SSD Optimization in Toughbooks

Hello all!

I just got my new FZ-55 in and I love the thing. Lots of cool additions and the graphics card is SWEET! I opened the box, ran the updates, installed Kaspersky and then installed my other go-to programs... Office 2010 Pro and a few GPS programs.

I was disappointed in the boot speed being just under 1 minute. I usually optimize my drives per the Optimization Guide link that Blair posted years ago. I searched for other posts about this and soon realized they were all 6-10 years old... So I thought I would bring it up again. Normally, I'd start here...

https://www.thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/2/

However I see they have a newer one to cover Win 8... But I see nothing for Win 10 there. I assume they are all about the same... But Win 10 is "special"... lol

I had Rob at Rugged Depot build me an FZ-55 with a SAMSUNG 980 PRO 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal
Gaming SSD M.2 drive. I don't think I will need extra space anytime soon! I had him pack it with 64GB of RAM as well.

Anyway... Most laptops I have built I have loaded SSDs and used the guide above. It has gotten me down to 25-30 second boot times and overall a speedier machine. Just wondered if people are still following the same advice 5-10 years later.

Thoughts?

 

There are many programs out there that disable win10 bloat and spyware. These speed things up.

I have them on my work computer. Later on I will get the names of what I use. Might be Monday.


Check out the ones on this link.
https://www.geckoandfly.com/25083/free-tools-disable-stop-windows-spying-tracking-you/

 

Shawn... I have seen many of those but I always wonder (with freeware especially) if it is safe to use. I don't want to substitute one issue for another.

I'll wait for your list. I am sure you have vetted the programs...

 

My boot time on my Windows 10 cf-31 (860 EVO 1tb) hovers around 29 seconds, thanks to Winaero Tweaker, which made it easier to disable tons of Windows bloat. It also allowed me to get W10 looking more like Windows 7. I hope Shawn doesn't trash it!

 

Yeah... I have tried Windows Tweaker and Classic shell to make it look more like Win 7... But I haven't used those yet on this machine. This latest version on the FZ-55 seems more like 7 than I remember and I am getting around fine for now. But I would like to shut down Mr. Gate's crew from prying.... Fo Sho!

 

I'm assuming you have Fast Boot turned on in the BIOS and in the Power settings in W10?

 

My work PC looks a lot like Win 7. If I can actually remember to look and write down what I used to modify it.
I am finishing downloading and creating a new Win 10 install stick. If I put the USB stick in my pocket I might remember.

Win 10 20H2 with March 2021 updates.
My new to me laptop is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. It has a blank 1tb HDD. I will load win 10 on the spinner and test drive until I get all the parts to do a few minor upgrades.

 

This is a decent page

https://www.geckoandfly.com/25083/free-tools-disable-stop-windows-spying-tracking-you/

 

DWS Lite has always worked well for me, as the above page shows it also can disable many of the bloatware features. CCleaner in the tools section you can uninstall all of the crap .

 

This page has some really good info.

https://www.askvg.com/guide-how-to-remove-all-built-in-apps-in-windows-10/

 

Fast Boot in BIOS, yes... Not sure of what you mention in Power Settings. I have the performance bar all the way over. Boot times now at 43 seconds... So, not bad actually.

Shawn... As I said I used Windows Tweaker on my last laptops but I have to say I am digging the straight Win10 after adjusting a few things... Tiles, etc.

What "New to you " laptop are you waiting for? What model?

 

As I cover my head to avoid recognition. I bought a Lenovo Idealpad 330 with a 17" screen. It is roughly a year and a half old.
Core i5 8250U, 1tb spinner, 8gb ram. .3 mp webcam, DVD writer, Has an Intel 3165 wifi at the moment. Blank HDD waiting for a clean W10 install.

My plans are for an Intel AX200 wifi card, A 1tb SSD as the main and a 500gb SSD in the optical bay. Upgrade the webcam to a 1mp 720p.
8gb should be enough for w10 that I will never play games on.

I am concerned about going from a CF-52 to a totally plastic Lenovo. I need to change how I do things. The CF 52 platform is quite dated. I wanted a 17" screen and Panasonic does not offer anything even close. Not even a current platform 15.6" screen. So I will try the Lenovo. I got it for $300 only needing an OS loaded on it. Not a steal but a good price for an auction.

I find it refreshing as to all the information Lenovo readily supplies. Parts lists and parts photos online. Listing all the original parts on your exact machine. Then it lists the compatible parts from all the different versions of your maxhine. Repair manuals easily found. Lenovo even has a forum on it's website. Ask questions on how to mod or upgrade and they answer you. No worries of getting in trouble for mentioning a password or sharing a parts list / repair manual. Lenovo is much more customer friendly.

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/pd500199-product-overview-330-17ikb

 

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 that my company gives me. After using a Toughbook for years, it is difficult to get used to. The touchpad is just wonky and the touchscreen is actually too sensitive. I actually bricked 3 company laptops as they have it set up that if you don't log on within 6 months... It automatically bricks and you have to send it back to them to reload everything. I was solely dependent on my CF-31 for years. But the company tightened security for email access. I have since found work-arounds for most stuff so I am about ready to hit the road again using my 55 as soon as my Gamber Johnson car mount gets here.

I will remove the Lind power supply from the Havis mount I used for the CF-31 and put everything back in my truck... Though I am not sure I will even need it with the battery life in the 55... I can go 2-3 days between charges now... If I am careful. But I will install it anyway to be prepared.

 

I knew I would have some big trade offs from the Toughbooks, even the CF 52. I am hoping I can adjust.
I wanted a 17" screen and Panasonic does not offer one. I quickly looked at an Asus but the Ideapad came up so I grabbed it. Hope I made a good choice.

I am still preparing USB sticks to install Win 10 on it so I have not really used the Ideapad yet.
I need to decide if I want to go with the recovery as new Win 10 or the latest release.
Maybe I can install the recovery and my latest version will just upgrade it.

I am making a Toughbook grade AC adapter. It came with a wimpy 45watt (2.25amp) one. I bought (ebay) a 170watt (8.5amp) brick and the proper end to splice on.
You can take the guy out of the Toughbook but can't take the Toughbook out of the guy.

 

I remember buying a box of 25 (or so) ThinkPad power supplies. The cool thing was they came with cigarette lighter adapters too.... Sort of a cheap Lind. I think I paid $5 each for them at the time. They came with a nice zippered bag too. The one I have been using the last 7 years finally gave up after the plug that goes into the side of the adapter wore out. I still have several of them. But I ended up switching to the Panny one that came with the laptop.

 

I have 2 or 3 of those dual adapters. Unfortunately the Ideapad is 20 volt. I think Dell made dual adapters at a higher voltage.

 

I bought about 100 of those in 3 different buys from the same guy to go with Toughbooks I was selling, in bulk of 30 or more they were dirt cheap even with shipping.

 

Now I know where are all those adapters I tried to find!

 

I think I still have 2 of those dual adapters.

I am loading Win 10 on the Ideapad. The touchpad is not nearly as responsive as a Toughbook. Maybe once it is all installed I can speed the touchpad up.

 

That's the first thing I do to a Toughbook... Speed up the touchpad to 90%!

 

I just installed a special copy of Windows 10 as my 3rd OS on here, it takes less than 9GB on the SSD. I will use it to run a steam game only. I'm on a Samsung desktop.

Guilty as charged on the AC adapters.

 

Windows 10 really takes care of a lot of stuff that we previously needed to do manually. I don't think we need to worry about any ( I can't recall what it is) special settings for a SSD as Win10 takes care of it for us.

I received my optical drive to hard drive adapter today. I had a 120gb SSD here so I tossed it in the adapter caddy. I totally had no idea what was on that SSD. For whatever reason the BIOS marked that drive as first in boot order. Whatever,... I figured the drive was not bootable anyway.

I fire the Lenovo back up and the background image was different. Hmm odd I thought. After it completed booting into Windows an error popped up about some Panasonic driver it could not load.
Even more odd.

Then I realized that I had loaded Win10 on that SSD in a different machine. It booted the drive almost error free in a totally different laptop. The drive came out of my CF 52 mk4.
Bonus was that I had already removed spyware and made that version of Win10 look a lot more like Win7. I may just clone that SSD on to a bigger SSD and be done with it. It would save me hours (possibly days) of re-configuring everything.

Maybe I should make a recovery usb of that pre loaded version of Win10.

 

I hesitate to admit this here, but I've never done a clean install of Windows 7 or Windows 10. They've come installed on the machines I've bought, and after getting them both the way I wanted them, I've cloned them and transferred them to another machine (of the same make and model, unlike the accidental daredevil Shawn) then added a new license key from a new Windows disk, which I keep in a safe place. So far so good.

 

At one point, years ago, I was selling so many Toughbooks that I developed a slipstream XP installation for the Toughbooks I sold. It saved A LOT of time! I had a version for every MK# I'd sell.

But... For my personal PC... I would always do a clean installation. I guess I am just funny that way.

 

Some of the Win 10 tweakers I use

UWT4--A lot of tweaks with this
Old New Explorer
Ribbon Disabler
Classic Shell- now called Open Shell
DWS lite
O&O ShutUp10
Spybot Anti Beacon 2.2--Last free version I think.
Win Aero Tweaker
Fileassasin
Take Ownership -reg file
Win 7 Login background changer
T Clock
Disable autoplay for all drives - reg file

I tired Customizergod also--It seems ok.

 

Thanks for that list, Shawn. I'd forgotten how many of those I've used and gotten used to.

 

Happy to help, even if it took a while.