Intel 330 series SSD - Alignment necessary on XP ?

[idata]

Hello everybody,

I've just purchased an Intel 330 series SSD for my Windows XP computer.

The data transfer from my old mechanical Hard Drive has been completed successfully using the Intel® Data Migration Software

But, As you know, the XP partition needs to be aligned.

If a refer to this link, my partition is not properly aligned: Partition Starting Offset divided by 4096 is not equal to an integer.

http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-sure-your-partitions-are-correctly-aligned-for-optimal-solid-stat... http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-sure-your-partitions-are-correctly-aligned-for-optimal-solid-stat...

However, I don't know whether the alignment is really necessary on the 330 series SSD because, on the Acronis AlignTool page, we can see that this software is only suited for the 500, 510 and 520 Family SSD.

System Requirements 

This tool should only be installed and used in systems with the following:

– Microsoft Windows XP operating system

– Intel® Solid-State Drive 500 Family SSD

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20849 http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20849

My question is:

Do I really have to align my XP partition on this Intel 330 series SSD ?

The speed seems already to be pretty good. For information, the Intel SSD toolbox is launched everyday to try to keep the SSD performance and reliability.

Thank you very much for your answers,

Best regards,

Tony

[idata]

To complete my post:

3 partitions have been successfully transferred by means of the Intel® Data Migration Software

1) Restore Partition

2) Windows XP System Part.

3) Data Partition

Then, I have used GPARTED (on live Ubuntu CD) to delete the Data Partition and move the blank space to the 2nd System partition. I have kept the 1st partition because it is less than 10GB.

Do you have other link to check or correct the SSD alignment on XP ?

--> To check the alignment: AS SSD Benchmark gives the info on the top left corner:

http://www.overclock.net/t/754763/as-ssd-benchmark-thread/70# post_9744525 http://www.overclock.net/t/754763/as-ssd-benchmark-thread/70# post_9744525

The Gparted solution given in the previous post (lifehacker link) seems to be good but it is always interesting to have other opinion, especially on this very technical subject.

B. Regards,

Tony

[JAMES_J_Intel]

Hi Tony,

Yes, the 330 should be aligned for XP use. I will make the necessary update on Download Center.

Thanks!

[idata]

Hello,

I have the same query wrt XP but I dont see any update on the Download Center. Could you please confirm if the software also works on XP or if any special steps need to be followed for alignment on XP?

Thanks!

[idata]

Hi,

You can use the Acronis Align Tool software.

It also works with the 330 series.

Rgds