The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    NEW M17x r4, Enable Caching on mSata SSD

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by asteve, Nov 27, 2012.

  1. asteve

    asteve Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi all

    I thank you in advance for your help, i am searching for some answers before doing anything stupid on my new toy :)

    i received the my M17x R4, with 750Gb and the 32GB cache ssd option

    -Do i need to reinstal windows and enable ssd as described here

    How to Enable Caching on mSata SSD for Alienware Laptops? | Dell

    or is it already done ?

    -if i need to reinstall, does making a new backup (windows 7 backup) on the current configuration (before new install) will work for restoration, or the backup won't work as it is done based on different raid configuration etc...

    I hope the answer won't make me stay up all night :)

    & thanks guys
     
    asteve, Nov 27, 2012
    #1
  2. Chris_c81

    Chris_c81 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    125
    Messages:
    245
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    From factory it should be done for you. Look for the Intel Rapid Storage Technology icon in the tray. Double click it and you'll be able to check if the mSATA SSD is being used as a cache for the HDD.

    If the RST application is not installed, I don't see why you'd need to reinstall Windows. Just download it and install.

    I added an SSD to my system once it arrived from Dell and used it as a cache for the HDD. I didn't need to reinstall Windows.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Chris_c81, Nov 27, 2012
    #2
  3. asteve

    asteve Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Big Big thanks chris, the options was not enabled by default in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology

    i only had to enable it, choose the default options, restart

    & Ohhh yeah the difference is clearly visible while launching windows :)
     
    asteve, Nov 27, 2012
    #3
  4. Chris_c81

    Chris_c81 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    125
    Messages:
    245
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    No worries, glad you sorted it. It is a nice speed boost isn't it? I definitely noticed it.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Chris_c81, Nov 27, 2012
    #4
  5. Retro_UK

    Retro_UK Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Can I jump in on this rather than start a new thread?

    I too have received an M17X R4 and the SSD is sat doing absolutely nothing. If I open Intel-RST there is NO accelerate option, which I believe is what is needed to enable this?

    I have asked on the Dell forums, but apart from one guy doing his best to try and help me (and as good as he has been, he can only reply when he has free time) not one single person from Dell has replied to me at all. Thanks.

    edit: mmanaged to fix this by removing a volume that was set on the ssd. Some googling revealed a lot of people with the same issue. Has me wondering why Dell ship them like this, with the ssd being basically redundant the way they set it up. Instead of it being set up for caching as adverstised (at least in my case).
     
    Retro_UK, May 14, 2013
    #5
    faiz23 likes this.