In place of established standards and technologies always come more progressive innovations. So, SSD (solid state drives) are gradually replacing the usual HDD. They have no moving mechanical parts and have several advantages. The solid-state drive is based on NAND memory, so the SSD is more like large volumes of a USB flash drive with high speed data writing and reading. Modern drives tend to have low power consumption and silent operation, besides, they do not overheat. But with all its advantages, SSD has a limited number of rewriting cycles, while the good old HDD can be overwritten as much as you like. Of course, this does not mean at all that solid-state carriers quickly become unusable, but if the OS is on it, then in order to increase the service life of the device, it is necessary to reduce the OS usage to the SSD drive. At the same time, the Windows system remains true to the traditions and is not in a hurry to adapt to new technologies, therefore, users need to make the appropriate adjustments with their own hands. There are two options for configuring Windows for using SSD: manually and automatically, using special utilities. The second method makes it much easier for users. So, one of the best programs, whose goal is to reduce the circulation of the system to the drive and the load on the disk - SSD Mini Tweaker. The utility contains all the options, services and system settings that you want to disable when using a solid-state drive as a system disk.

SSD Mini Tweaker setup procedure.

How to use SSD Mini Tweaker

After deactivating unnecessary Windows functionality, the lifetime of the SSD will increase significantly, since the system generates the capacity of the disk with regular calls. Experienced users are able to manually optimize the system for using a solid-state drive, but with the SSD Mini Tweaker it is much easier to do this, therefore, having armed with a utility, novice users can accomplish the task. To start using software to adapt Windows to work with SSD, perform the following steps:

• Download the utility from a trusted source (SSD Mini Tweaker is freely available);
• Unpack the archive in any directory. Specify the path, then click the "Eject" button;
• At the end of the process, select the software version, depending on the capacity of the system;
• The program does not require installation, so we simply run it as an administrator;
• Next, you need to specify the system components from the list that you do not need to use, and then click the "Apply changes" button. The entered settings are reset with the key combination Ctrl + Z;
• After making changes, a reboot is required for the settings to take effect.

Along with the utility, the directory also contains the help file for interaction with SSD Mini Tweaker. In addition, if you need hints, help is available in the application by pressing the F1 key.

How to properly configure the SSD Mini Tweaker

The utility interface is quite simple; to perform configuration manipulations (a total of 14 parameters are available), you will need to tick the corresponding items from the list and apply the changes made. Let's take a closer look at how to properly configure the options in the SSD Mini Tweaker.

Enable Trim

Trim is an OS command, which is an option for Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, it allows you to notify SSD of unused data, as well as automatically remove system garbage. Deleted information will not occupy cells, which is a measure to maintain high write speed to disk and reduce SSD wear. When a drive of this type is connected, the option is activated in the operating system, but for reinsurance it is also available in the utility, therefore there should be a tick here.

Disable SuperFetch

This service improves Windows performance by automatically caching files. It loads into the RAM of the PC frequently used modules for faster response. And all this is good for the HDD, but if there is an SSD, it is unnecessary either on Windows 10 or on other versions of the OS, so we disable it.

Disable Prefetcher

Like the previous service, Prefetcher increases productivity and speeds up the system startup procedure. The tool is also responsible for caching in order to quickly launch applications. If you use HDD, then the activated service is appropriate, but if you have an SSD, you do not need to use the tool. On solid-state media, Windows simply “flies”, so disable this service, using the capabilities of SSD Mini Tweaker. Disabling will also free up some memory.

Keep the system core in memory

To configure this option, you need to know the amount of RAM on the device, it must be at least 2 GB. Normally, the system kernel is sent to the paging file. So, in order to reduce the number of OS calls to SSD and extend the life of the carrier, it can be left in RAM. A side effect of the parameter is the load on the RAM. So that the mini-setting of Windows 7, 8, 10 activated via SSD Mini Tweaker does not load the memory, it is better if its volume is from 4 GB.

Increase file system cache size

This parameter of the SSD Mini Tweaker application will reduce the number of calls to the file system, since when the parameter is activated, the frequently used media sections will be cached. But if you set this parameter using the program, the volume of the operative used will be increased, so we mark this item only if there are no less than 2 GB on board.

Remove limit from NTFS in terms of memory usage

The parameter is also aimed at improving the performance of the OS, since the cache will store more file operations, which improves performance when running several programs at the same time. If this option is installed, the number of calls to the SSD will decrease, but due to the load on the RAM, the memory requirements are the same as for the above cases - the presence of at least 2 GB.

Disable defragmentation of system files at boot time.

And again an option that is good only for HDD. Using SSD, defragmentation must be disabled, because it is undesirable for this type of drives, using a completely different principle of recording information.

Disable the creation of a file Layout.ini

The file containing the list of items that are needed when the OS starts is created when the device is idle and stored in the Prefetch system directory. It uses its defragmentation service. Since this information is not necessary in the presence of SSD, tick the item.

Disable MS-DOS name creation

This option can not touch. Creating names in the “8.3” format is required for the normal functioning of 16-bit programs used for work in MS-DOS. If such applications are not used by you, you can deactivate the service, but this does not affect the SSD.

Disable Windows Indexing System

The indexing service provides a quick search for files and directories on the computer, it is used for the HDD, whereas in the case of using SSD as a system disk, there is little benefit from it. You can disable the option.

Disable hibernation

The hibernation mode is applicable for a quick start of the OS, which is caused by the state of the system being saved to a file. Enabling this option will disable the hibernation function and delete the hiberfil.sys file, which frees up a lot of disk space (equal to the amount of RAM).

Disable System Security

The standard Windows tool allows you to create system restore points so that you can always return to the “past”, for example, when installing update curves or other adverse changes in the OS. At the same time, the use of the parameter has an effect on SSD wear, and besides, it takes up a lot of memory, so it is better to use other means of creating and storing Windows backups. Disabling the option will reduce the number of entries on the SSD and free up space.

Disable Disk Defragmenter

As we have already found out, the SSD does not require defragmentation of the drive, so disable this service.

Do not clean up the paging file

When the swap file is located on the SSD, its cleaning must be disabled so that the system does not access the disk every time it reboots. This will increase the resource carrier. After all the necessary parameters are checked, all that remains is to apply the settings by clicking the appropriate button below and restart the computer for the changes to take effect.