SSD Help - FKA Should We...?

[Doogie2K]

So should I be worried about my stability going forward, or is it just gonna be a little slow? I can live with a little slow.

[Khrymsyn]

Originally Posted by Doogie2K

So should I be worried about my stability going forward, or is it just gonna be a little slow? I can live with a little slow.

Definitely a stability thing.

Installation of a fresh windows is absolutely fine.

using an image from a HDD installation, then imaging the SDD, then trying to install Windows over the installation without a full SDD wipe has the potential to be problemmatic.

What Bone said is correct, it's the way HDDs and SDDs align files that are completely different. SSDs generally use what's called a 4K alignment. It MAY work, but you're definitely not going to be at peak performance and I would not trust the stability worth a darn.

All that being said, I have not tested with the newest Acronis 2013, and my experience is based on previous versions of Ghost and to a much lesser extent, Acronis released before 2010. The other possibility is there may be a way to re-align your paritions to the 4K alignment after the fact, but I haven't looked into do that.

[Bone]

Right, there were some workarounds and ways to re-align, but I didn't want to chance it. Also, why move to SSD just to accept slowness (at best)?

[biosc1]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

How about a late 2006 Macbook Pro issue. I'm getting screen flicker in OSX which seems to mostly happen when there is some impact on the desk that it sits on or when I hit the keys a bit hard. It doesn't happen at all in Windows XP. So, at first I assumed it was a problem with the onboard graphics (loose wiring?) as Windows only uses the dedicated graphics under Bootcamp. So I did some research and it seems that while recent Macbook Pros have both integrated graphics and dedicated graphics, my older MBP is only equipped with a Radeon X1600 mobility card.

Any ideas?

It's the hinge wiring. You can either price out getting it fixed or get used to the idea of using the laptop as a desktop in the future when the wiring finally goes and you can only use the external output to a monitor.

Technically, you may be able to open it up yourself and see if there are some loose solder points, but Macs are notorious for not being user fixable (though, 2006 may not be as unibody as they are now).

It's a relatively common issue with older laptops. Wear and tear, yada yada.

It's worth pricing out a repair because it shouldn't be too expensive.

Edit: Hmm...doesn't explain why it doesn't occur in XP..could be an issue with how XP refreshes versus OSX? XP might have a better buffer and the effect is less noticeable?

[Chris_D]

Originally Posted by Khrymsyn

Chris,
If you are booted up, hold onto the bottom corners of the screen while open, and gently "counter" flex them to each other (i.e. twist) and I mean GENTLY, does that happen? What about holding the screen at the bottom corners again and "wagging" the screen (like, tilt the top forward and backward a little like a shake). I know in many LCDs there's a ribbon style connection that runs along the back of the screen that can get lose either in the screen/lid itself, or at the small lockdown style connection on the motherboard. Seems weird that it wouldn't happen on the windows side as I wouldn't expect there to be any difference UNLESS we're talking some sort of heat issue in which the Win side isn't doing enough work to get things cooking.

Actually, the machine is always much hotter in Windows, at least when I'm playing a 3D game (hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch the body).

I tried twisting the screen but actually nothing happened. However, I tried just wagging the screen and half opening and closing it and it seemed to happen fairly consistently. I should try this again in Windows (now I'm in OSX). It's just weird that I've noticed it fairly consistently in OSX and yet I just put 60 hours into Fallout 3 and didn't notice it ever. I know Fallout 3 is a fairly dark game but I keep the brightness quite high so I wouldn't have missed the effect (it's very noticeable).

Originally Posted by biosc1

It's the hinge wiring. You can either price out getting it fixed or get used to the idea of using the laptop as a desktop in the future when the wiring finally goes and you can only use the external output to a monitor.

Edit: Hmm...doesn't explain why it doesn't occur in XP..could be an issue with how XP refreshes versus OSX? XP might have a better buffer and the effect is less noticeable?

Yeah, I wish I still had my old 22 inch LCD TV. It wasn't that great but it could do 720p at passable quality. The only issue I have with paying for repairs is that I'm really hoping to finally upgrade to a Mac desktop sometime next year (bearing on discussions with the wife) and any more money I put into this will pretty much delay that. So, hopefully the screen keeps on going until at least then. As it is now, it's not too bad. Without having enquired, I would guess Apple would charge at least $100, if not $200-300 for the repair.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

[Doogie2K]

So closing the book on this one, I reformatted this weekend, and so far not only does my drive run well (dunno about better or worse, but it hasn't eaten shit on me yet), but wiping also gave me the chance to clear out cruft and get my Catalyst driver to actually work properly, at least temporarily.

So my mom got an SSD, too. On her SB i3, her Windows now boots up before the damned animation finishes. I apparently need to upgrade my core. Or at least find a way to flash my BIOS that doesn't require a 32-bit OS.

[fitbabits]

Changed the thread title to better reflect the meat on the bones!

[Doogie2K]

Thanks. Actually, I do have one more thing. Since I reinstalled, I've had my mouse cursor semi-constantly have the thinking circle animation beside it, which I've never had like this before, and doesn't make sense for shit like being in the browser. The only thing that's different that I can think of is Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which I installed pretty much without thinking about it along with the rest of my motherboard drivers. Is that the problem? Should I kill it with fire? Or leave it? (I did the same on Mom's computer and she's had the same thing going.)

[fitbabits]

Originally Posted by Doogie2K

Thanks. Actually, I do have one more thing. Since I reinstalled, I've had my mouse cursor semi-constantly have the thinking circle animation beside it, which I've never had like this before, and doesn't make sense for shit like being in the browser. The only thing that's different that I can think of is Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which I installed pretty much without thinking about it along with the rest of my motherboard drivers. Is that the problem? Should I kill it with fire? Or leave it? (I did the same on Mom's computer and she's had the same thing going.)

Before killing it, disable the service to see if it makes any difference. Start > services.msc...

Also, if it's happening in your Internet browser, try disabling add-ons one by one.

[Stmfuller]

The answer to every question in this thread is going to be reinstall windows. I can see it now.

[biosc1]

Originally Posted by Doogie2K

get my Catalyst driver to actually work properly, at least temporarily.

What is the deal with that bloody CCC.exe service. I kill it and my framerate increases in game!

Originally Posted by Doogie2K

Thanks. Actually, I do have one more thing. Since I reinstalled, I've had my mouse cursor semi-constantly have the thinking circle animation beside it, which I've never had like this before, and doesn't make sense for shit like being in the browser. The only thing that's different that I can think of is Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which I installed pretty much without thinking about it along with the rest of my motherboard drivers. Is that the problem? Should I kill it with fire? Or leave it? (I did the same on Mom's computer and she's had the same thing going.)

Did you update the SSD driver? Depending on the age/model, there may be a firmware upgrade. Usually the first thing you should do with an SSD.

[Khrymsyn]

Originally Posted by biosc1

What is the deal with that bloody CCC.exe service. I kill it and my framerate increases in game!

Good ole Catalyst Control Center.

Personally, I feel CCC is a good idea implemented horribly. Unless I plan on doing a bunch of tweaking and such, I normally install my AMD/ATI drivers without the CCC. Generally more stable and faster framerates in my experience.

[Slack3r78]

Why has nobody asked what model the SSD is yet? Or did I miss that?

[Doogie2K]

Fits: I'll give that a shot. It's definitely not the browser, because I only have one add-on installed, and this didn't happen on my last install.

Bio: Yup. Intel Toolbox said it was up to date.

Slacker: Intel 520 series.