X301 Intel SSD Vista or XP Pro question

[pboneal]

I have all my customers use XP Pro still but I have one that would like to order an X301 with an Intel SSD. Knowing that we prefer XP Pro what is the general opinion about the factory install of XP Pro from Lenovo with SSD? From reading the OCZ forums it seems Vista is preferable in general, if we can manage on XP the customer would be happier.

Thanks
Paul

[EOMtp]

Not quite clear what you are asking. The presence of an SSD is a neutral factor with respect to the installation or operation of XP or Vista. The SSD appears to the operating system as a very fast hard disk; neither XP nor Vista "care" what hard disk one uses. Whether one prefers XP or Vista has nothing to do with whether the drive is an SSD or otherwise. Both operating systems run perfectly well on the machine in question, whether with SSD or mechanical hard drive.

[chsu74]

My machine is running XP pro SP2 and is fine. I installed SP3 and it did not like it. FWIW.

[pboneal]

What I am specifically asking is if Lenovo has taken care to make sure that they treat the SSD as a special drive because it is different than a rotating drive. I have read through the forums over at OCZ and it really makes you think twice.

This is a thread on XP and SSD
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum ... hp?t=55238

Other places also say that a drive alignment is need with XP using Diskpar. What I'm reading seems to indicate that Vista is more SSD friendly, but XP is doable when done right. I didn't want to take a chance with my own X61T and went with Vista cloning from my original.

I'm just looking for real world knowledge here.

Thanks.
Paul

[Marin85]

I was wondering same thing myself. My understanding is that this tweak isn´t needed for Intel SSDs, but I´m still looking for some confirmation (as both OCZ and Intel SSD are MLC in that case).

[aau007]

I use the original Lenovo 128GB SSD. Got a set of XP recovery CDs and just slap the XP Pro on it, installed sp3 + all post sp3 updates/hotfixes and it has been running fine. Had some BOSD initially but took care of it via PM drivers and Intel wireless drivers. My system does freeze every once in a blue moon (no more than once or twice a month) but nothing consistant I can find and I just blame it on any Microsoft OS freezes once in a while. Plus I installed Virtual PC 2007 with W7 and Vista. I also only restarts my system less than once a week or whenever I install/uninstall software or MS updates, etc. Mostly my computer go into sleep mode when not in use.

How does one determine if your ssd requires the alignment fix anyways?

[archer6]

I have all my customers use XP Pro still but I have one that would like to order an X301 with an Intel SSD. Knowing that we prefer XP Pro what is the general opinion about the factory install of XP Pro from Lenovo with SSD? From reading the OCZ forums it seems Vista is preferable in general, if we can manage on XP the customer would be happier.

Your question is an excellent one.
I too have 95% of my ThinkPads centered on XP Pro, with just a few running Vista Bus SP1 for testing purposes. I have done hours of very extensive research on the use of ssd drives, and XP. Personal experience has taught me that there is indeed something to this which I have yet to clearly identify. I have purchased & installed OCz(all three models), Intel & Samsung slc & mlc drives. To keep this post short (as I'm on my BlackBerry) suffice to say I have not had great success. Acceptable but not great.
.
The new X301 with Intel ssd I ordered direct from Lenovo arrived last week. I chose Genuine Windows Vista Business with Windows XP Professional Downgrade for this machine, thus it came pre-loaded with XP Pro SP2. It's perfect, I'm highly impressed & satisfied. Super fast no matter how hard I push it, I'm very happy that I went with this choice. Just out of curiosity I called a contact within Lenovo to ask why it came with SP2, not SP3 the word I got is that Lenovo does not support SP3. Along those lines I can say that I have also had mixed results with SP3 and while I have some running perfectly with it, I am leaving this X301 just as it is. Its a rocket. I could not be happier.
.
Cheers...

[EOMtp]

What I am specifically asking is if Lenovo has taken care to make sure that they treat the SSD as a special drive because it is different than a rotating drive. ... This is a thread on XP and SSD
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum ... hp?t=55238

Any "special" treatment of the SSD due to its architecture is the sole responsibility of its firmware. If any of OCZ's SSD drives require "external" special care, then OCZ's implementation of those drives is inadequate.

The thread you referenced is a thread specific to XP and OCZ drives; it should not be extrapolated to XP and SSDs in general. None of the OCZ-specific SSD information in that thread applies to SSDs presently used by Lenovo in the Thinkpads.

XP SP3 runs perfectly on the SSDs chosen by Lenovo, and anything that makes these SSDs different than mechanical drives is totally transparent -- as it should be -- to Windows XP (SP2, SP3, anything). Issues people have with SP3 on their Thinkpads are related to their specific XP installation, i.e., these issues have nothing do to with XP running on a non-OCZ SSD.

[LondonConsultant]

On a related note, remember that Windows 7 supposedly improves support for SSDs:

• Its "trim" feature improves SSD performance by: reducing the amount of data to be deleted (which improves SSD's lifespan), deleting garbage data in advance (which speeds up writing of data), and maximising the amount of unused data (which helps even out the wear and tear on SSD).
• It partitions the SSD more efficiently to cut down on unnecessary read-write cycles (but only if Windows 7 is installed fresh and not upgraded from XP, which apparently formats SSDs in a relatively inefficient way).
• It turns off disk defragmentation when it detects an SSD instead of a spinning disk drive.
• Its certification program for SSDs (they must identify themselves to Windows 7 properly, prioritise data reads over slower data writes, comply with SATA drive interface for faster connections, etc).