Computer Rebuild.

[#1]

you can always remote system restore to a HDD instead of keeping it on the SSD .......
personally I keep mine on one of the other drives and set it to 60gig limit but I have 3 x 2tb wd black drives for storage and I remote located the entire users directory to one of the HDD's along with steam and origin (one drive for each) that way even if I have to reinstall windows I don't loose the users files or all the game downloads

[#2]

Is it possible to partition a SSD?
Failing that, is it possible to map several volumes onto one physical drive like in Linux, using LVM?

[#3]

Yes to all those, although you need to ensure optimum partition alignment for optimum speed and flash lifetime.
Google "ssd alignment check" for further reading ! 

[#4]

Quote from: nanotm

you can always remote system restore to a HDD instead of keeping it on the SSD .......

I don't think that is possible (see e.g. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-system/how-to-change-the-system-restore-l... ).  If your OS is on the C: drive (for example) then your restore points are stored in the hidden 'C:\System Volume Information' folder which cannot be relocated.   

[#5]

Yes, i dint think you could change system restore folder location 
As for a OS reinstall i dont find it the,,  Worst Case ,, as it rejuvenates my system  but what is a real pain is the Windows updates .

[#6]

Quote from: rongtw

Disable Disk Indexing   Turn off Scheduled Defragmentation Disable Paging Files,, if you have more than 4gig ram Deactivate Prefetch and Superfetch i also have  turned off windows search also i have turned off system restore & ensure you have got trim enabled

I'd agree with all that including, as mentioned by someone else, turning of indexing. I have actually turned off indexing for all drives and haven't noticed searches being particularly slower.

Quote from: ReedRichards

Quote from: rongtw also i have turned off system restore You can make an argument for doing this even with a conventional hard drive but you can save yourself hours of work by using System Restore; a complete Windows re-install is the worst-case alternative.

I've never seen a complete Windows re-install as a worst-case alternative. In fact quite the opposite as it has given me the chance to set things up maybe a little differently than previously as my needs may have changed somewhat. I think I have only used System restore once and it didn't resolve the issue for me anyway. I have never missed it since turning it off when I initially installed W7.

[#7]

It's my job to fix computers so I have used System Restore hundreds of times.  It's a quick (and therefore inexpensive) fix for any recent mistake you have made, including catching a computer virus.  In those instances where System Restore has been turned off or cannot complete successfully the time required to achieve a fix is greatly increased.
If I try something and don't like the result I use System Restore to get me back to exactly where I was before.  That prevents me from needing to 'refresh' Windows using a complete reinstall.

[#8]

@ReedRichards  , yes i agree system restore is a great help in most cases , but personally i prefer my system with it OFF as i do with other unnecessary MS services 
saying that i have used restore to fix other systems i have been asked to fix 


 

[#9]

Here's a question for someone in the know,  the Samsung magician recommends write cache buffer to be enabled, yet every time I enable it, I get a warning in windows event viewer saying "disk has it's write cache enabled. Data corruption may occur".
Is this just a case of Windows thinking it is a HDD and not a SSD ?

[#10]

I'm getting the odd BSOD at the moment but I'm putting it down to teething troubles. I'll see how it goes.

[#11]

Quote from: rongtw

... personally i prefer my system with it OFF as i do with other unnecessary MS services

The problem is that tweaks and personal preferences which apply equally well to any type of hard drive get conflated with things that you should do specifically for a SSD.  Read any online 'advice' and you will find this. 
I built a computer with a SSD for my other half.  I

• Turned on AHCI in the BIOS before installing Windows (7)


• Checked that the trim function was reported as operational


• Checked/set no scheduled defragmentation


• I think I deactivated Prefetch and Superfetch (I'd have to verify that)

That's it, nothing else, otherwise a completely standard Windows installation with no tweaks.  It's very fast, particularly noticeable when starting-up.  And it has never yet suffered a BSOD. 

[#12]

The BSOD started around the time Service Pack 1 went in.
As an aside I purchased Photoshop Elements 11 a while ago and having lost the installation files I downloaded a fresh copy, one install manager and one 1GB main program archive.
I ran the install manager and it told me the archive was missing....
No it's not....it's right beside you you stupid twat
Anyway I downloaded 7-Zip, extracted the archive and installed from there

[#13]

Quote from: PitchBlack

the Samsung magician recommends write cache buffer to be enabled, yet every time I enable it, I get a warning in windows event viewer saying "disk has it's write cache enabled. Data corruption may occur". Is this just a case of Windows thinking it is a HDD and not a SSD ?

I expect that's nothing to do with having a HDD or SSD. Data corruption may occur because whatever is in the write cache buffer would be lost if there's a power failure, unless you have a UPS (or a laptop with a battery).

[#14]

Quote from: rongtw

@ReedRichards  , yes i agree system restore is a great help in most cases , but personally i prefer my system with it OFF as i do with other unnecessary MS services  saying that i have used restore to fix other systems i have been asked to fix

+1

[#15]

I have system restore running but it is only as a last resort as using it totally screws up Kaspersky because of the self defence mechanism
I actually rely on the Acronis regular weekly backup