PCIe SSD

[SDH]

Christophe,

Welcome.  Many of us using boot SSD of any type have a larger documents drive and a smaller boot/applications SSD (be it 2.5" form factor, M.2 form factor, etc.).  It is easy to fill up a lot of drive space with "documents" be they music, photos, videos, etc.  Are you sure that you don't have a lot of such files sitting idle on your boot drive?

There are easy-to-find methods for shifting the automatic save-to library for programs to your documents drive rather than your boot drive.

I have been using Acronis True Image 2014 and 2016 as a method to clone from a HDD boot drive to a SSD boot drive.  I use an external eSATA attached drive as the target for the Acronis image to be saved on to.  Once that is done then I can clone back on to a larger or smaller SSD and the program upsizes or downsizes automatically to fit properly to the new drive.

You'd want to set up your original HDD and the documents HDD so you shifted the libraries (My Documents/My Pictures/My Movies, etc.) over to the documents HDD before this process, of course.

We have some pretty powerful workstations built like this but never ever get anywhere near what you have on your boot drive right now.

[SDH]

Christophe,

I finally again located the web article that, in my opinion, best instructs on how to most safely modify your libraries so that the individual files created by applications automatically go to libraries on your documents drive rather than filling up your 2.5 inch form factor or M.2 PCIe form factor boot SSD.  The article is  HERE.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/support-software/Moving-Windows-7-8-Libraries-184/

Puget Systems is a high end company here in my region, and their support pages have an amazing collection of very valuable articles, which are searchable.  The one here is what I used to set up all our SSD based workstations that also needed a documents drive, and I used the preferred method detailed by the author.  The documents drive, of course, can be another SSD or a large HDD.

Make sure to keep about 20% of a SSD/M.2 SSD free from files for best performance (or officially use overprovisioning).  I believe overprovisioning is supported by the M.2 SSD software that comes with the PCIe based SSD that Brian is using in his Z600.  I have one of those coming now for testing on the xw and ZX00 HP workstations....

[christophe-]

SDH,

Thank you for your information, I was imprecise on the capacity of my record ; :manembarrassed:

HDD 1 of 1 To:

partition 1 (C/): 142 Go on 490 Go: Windows, Program …
Partition 2 (F/): 438 Go empties

HDD 2 of 1 To:

data on one partition of 1To

The purpose is to replace my HDD 1 by  the 480 Mb SSD Kingston by reducing at the most 142 Mb (thank you for pugetsystems that I am going to exploit)

Considering my composition, it in an interest to make a partition on my new SSD?

Thanks to you, Christophe

[christophe-]

Hello,

Here is my SSD is installed on one partition without any problem with Acronis.

The results of Crystal are little bit different from those of Brian, doubtless because of the total volume and from the difference of configuration Z600.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 5.2.0 x64 (C) 2007-2016 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes

Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : 1338.379 MB/s
Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : 1020.253 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 166.079 MB/s [ 40546.6 IOPS]
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 124.707 MB/s [ 30446.0 IOPS]
Sequential Read (T= 1) : 1106.866 MB/s
Sequential Write (T= 1) : 1025.049 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 21.587 MB/s [ 5270.3 IOPS]
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 60.288 MB/s [ 14718.8 IOPS]

Test : 1024 MiB [C: 24.2% (108.4/447.1 GiB)] (x5) [Interval=5 sec]
Date : 2016/10/23 20:52:53
OS : Windows 7 Professional SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

Thanks to all for your helps, I stay in arrangement for any question

[SDH]

Christophe,

Congratulations... that looks great.  I think I understand that you have your SSD in a single partition state, and may be choosing to use it also as your documents drive.  Another way to go would be to use some of that space for rapidly needed documents, and keep using a conventional 7200 RPM hard disk drive as your documents drive for less rapidly needed documents.  Regardless, you want to have some free space on that SSD, about 20%, for best long term life and speed.

May I ask a few questions?

1.  Exactly what PCIe slot did you choose to use in your Z600 for your new M.2 AHCI SSD?  HP has a standard top to bottom numbering.

2.  From Device Manager, Storage Controller section (down near the bottom) what is your driver number/name/date?

3.  Do you see drive activity via the front blue LEDs by the power button when your new PCIe SSD is activity, or do those leds just stay solid on?

4.  From within BIOS, under the SATA emulation setting, what is that set to?

Thanks.... Scott

[christophe-]

Hello Scott,
 
No, my SSD (C) is only for Windows and my programs of drawings on a single partition.
I have too an HDD (D) of 1 To for the data.
Your questions:
1/

I used the slot 1 - PCIe2 - X 8(4) because it's a PCIE version 2.
http://h50146.www5.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/hp_workstation/504631_001.pdf
page 70.
I hesitated with the slot 4 - PCIe2 - x16 to leave more space between my FX1800 and my SSD
in order to support ventilation, I think that also functions.
 
2/

Controller serial ATA/AHCI 1.0
Microsoft Corporation v 6.1.7601.18231  Date 6/21/2006
Version of the file: 6.1.7601.17514 (win 7sp1rtm 101119-1850)

The driver self instal with the first startup of WS

 
3/

Yes the activity of the SSD is visible on the led (green for me) of the Power button

4/

BIOS: SATA emulation = RAID + AHCI
 
I need to reinstall W7 on Z600 and I have only the DVD of HP with all the HP tools…!
I search a file .iso : W7 PRO SP1 64 FR EOM which is clean and sure, do you do have atrack to advise me?
 
Thank you , Christophe

[SDH]

Christophe,

If I understand correctly you do not have the full Z600 HP Restore disc set.  The Z600 came from HP with the rights to install W7Pro64, but many do not keep their Restore discs carefully filed, or do not know their value.  What that Restore media does is allow you to install W7Pro64 using a universal HP OEM certificate of authenticity serial number (and provide the official software install to match) fine tuned by HP.  Here is added value:  a clone of that install will activate automatically on another same-type Z600.  That is, a Version 2 clone will run on another Version 2 Z600.  This can make life easy if one has a bunch of Z600s and you want to clone a fine-tuned enterprise build on them all.

Luckily most of the Z600s also came with a HP W7Pro64 COA sticker on the case.  If you have a Microsoft W7Pro64 "system builder" disc you can build up from that, and enter that COA, and the build should activate (as a single-workstation build).  Nothing you can clone from (unless you are willing to feed each clone a new individual COA serial number).  You also should be able to find a French version of that system builder.  I believe the COA will work fine for any language.

Regarding clean installs of W7Pro64.... they have become quite a pain.  I only recently have begun to break through why the Windows 7 Update mechanism seems broken.  It turns out that an automatic update to Windows 7 Update breaks Windows Update, but there is a workaround.... to be disconnected from the internet during a clean install from the optical disc (with service pack 1 on it), and then install two KB updates that takes Windows Update to a later version than the destructive one.  This removes the trigger to go back in time and install the bad one.  Then you can reconnect to the internet and Windows Update works fine thereafter.  

MS is not currently forcing "upgrades" to W10Pro64, which is good.  I am using that also, but some of our software needs to stay on W7 for now.

You'll need to get a system builder W7Pro64 SP1 disc if you cannot get an official Z600 version 2 HP OEM Restore media instead.  If a friend has either of those it is would be legal to borrow as long as your Z600 was in fact sold with the W7Pro64 build or upgrade/downgrade rights to that.

p.s.  I have gotten the Predator up and running on a xw6400.... just for fun, and it took some work, but I made the upgrade breakthrough in the process so the exercise was worth the effort.

[christophe-]

Hello Scott,

My English is of course rotted, I use a translator Web on the basis of my French text.
In the same way to read your answers, and obviously I lose in comprehension in thesmoothness
of our exchanges….
 
If, I have the 3 DVD:
- W7 64
- W7 32
- Application & Drivers Recovery

I never used these DVD and I suppose that with the installation of many HP files are also installed (recovey, tools…) and it is that which I want to avoid. I want the installation cleanest possible and this is why I search a version EOM. To obtain with SP1 it is one more.
 
On a clean version I install my drafting packages (they do not support W10) and Imake an image (.iso) of my installation to be made DVD of restoration bootable. I do not have manufacturer of system. If I often do that (1 time per year) I have a version easy to put in work and without the updates W7 to be remade.

There is one month my Z600 broke down ( Power exchange + motherboard). With this occasion I thought of changing my growing old HDD for a SSD. Wanting to have a clean system before the cloning I did much search for virus and update my W7 (not made during the breakdown this summer) and as you I had much evil to make them pass and to repair my Windows Update.

Following that I found anomalies in the organization of my files (disappearances of the favourites Windows to explore) I made a “sfc/scannow” which announced corrupted files impossible to repair for the tool.

Therefore I search W7 EOM.

The site: https://www.microsoft.com/fr-fr/software-download provided not EOM.

But, do you have experience of the DVD HP – W7.64 provided with Z600 ? Is there HP pollution above or not?

Cheer for your installation of the SSD Prédator,that makes the use much more fluid.

Thank's a lot, Christophe

[SDH]

Christophe,

 I still am not sure if you have the HP install optical disc set for the Z600.  If you do have a complete set then you are lucky.

It is easy to experiment..... you can use a small 80GB hard drive, or a spare small SSD.  Yes, I do have experience with the official HP optical disc sets, and the process has changed over the years.  Most recently you get a partition  on the HP workstation's boot drive from which you can create "Restore" media (optical discs, but also a thumb drive which is my favorite).  You can create this only once from your restore partition, and check to see if you have such a thing on the drive that came with your Z600 if you still have that.  Of interest, when you restore you can once again create a single restore set from that.... so you can actually make more than one.

Regarding the HP workstations and what we call "bloatware".  HP workstations come with very little you would not want, and it is easy to delete those items via the Programs and Features control panel.  This is different from what you would see if you bought a Compaq/HP consumer grade PC.  So, don't worry about that.  And, do feel free to experiment with the install process.... you can do it over and over to get good at it if you wish.  Take notes as you go....

I have a number of the installer sets, and disc 1 often is what I call an "Activator disc" which you start with and it checks to make sure that the workstation matches the installer, and then quickly moves you on to disc 2.  That has the W7Pro64 32- or 64-bit install, and yours should have Service Pack 1 on it if it came with your Version 2 Z600.  Never install 32-bit, in my opinion, these days.  There may be a third optical disc, with supplemental items on it.  I generally do not even use that at all.  There may be language packs on it that you may want, however.

Hopefully your discs will have clear notation on which one to start with.  If they are from HP but not for the Z600 they won't work.

[SDH]

Christophe,

I wanted to add this.... the W7Pro64 update process has become quite difficult, and it is because there is an automatic update that happens right after a clean install from the installer CD/DVD, which ruins the normal update process.  The solution is below.  Basically, you download two updates onto a thumb drive, and fully disconnect the target workstation from the internet before you start a proper clean install.  If you happen to have a documents HDD in the workstation make sure to disconnect it from the SATA bus so you don't risk it and also so you don't have it trying to index itself while the updates are trying to go forward simultaneously.

After the clean install you then install both the updates from the thumb drive, which takes the Windows Update components in the System 32 folder forward in time beyond the bad auto-update.  Thereafter you can proceed with reconnecting to the internet and getting updates without this issue blocking the process.

Doing a proper clean install is beyond the scope of what I can help you with here.  Make sure to read up on how to ensure you get the little "system reserved" partition in place on the boot drive.

Here are two links for my breakthrough on the W7 Windows Update mess Microsoft created.  They still have not fixed that as of a couple of days ago.  It is inexcusable.....

google "Following a clean install, Windows Update remains at "Checking For Updates" forever" and you will find the link at the top.  This also might work:  HERE.  The first page is really all you need.  That is specifically for what to do during a clean install.

Microsoft finally provided a bit of help based on this solution, for fixing the issue after an install and when one can't get updates to install.  I have wasted many hours over the past year due to this issue, and many have given up on W7 as a result of it..... Maybe that was the intent?  Hard to believe, but they have been pushing W10 hard.

 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3200747

Best,  Scott