SSD Support In Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Windows 7 is the first Windows operating system to include native support for solid state drives (SSDs). SSD-specific features that ship in Windows 7 include :

• SSD Identification - SSDs are identified as non-rotating media, which allows Windows 7 to turn drive defragmentation off. This improves drive lifespan by reducing the number of writes.

• TRIM Support - Windows 7 will inform the SSD which data blocks are no longer in use and can be deleted internally. This reduces the amount of internal fragmentation which can greatly slow down write operations.

• Enhanced Wear-Leveling - By eliminating merge operations for all deleted data blocks, and preserving the unused storage area as much as possible.

• Early Garbage Collection - Improves write speeds, especially when the SSD storage capacity is fully utilized.

These SSD-specific optimizations make Windows 7 the best operating system for solid state drives. But just how much of a boost in SSD performance can we expect from upgrading to Windows 7? That's exactly what we intend to find out.

The Testbed

The Solid State Drives

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