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SSD File System Recommendations

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yksyks:
I completely agree with both of you. EWF seems to me too dangerous. How about the FlashPoint? Is it worth trying? Some speeding up would be nice, but the data reliability is the highest priority, you know.

By the way, is there any significant improvement when disabling the last access time timestamps? I'll do this on the SSD, but how about normal HD? Any personal observations?

4wd:
I completely agree with both of you. EWF seems to me too dangerous. How about the FlashPoint? Is it worth trying? Some speeding up would be nice, but the data reliability is the highest priority, you know.-yksyks (May 09, 2009, 03:41 PM)
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Since we are talking about the Acer Aspire One, then I have experienced no data loss at all no matter how I've turned the machine off, or not commited changes, etc, etc.

For the simple reason is that I use the System Expansion SD card slot on the left for all my data, (there's a 4GB or 8GB SD card in there all the time).   That card is where 'My Documents' resides, where files are downloaded to, etc, etc.

EWF is only enforced on C:\ where the system and any programs are, portable or installed.  The programs and system are set up the way I want so I don't care if the system is turned off incorrectly - the only data lost is whatever the browser may have cached and other junk which isn't necessary for the running of the system.  The system boots in the same state it was the last time it was turned on, and the time before that, ad infinitum.

Unless I have committed changes to it - and that only happens when there's a new program install or I've changed settings in a program that I want to keep.

EWF is not dangerous providing you use it as it was intended.

I also use it as a cheap form of virus protection since any changes a virus makes to the system drive can be removed by just turning it off, (providing you haven't committed changes).

If, however, you are not prepared to use a separate means of saving your data, whether the SD card or dividing the SSD into two partitions and keeping your data on the second, (which you should do anyway), then yes, EWF is not for you.

In that case you could use FBWF with it's ability to specify some directories on the drive as writable even though the rest of the disk isn't.

f0dder:
4wd: good point - for that kind of setup, it does make sense. I'm still slightly skeptical wrt. the registry not being persisted, though.

As for last-access timestamp, it did make a speed difference back when I originally turned it off. Disks are faster nowadays, so it might not be as big a speed hit... it does mean unnecessary read-erase-write cycles on an SSD though, and why waste your time on bookkeeping that you most likely won't be needing? :)

4wd:
I'm still slightly skeptical wrt. the registry not being persisted, though.-f0dder (May 10, 2009, 07:08 AM)
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If it helps, think of it as a improved version of a WinPE, (or BartPE), CD - there's no need of a persistent registry since the system doesn't change.

After all, what registry changes are really stored when you have your system the way you want it?

Basically, any program setting changes, (for those that store them in the registry), and recent documents opened.

I honestly can't think of anything else that requires the registry be constantly updated.

How about the FlashPoint? Is it worth trying? Some speeding up would be nice, but the data reliability is the highest priority, you know.-yksyks (May 09, 2009, 03:41 PM)
--- End quote ---

I tried it, it worked (except for a bug regarding chkdsk which has been fixed in the latest version), but gave me nowhere near the speed as my current setup does - which is to be expected, writing to RAM or the slow SSD - RAM is going to win.
With my current setup my data is as safe as yours would be, probably safer because it's not all on a drive that's being constantly written to.  Plus I can simply eject the SD card, toggle the Lock switch and plug it into a reader on another PC to transfer it without fear of accidentally deleting it.

Remember, FlashPoint is beta software so if you're not prepared to wear potential data loss then don't use it.

EDIT: Just another point about EWF/FBWF while I think of it: defragging - do it once, enable EWF, no need to do it again ;)

Kamel:
I definitely agree that FAT32 is probably fastest. NTFS has more bells and whistles, but there is overhead involved in maintaining that. Even if the cluster sizes (automatically adjusted in NTFS) are more optimal, the most advantage you will see is perhaps the ability to put a tiny bit more on the ntfs volume due to more sensible cluster sizes.

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