SSD within HDD (Windows 10)

[Ben Glass]

So here's what's happening:

I have a Dell XPS 8500 which has an HDD and supposedly a Samsung SSD that's 32GB. The thing though I think the SSD is built into the HDD. When I upgraded to Win10 today the machine takes 10 minutes to boot compared to the <1min before. The hard drive also constantly runs at >98%. I believe this is because the OS didn't install into the SSD portion.

So my question is, how do I locate the SSD portion of my C drive so I can transfer the OS onto it?

 

[WyomingKnott]

Your description is a little vague, but it sounds like you have either a hybrid hard drive (HDD with a small SSD for cache) or a small SSD cache on your machine. You don't have control over what goes where. Can you provide a link to the manual for that exact model?

I'd guess that when you installed 10 the caching algorithm did not put the 10 OS in the cache. The cache holds the most-used data, and your most-used data is the previous OS. So it's booting from the hard drive without caching now, and will for a while.

10 minutes is too long, though.

EDIT: things can be done for this, like backing up your system, wiping it, resetting the cache, and restoring. If this can be done, then the cache would pretty quickly see what's used most often. But we can't give good advice until we know the exact setup. And that 10 minutes is still bothering me...

 

[Ben Glass]

Your description is a little vague, but it sounds like you have either a hybrid hard drive (HDD with a small SSD for cache) or a small SSD cache on your machine. You don't have control over what goes where. Can you provide a link to the manual for that exact model?

I'd guess that when you installed 10 the caching algorithm did not put the 10 OS in the cache. The cache holds the most-used data, and your most-used data is the previous OS. So it's booting from the hard drive without caching now, and will for a while.

10 minutes is too long, though.

EDIT: things can be done for this, like backing up your system, wiping it, resetting the cache, and restoring. If this can be done, then the cache would pretty quickly see what's used most often. But we can't give good advice until we know the exact setup. And that 10 minutes is still bothering me...

Yeah, 10 minutes is really bad. Especially compared to the original. Hopefully it will sort itself out after a few boot ups. I think I have 2TB portable Hard Drive I could use for backup...

 

[WyomingKnott]

I'm still curious - do you know if the disk is a hard drive with cache on-board, or if the SSD is separate? Some motherboards used to be able to use small SSDs as cache until SSDs large enough to hold a reasonable OS became relatively affordable. The XPS 8500 came in a lot of different configurations. Got the parts list by any chance?

 

[Ben Glass]

I'm still curious - do you know if the disk is a hard drive with cache on-board, or if the SSD is separate? Some motherboards used to be able to use small SSDs as cache until SSDs large enough to hold a reasonable OS became relatively affordable. The XPS 8500 came in a lot of different configurations. Got the parts list by any chance?

I've tried using a piece of software to transfer the OS over onto it but it doesn't appear. It has to be a cache because the only thing that identifies it is the BIOS on bootup. The ssd is a samsung which all I really know.

 

[jimmysmitty]

It sounds to me that the SSD is being used for Intels Smart Response , where you have a large HDD and a small 30GB or so SSD that is being used in cache mode. You wont be able to load the OS to the SSD but you also probably need to install the Windows 10 drivers for Intels parts instead of relying on the generic or older ones.

Download and install the latest Intel Rapid Storage software:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver

You want the setupRST.exe. See if that helps. If all else fails it might be time to copy the key down and reinstall it clean.

 

[JPNpower]

If memory serves correctly, the small SSD should be a small circuit board plugged in directly to the motherboard separate from the hard drive.