Windows 7 SSD Install: =============================== SSD Firmware and BIOS settings: =============================== Intel SSD: Set SSD in BIOS to AHCI Upgrade firmware for SSD if needed Windows 7 install: =============================== Partition SSD before installation of Window 7 Boot from Windows 7 DVD At first prompt press Shift-F10 diskpart list disk select disk 0 (or disk 1, etc... whichever is install to drive) clean create partition primary size=80000 (create a partition with 80 GB space; to use entire disk as one partition, omit the "size=value" parameter switch; use similar command to create more partition if needed or create in Windows 7 after installation) list partition (Offset should show 1024 KB for SSD install) select partition 1 active format fs=ntfs quick exit Type exit at command prompt to close Command Prompt window. Continue Windows 7 installation as usual. Remember to just highlight and select the partition just created when you get to the partition screen. Select Custom/new install. Drivers Install =============================== Drivers Install - Intel Core i7-4790K: -------------------------------------- Device Manager "Other devices": --- Intel_LAN_Win7-8-8-1_VER191510 Ethernet Controller Intel_Chipset_Win7-8-8-1_VER10014 SM Bus Controller Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller Asmedia_USB3_Win7-8-8-1_VER116150 Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller MEI-Win7-8-8-1_VER10001204 PCI Simple Communications Controller AMDA00_Win7-8-8-1_V1010 Unknown device Other drives installed: --- Realtek_Audio_Win7-8-8-1_VER6017233 Intel_Graphics_Win7-8-8-1_VER1018103496 Intel_USB3_Win7_VER30141 AISuite3_Win7-8-8-1_SA-Z97-MARK1-2_VER10079 Mouse - adjust sensitivity to maximum Printer drivers CutePDF Writer Brother HL-2170w use hard drive 0_full_driver_and_software_package Y07C_C1-inst-win7-A2-enus.EXE Dell 1320c Add new printer and search network for printer Select have disk and point to driver directory Install applications Scanner drivers use hard drive TWAIN_driver and CanoScan_Toolbox Drivers Install - Intel Core i5 2500K: -------------------------------------- Intel LAN Driver Intel Chipset Driver (requires reboot) Realtek Audio Driver (requires reboot) Management Engine Interface (Intel) = PCI Simple Communications Controller USB 3.0 Driver ASUS Bluetooth Driver = unknown device (requires reboot) Graphics card drivers Mouse - adjust sensitivity to maximum Printer drivers CutePDF Writer Brother HL-2170w use hard drive 0_full_driver_and_software_package Y07C_C1-inst-win7-A2-enus.EXE Dell 1320c Add new printer and search network for printer Select have disk and point to driver directory Install applications Scanner drivers use hard drive TWAIN_driver and CanoScan_Toolbox Optional, if used: JMicron JMB36X Controller Driver = eSATA driver Marvell SATA 6G AHCI Driver = Marvel SATA ports driver Drivers Install - Dell Inspiron 15R SE: --------------------------------------- Intel Centrino Advanced N 2230 (WiFi_Intel_W74_A01_Setup-G6Y8G_ZPE.exe) (copy over via USB drive) Conexant Audio CX20672-21Z (Audio_CNXT_W7_X02_A03_Setup-VH0JF_ZPE.exe) Realtek PCIe GBE (LOM_Realtek_W7_X01_A02_Setup-7HM70_ZPE.exe) AMD Radeon HD 7730M (Video_AMD_W7_A01_Setup-N8PHN_ZPE.exe) Intel Panther Point HM77 Chipset (Chipset_Intel_W7_X03_A01_Setup-8JF3Y_ZPE.exe) Intel Management Engine Interface (iMEI_Intel_W7_X04_A01_Setup-HDFHF_ZPE.exe) Intel USB3.0 (USB3_Intel_W7_X07_A02_Setup-0J7K5_ZPE.exe) Realtek RTS5179 Card Reader (CardReader_Realtek_W7_X03_A01_Setup-0YP2G_ZPE.exe) Elantech Touchpad (Touchpad_Elantech_W7_X07_A02_Setup-9HH1T_ZPE.exe) - restart required Intel Turbo boost monitor application (APP_TBM_W7_A00_Setup-N5TFV_ZPE.exe) NEWER VERSION ALREADY INSTALLED: BT Intel (BT_Intel_W74_A01_Setup-WJRFP_ZPE.exe) Run C:\Dell\Drivers\HW8J4\Setup to install NOT COMPATIBLE: Intel Wireless Display Connection Manager (APP_WiDi_W7_A01_Setup-6TF04_ZPE.exe) System adjustments: =============================== Turn off login - netplwiz - uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. - Apply - enter password 2 times Turn off login prompt after waking from sleep mode: Control Panel - Power Options - Require a password on wakeup - Change settings that are currently unavailable - Don't require a password - Save changes Apply all Windows 7 updates Set explorer to "%windir%\explorer.exe /e,/select,l:\docs" Control Panel - Folder Options - View check Display the full path in the title bar select Show hidden files, folders, and drives uncheck Hide empty drives in the Computer folder uncheck Hide extensions for known file types Associate .html files with notepad Realtek HD Audio Manager mic adjustment: right click icon bottom right - Sound Manager - Click "Gear icon" on top right - Option - Check "Separate all input jacks as independent input devices" - OK If you have a microphone plugged in to the motherboard inputs: Mic - Device advanced settings - Separate all input jacks as independent input devices) Set default Mic input and levels, disable Noise Suppression and Acoustic Echo Cancellation Speakers: Set Default Device Speaker Configuration: 5.1 Speaker Check Speaker Fill Check Enable Bass Management Room Correction Check Enable Room Correction Fronts, Rears = 4.0 ft, +0 dB Center = 3.0 ft, +0 dB Subwoofer = +5 dB Main Volume = 100 Other option to disable Windows control of volume: Control panel - Sound - Communications - Do nothing Update hosts file Clean up start menu: Right click Task Bar - Properties - Start Menu - Customize Number of recent programs to display: 0 Number of recent items to display in Jump Lists: 0 Click OK - OK Pin these to Taskbar: Windows Explorer (File Explorer) Notepad Calculator Command Prompt Paint Internet Explorer Chrome Pin these to Start Menu: WordPad Disk Defragmenter (not for SSD) Disk Cleanup Windows Updates Intel or Samsung SSD optimizer software Disk Cleanup - OK - Check all boxes - OK Disk Cleanup - OK - Clean up system files - Check all boxes - OK If you occasionally get "windows has detected your computer's performance is slow" in Windows 7: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Window will do that when running out of VRAM. Type "advance system settings" in search box and select "view advance system settings". On advance tab, click settings under performance. In visual effect, select adjust for best performance and on the list, tick enable desktop composition, show thumbnails instead of icons, smooth edges of screen fonts and use visual styles on windows and buttons. See if the problem persist after you change the settings. SSD adjustments: ---------------- Intel SSD: Install Intel SSD Toolbox - Pin to Start Menu - Remove icon from desktop Run Intel SSD Toolbox - Intel SSD Management Tools - Intel SSD Optimizer - Run Samsung SSD: Install Samsung Magician software - Pin to Start Menu Run and optimize Samsung SSD drive Run WEI to get Windows Experience Score: Start - Control Panel - Performance Information and Tools - Rate this computer Verify defrag is disabled for SSD: Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter - Configure schedule - Select disks - verify no SSD drive is checked Verify TRIM is enabled: Right click on command prompt and select Run as Administrator - fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify If DisableDeleteNotify=0 TRIM is Enabled. If DisableDeleteNotify=1 TRIM is Disabled. See also: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/578430-turn-off-file-indexing-ssd.html Application Install: -------------------- Firefox Google Chrome Google Calling Voice software Turn off google talk calling plugin's audio auto-adjustment: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=774a8ba90f9cf729&hl=en close your web browser and webcam software. open regedit, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk Plugin change the value of "audio-flags" from 3 to 1. or create new String Value "audio-flags" and set to 1. close regedit. Java JRE Libre Office cwrsync Avast! Antivirus GrimeFighter - Don't install or disable if did install already Disable WebRep WinAMP Adobe Reader (turn off java script) Putty FileZilla Dropbox VLC iTunes Application Install - Intel Core i7-4790K: ------------------------------------------ CyberLink Bluray/DVD software Gigabyte OC Guru (for Gigabyte GV-N980G1 GAMING-4GD video card) Application Install - Dell Inspiron 15R SE: ------------------------------------------- Roxio Easy CD and DVD Burning 10.3.105 (From Easy CD & DVD Burning 10.3 CD) CyberLink PowerDVD 9.6 (From APPLICATIONS CD) (Click update on top after install to update to 9.6.1.5425) Dell Webcam Central 2.00.33 (From Resource Media CD) (Click ? on top right after install to update to 2.01.17) SSD Optional: ------------- Disable indexing: Right click SSD drive in file explorer - Properties - uncheck "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties." - Apply and ignore all files you can't change Turn off system restore: Start - Right click Computer - Properties - System Protection - select SSD drive - Configure - Turn Off System Protection - Apply Turn off hibernation: Right click on command prompt and select Run as Administrator powercfg -h off Power Options (Turn off sleep and hard drive poweroff and enable High performance Power Settings): Create your own power settings (see also: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?77724-Power-Options-and-Diagnosis): Start - Control Panel - Power Options - Create a power plan - High performance - Plan name: SSD Power Plan - Next Turn off the display: 30 (or whatever you like) Put the computer to sleep: Never Create Select SSD Power Plan (new plan above you just made) - Change plan settings - Change advanced power settings SSD Power Plan - Require a password on wakeup - Setting: No or Yes Hard disk - Turn off hard disk after - Setting: Never Desktop background settings - Slide show - Setting: Available Wireless Adapter Settings - Power Saving Mode - Maximum Performance Sleep Sleep after - Setting: Never Allow wake timers - Setting: Disabled USB settings - USB selective suspend setting - Setting: Enabled Power buttons and lid - Power button action - Setting: Shut down PCI Express - Link State Power Management - Setting: Off Processor power management - Minimum processor state - Setting: 100% System cooling policy - Setting: Active Maximum processor state - Setting: 100% Display - Turn off display after - Setting: 30 Minutes (or whatever you like) Multimedia settings - When sharing media - Setting: Prevent idling to sleep When playing video - Setting: Optimize video quality Internet Explorer - JavaScript Timer Frequency - Setting: Maximum Performance Notes: Intel RST drivers not needed for non-RAID (single SSD) OCZ suggests leave Windows Search enabled: disable Windows Search - Right click computer - services - Windows Search - Stop - Disabled See also: http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/ Other old notes: ======================================================================== OCZ SSDs (which caused blue screens in Windows 7 64bit so I returned them): Set SSD in BIOS to AHCI and Hot Plugable. (AHCI is required to update the firmware) Upgrade firmware for SSD if needed Notes: Intel Rapid Storage Technology software must be uninstalled for SSD drive to be seen by OCZ Tool Do not update firmware from SSD drive running operating system (boot off other drive then update SSD firmware) Partition the HDD Before Installing Windows 7 http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/08/20/hack-to-remove-100-mb-system-reserved-partition-when-installing-windows-7/ It's "almost impossible" to stop or cancel the 100MB system reserved partition from been created in Windows 7 Setup (unless you uses hack 3 below). So for people you prefer to delete off all existing partitions, or want to install Windows 7 to an empty hard disk, it's recommended to partition the hard disk before starting Windows 7 setup, through several ways. One way is to boot up the computer with a Windows XP or Windows Vista installation CD or DVD, or any other bootable disc with disk partitioning utility, and then perform the re-partitioning. Quit the setup after finished partitioning, and start up the computer with Windows 7 DVD to install Windows 7. For user with only Windows 7 DVD, follow these steps, as provided by UkonCornelias: Once Windows 7 Setup is loaded, press Shirt + F10 keys at the first setup screen (which allows selection of language, keyboard and locale). A Command Prompt window will be opened. Run Diskpart, the built-in disk partitioning tool of Windows 7 with the following command: diskpart Type in the following command one by one, follow by Enter key to create a partition (text in brackets are comments only): list disk (to show the ID number of the hard disk to partition, normally is Disk 0) select disk 0 (change 0 to another number if applicable) clean # create a partition with 80 GB space; to use entire disk as one partition, omit the "size=value" parameter switch; use similar command to create more partition if needed or create in Windows 7 after installation create partition primary size=80000 select partition 1 active format fs=ntfs quick exit Type exit at command prompt to close Command Prompt window. Continue Windows 7 installation as usual. Remember to just highlight and select the partition just created when come to partition screen.