conna Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 XP pro was installed onto a SSD . It worked for over a year but in the past week the system would randomly slow to a crawl and become unresponsive. after a random amount of time it would resume normal operation. A little less that half the drive was being used. Power user so I imagine it filled will deleted data.. I know all about TRIM and the lack of TRIM support in XP. When the hard drive was in the XP box, CHKDSK was attempted to run on but it was extremely slow and seemed to stop at 54%. The SSD was removed from the XP box and installed as a secondary hard drive in a Windows 7 pro computer. The SSD seems normal in the Win7 box. CHKDSK ran at a normal speed and completed without any errors. I filled the SSD with Sparse files until it was maxed out and then deleted the spars files. Not sure if that would invoke TRIM or not. Is there something else that needs to be done make the drive usable in the XP box after this? I want to put the drive back into the XP box, and back it up with Windows Home Server. I'll have a few options at that point depending on what the client wants to do. He may want to keep living with XP so I would restore his drive to a mechanical HD and life goes on. I would prefer to install Windows 8 on his computer and restore his XP hard drive into XP mode or as another VM. I'm waiting to see what he wants to do. In the meantime I want to get the drive usuable so it can be used in the XP box again. Thank you in advance for opinions and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted April 10, 2015 Moderator Share Posted April 10, 2015 Could it be malware/virus? Sounds like something you did after you had it on there for a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Veteran Posted April 10, 2015 Veteran Share Posted April 10, 2015 Have you checked it with the manufacturer's utility? Without any TRIM support and something like defrag running on a schedule for a year it may be reaching the end of it's write limit already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tha Bloo Monkee Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Even if defrag was running for a year, a modern SSD *should* last longer than 1 year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conna Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Could it be malware/virus? Sounds like something you did after you had it on there for a year. I started off with that route and was able to run malwarebytes (XP install) with clean results. It was using Eset Nod32 for the antivirus and that scan was clean also. After I put the drive in a known clean system (Win 7) I scanned it there with malwarebytes and Avast AV, the SSD came up clean. Have you checked it with the manufacturer's utility? Without any TRIM support and something like defrag running on a schedule for a year it may be reaching the end of it's write limit already. Yes. It is a Transcend SSD320 and the tool is called SSD scope. It reports the drive SMART data is good. It also reports that there is 100% drive health left. Unfortunately the TRIM option is not available for some reason in the SSD Scope. fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify gives back a "0" so it looks like TRIM is enabled. Defrag was not enabled on XP btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 If he really needs XP, wouldn't Windows 7 + XP Mode be a better option? Shaun N. 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Have you checked it with the manufacturer's utility? Without any TRIM support and something like defrag running on a schedule for a year it may be reaching the end of it's write limit already. I thought you didn't defrag SSD because they were "flash" drives. I must consult the BudMan Library of Knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted April 11, 2015 Veteran Share Posted April 11, 2015 I thought you didn't defrag SSD because they were "flash" drives. I must consult the BudMan Library of Knowledge. On a modern OS defrag won't do anything, it's smart enough not to bother moving sectors around on an SSD. On XP it'll have no idea and try moving everything around (Which is really going to suck because it moves sectors to a scratch location, and then to their final location, and each move consists of 2 writes, etc.) Either upgrade from XP to something made this decade, or replace it with a normal hard drive, XP is just going to kill any SSD you install it on. Dot Matrix and pmdci 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 On a modern OS defrag won't do anything, it's smart enough not to bother moving sectors around on an SSD. On XP it'll have no idea and try moving everything around (Which is really going to suck because it moves sectors to a scratch location, and then to their final location, and each move consists of 2 writes, etc.) Either upgrade from XP to something made this decade, or replace it with a normal hard drive, XP is just going to kill any SSD you install it on. I don't run XP. I run 7 or 8.1 I was just curious, I read that it didn't work, and can actually harm your SSD. Thats why I asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted April 11, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hello, Try backing up the SSD (and verifying it, of course), performing an ATA SECURE ERASE of the drive to clear it completely, and then restoring the backup. This will have the effect of clearing all the memory cells in the SSD. Basically, think of it as a destructive version of the TRIM operation. If that solves the problem, then you were running into a garbage collection issue from the lack of TRIM support in the old operating system. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky The_Decryptor 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted April 11, 2015 Veteran Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't run XP. I run 7 or 8.1 I was just curious, I read that it didn't work, and can actually harm your SSD. Thats why I asked. haha, I should have put that second bit above the quote, wasn't directed at you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 haha, I should have put that second bit above the quote, wasn't directed at you All good. I do have XP Pro SP3 in a VM, just for games! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arachno 1D Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Did you actually try a fresh install of XP on the SSD to ensure its not something in the software rather than hardware causing the issue? If you going to persist with the old image then some form of process control will need looking at to highlight the issue as you light on information as to what was upgraded or installed prior to the issue i.e. I did read [true or not] that later versions of uTorrent have a bitcoin mining app EpicScale built in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netty2014 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 partition alignment http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-sure-your-partitions-are-correctly-aligned-for-optimal-solid-state-drive-performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conna Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 The reason trying to preserve the Xp image is because of outdated software that only works with XP that runs his business. Upgrade path for the custom software is too much to move off of XP. Not my call. If it was mine I would have him upgrade to new OS/software suite and take a day off. Did you actually try a fresh install of XP on the SSD to ensure its not something in the software rather than hardware causing the issue? If you going to persist with the old image then some form of process control will need looking at to highlight the issue as you light on information as to what was upgraded or installed prior to the issue i.e. I did read [true or not] that later versions of uTorrent have a bitcoin mining app EpicScale built in Not yet. I wanted to image the drive first and was looking for advice on what to do with the SSD before I put it back in the Xp box to grab a live image. I see your point. He may have messed up XP in some way that is causing the slowdown either by contracting malware or a effect of running a decade old OS on a SSD. A new install that repartitions the SSD probably would work for another year until the lack of TRIM fills the drive with unmovable, undeletable data. If he really needs XP, wouldn't Windows 7 + XP Mode be a better option? Yes. He chose Win8 64 bit pro to move forward with. Now I am tasked with moving the XP image into a VM or XP mode on Win8. partition alignment http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-sure-your-partitions-are-correctly-aligned-for -optimal-solid-state-drive-performance If I restore XP back to the SSD I would first partition and format in windows 7 as that seems to set the alignment up correctly. Currently it looks like the SSD is misaligned Partition Starting offset 32256 / 4096 = 7.875 If he really needs XP, wouldn't Windows 7 + XP Mode be a better option? He chose Win8 pro 64 bit. I am looking into running XP mode on Win8 or another VM solution. Most likely another topic I will start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogurth Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Are You using Samsung EVO SSD series? There was a slowdown bug present in firmware, but it has beem fixed by Samsung few months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netty2014 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 just install 8.1 or 8 and run xp in a vm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conna Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Are You using Samsung EVO SSD series? There was a slowdown bug present in firmware, but it has beem fixed by Samsung few months ago. The model of the SSD is TS256GSSD320 based on SandForce's SF-228. I am not finding info that says that they use the same controller as the Samsung EVO. netty2014 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netty2014 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 http://www.computerworld.com/article/2836082/samsung-delivers-fix-for-ssd-slowdowns.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conna Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 just install 8.1 or 8 and run xp in a vm Yep. I still want to restore the XP SSD image into the VM to keep everything working though. I want to thin provision the VHD so that the restore won't complain about moving to a smaller drive. The xp image thinks that it will be a 238GB disk where it really needs is 56GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netty2014 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 copy the vm image to a backup drive if you can then set the size of the vm's hd space then copy the vm image back into the folder and run it ? your vm for xp should be in documents ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netty2014 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 or enable the vm in windows and use that its somewhere to the left in add and remove programs but i could never work it out so i acquired a workstation copy of vm it seems to run windows 10 preview ok and updates well i think you need to be on windows 8 at least to do this but dont quote me on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arachno 1D Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Yeah run the image in VMware or the equivalent MS version which would usually enable most antiquated applications to still work and no worries over supporting older hardware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arachno 1D Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Yep. I still want to restore the XP SSD image into the VM to keep everything working though. I want to thin provision the VHD so that the restore won't complain about moving to a smaller drive. Am I missing something here........just install it on new hardware i.e. a large drive Windows 7 or 8 with the image in VMware then theres no issues over space? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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