Although SSDs can read and write pages,they can only delete whole blocks. On a drive that is well used,there will be lots of 'dirty' blocks where some pages are used,and others are available for overwriting. The drive needs first of all to copy all the pages with data within a block into cache, delete the block, then rewrite the data back. This can eventually cause a degradation in performance.

Windows 7 supports a TRIM command,which removes dirty blocks,by removing those that contain files that have been deleted, and rewriting the valid data when the delete command is received.

Make sure you set your storage configuration mode to AHCI in the BIOS which allows all the SATA features to function properly before you install Windows 7 on your SSD to increase performance. Intel's Toolbox application will then allow you to run TRIM manually.

It is also important to install the relevant SATA controllers to get the best performance.Download the latest version of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers from the Intel website if you're using an Intel controller.

SSDs use idle time to perform housekeeping tasks,cleaning up any dirty data so it's important that Windows doesn't turn off your drive after a specified period of time. To check this,go to Control Panel,System and Security, Power Options, 'change plan settings' in the balanced profile, click 'change advanced power settings', expand the 'Hard Disk' and make sure 'Turn off Hard Disk after' is set to 'Never'.

A few other settings to check are:

Check that Disk Defragmentation is turned off - This can degrade the performance of the SSD if turned on. Right click on the SSD in the 'Computer' menu and select 'properties',then 'tools' and 'Defragment Now'. From here, you can disable defragmentation,and any schedules.

Drive indexing should also be turned off, right click drive, 'properties' under the 'General' tab.

Disable 'Super Fetch', right click 'Computer', 'Manage', 'Services and Applications', 'Services', 'Superfetch' set 'Startup type' to 'Disabled'.

Finally,check out the SSD Tweak Utility from OCZ's SSD forum. This will allow you to perform these changes from just one menu.

With prices of SSDs falling,now might just be the time to supercharge your next Windows 7 installation!

Solid State Drives (SSD) is the new rage in the computing world. Promising better performance and quieter operation since there are no movable parts that first need to spin-up like normal hard disk drives. Currently, these promises are just dreams for most users since these drives still are expensive, and they cannot compete with the capacity of current Hard Disk Drives (HDD). The last few months have seen the prices drop and the capacities are slowly expanding, and 512GB SSD's is already available, although extremely expensive.

But why the rage? Getting a SSD's offer some nice advantages over normal HDD's. They are faster since no start-up is required and the operation is completely silent. They use less power than normal HDD's, thus giving laptop owners better battery performance. The lack of moving parts also make them more reliable and the dangers of irrecoverable data damage are lessened.

Currently there is a few unfortunate disadvantageous to SSD's. SSD Drive

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