SSD Advice W530

Dear All,
I am just configuring my Lenovo W530 now. I am definetely wanting to upgrade to SSD. However, I am unsure whether to configure it with a 128 ssd or an HDD to start with.
When I talked to a few other people, I was told that getting the HDD at SATA 3.0 Gb/s would make a faster SSD (say Samsung 830 or Vertex 4) run at a rate lower then its maxium capacity because the adaptors would not allow it. Thus, I was going to get the 128gb SSD put in to start and upgrade the size to a 512 Samsung to get max speeds. Is this the right thing to do? Or should I save the money and just get the HDD. Would appreciate any help.
Thank You

Hi jcyanksceo,
Thank your for your post and welcome to the commnuity. Choosing between HDD and SSD can be very tricky. I believe this all bils down to what you're really comfortable with really. Personally I do not have nor have I tested the SSD, simply because of the size it offers. Though I i do believe gradually the size will grow further and if i the size of the SSD fits the amount i need I'll definetly get one :-D.
However in regards to your question, as compared to the HDD to the SSD, based on the number of people i've spoken with alot of them prefer to have the SSD installed on their machine. Some even have an SSD and a HDD running side by side. A friend of mine has one installed on his machine and based on his review, he recommends it highly because of these reason as he put puts it,
Faster boot up time
Loads within 30sec
Faster File Searches
Searches files 5X faster than the usual HDD
Faster file transfer time
According to my friend, Huge files seem to transfer 10 minutes faster than his old Hdd
Faster Application Loading
Increase performance in application
According to him when he ran the Anti Virus, it didn't lag his machine and scanning was a breeze.
Reduce Power Consumption
Faster Video-Editing rendering
Light and portable
Does not put additionl weight to the machine.
I know This is not much information but I am basing this on my friend experience rather than mine. I hope this give somewhat of an idea on the decision.
Do let me know should you require further assistance.
Regards

Similar Messages

Suggestion for SSD / RAM (W530)

I just ordered my W530 , I got a pretty much stock config expect the resolution, which I upgraded.
I wanted to get some after market stuff and want some opinions/ suggestions.
For ram:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233242
I think 8GBs should be sufficient. I am going to university for engineering in the fall and I can't imagine the software demanding too much memory. I'm assuming the W530 can support 4 dimms, so if I need more memory, I could just buy another one of these kits. The reason I want these over the 1x 8GBs is because of the timings.
For an SSD:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233208
Should be enough storage for me. I still have my desktop for movies and games etc. I might get the ultrabay enclosure if need be, but as of now it doesn't seem to important to me. Is this drive decent, or does someone want to suggest something else.
I've been made aware, I need special rails to fit this drive in the laptop?
Would something like this work?
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/300604030583#ht_1117wt_1163
Also, does the computer come with Win 7 disc for when I install the O.S. on the SSD?
I'm open to any suggestions. What do you guys have? What works? Thanks for any replies.

You won't need different rails if you get a 7mm high SSD. I got the 256GB Samsung 830, which I would recommend over all of the Sandforce drives except the ones made by Intel. And it was around the same price as the one you chose, which makes it a much better deal than anything by Intel.
The computer does not come with an OS disk, but you can make recovery discs without to much difficulty.
Thinkpad W530, i7-3720QM, 1920x1080 screen, 32GB RAM, dual SSDs (Samsung 830, Crucial M4 mSATA), Quadro K2000M, 9-cell battery, DVD burner, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, Intel 6300 wireless card

First time set-up and HDD to SSD advice (MBP 13")

Hello.So, earlier this week I ordered the MBP 13 non-retina (Model #:A1278). It arrived yesterday. I haven't turned it on yet, and I know all about changing completely the first time for battery conditioning. I'm planning on using it for school this fall. Do you as a community have any favorite software for academic use (free or not)? Are there any programs, utilities, etc. that would benefit my mac that you recommend downloading. Second topic: I want to put in an SSD instead of the stock 500GB 5400rpm one. I bought this[1] earlier this year and never used it in my PC as planned. So, I'll clone the HHD to the SSD immediately after first time set up, right? I'd like to put the stock HDD back in with a caddy. There's a bunch of talk describing MBP's with year and time of year (late-2009, mid-2012, etc.). I have not seen mid-2013 once. Would this one[2] work in the most recent MDP 13 non-retina; the reviews don't specify. Thanks! Please leave any others things worth sharing.

Office 2011 is an essential for the university. A backup drive and backup software. Develop a backup strategy and stick to it.
Basic Backup
For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:
1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;
2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is
     used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine
     requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the
     drive being backed up.
Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
Although you can buy a complete external drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
1. Cool Drives
2. OWC
3. WiebeTech
4. Firewire Direct
5. California Drives
6. NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.
While your computer is in warranty do not make any internal hardware changes. The minute you open the case your warranty and service support flies out the window. If you wish to use an SSD then put it in an external Thunderbolt caddy like the Seagate caddy.

W520 HDD/SSD Advice

Hi
I'm going to order a W520 from the Lenovo store but am unsure how to configure the hard drives. I'm very keen to have a rapid start-up and system operation so would like to run the system on an SSD drive. However the largest available seems to be 160Gb which I expect would get full very quickly. When I select the RAID system in an attempt to add a second hard drive, the option to select an SSD drive is no longer there. Can anyone advise me on how to order a W520 online with both an SSD drive for the OS and also a second, larger, internal HDD for file storage? Many thanks in advance for your help.
rjn.

Option 1:
Buy the cheapest hard drive option through Lenovo. Then buy the SSD you want direct through a 3rd party. Toss the Lenovo drive and replace with your new 500GB 3rd party SDD. Downside, you will be double buying drives and using an unsupported Lenovo configuration.
Option 2:
Buy the Lenovo 160GB drive. Buy separately the versa-bay HDD accessory and a large traditional spindle HDD. Downside, you won't have a CD/DVD ROM, use more battery, slightly heavier laptop.
Option 3:
Use a USB drive to add additional file storage. I would recommend the Western Digital 1TB USB 3.0 because it works and is smaller than even a regular laptop 2.5" hard drive. Downside, you can only keep data files on the USB and not programs because starting them without plugging in the external drive would be problematic. This is the method I am using until I can afford a 500GB SSD.

[GT60 Dominator PRO] Adding SSD advice

Hello all,
I bought my new laptop yesterday and it's awesome! I got the GT60 2PE Dominator PRO 3K edition with an already built-in SSD card of 128 Gb and thus also the Super RAID 2 module in it. I bought 2 extra SSD cards because I also want to install some of my games on SSD and the 128 is just not enough for all of them + Windows 8.
Now my problem is that I am a complete noob when it comes to HDD/SSD setups. I have searched the internet for how to do this but unfortunately I can't seem to find a good guide which covers my exact problem. What I want is to set up my 3 SSD cards in RAID0. Preferably without having to re-install Windows 8 (but I don't know if this is even possible).
If I have to re-install Windows, I might want to setup my 2 new disks as RAID0 and my original SSD as a seperate drive for my OS and maybe some software. Then I can install my games on the 2 other disks without hampering my OS in performance (since it will always have enough free room on the drive). But again, I don't know if this is possible.
Or is there another (better) option for me to use?
Last but not least, if someone can explain the steps or direct me to a good guide on how to install them in the configuration on the software side (I already plugged them in the computer). Like BIOS setup, how to make sure the computer sees them properly, what and how to (de)activate certain stuff (like defrag, and i read something about trimming or whatever it is called). That would be a really great help and really appreciated.

Does it come with this adapter ?
- - - Updated - - -
Does it come with this adapter ?

SSD Advice

I have the 2.4GHz aluminum MacBook with the base specs -- 2GB RAM and a 250GB HD. I barely have anything on it except iLife '11 and the FaceTime beta, but I'm contemplating getting a 256GB SSD for it. Also, I'm planning on upgrading the RAM to 4GB as well. I see this as sort of "future-proofing" my notebook, as I can't fully justify giving it up for the new 13" Air, sexy as it is.
Is this a good idea or should I just leave the regular hard drive in there? Is there any particular brand that works best?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Steven

stevenaquino wrote:
I have the 2.4GHz aluminum MacBook with the base specs -- 2GB RAM and a 250GB HD. I barely have anything on it except iLife '11 and the FaceTime beta, but I'm contemplating getting a 256GB SSD for it. Also, I'm planning on upgrading the RAM to 4GB as well. I see this as sort of "future-proofing" my notebook, as I can't fully justify giving it up for the new 13" Air, sexy as it is.
Is this a good idea or should I just leave the regular hard drive in there? Is there any particular brand that works best?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Steven
I don't use SSD drives in my Macs, Steven. However, if I were going to add one,
I'd start here: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SSDMX240/
The company and their products have been reliable for me, you can talk to them about your particular needs to be sure you are buying the best solution for your needs, and you can page-down to see lots of links to reviews by a variety of sources.
Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz Mac OS X (10.6.5); MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.5)
LED Cinema Display; G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11); iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9); External iSight; iPod touch 4.1

T510 Constant Lockups

I recently purchased a Lenovo T510 notebook and had an immediately apparent problem... Within 5 hours the entire machine would lock up and become unresponsive (as though Explorer was crashing). You can still move the mouse, but nothing else reponds...
Updated all Windows 7 Professional drivers, no result. Installed all available Windows Updates, no result. Updated BIOS, no result. After some playing I came to realize it ONLY seemed to lockup on AC power. Disabled power management and adjusted power settings, no result. Tested RAM, tested hard disk, ran system file checker, no problems found. Within about 2 hours (sometimes as little as 5 minutes) after plugging the laptop in, it would hang... Eventually I thought it was simply some software glitch (hey, it happens) and decided to completely format and reinstall from OEM media. This COMPLETELY resolved all issues with lockups... Now for the rest of the story:
Over the last 2 months I have since purchased 3 more Lenovo T510 notebooks and each one has the EXACT same issue. Out of the box they lockup when connected to AC power (and very intermittently without AC power), but the problem can be resolved by completely formatting the hard disk, manually installing all drivers, and continuing on.
WHAT GIVES HERE LENOVO? This product hardware/software build is clearly not being tested thoroughly before being shipped...! Anyone else have any resolution to this issue? I did use the hard disk partition to recover one time, but low and behold, the same problem resurfaced! Something is definitely WRONG with the Lenovo software package that shipped on these machines...
I am currently experimenting with disabling the "Lenovo Airbag" technology (by disabling it) to see if this might be the cause, but I cannot see how it would change when AC power is connected...
Any comments? I have seen the same issue listed several times with other T400/T500 models, but usually people just do not have the time to try everything systematically and come to the same conclusion(s). Hope it helps someone!

Your situation is difficult to troubleshoot - lots of variables.  I don't know how technically minded you are, or how much you have in way of resources to fix this (both time and perhaps spare drives, etc.) In case like this, my inclination would be to use a drive imaging tool to create exact image of your currently loaded system, saved to an external drive and then restore ThinkPad to factory load. You could have bad hardware, but if you've already customized your system and installed programs, harder to identify. Either way, you can restore your current config exactly (and quickly) on the same system or a replacement system. (Note: if not familiar with imaging of drives, perhaps not the best time to try it, but I want to provide some overall info on this post for you as well as others.)
Technical aside: On imaging software, for last 10 years I've used Acronis with great satisfaction, but their current offerings don't restore images back with the required partition alignment for SSD drives. (BIG issue with SSD drives, and important for people trying to move existing installations on traditional hard drives to SSD.)  I haven't tried Paragon yet, but they have backup imaging/restore software that preserves the SSD (and Windows 7) partition alignment.
Having just set up a T510 4313-CTO and upgraded HDD to SSD after much research on the SSD subject, I want to comment on some of what you wrote, since there are a lot of opinions on "best" practices for SSD drives, and many are misguided, and far from "universal." I upgraded the T510 with an Intel X25-M 160GB drive after research that helped me decide it was the "best" for my needs (and likely the most reliable.) My thoughts:
* Indexing: While indexing certainly helps speed up searches for traditional HDD drives, there is nothing inherently wrong with using it with SSD. In fact, with documents etc. indexed, searches for those files is instantaneous with an SSD. Windows 7 doesn't index the entire drive, just the user folders by default, and besides, customizing the areas to index is not that difficult. Indexing will not slow down an SSD (however rebuilding an index from scratch or starting it up from non-indexed state will require time for Windows to build the index that first time. This process, however, is MUCH shorter with an SSD than with a traditional drive.
The historical reasons people believe indexing is either bad or unnecessary on SSDs are: 1) Belief a fast drive doesn't need it. > In fact, having content of documents instantly available for searches is a huge benefit, and trying to search for certain words, let's say, in thousands of documents, is far better than doing a 'manual' search this way. I have indexing on with Windows 7, restricted primarily to areas of documents and photos, music, etc, and it's brilliant! Indexing on makes having an SSD even more "mind blowing" in terms of speed, trust me I've tried it both ways!
The other reason people have claimed indexing is 'bad' is the fact that SSDs have a limited number of disk writes per cell, and this has led to a worry that you should have as few files as possible writing to disk, and additional "writes" are to be avoided. Personally I believe this came out of early adopters and system tweakers "obsessive compulsive" mindset, where they are more focused on comparing their benchmarks scores, or trying to foresee future but unproven reliability "issues". Manufacturers have designed these drives to effectively deal with this, and with "wear-leveling" and the feature called Trim basically precludes a user having to worry about manual optimization (I'm simplifying here, I realize.) The newest SSD drives are designed to be USED, but many people have this irrational fear that they need to watch out for every file written. It's a very misguided perspective. (And sure, SSDs don't have the monster capacities yet, so storing massive archived data files might not be the best use of that storage space, but turning off an incredibly useful tool like indexing is not the way to go.)
* RE: System Restore: What I wrote above applies here too, however with System restore there are a few other considerations. Turning it completely off can fry your bacon when you one day need it to save your butt! It's one of those features that operate in the background but can really be a lifesaver when you actually need it. The 2 issues: "lost" storage space for restore points, and lowered "performance" when restore points are created.   Point 1 (no pun intended,) - decrease the space reserved from the default, and how much is a personal choice. I want System Restore available for the most recent past, since I know when something has screwed up. I won't be restoring back to weeks or months in the past, because too many other programs might be impacted. Thus, on a 128GB drive (in your case,) the default might be 10% but I would consider going down to 1-2%. This way very little space is reserved, but enough to roll back the clock if you screw something up short-term. How much is up to personal choice, but definitely be skeptical of those "guides" that tell you to just turn it off completely!
The other point - performance. Once again, the time needed to store a restore point on an SSD is much less than a traditional drive, and they are only made when "needed" so you're not suffering any real-world performance hit. I wish there were not so many "guides for best SSD performance" that miss the mark.
Oh, one important and not often publicized issue with System Restore and Norton: Most Norton antivirus products have a feature (and option in settings to turn off) called Norton Product Tamper Protection. If it is ON when trying to do a Windows System Restore, the restore will (fail) with message, "Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored..." You must turn off the tamper protection before restoring a restore point. Symantec support article Sorry to go a bit off topic, but that issue was a huge one for me, and wish I had known about it from the start. Small thing to adjust when the time comes, but scary if you don't know that Norton is reason your System Restore was failing.
I realize I have not perhaps directly helped in terms of why the T510 is locking up, but hopefully helped you NOT go in the wrong direction in terms of SSD choices. Since SSD is from Lenovo, it's likely a Samsung. You might check their site for any special info regarding those drives, and drive controller drivers updates etc that are recommended, although Lenovo support should have anything important in the matrix.
Wishing you the best of luck (or perhaps, since it's been a month, you've resolved it, but hope my SSD advice helps your overall knowledge.)

W530 SSD and Memory help needed for high performance systems.

Hi Guys,
After dealing with lots of laptops that got destroyed by daily use, our organizations is considering ordering 25 Thinkpad W530 laptops from Lenovo and we hope that they last a little longer.
Our main usage is video editing and design so we have chosen the best that Lenovo has to offer as far as hardware.
Since Lenovo charges arm and a leg for SSD and 16GB memories, we have decided to purchase these separately and upgrade ourselves.
Knowing the high need for performance, what would you recommend for 128GB SSD and 16GB memory?
The laptops are all coming with 7200 RPM drives for storage so the SSD is mainly for programs and the OS.
For the drive bay, does this part sound right to you? http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/0A65623/460/89555ADB1CE946DA80E0E5D6FE77B164
This would be used for the HDD and the SSD would be moved to main HDD location.
Is there anything else we should know about these laptops?
Thank you in advanced for your time and all suggestions are welcomed.
Cheers,
Chris
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I installed 32GB (4x8GB) of Corsair Vengeance RAM, and it has been working wonderfully since day 1.
Thinkpad W530, i7-3720QM, 1920x1080 screen, 32GB RAM, dual SSDs (Samsung 830, Crucial M4 mSATA), Quadro K2000M, 9-cell battery, DVD burner, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, Intel 6300 wireless card

Need advice on how to use a samsung 470 128gb ssd in laptop win 7, please

hello,
i have a laptop with 2 hdd's running win 7 64 bit with 8gb of ram
i thought about installing 2 10k drives, but that would heat the laptop up
and drain battery life quickly
so
i found the samsung 470 ssd series to use for the os drive
and have questions that i cannot find answers to
(either from the web or samsung's website)
reading this link about 'shortstroking' the ssd
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?67119-Short-Stroking-SSD
my os only uses 40gigs (and i haven't really, really gone through it to delete bloatware)
at most i see myself using 80 gigs of the 128gig model
1) should i 'not partition' the drive and let everything be as it may
or
should i create a 90 gig partition, thus 'shortstroking' it to try to gain more performance?
2) should i locate the static page file on the ssd
or
locate it on the 2nd hdd media drive?
is anyone doing this or have advice?
thanks again for your help
j

hello Frederic,
first of all thanks a ton for the calibration info
that was excellent!
it's an hp laptop with a removable optical drive of which
i installed a 2nd hdd for media
i just found the corsair ssd you mentioned at newegg
and 57% of the reviews are terrible
whereas 100% of the reviews for the samsung are 5 eggs
(they say the samsung isn't the fastest but it is the most sturdiest)
it has a sataII interface
i agree with you about not defragging ssd's
thanks for the answer about not partitioning and locating the pagefile...
my desktop at home has 2 sata3 ports...
after all this research i think i might get the 128 gb ssd for my desktop
which leads me to another question about the laptop:
my os drive is 40gb
i don't see it getting much bigger than that
in terms of installing programs
do you think i could 'get away with' installing a 64gb ssd in the laptop
or will it fill up or run slow because of the limited headroom?
i think it is better to go with a highly stable ssd than a tempermental faster ssd
thanks for answering,
j

Advice required fo new SSD/HDD setup and OS/App re-install

Hi,
Over the last few weeks my HDD has been failing verification (4 times in the last fortnight ). I have used both Disk Utility and DiskWarrior to repair the drive and each time the outcome has been successful, only to have Verify Disk report errors a few days later.
I therefore decided to get a new drive. I've gone for a Crucial M-4 256GB SSD. However, as I do a lot of database work (MySQL mainly), I don't want to hammer the SSD with lots of writes. So I have also bought a WD 500GB hard disk (5,400rpm) together with a caddy for installing it into the DVD space. The caddy comes with an external enclosure so that i can slot my DVD drive into there instead and continue to use it via USB.
System details: MacBook Pro 6,2 mid-2010, i5 2.53 Ghz, 4GB DDR3, both internal and additional gfx card, matt hi-res screen, OS X 10.6.8, Time Machine on Iomega external firewire drive
In my mind, I will be allocating the following to each drive:
SSD - primary drive:
OS X 10.6.8
All my Apps and Utilities, documents etc
HDD - secondary drive:
MySQL data files
OS X swap file
Windows 7 partition
Questions:
1. Does this sound like a valid setup - ie is it doable?
2. Will the SDD automatically be picked up as the primary drive when OS X boots?
3. How best to install OS X? Should I do a system restore from Time Machine or take this opportunity to reinstall from scratch? Time spent on this is not a major issue as I have a backup latop to work on in the meantime
3. Can I actually install Win7 on a secondary drive with Bootcamp or would it need to be on the primary SSD?
4. If I can install Win7 onto the HDD, will that Win7 partition be bootable from Parallels 7? I've heard some people have difficulty with this using VMWare
5. Is it worth having the swap file on the secondary drive or should I leave it on the SSD?
6. If I upgrade to Lion/Mountain Lion, will the full disk encryption work with an SSD?
7. I know that I need to go into the DVD app to edit the path to the DVD drive form 'internal' to 'external'. However, does anytone know if games that require the drive to be inserted also work with external drives? Not a big deal if not as I only have 1 of these left.
Any additional advice most welcome
Thank you.

Sparrowhawk wrote:
Over the last few weeks my HDD has been failing verification (4 times in the last fortnight ). I have used both Disk Utility and DiskWarrior to repair the drive and each time the outcome has been successful, only to have Verify Disk report errors a few days later.
Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the present boot drive to a blank external drive, you can hold the option key and boot off this drive.
Option key or c key boot off the 10.6 install disk and use Disk Utility to Repair the internal drive, preferablly to Erase with Security Option Zero all Data, this will assist in mapping off bad sectors on the drive likely responsibel for your problems.
Reinstall 10.6 fresh and use the same log in name as before, Software update fully and install programs from original sources and lastly files from the clone.
Your drive should be fine after this, if it's still having problems then it's very likely a mechanical issue and needs to be replaced.
The caddy comes with an external enclosure so that i can slot my DVD drive into there instead and continue to use it via USB.
You can't boot or install OS X/Windows from a external optical drive is what I understand, so you will have to plan around that issue with bootable clones, Winclone etc.
Clones can be booted from and reversed cloned onto new internal drives, in a lot shorter time and safer than TimeMachine restores.
note: intalling a drive in the optical slot is a violation and disqualification of warranty/AppleCare
Time Machine on Iomega external firewire drive
TimeMachineo only restores, it's not a bootable clone drive.
Most commonly used backup methods
In my mind, I will be allocating the following to each drive:
SSD - primary drive:
OS X 10.6.8
All my Apps and Utilities, documents etc
HDD - secondary drive:
MySQL data files
OS X swap file
Windows 7 partition
Questions:
1. Does this sound like a valid setup - ie is it doable?
No, Windows BootCamp will have to go on the same boot drive as OS X.
The swap file of OS X should be on the SSD for speed, yes it will wear it out, but it employs wear leveling and likely by the time the SSD wears out your going to be buying a new machine anyway.
So on the SSD, OS X, Windows, Programs, basic user folders. This way if the hard drive has issues your up on the SSD.
On the hard drive place new folders with data there, like a storage drive.
2. Will the SDD automatically be picked up as the primary drive when OS X boots?
You set either Windows or OS X as the Startup Disk in System Preferences, and it is the only boot drive.
With OS X/Windows which you select which partition to boot from using the option key at boot.
You could also go with virtual machine software if your hardware demands with Windows isn't great or you can do both.
Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?
3. How best to install OS X? Should I do a system restore from Time Machine or take this opportunity to reinstall from scratch? Time spent on this is not a major issue as I have a backup latop to work on in the meantime
Scratch and only return files manually, no restores or migrations. This way your free of corrupted data.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
3. Can I actually install Win7 on a secondary drive with Bootcamp or would it need to be on the primary SSD?
SSD primary.
4. If I can install Win7 onto the HDD, will that Win7 partition be bootable from Parallels 7? I've heard some people have difficulty with this using VMWare
VM software of Parrallels and VMFusion can copy the BootCamp Windows and uses it as a file in OS X, which one can save snapshots of that virtual machine file, especially useful for malware and only updating pristine copies of Windows so your not pwned.
5. Is it worth having the swap file on the secondary drive or should I leave it on the SSD?
SSD for speed, it's extra space for memory and the faster it is the better for your computer,
If your in the box, might as well max the RAM, that's even faster.
6. If I upgrade to Lion/Mountain Lion, will the full disk encryption work with an SSD?
Yes, but Filevault has serious drawbacks, first it does slow down your CPU as it has to encrypt and decrypt everything on the fly.
If you have trouble with your machine, you can't easily access the Filevaulted drive to recover files.
If you have some sensitive data, you should be using a Iron Key self encrypting USB or a similar external drive (has it own keypad or key), because johhny law, customs and Apple will need the password to search or fix your machine.
With the sensitive data on a external source, then you can use it with any machine.
If you want to keep your speed up, not have to buy all new versions of software and some third party hardware as there are no drivers, I suggest you stick with 10.6 on that machine, it will be around for quite some time.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
10.8 on new hardware is coming, decide then or when 10.9 rolls out, don't torture yourself with 10.7 on older hardware in my opinion.
does anytone know if games that require the drive to be inserted also work with external drives? Not a big deal if not as I only have 1 of these left.
Most games I know install and have their own copy protection not requiring a disk being inserted as it wears out that way also won't work with machines that don't have optical drives.
However I suspect if it has that sort of content protection that it won't work on external optical drives.
Likely a game that old won't work on 10.7 nor 10.8 anymore anyway, so you will have to give it up.
Be warned that 10.7 can cost you more money in upgraded software, PPC based programs of old will no longer work. Also drivers for older third party hardware, so beware before you upgrade.
CS5 doesn't work too well on 10.7 neither, so you'll have to go to CS6 for instance.

I would like to buy a Macbook Pro and the model which I have selected is MGX82HN/A MB PRO DUAL CORE i5 2.6GHZ/8 GB RAM/256 GB SSD/ Iris Graphics device. would it suffice for a normal user ? Please advice.

I would like to buy a Macbook Pro and it would be my first Mac device. I have selected this model MGX82HN/A MB PRO DUAL CORE i5 2.6GHZ/8 GB RAM/256 GB SSD/ Iris Graphics device. Please advice whether it would suffice a normal user who works in a management consulting industry with project presentation related software in work ? Thanks.

Saptarshii wrote:
instead of buying an Apple USB superdrive, is it safe to use third party usb optical drive ?
Not only would it be safe but less expensive as well. The tray loaders are deemed to be the most reliable. Apple does not support Blueray so avoid that.
Ciao.

Advice on SSD migration a 9,2: Crucial BX 100 vs Samsung EVO

Hi, The Samsung EVO 500 GB on paper looks better than the Crucial BX 100 500 GB in terms of SSD drives. They're at the same price point. I was wondering if anyone could weigh in on which drive would be better for migration on a 9,2 (late model 2012).
I'm on 10.8.5 and my MBP has been running hot lately. I plan on cleaning the fan but ever since I've had it I've had RAM issues in which running multiple apps and/or having more than one external drive attached sucked the life out of the machine I upgraded to 8GB ram when I first go it, but I hear that 16 GB isn't worth the upgrade so I thought I'd move to an SSD. Now I'm using both Memory Cleaner and SMC just to keep the latest version (except for the OS) running smoothly.
This sort of started out of the blue- I noticed that FF was a drawing too much RAM and I switched to Chrome which I know Chrome is a also huge Ram suck but onetab is saviour in keeping a browser open. Along with Chrome, I typically have Excel and TextEdit, and drop down to roughly 1GB of RAM and can't keep an additional program open (Photoshop/Word/VLC) without constantly having to clean the RAM using memory cleaner and turning the fans way up using SMC.
Sorry, I'm not updating to Yosemite. I never upgrade to the 1st of anything. In didn't upgrade to Mavericks because that sounded to buggy to me- and that isn't even available anymore.
Advice and thoughts would be much appreciated.
Also, any advice on the migration when I actually do it? Clone Copy, etc. . .
Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the help I can get. Best. A

I want to join in the converstation here, cause I also have a MacPro [5,1] 3.2 Quad-Core with 12GB ram and was hoping to talk to people with the same system about internal SSD drives.
I have 3 different 1TB SATA drives already installed...
1 Mavericks [boot/system]
1 Snow Leopard [boot/system]
1 [strictly storage]
And I was thinking of intalling a SSD [maybe about 128 or 200GB?] in the 4th bay so I can then get a 3rd [boot/system] that will obviously run a bit faster than the other drives.
I'm just curious to know not only about the drives, but the phsycial installation of the drive. Do the drives that area available for purchase online, do they come with the drive alone? And do they fit in the hard drive carrier that is in the MacPro? Or is there an additional kit that is needed when puttin the drive in?
I'm mostly going to be running pro audio stuff like Logic, Ableton, Reason, Native instruments stuff, etc. as well as Autodesk Maya and other graphics and video stuff., so any suggestions would be nice.

Advice on upgrading to SSD for Mac Pro (optimized for AfterEffects & Photoshop)

Hello,
I'm an animator (I use AfterEffects CS5, but will be upgrading to CC soon) and I'm going to start work on a new AE project in a few months for an animated film that will be very demanding (lots of different shots -- meaning multiple projects, all of which will also incorporate large HD stock footage elements as well as multiple layers of art created in Photoshop).
So I'm looking to upgrade my current desktop Mac Pro (a 2010 2x2.66GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon) with SSD drives (and possibly a new graphics card) in order to speed up my system and optimize it for both AfterEffects and Photoshop. (In the past I've created projects using external 7200 RPM hard drives connected via eSATA). I've also decided, for now, not to purchase the new Mac Pro, but rather try and make a smaller investment to speed up my current system.
I'd love any advice that pro users would have that have made similiar upgrades, both in terms of the best equipment (SSD drives and graphics card) and the best way to set up AfterEffects/Photoshop projects using these SSDs.
For example:
1. Should I be purchasing 1 or 2 SSDs, and how should I be using these drives to optimize my system for AfterEffects and Photoshop?
2. Should I install my operating system (I'm on OS 10.8.5 but plan to upgrade to Mavericks when I upgrade to CC) on one separate SSD, and then install my Adobe applications on a 2nd SSD, or can I put both the operating system and applications on a single SSD? And should I be saving my projects on a SSD (if so, which one, if I'm supposed to purchase 2?
3. Should I assign a 2nd SSD as a scratch disk for AfterEffects or Photoshop?
4. I plan on using my current external hard drives (a 12 TB RAID array connected via eSATA) to store the footage and Photoshop elements being used in my AE projects (these files will be multiple GBs, and I can't afford to purchase SSD drives to hold these elements on) and also to store the renders from AfterEffects (which will also be very large files). Is this OK, or will this slow me down and negate whatever speed I've gained from moving to SSDs?
5. In researching how to switch over to SSD, I've considered purchasing 1 or 2 SSD drives. The one I'm currently looking at is called the Murcury Accelsior_E2, a PCI Express SSD sold via OWC. It comes in a few different sizes (120 GBs, 240 GBs, 480 GBs, 960 GBs). Just wondering if this is a good purchase -- the reviews seem to be very positive:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDPHWE2R960/
6. I'm also considering upgrading my current graphics card (ATI Radeon HD 5870) to the NVIDIA Quatro 4000 or NVIDIA Quatro 5000, but I'm wondering how much of a speed boost this would give me.
Here's an overview of my current system:
Computer: 2010 Mac Pro with 2x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 64 GB DDR3 ECC
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870
Hard Drives (Internal): 2x 2TB Hitachi HD
Hard Drives (External): 12TB OWC Mercury Elite Pro RAID drive array (connected via eSATA)
Apologies in advance for the long message, but I've always recieved great advice from these message boards and I'd appreciate any help!
Thanks,
Dan

Thanks so much for jumping back into the discussion, The hatter! I had some earlier questions from before that I was hoping you could answer:
Currently I own a 12 TB OWC Mercury Elite Pro RAID drive array (connected via eSATA) which I use to save projects, project files, and renders. So (unless I am mistaken) you're recommending that I continue to use this RAID array to save projects, project files, and renders.
(I was looking into purchasing a Mercury Accelsior_E2 for my SSD via PCI -- it has eSATA, so I can continue to connect my RAID array)
Then I would use my new SSD via SATA II for my system, apps, and OS (minus home folder media files, data, documents) and my SSD via PCI for scratch disks for Photoshop/AfterEffects.
Currently I have 2 x 2 TB internal hard drives, which have all my OS + home folder media files.
Can I get more details in terms of the step-by-step instructions when it's time to install/clone? Here's how it looks to me (apologies if I have this out-of-order, and feel free to correct me if I've missed a step or have it wrong -- thank you in advance!):
1. Purchase SSDs (via PCI and internal SATA II) and install them inside my Mac Pro.
(Is there any formatting I need to do at this point to the SSDs once they are all plugged in...?)
2. Install TRIM Enabler
(Once it's installed, what do I do with TRIM Enabler? Is it an app that runs 24/7 in the background, or is it an app that I need to launch on a regular basis and perform commands on the SSDs...? Very confused on what TRIM Enabler does.)
3. Use CCC to clone system from old internal hard drive to new internal SSD drive. When using CCC, deselect media folders in home account before cloning (so I am NOT cloning media folders from old hard drive to new SSD drive).
(What specific media folders should I be deselecting? I'd like to keep my music, movies, iPhoto/Lightroom files, and email archive where they are now -- on the 2 x 2TB internal drives that shipped with my Mac Pro. Is there a link that provides more info on this process? Never used CCC before but I assume it's not too hard to use...?)
4. CCC clones system gets 'cloned' (minus the media folders) to the SSD that is installed via SATA II in empty internal drive bay inside Mac Pro.
5. Repair the SSD with DU after cloning and before using and booting from SSD.
(What is DU? How does it work? Not familiar with DU...?)
6. Reboot computer from system running on SSD.
7. Open Photoshop/AfterEffects (now running from SSD) and assign new scratch disk (the SSDs on PCIe SSD controller).
8. After 100% sure that system + apps that have been cloned is working via SSD, delete ONLY system and apps from old hard drive (but do not delete media files).
(Now that my system is on a separate SSD drive, when I do things like purchase new music from iTunes, will it get downloaded to the old location (my old hard drive with all my media)? In other words, are there steps I have to perform in order to relink my media folders now that they're on a separate drive?
Thanks,
Dan

Advice for settip up a SSD for my boot disk

I am running an early 2008 Mac Pro 2x2.8 Quad-Core Xeon machine. I currently have 2 1TB drives. I would like to put install a Solid State drive as my boot disk and switch the current 1TB boot disk to another bay for a total of 3 drives. Can anyone advise what I would need to get in terms of space/product/connection type in order to do this? I have a lot of applications, 33GB worth, and my System and Library folders are about 30GB as well. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Cheers

I'm running a MacPro1,1 with an Intel SSD (Intel X25-M Postville G2, 80GB)[1] here. xbench results right after installation of 10.6.0:
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6 (10A432)
Physical RAM 7168 MB
Model MacPro1,1
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2M080G2GC
Disk Test 250.21
Sequential 169.39
Uncached Write 136.71 83.94 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 134.44 76.07 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 151.12 44.23 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 445.69 224.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 478.51
Uncached Write 543.21 57.51 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 192.66 61.68 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2346.31 16.63 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 1108.90 205.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Boots in ~19 seconds (instead of ~25 seconds with default disk). Spotlight is very fast, overall performance is very good. AFAIK the controller uses some implementation of internal garbage collection, ATA-Trim is not available in OSX.
The SSDs are available with more capacity (160GB). Double the size and you double the cost. 80GB cost ~200 Euro, 160GB cost ~400 Euro. Look for SLC instead of MLC chips and you find yourself spending roughly 800 Euro for 64GB capacity. Which SSD is for you depends on your needs. Most (if not all) recent SSDs are more than fast enough to beat most if not all HDDs in terms of throughput and access time.
Whatever SSD you are buying, you need an extra drive carrier because those SSDs are 2.5". Using the adapter shipped with the retail version of the SSDs doesn't work with the backplane. I've bought a drive carrier from Kingston[2] which costs ~20 Euro.
[1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167018&cmre=SSDSA2M080G2GC-_-20-167-018--Product
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-SNA-DC-35-2-5-Inch-3-5-Inch/dp/B0029U14VS/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1282841566&sr=8-1

SSD height for ThinkPad W530

Buying a hard drive for ThinkPads is a bit confusing because I don't really understand what height I need to buy.
From my understanding there are 9.5mm, 7mm, and 3.75mm SSDs.
Is it possible for me to buy a 9.5mm and have it fit into either the main drive bay or the ultrabay?
Do I have to have a bay adapter or those rubber rails for the 7mm or 3.75mm SSDs?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

That is VERY incorrect. 9.5mm drives fit unmodified. You MAY (depending on original drive size, the 320GB 5400RPM drive is like this) have rubber bumbers sized for a 7mm hard drive instead of 9.5mm, the replacement rubber rails are a few dollars to order; search for part number 41V9756.
9.5mm drives fit unmodified in the internal hard-drive pay on the W530. I'm currently using a pair of WD10JUCT drives in my W530 + an mSATA SSD. The UltraBay adapter in fact will fit a 12.5mm hard drive, though it will *NOT* fit the 15mm 2TB drives out there.

SSD Advice W530

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