Image for SSD for so called format....

[Guest]

Hello all.

I built my system over 2years ago. System specs will be posted. I had a friend OC by Processor and install SSD drivers and what not. The machine runs great and i've had no issues with the odd OC'ing failed messge when im booting up (once a few months).

He also included a image and a program to use. Basically I just click the program and I choose the image and it will roll back to what he had done when I 1st built/OC'd the computer.

The only thing I really do is perform windows updates and video card drivers and add a few extra programs after the image is "reapplied the the SSD"

I DO NOT UPDATE SSD drivers, HDD drives, or anything else.

My question: Does putting the image back on the SSD acutally make it better? make it worse? If i install a fresh copy of windows will I lose my OC settings? or Should I just keep on "re-applying" the image on the SSD (kinda of like a rollback i guess).

I used to always just reformat my previous PC's every few months. because I feel it runs better when its a fresh install. but I never did OC-ing and never had a SSD before.

Note: All my other data files (music, pictures, etc are on a sepearte HDD)

Any help would be great!

Specs as follows;

Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E
CPU: i7 930 LGA1366
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14
SSD: Intel X25-M 80gig
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm
GPU: EVGA GTX680
RAM: Corsair XMS3 Classic 6GB DDR3 1600 MHz
PSU: Corsair 750TXw
Case: Antec 1200

 

[po1nted]

I would only roll back if you are encountering a problem. Every once in a while I will refresh my machines to the vendor/home built image.

Rolling back would remove any driver or OS updates. You would need to reapply those. it would most likely remove any programs you have installed so you would need to reinstall.

The SSD is just a storage device, like an HDD. No worries there. It will just work.

The overclock would remain if it was applied via the BIOS, which I am assuming.

 

[Guest]

when i re-vert back to the image on the SSD, do I gain anything?

I know I have to re-install drivers and OS updates. but does it make the SSD peform better?

 

[Guest]

^anyone?

 

[WyomingKnott]

when i re-vert back to the image on the SSD, do I gain anything?

I know I have to re-install drivers and OS updates. but does it make the SSD peform better?

The SSD will possibly perform worse, due to TRIM issues, unless you do a Secure Erase before restoring the image. ONLY do this if the image and the restore program are on a separate drive. Otherwise, both of those will be wiped out and your friend will hunt me down and beat me.
Your OC settings are almost (I repeat, almost) certainly in your BIOS and not affected by restoring an old image to the SSD.
You have a good friend there.

If the image and the relevant program are on a separate drive, best an external one, you might try my trick to keep my OS fresh. I start, as you do, with a restore of an old, clean checkpoint. Then I apply OS and driver updates, re-install any programs that I added since the last restore and want to keep, empty the trash, do a malware scan, and create a new backup image. With the new backup image, my next restore will have less updating to do and already contain the programs that I wanted to add.

So I clearly agree with the basic premise that an OS image that's only been running a few months is better than one that's several years old. And this way, I can try out dowloaded software and be sure that I am rid of all traces of it if I find out that it was sloppy.

EDIT: You could run through the BIOS settings and write down, or image-capture, all the overclock settings if the overclocking is indeed done in the BIOS. That way, if you have to reset the BIOS, you would have notes on what to change.

 

[Guest]

hello WyomingKnott. Thank you for the reply.

The image is on a seprate HDD but the program used to retrive the image is on the SSD drive.

I don't think I do a secure Erase before restroring. I just click the program button to restore image.

So....in saying that...im acutally makeing it worse?

 

[WyomingKnott]

Well, not making it worse. I am, as should be clear from my previous post, a strong believer that restoring an old, clean copy of the OS is a good idea. So you gain X% by doing that.

OTOH, you lose a little write speed on the SSD by doing a restore that can leave pages marked as used that the OS thinks are free. So you lose Y%. In my humble opinion, X > Y. So keep doing this. But save yourself some update and re-install time by doing a restore, updating, installing the new software, and doing another image dump. Save the original one, just in case.

 

[Guest]

Thanks WyomingKnott.

Wondering if you can answer a a few more questions.

1) Since its OC'd by BIOS. Do I really need to re-set BIOS to factory settings or is this just a recommendation. I'm not confortable tweaking with the BIOS settings after wards if I do a reset. Can it really cause a Corrupt file?

2) I found this site(s): are they good steps or are they any you recommend knott?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1133897/windows-7-ssd-tweaking-guide

http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds

Thanks.

 

[WyomingKnott]

I didn't mean that you _should_ reset. If it works, don't touch it. I meant that a problem might make it necessary to reset for the boot sequence to work, and then you would lose the settings..

I don't have time to read those sites, sorry. There are a bunch of stickies at the top of this forum. The oldie but goodie is http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html . The most important one is to have the SSD on a controller port set to AHCI mode during the install, and to have it be the only drive on the system during the install.

 

[Guest]

ya i got that. Thanks for your time again WyomingKnott!

 

[Guest]

Hey WyomingKnott. Finished formatting and optimized my SSD/HDD. Computer is running great. SO great that I might take it out and put it in my laptop and get a newer one now that I have confidence to get this done.

Wanted to say thanks again. For some reason I cant select best answer. But I will try again.

Cheers!

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by MrHamm.