Extra SSD Features : Windows 7 for Notebooks and Netbooks

Extra SSD Features

By Mary Branscombe, published on November 26, 2008
Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: Windows, seven, Netbook | Themes: Windows Tech Talk, Business Notebooks

Contents

1. Windows 7 on Netbooks
2. Windows 7 Fits With SSDs
3. Extra SSD Features
4. Better Battery Life
5. Managing the Battery and Optical Drives

3. Extra SSD Features

Windows 7 adds some key features specifically designed for SSDs. SSDs can perform only a certain number of reads and writes over the lifetime of the drive. If a drive identifies itself as an SSD, rather than rotating disk (which is possible with both ATA and SCSI interfaces, but not with USB), scheduled defragmentation will be turned off to decrease the number of writes to the drive—meaning that the drive should last longer. There’s also no need for a netbook with an SSD to spend time defragmenting, according to Microsoft senior program manager Frank Shu. “The defragger is trying to overcome the latency of the physical media by rewriting files into a closer location, which is not an issue for SSD and they’re hurting endurance without buying that much,” says Shu.

Windows 7 will also implement the TRIM command, which reduces the number of required writes to an SSD and will help to increase the lifespan of the drive (this Microsoft proposal has been accepted as a standard for SSDs). An SSD can only write data to an area of flash memory that’s already been pre-erased, so it can’t update a file in its existing location on the disk; an SSD has to create a new copy of the entire file, which can mean re-writing the same information that’s already on the drive if the new copy doesn’t fit into the same “page” of memory. The TRIM command gives the drive controller more information about what’s being deleted and lets it make the most of free space, according to Shu.

“If the device knows that the rest of that page’s information has been deleted, the device only has to write the updated records or sectors and it’s done. This also leaves areas pre-erased for next time” says Shu.

There will be a logo program indicating which SSDs properly identify themselves and support the TRIM command. Microsoft is also looking at how it can use SSDs with Windows 7 to improve boot-time or search-indexing speed, according to Shu. “If I have an SSD and my read speed is ten or even a hundred times that of a traditional storage device, can I have five or ten times faster boot time? These are good questions” Shu says.

3 – Extra SSD Features

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Comments

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zodiacfml 11/26/2008 2:59 PM

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i just hope that on the desktop we can turn off windows features.

Anonymous 11/26/2008 4:43 PM

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It looks like my lenovo already has most of these features. And always this discussion about battery life. I have never gotten the advertised battery life is I actually use my laptop. So the screen can not be too dim (let alone outside... what a joke). I actually need the harddrive. So much of these features don't seem that interesting. What is really new in Windows 7. (all the features for OEM's... do I care if I already have it?).
The easier networking. Interesting. didn't XP show you the wi-fi networks with one click. And then in Vista they removed it. So now it is a feature again? Come on...
An 8Gb footprint for barebones windows. What is that all about. I can run XP easily on a 10Gb drive. And it needs only about 2Gb. So where is the progress here...???
Overall from what I read: not much new stuff.
Sounds like lots of these are already in XP... Should compare battery life with XP, not vista I guess....
And would love to see a comparison on some of these tasks with an Apple. Just to know if it will be worth my money to switch.

Anonymous 11/26/2008 7:19 PM

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-1

I've played around with Vista a bit, but glad I skipped implementing it as my main OS.

hellwig 11/26/2008 8:14 PM

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-1

Same here with skipping Vista. I had plenty of driver-incompatability fun when I switched to Win XP Pro x64 (for the heck of it). I figured I would just skip the whole Vista issue entirely. If Windows 7 needs less hardware than the 2-year old Vista it is based on, it just further shows how unnecessary Vista was. Looks like the wait for Windows 7 will be well worth it.

Anonymous 11/27/2008 7:29 AM

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what about tablet features?
to my understanding the 7 OS supports active, passive, wacom technology and multitouch options much better then the Vista did.
Since the vista did (does) it well, i wonder how much better will the 7 be on my tablet-pc...

Anonymous 11/28/2008 1:21 PM

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Windows 7 IS Vista with options to strip down unnecessary parts and with some tuning done. But most important, with completely new marketing! And people will pay for something that they should already have when they bought Vista. Smart Microsoft is and that's why they're rich.

Anonymous 11/28/2008 5:22 PM

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That's right medmeks..

So, Why don't we make another class action lawsuits against Ballmer and his god-damned Microsoft?

Anonymous 11/29/2008 9:19 PM

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I agree with medmeks... it is just an updated version of vista as said by Microsoft themselves...because the update was so big they deemed it release. But then Apple charge for each of their big updates every time...so nothing new here...Mircosoft copying Apple??

I run Vista as my main OS now having bought a copy upgraded from XP. I think it is great and have had zero issues with it in 3 months... i have a macbook too but will be selling soon as i dont use it enough - XBOX 360 etc.

jkeelsnc 11/30/2008 10:40 PM

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This is all good. I finally started using Vista recently and after SP1 it is acceptable (finally). However, this still begs a question. Why the hell didn't Microsoft write Vista with these features to begin with to allow it to run properly on smaller machines and less hardware? I understand that SSD's were not popular at the time but the rest of the features could have been implemented. Not to mention they should checked on the hardware and software compatabilities before shoving it out the door. Having said that, VISTA is finally pretty good and it looks like Windows 7 will actually be very nice.

Anonymous 12/02/2008 2:46 PM

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vista is a rushed product - that's why...

Anonymous 04/08/2009 7:14 AM

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