SSD Drive users?

[ILLMAS]

For those that have a solid state drive, is it possible to install ATX on SSD and the data files on a secondary drive? I am debating between getting a 250 or 500GB drive.

[Jack from Ohio]

For those that have a solid state drive, is it possible to install ATX on SSD and the data files on a secondary drive? I am debating between getting a 250 or 500GB drive.

No. ATX must have the data files and operating files on the C: Drive. Buy the 500GB.

Don't listen to all those that say they moved this, or moved that without issues. Lots of misunderstanding and misinformation about the way ATX does things now.

Buy the big drive, and then get an additional 1 or 2 TB drive to store data from other programs on.

We have 3 systems with 240GB drives and have been just fine. 500GB is much better.

[Eric]

Jack, do you know if ATX is working on anything that would reduce the amount of drive space required to store a return? Just curious--500/512GB SSDs aren't cheap. All of my computers have SSDs now, but I'm able to get away with 240gb drives as well.

I think I'd look into how difficult it is to migrate an installation of ATX software from one drive to another, and only keep the most recent year, or maybe most recent two years on the SSD, and keep moving older installations to a big standard spinning drive.

[Jack from Ohio]

Can't migrate to another drive. ATX must be installed and operate on the C: drive.

Have not heard about reducing file size. I am hoping to be invited back to CAB again.

The extra cost is worth it for the large SSD.

[Eric]

ATX must be installed and operate on the C drive. Sheesh.

Well in that case, the large SSD isn't just worth it, but probably necessary regardless of cost.

[Eric]

Am I missing something here? This seems like a ridiculously good price on a Samsung 500GB SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147249

Maybe prices are falling faster than I was aware of since I haven't been watching for the past 5 months.

EDIT: Yeah, same price on amazon. I thought they were still up in the $400 range.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE500BW/dp/B00E3W19MO

[ILLMAS]

Here is the one I am going to be ordering from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147317

FYI my Dell XPS has a slot for a mini-stata drive.

[Eric]

Nice, MAS. I'm especially surprised at that mSATA price.

[Jack from Ohio]

Large SSD as C:, and a 2TB second drive (D:). You can have Windows backup C: to D: so you have redundancy.

[Eric]

Large SSD as C:, and a 2TB second drive (D:). You can have Windows backup C: to D: so you have redundancy.

Or you can use the Windows 8 Storage Spaces features

[ILLMAS]

Jack, Eric, once a week I use Win 7 backup feature and backup the whole computer to an external HD, my new computer currently has Win 8 installed, but I am downgrading to Win 7 and adding the msata drive, can I simply restore it on the new computer once I install Win 7? And as a secondary backup, I use carbonite which creates an image on another external HD, just wondering which would be better to restore from? I will be retiring the old computer and I would hate reinstalling ATX and various versions of Quickbooks.

[Jack from Ohio]

Or you can use the Windows 8 Storage Spaces features

I loathe Windows 8. Stick with my plan. Windows 8 storage features will mess up ATX if you have two different Hard drives.

Microsoft blew it with WIN 8.

[Eric]

I loathe Windows 8.

That's the only reason I mentioned it

[Eric]

Jack, Eric, once a week I use Win 7 backup feature and backup the whole computer to an external HD, my new computer currently has Win 8 installed, but I am downgrading to Win 7 and adding the msata drive, can I simply restore it on the new computer once I install Win 7? And as a secondary backup, I use carbonite which creates an image on another external HD, just wondering which would be better to restore from? I will be retiring the old computer and I would hate reinstalling ATX and various versions of Quickbooks.

Idunno how I missed this a couple days ago.

Short answer, I don't know.

Not sure how Windows 7 backup/restore works. Or how Carbonite works. I haven't used either of them. I usually work with dumb backup systems that simply create a disk image of the entire drive. Other software that specializes in moving data/applications from one computer to another sounds like it'd a better fit, and without looking it up I couldn't tell you if Windows 7 backup/restore or Carbonite have that capability.

I know that others in this forum have mentioned having good luck with software from EaseUs.

I use Acronis True Image for backup, but like I said, that simply makes a complete backup of the entire drive. Transferring it to another computer is possible, but since hardware / drivers are totally different between the two machines, results may be unpredictable. Personally, if move to a new computer, or upgrade the motherboard in a computer, I prefer to do a clean installation of my operating system(s), manually transfer data, and then install software on the new computer as it's needed.

[FreedomTaxed]

Pay some attention to the difference in read and write speeds. The cheaper SSDs tend to have significantly lower write speeds. That's why the following SSD example is generally a better deal at $120 than ones selling for $80 to $100:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=897039&gclid=CKLA-I62yr0CFe07OgodhkIAuA&Q=&is=REG&A=details

You should consider tweaking the system a bit when an SSD is installed. Windows drive operations aren't optimal for SSDs.

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

Disclaimer: Not associated with either site.

Having used ATX 2012 and 2013 on PCs with system-drive SSDs and without, for the cost of 'upgrading' to an SSD, I'd have to say it's well worth the price, even if you hire some service guy to 'make it so'. I say this because when you're wrestling with tax problems in front of clients, wait times become a factor, mostly for your results and sanity.

[Eric]

Samsung SSDs have been superior in terms of speed and reliability since early on, but I'm sure other manufacturers are catching up if they haven't already. I'm probably biased toward Samsung drives because of the research I did when I put them into all of my computers.

I think the most important note from that second link is that defragging an SSD is unnecessary, and the additional reads/writes can reduce the life of the SSD and degrade write performance. So in windows 7, it's good to turn it off for the SSD. Windows 8 has more of a general drive optimization tool that is smarter about handling data on SSDs than the standard defrag.

[Jack from Ohio]

The slowest SSD is exponentially faster than any mechanical hard drive.

You would be comparing the pole sitter at Indy with the person in 33rd spot. Somewhat slower, but still fast as hell!!

[mcb39]

Idunno how I missed this a couple days ago.

Short answer, I don't know.

Not sure how Windows 7 backup/restore works. Or how Carbonite works. I haven't used either of them. I usually work with dumb backup systems that simply create a disk image of the entire drive. Other software that specializes in moving data/applications from one computer to another sounds like it'd a better fit, and without looking it up I couldn't tell you if Windows 7 backup/restore or Carbonite have that capability.

I know that others in this forum have mentioned having good luck with software from EaseUs.

I use Acronis True Image for backup, but like I said, that simply makes a complete backup of the entire drive. Transferring it to another computer is possible, but since hardware / drivers are totally different between the two machines, results may be unpredictable. Personally, if move to a new computer, or upgrade the motherboard in a computer, I prefer to do a clean installation of my operating system(s), manually transfer data, and then install software on the new computer as it's needed.

EaseUs is wonderful. It allows you to open files right from the backup. I alternate external drives on all computers at least weekly with EaseUs. A feature that I really like is that you can go to bed or wherever and set it to shut down your computer when the backup is finished.

[Eric]

SSD breakthrough means 300% speed boost, 60% less power usage... even on old drives