Speaking of Panasonics and SSD...

Yeah, I did what everybody said not to and I now find myself rethinking my policy pertaining to deliberately shooting at my own feet. Yes, I was lazy and cloned my Win 7 install over to a SSD on my new CF-52 and it is not really happy about it. I did my research and followed all of the advice I could find to change the settings to optimize Windows for a SSD (turned off indexing, system restore, etc). It boots and acts like a SSD should most of the time, except that it just hangs/stalls/sputters randomly for no apparent reason, more frequently than I would like. I saw no issues with the original spinning drive.

So, I am planning on following conventional wisdom and doing a fresh Windows install with the SSD. Then I got to thinking that it would be far easier to use the factory restore disc...... or can I? Do they have discs specifically for the models sold with SSDs? If not, how does Panasonic get around the SSD issues?

Or maybe one of you SSD experts might be able to give me a clue as to why it is stalling so that I don't have to start over in the first place?

 

I did clone it to my 19mk5, without any problem.

Have to say that I ordered a second caddy, put in the old HDD, made a clean install, with all the work-programs, then copied all the data to it and used the clean install to clone it back to my new SSD.
I now have the old HDD as a clean install, that I go back to if I did something stupid or if I think it is needed to speed things up again with a clean install. Takes about an hour to copy all data and to update windows etc.

 

When I installed the SSD in my CF-52 running W7 I just cloned the old spinner to the SSD(which was installed in the computer). Not so much as a hiccup and it's been running like a dream for just short of a year. Oh, I also switched the drive to my new CF-52 with the dedicated graphics card with just a couple of reboots for W7 to figure out the changes.
CAP

 

Stuttering is usually fixed by a firmware update. Check your ssd manufacturers website for updates for your unit. If it is an Intel drive, just download and run the latest Intel SSD Toolbox. That would be quicker and easier that a complete reinstall of the OS and drivers.

 

I did a clean install on my ssd in my cf52 and it stalls like that also...Usually about 20 seconds, then it unfreezes and works normally.

 

Would this behavior be machine specific? I don't recall having this issue when the drive was installed in my CF-30. But yes, it sounds like a much lighter lift than a full re-install. And I did mention in OP that I am lazy.

 

Does this happen only on boot ? I had this same problem on one of my first Intel SSD's (30MK1) On that drive I optimize Windows as you did but the second time I did not and it worked fine and only added 4 seconds to the boot time and works as it should

Yes use the restore disk, I always use them. On my 52's I get a boot time of 18 to 21 seconds...they were 49 to 56 seconds . Don't optimize Windows this time and see how it works.

 

No, it is usually specific to the ssd, but it can't hurt to check out a firmware update.

Any of the units I have installed an ssd into (CF-30 Mk1, CF-18 Mk1, CF-74 Mk2) have had a clean install, mainly because I was installing Win7 and secondly I didn't have XP restore discs for those units. Hand bombin' all the way. Never had an issue w/ssd, but the first thing I do with any ssd I get, new or used, is check to see if the firmware is up to date.

Is there an AHCI controller showing in Device Manager under IDE controllers? May need to enable it in Windows, even if it shows in the BIOS.

 

Did you make sure to do a "4K alignment" when copying the old system to the SSD? An SSD will stutter trying to read and write if the data is not aligned to it's hardware structure.

 

Hmmm... I did the original install on my CF-30 MK3 using the factory restore disk on the old Samsung hard drive. A couple of years later, last July, I cloned 2 Samsung 830 SSDs in the CF-30, OS, programs, files, etc, the whole image. I then installed one in the CF-30 and one in the CF-52G. The 52 needed a few reboots and an activation number and it worked perfectly, I have never had the Samsung install disk out of it's package. I have recently moved the CF-52G drive to my CF-53E and as I said earlier, it required only two reboots for Windows to sort everything out. Windows also detected a "hardware change" and required re-activation. Maybe it's best to mess with it as little as possible, maybe the difference in SSD manfacturer? I think that the most trouble I've had to date is when I installed W7 in the CF-30 MK3 and then put the drive in a CF-30 MK1, that took a lot of reboots, but Windows finally got it straightened out.
CAP

 

On my cf52, it always boots perfectly. The hanging is completely random during normal use.

 

Well, I have been researching all I can on SSDs at the moment and using on XP, upgrading to W7, etc....

..and I have come across your issue several times by people experiencing the same on W7 or upgrading to W7 from XP.

It is apparently caused by the TRIM feature within Windows7. It needs to be disabled...

..and perhaps you need to use some other Garbage Cleaner or Wiper..

Im still figuring out how this stuff works, but it is what Ive read and come across.

kind regards

PS: On another related/unrelated note regarding my research on Kingspec SSDs which may or may not help point you in some other direction (or add to your confusion (smile):

"A problem reported with some of these early JMicron controllers has been traced to the small amount of I/O cache used, which supposedly can cause a lagging or stuttering effect when performing large writes from the OS. Additionally, poorer wear-leveling and write combining algorithms can cause drives with these controllers to slow down as they age. Although JMicron claims they have addressed these issues with a new version controller and firmware, many SSDs currently on the market still have the original controller in them."

"I also had to manually tweak various Windows7 settings myself, like disabling the scheduled Disk Defragmenter, Indexing and Superfetch, which I should not have had to do if the drive and Windows 7 were working together correctly."

(Taken from: http://www.ocia.net/reviews/kingspecssd/page8.shtml)

 

if you have a intel disk, download the SSD toolbox from them. It has an option where you can check what settings have to be changed and it also shows you when they are right.