but an estimate based on the use that you give to your computer, but If your desire is to perform a monthly or weekly optimization, you can do it perfectly, although exceeding in this sense is not good either. So it’s best to use common sense and if your computer is still slow after cleaning, the problem may lie beyond the SSD.
Steps to optimize an SSD in Windows 10, 7 and 8 so that it performs at its best
Now that you know why to do a disk optimization and how often to do it, it is time for you to learn what are the main aspects that you must manage to keep your SSD at its best.
Update Firmware
Like all hardware components, SSDs also need to be upgraded for maximum performance. To do so, you only have to have the manufacturer provide for each one, since each SSD has different systems.
The developers upload all the necessary updates on their official websites and from there you can download them.. If you don’t know what firmware version the SSD you are using has, you can find out using some tools like CrystalDiskInfo.
CrystalDiskInfo is a program that fully monitors the status of hard drives, identifying failures, new updates and much more for free. Like most programs, there is a premium version which provides unlimited benefits, but if you do not have for the paid mode, the free one offers many services that are efficient in their work.
Enable AHCI on Windows
AHCI or also known as Advanced Host Controller Interfaceis one of the most important features when you want to increase the performance of your SSD starting in Windows. In order to enable AHCI, you must enter the PC BIOS and then activate it from its settings.
When we talk about we mean entering the BIOS setup that can only be done before the computer starts up. Each BIOS has different commands and settings, and this is due to the manufacturer.
It is highly recommended that you only enable this option before installing Windows, since some BIOSes do not allow activating this feature when the operating system is already installed. However, we invite you to verify the conditions of your equipment by reviewing the manual published by the manufacturer.
enable TRIM
TRIM is an option that Windows 10 activates automaticallyHowever, it can also be manually enabled. It is used to prevent hard drive degradation and in turn extend the life of the SSD.
To activate it, it is necessary to execute a command from the system, which you do by entering the “Symbol of the system” and then running the command “fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0” (without the quotes) hitting Enter and waiting for the procedure to pass.
Verify that system restore is enabled
At the beginning that SSDs began to be commercialized, the units were not as durable as today and were always exposed to numerous failures, For this reason, it was highly recommended by professionals that system restore be disabled to improve system performance.
But thanks to its improvements, it is currently recommended to keep this feature active as it is a useful option. Some manufacturers program their products to automatically disable system restore.
If you have Windows 10, you must Check that your SSD has not disabled system restore and for this you just have to proceed to enable it.
You should start by locating the “Control Panel”then the option “System”, after “System properties” and click on “System Protection”.
To finish, in the window that opens, check that the unit has the option “enabled” or not, if it is not enabled, just select the disk, click on “Set up” and you enable it.
defragment disk
There are many people who say that it is unnecessary to keep this option active and some even comment that it is harmful to the health of the computer, but actually this information is true but up to a certain point.
At first, SSDs did not perform a complete read if this option was kept enabled, so it was said that keeping it active negatively affected the PC.
Nowadays, this option is beneficial since each program or thing that is done inside the PC leaves garbage or other known as fragments and these take up a large amount of space on the hard driveso by defragmenting it, they are eliminated and the disk works optimally.
In order to enable this option, go to the Windows menu and select “Equipment”, then select the local drive by giving right click on itin the list that appears, select the option that says “Properties”. It will open a window where you will go to the tab that says “Tools”, in which you will select the option “”.
After this, a window will open in which the disk will be analyzed so you can see how fragmented it is. You will see lines of different colors that identify the type of file they represent (junk, essential files, documents, etc.). Then you just click “Defrag Now” and wait for the process to finish. At the end you will have to restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
Manage the paging file
The paging file is, although many may not recognize it, a longtime companion of Windows and is also known as the Swap File or virtual memory. His work is ensure that the system never runs out of memory. For this it uses portions of the data disk to temporary RAM mode.
Many people create discussion forums talking about whether or not it should be activated and personally we think sobecause this is not simply disk space used when there is no more space in physical memory, since Windows also uses it to place certain things at boot time, such as error reports and system drivers..
It is for this reason that it should not penalize performance even if you have your SSD drive as primary, since Windows works like this. In fact, if this principle is not respected and the processes are so many that they leave the system without memory and the consequences will not be long in coming, but if in your case you have large amounts of if you can consider deactivating it without any inconvenience.
Disable the paging file in Windows
In case you think differently from us and want to disable the paging file, you can do it without problems.
To deactivate it you just have to go to “Control Panel” and place yourself in the option “System”. then you open “Advanced settings for system”, and you’re going to “System properties”.
The performance settings will be displayed and in “Advanced Options” search and click “Virtual memory” and click on “Continue”. By default by the system, the option that allows Windows to self-manage it will be active, uncheck it and choose the option “No Page File” and click on “To accept”. To finish this process, it is necessary to restart the computer in order to save the changes.
*Note: If you’re wondering if moving the paging file to a different partition has a positive effect, let us tell you no, unless you’re running low on space on boot.
Reduce the size of Windows virtual memory
If you don’t want to go that deep and you don’t dare to disable virtual memory, what you can do is limit it to 1GB. with this option you will gain a good disk space (virtual memory will always be equipped with the physical memory installed) and in this way you let Windows do its processes and procedures in the pagefile.sys.
*Note: This is the best option for those computers with a single system disk (SSD) and with a RAM memory space of less than 16GB.
For this case, like the previous one, you will have to go to “Control Panel”>”System”>”Computer Properties”>”Advanced System Settings”>”System Properties”>”Advanced Options”>”Virtual Memory”.
The difference is that this time you will write the values that you want to reduce the memory size to and click on establish and restart the computer.
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