In addition to disabling the pagefile system, I disabled a
couple more things:


Disable Background auto-layout:

Key Name:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Op
timalLayout Value Name: EnableAutoLayout Type: REG_DWORD Value:
0


Disable Prefetch

Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters Name:
EnablePrefetcher Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0


The above made perfect sense.


But I am not too sure I want to do this one:


Disable update of filesystem's "last access timestamps"

"Key Name:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Name: NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1


All of the above are from this article:

https://ckirbach.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/how-to-optimise- windows-xp-for-ssd-solid-state-disk-operation/

Thoughts.. anyone?

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (2:221/1.58)

But I am not too sure I want to do this one:

Disable update of filesystem's "last access timestamps"

Without reading through it (am posting from mobile) what I would tell you is that my experience tuning HD performance in linux is consistent with disabling these updates, and only updating on writes.

In other words, if this setting pertains to reading files, it probably isn't super valuable to update your filesystem on those events and disabling it will extend the life of your hd.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (1:218/820)

Hi August,

On 2023-01-24 18:18:00, you wrote to All:

Thoughts.. anyone?

Have a look at SSD Tweaker: https://elpamsoft.com/

Their free edition already does some optimizing for ssd's under XP.


Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.5.2-B20230114
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)

Hello Wilfred!

** On Wednesday 25.01.23 - 08:56, you wrote:

Have a look at SSD Tweaker: https://elpamsoft.com/

Their free edition already does some optimizing for ssd's under XP.

Thanks for the info. I do believe that I saw a reference to
that during my exploration of XP+SSD environments in
commentaries by other people.

I checked it out. It basically talks about the various
optimizations that I have already performed manually.

I DL'd it and installed it to look around. It appears that it
is incapable of sending the TRIM command to the SSD if
operating under XP. Only Win7+ is supported. So, wrt to TRIM,
it looks like it doesn't really do anything except wrap any
query results into its own reporting style if the data is
available by the OS.

The optimization summary and explanations are pretty good
though. But, as I said, I think I took care of the most
significant services that would normally write to a HDD,
manually.

One of my last tweaks I did manually was turn off "last
accessed date". I find little need to have that. The "last
modified date" is more important. However, before I disabled
"last accessed date", I learned that XP was indeed updating
that for a variety of files all the time. My guess is that is
because of the "fast Indexing" scheme or something. So,
perhaps, indexing is probably something else that can be turned
off - as the SSD Tweaker product also suggests.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (2:221/1.58)

August Abolins wrote to Wilfred van Velzen <=-

Have a look at SSD Tweaker: https://elpamsoft.com/

Their free edition already does some optimizing for ssd's under XP.

Thanks for the info. I do believe that I saw a reference to
that during my exploration of XP+SSD environments in
commentaries by other people.

You could always punt on the SSD question and get a hybrid SATA drive
for use under XP. I bought dozens of them from 2011 to 2014 or so. I
worked for a company that was looking to eke out a couple more years out
of laptops, and replacing a plain SATA drive with a hybrid drive gave us
a nice little speed boost that made an older system more appealing.

Hybrid SATA drives slap a big flash cache (4-8 GB) onto a drive. When
you boot up, it boots at spinning drive speeds, but once you start
loading apps, they get loaded into the cache and run from the cache at
SSD speeds. No TRIM issues, since it's a SATA drive at heart.




... Powered By Celeron (Tualatin). Engineered for the future.
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Hello Kurt!

** On Wednesday 25.01.23 - 06:44, Kurt Weiske wrote to August Abolins:

You could always punt on the SSD question and get a hybrid
SATA drive for use under XP. I bought dozens of them from
2011 to 2014 or so..

Haven't seen those on the market or heard anyone still using
them. SSHD seems to be the descriptive term to use to find
them. But, I don't see 1TB 2.5" sizes. Anyway.. I've commited
to my 1TB SSD and I'll stick with it, for now.

.. No TRIM issues, since it's a SATA drive at heart.

From my readings about TRIM, it's nice to have, but not overly
critical since the onboard GC (garbage collection) on recent
SSDs are pretty good, and there is often a large portion of
extra storage (not reported to the user) that is used for the
extra moving of blocks. And.. the cells can withstand more
write cycles than most people need in their lifetime.

I don't think I'm the last holdout on XP out there (I am more
skeptical of installing Win7 on my T60 Thinkpad since the RAM
limit has been maximized at 3GB only). I need to stick with
key MS programs. And, the T60 simply has a very pleasant
keyboard to work with.

The yoo-toob has many examples of people successfully giving
their vintage laptops w/XP a new life with SSDs. If it was a
bad combination, I think there would have been plenty of horror
stories by now - but there doesn't seem to be.


--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (2:221/1.58)

Re: XP + SSD
By: August Abolins to Kurt Weiske on Wed Jan 25 2023 05:48 pm

I don't think I'm the last holdout on XP out there (I am more
skeptical of installing Win7 on my T60 Thinkpad since the RAM
limit has been maximized at 3GB only).

I ran Windows 7 and later Windows 10 (32-bit, both) on a T60 running my BBS. It certainly ran decently enough, running the BBS, WinAMP, shoutcast, the occasional web browser and libreoffice in 3GB of RAM.

And, the T60 simply has a very pleasant keyboard to work with.

The T43 was my personal favorite - a little sleeker than the T60, but only a single-core and 2GB of RAM though. I ran one with a PATA SSD for some time as a part-time system - it was fun to go into a coffee shop full of wide-screen shiny silver MacBooks and open up this black laptop covered in stickers with a 4:3 screen.

https://realitycheckbbs.org/images/thinkpad.jpg

I had a USB network card that I used for pentesting that had a very obvious external antenna if I wanted more sideways glances.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Hello Kurt!

I ran Windows 7 and later Windows 10 (32-bit, both) on a
T60 running my BBS. It certainly ran decently enough,
running the BBS, WinAMP, shoutcast, the occasional web
browser and libreoffice in 3GB of RAM.

Oh.. OK. That bodes a possibility for me then. But I'm going
to let things be as they are at the moment. My main progs are
responding as required and there no issues. I'll probably stick
with XP a while longer.

The T43 was my personal favorite - [...] it was fun to go
into a coffee shop full of wide-screen shiny silver
MacBooks and open up this black laptop covered in stickers
with a 4:3 screen.

https://realitycheckbbs.org/images/thinkpad.jpg

Looks good. Looks like a serious and appreciated machine.

:D Did you *just* get looks? ..or, did you get some questions
and compliments?

I like the rubber-like grib that an unspoiled cover provides,
so I leave mine clean. IBM truly took the time to design
machines that had good ergonomics.

The 4:3 screen is another reason I prefer to stick with the
T60. I can't stand the "squished" result on websites that a
16:9 screen produces.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (2:221/1.58)

August Abolins wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-

Oh.. OK. That bodes a possibility for me then. But I'm going
to let things be as they are at the moment. My main progs are
responding as required and there no issues. I'll probably stick
with XP a while longer.

If you're handy with a screwdriver, they're easy to work on. It's worth
opening them up, blowing out all of the dust from the nooks and
crannies inside, replacing the fan if it's making noise, and replacing
the thermal paste on the CPU.

Parts on eBay are cheap - I replaced the fan for around $10, I've seen keyboards for under $30, and if you want to put it back to original
condition, there are screw cover sets on eBay, so you can replace those
little adhesive covers over the visible screws.

Lenovo publishes a hardware maintenance manual for most of their systems
with the steps outlined clearly for most replacements.

Now that the BBS is running in a virtual machine, I should dust off my
T60 and make it usable as a plain ol' laptop again.





... Faced with a choice, do both.
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Hello Kurt!

If you're handy with a screwdriver, they're easy to work
on. It's worth opening them up, blowing out all of the
dust from the nooks and crannies inside, replacing the
fan if it's making noise, and replacing the thermal paste
on the CPU.

Yep.. I did just that to my T60 last year or so. But it wasn't
exactly fun. I ended up with an extra screw and it didn't quite
settle in one of the last places. Consequently, the palmrest
at the front left corner isn't secured very well. I'd swear
that I kept the various screws grouped together when I took
everything apart - but obviously I messed up somewhere.

My project took several days to complete. I had the laptop
already partially disassembled about a week prior the last
remaining item arrived - the CPU thermal paste.

I was disappointed that the wifi radio and seating material
around it had to be removed before the fan and its copper tube
could be removed - something like that.

Parts on eBay are cheap - I replaced the fan for around
$10, I've seen keyboards for under $30, and if you want to
put it back to original condition, there are screw cover
sets on eBay, so you can replace those little adhesive
covers over the visible screws.

I had ordered a new palmrest and touchpad for my T40 many years
ago.. but some family distraction took place, and now I can't
locate that replacement palmrest. So.. my T40 sits cold and
silent at the moment. It too needs a new fan.

Lenovo publishes a hardware maintenance manual for most of
their systems with the steps outlined clearly for most
replacements.

Yes.. well aware of that. The manuals are excellent.

Now that the BBS is running in a virtual machine, I should
dust off my T60 and make it usable as a plain ol' laptop
again.

Sometimes the wifi radio on the T60 has issues being detected
right after a ful reboot. But it seems to be intermittent and
rare.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (2:221/1.58)