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krick
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Windows XP SSD partition alignment
#289885 - 06/19/12 10:56 PM


I'm trying to install Windows XP x64 edition onto an SSD.

For best performance, you need to align the partition when you create it.

One of the often suggested ways to do this is to boot with a Vista or Windows 7 CD and enter the repair console so you can use the "diskpart" command to create a partition.

I tried two ways...

1) create partition and format using dispart in Windows 7 repair console

2) just create partition using dispart in Windows 7 repair console, format with XP installer

Either way, when I try to install XP, it keeps crashing after the first reboot in the install process.

However, if I create the partition and format both from the XP install CD, then it works fine.

I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. According to everything I read online, this shouldn't happen.

Any thoughts about what might be going on and how to get a properly aligned SSD without using Windows 7 diskpart?



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Sune
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Re: Windows XP SSD partition alignment new [Re: krick]
#289889 - 06/19/12 11:30 PM


> Any thoughts about what might be going on and how to get a properly aligned SSD
> without using Windows 7 diskpart?

I'd try connecting the drive to a PC that runs XP and use diskpart from Windows XP.

S



redk9258
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Re: Windows XP SSD partition alignment new [Re: Sune]
#289892 - 06/19/12 11:35 PM


Diskpart in XP doesn't understand the correct alignment. Isn't there a such thing as a utility from the manufacturer to align the drive after Windows is installed? I wonder if the problem is because it is 64-bit?



krick
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Re: Windows XP SSD partition alignment new [Re: redk9258]
#289895 - 06/20/12 12:36 AM


From what I've found so far, this issue is a lot more common than I realized. Try searching google for...

"error loading operating system" XP asus ssd

The combined factors that cause this problem seem to be...

1) an Asus motherboard
2) SSD with aligned partition
3) installing windows XP (any flavor)


I found someone talking about gparted, the Gnome Partition Editor. Supposedly it can shift an existing partition to re-align it after the fact. I think the idea is to install XP normally on an un-aligned partition, and then run gparted on it and tell it to move the partition or something. I'm not really sure how it works or what's involved.



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krick
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Re: Windows XP SSD partition alignment new [Re: krick]
#289901 - 06/20/12 02:40 AM


Well, gparted saved the day.

I downloaded the gparted live cd from here...
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

Then I followed the instructions I found on this page...
http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-sure-...ive-performance

Quote:


Start up Gparted and find your SSD in the upper-right dropdown menu. Select it, and click on your first partition in the menu. Hit the Resize/Move button in the toolbar. Change the "Free Space Preceding" box to 2MB, uncheck "Round to Cylinders", and hit "Resize/Move". (If you're using a newer live CD, check the "MiB" box). Hit Apply once and let it do its thing.

Now hit Resize/Move again, and change the "Free Space Preceding" box to 1MB. Uncheck "Round to Cylinders" again, hit Resize/Move, then click Apply. Now your drive will be aligned to exactly 2048 blocks after the beginning of the disk, which allows for optimal SSD performance. Note that if you have multiple partitions on your SSD, you'll need to repeat this process for each partition, not just the first one on the disk.

Yes, moving it 2MB away then moving it back 1MB seems like a long, roundabout method, but Gparted measures space in a weird way. When you first start up Gparted, your partition will have less than 1MB of space preceding it, but Gparted will only measure it as 0-meaning if you align it to 1MB right off the bat, it'll keep the drive annoyingly misaligned at 1.03MB. If you set it to 2MB, hit Apply, and then move it back to 1MB, it works fine.




The difference in boot time between the original un-aligned install and the new aligned install are shocking.



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