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SSDs with TRIM Support

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:29 -0600

I’m looking to get a new SSD for my laptop when Windows 7 comes out, and I just read a review on Newegg warning about a drive not supporting Win7’s TRIM feature. A Google search gave me the basics on TRIM, but how important is it, really? I’m having trouble finding which drives support it and am wondering if I should wait before pulling the trigger.

I use my laptop for home and work, so I’d really like to do a clean install on a new drive (for restoration purposes when I really screw something up) and it seems like a perfect time to make the switch. I’m also moving from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7, so—as I understand it—I need to wipe regardless.

—Steve Wale

Think of TRIM as a garbage collector for your SSD. Normally, when you delete data on a disk, whether SSD or standard magnetic hard drive, the data isn’t immediately scrubbed. Instead, it’s marked as overwriteable, so when the disk runs out of fresh blocks to write to, it goes back and writes over deleted files. But given the way SSDs store data, this can decrease your drive’s performance once there are no more fresh blocks to write to. To write data to a block, an SSD first has to copy the entire block to cache, wipe it, delete the overwriteable sectors in cache, write in the new data (in cache), and rewrite the entire block to the disk. This can lead to slowdowns. Essentially, TRIM scrubs blocks of deleted data when it’s deleted, and makes sure the disk controller knows they’re blank, speeding up the whole process and making sure your drive’s performance doesn’t degrade over time.

At press time, only a few SSDs have TRIM support (including the OCZ Vertex and Patriot Torqx) but several ship with wiper.exe, a TRIM-like command that helps restore performance. We expect more SSD vendors to release TRIM in firmware upgrades as Windows 7 gets closer to release.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

USB Slowdown

The Maximum PC Staff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:30:12 -0600

I recently reformatted my computer after a failure with an old Seagate 7200.11 1TB. Lately, though, I have been noticing problems with my USB ports. Whenever I connect my iPhone 3G, it is very hard for iTunes to recognize it and the popup tells me that the iPhone isn’t plugged in to a high-speed port, even though all my USB ports should be 2.0. This has raised even bigger concerns about my other devices connected via USB.

My motherboard is an Asus P5Q-E. The CPU is an Intel Q6600. My initial thought is that an upgrade to my mobo’s BIOS or other utilities might fix the problem, but I’m wary of undertaking such a feat without knowing for sure what the problem is, because I’ve heard updating the BIOS can be dangerous. If a BIOS update is necessary, what sorts of precautions should I take?

—Taylor Sabbag

The Doctor suspects the solution may be much simpler than you think. You’re probably plugging your iPhone into your PC’s front-panel USB connectors, as most of us do. Front-panel connectors tend to be flakier than your motherboard’s onboard USB ports, because they’re connected by cables rather than directly attached and many low-cost vendors use similarly low-cost cables. Our guess is that when you replaced your hard drive, you dislodged the front-panel USB connector from the motherboard. Power down and unplug your computer, then reseat the front-panel USB connectors on the motherboard. If it is a problem with the rear ports, the issue could be OS support (you are running at least Windows XP with SP1, right? SP1 added USB 2.0 support.) Besides making sure that you have at least SP1 installed (SP3 is recommended), you should also download and install the latest chipset drivers from either Asus.com or directly from Intel.com for the P45 chipset, which is used in that motherboard.

Finally, while the Doctor understands your fear of BIOS updates, it’s quite painless and generally quite reliable these days. A BIOS update is unlikely to fix your problem, though.

Removing Rogue 'Security'

The Maximum PC Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:45:45 -0600

PC MightyMax 2009 was included with the purchase of my new HP a6827c with Windows Vista. After trying out MightyMax I decided I didn’t want it due to its obscene costs. I obtained the instructions for removal—go to the Start menu, go to the PC MightyMax folder, and hit the uninstall button, but the software does not fully uninstall. Help!

—Shannon Swank

Doctor, I managed to get two computers infected with AntiVirus2009, simply by following a link to a video review online. Both machines run Windows XP Professional SP3. One is a Dell Vostro laptop, the other is a desktop I built about three years ago.

I’ve run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which removed a bunch of copies, Rogue Remover, SuperAntiSpyware, ThreatFire, and ZoneAlarm Internet Security, but every so often a new browser window will suddenly open and try to access AntiVirus2009.com. I’ve looked at every website on the Internet (well almost) and nothing I’ve tried will get rid of it on either computer. The only way I’ve been able to keep using the computers is to manually block antivirus200*.* in ZoneAlarm. Every time I check the log, there’s entry after entry where it tried to send an ICMP ping to that website or tried to open Firefox to access it. I’m at the end of my rope. I don’t know what else to do and I’m sure that there are other people out there having much the same problem as I am. Is my only hope to re-install Windows?

—Steve Rugg

Ah, our least favorite kind of malware: the kind that masquerades as useful software. Here we have two of the most insidious and widely spread flavors. PC MightyMax is a fake antivirus app that throws up false positives in an attempt to get you to pay for it. The Internet is full of people trying to remove PC MightyMax, and the general consensus is that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (www.malwarebytes.org) will remove the program. If not, you’ll have to remove it manually. Start the Task Manager and end the following processes: pcmm.exe, ExeAfter.exe, PCMightyMaxSetup[1].exe, and any other processes with PC MightyMax in the title or location. Then run msconfig and prevent them from running at startup. Reboot and delete the folder. Run CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) to remove registry crud.

Antivirus 2009 is another faux-security malware program, but it’s even more insidious. Since you’ve already tried Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which effectively removes most malware (including, for most people, Antivirus 2009), but your problems persist, you’ll want to check out our full malware-removal how-to for detailed instructions on purging your machine of baddies. If your problems persist even after a thorough scrub-down, however, you may have to reinstall Windows. It sucks, we know, but not as much as a security-compromised PC.

USB Shutdown

The Maximum PC Staff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:00 -0600

At first I thought it was a fluke, but when I first installed Win7 Beta on a new HDD on my laptop, one of my USB ports stopped working and performance of the others took a nosedive, with some USB devices not getting enough power. I tried a reinstall with Win7 RC and now three of my four USB ports are having the same issues. It may not even be an issue with Windows 7 but there seems to be a correlation that the problem started and got worse with each installation.

I have Windows 7 running on two other PCs with no issues and all I can find on the Internet are people with the same problems but no solutions. I’m sure you can imagine how much it sucks having to use a four-port USB hub just so I can connect more than one USB flash drive.

—Guillermo Rodriguez

First, let’s make sure this isn’t a hardware issue. Grab a Linux LiveCD like Knoppix or Ubuntu and boot your machine from that. Test your USB ports one at a time. If they work, your problem is almost certainly a driver issue. Go to your laptop manufacturer’s website and download your device’s specific chipset drivers. If your USB problems persist regardless of drivers or operating system, it’s a hardware problem. If your machine is still under warranty, send it in to the manufacturer. Otherwise, unless you feel up to scrounging a new motherboard on the Internet and repairing it yourself, it may be time for a new PC.

8GB of RAM is Too Much?

The Maximum PC Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:15:53 -0600

I have a home-built PC that uses a Gigabyte GA-EG45M-UD2H motherboard. When I load it with 8GB (four 2GB sticks) of RAM, I find that I cannot install either Windows XP or Vista 64-bit. The installation process fails partway through the “expanding files” section, with a “corrupt files” error. I tried new install media to no avail. Eventually, on a hunch, I removed all of the memory except the module in slot 1, leaving 2GB on the system, and the install completed normally.

I tested all of my modules in slot 1 and all passed. I then tested a module in each slot and all four passed. So what could be the issue with this motherboard? The memory (Kingston DDR2-800) is listed in the compatible memory list and the motherboard supports up to 16GB. I could find no information about this issue on Gigabyte’s website.

—Paul Jackson

Paul, your motherboard and OS should both be able to recognize 8GB of RAM. Since your OS installed correctly with 2GB, you should now try adding the rest of the RAM to that installation, rather than trying to reinstall with all 8GB slotted in. You may need to change your RAM voltages and timings to utilize all 8GB. Look up your RAM model number on Kingston’s website—you’ll find specific voltage and timing information there. JEDEC standards dictate that DDR2 draws 1.8V, but some performance RAM can draw up to 2.2V. Make sure your motherboard can supply enough voltage to all of your RAM, and set the voltages and timings correctly in the BIOS.

Restoring Preview Thumbnails

The Maximum PC Staff — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:45:54 -0600

I was recently reviewing different graphics programs for showing video files when I noticed that Explorer now refuses to display a miniature version of video graphics files when I go to the thumbnail view. It still shows miniatures of picture files (.jpeg and .bmp) but not video files. What would cause this? Is it possible to fix it without reinstalling the OS (XP Pro)? The video files show the miniature version when exported to another computer, so there must be something different with my OS. I’ve tried everything I could think of but no luck.

—Stephen Brown

Whether or not thumbnail previews show up for video files depends on your file associations and DirectShow filters. If you’ve been installing and uninstalling different video players, your file associations could be messed up. Make sure video files are associated with the player that is currently installed on your machine and that it can handle video preview thumbnails. You can do this in Windows Explorer; just click the Tools menu, go to Folder Options, and hit the File Types tab. Then make sure you have preview thumbnails enabled for all file types that support them by going to the Start Menu, opening Run, typing regsvr32 shmedia.dll, then hitting Enter. You could also have a problem with your codec pack. The Doctor recommends uninstalling whatever codec packs you currently use and replacing them with ffdshow tryouts (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net).

By going to Windows Explorer's Tools menu, then Folder Options > File Types, you can change file associations and restore your graphical preview thumbnails.

Shrinking Free Space

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:30:11 -0500

I have a month-old computer with a 64GB Falcon SSD for my OS and my most frequently played games. After I first installed the OS and all my games I had roughly 13GB of free space. Everything I’ve downloaded and installed since then has gone on my secondary drive; I have not added anything new to the primary drive. Despite this, I now have just 137MB free on my primary drive and am getting warnings of low disk space. Where is my available space going? I did a disk clean-up and that hardly freed any space. I’m running 64-bit Vista SP1. Any help would
be appreciated.

—Devin Binning

Without knowing more about the programs you’re installing (for example, Adobe Creative Suite 3 requires substantial C: drive space even if you’re installing it on a different drive), it’s hard for us to give useful advice. Our gut says to check your Documents folder. By default, Vista stores saved games and other application data in your Documents folder on the C: drive; you might be filling up with game data or even temporarily stored Internet files. We suggest downloading and installing a visual data manager like WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info) or SpaceSniffer (http://bit.ly/ssniff), which will show you exactly which files are taking up all of your space. You can then move them to your secondary drive or delete them at your leisure.

Graphical drive-space utilities like WinDirStat (shown) and SpaceSniffer let you see at a glance exactly which files are taking up precious hard disk space.

Access Denied

The Maximum PC Staff — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:30:00 -0500

I decided to do some cleaning of unwanted files on my PC, which has had occasional stretches of non-use. I now get an “access denied” message on my D: drive. I have all the latest drivers and updates for Vista Ultimate 64-bit. I poked around the Properties menu and am getting confused about how to regain access permissions. The creator is not listed. I don’t even remember what’s on the drive; it could possibly belong to my old user/admin account before a restore or reinstall. I cannot get ownership of the drive to open it. Any suggestions?

—Rick Smith

Vista doesn’t automatically give administrators full access to folders and files from other installations or users, even if the username and password are the same.

To regain ownership of the drive and its contents, right-click it and select Properties. Click the Security tab, then the Advanced button. Go to the Owner tab, and Edit it to give ownership to your computer’s administrator/primary user. Be sure to include subcontainers and files. Now click OK. Go back to the Security tab, highlight the Administrator you just gave ownership to, and hit Edit, then give Full Control permissions for that drive. You should be able to fully access everything on the disk.