Need Some Guidance For SSD

[idata]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie in this community and a noob in the area of SSD.

I'm using a Mac desktop, using OSX and bootcamp Windows 7 and recently bought a X25M G2 160GB and has yet to install in my system. I read quite a few articles on the issues of SSD and I'm confused by some of them. Thus, I need some guidance here so as not to mess up the setup of the SSD.

1) Install the SSD in the system, run the bootable CD to update the firmware, format the SSD and install the OSes. Is my setup sequence correct? OR install the OSes and follow by firmware update?

2) Is it better to install the OSes on the SSD and rest of the apps such as MS Office, Adobe softwares and save my docs to another mechanical hard disk for longer working life of the SSD?

3) Since TRIM function works only in NTFS; in this case windows 7, will it mess up the entire SSD which include the Mac OS partition? In fact, I'm quite confused when I read that TRIM is not required in Windows 7 as the OS will TRIM the SSD automatically; while some other sites indicate that TRIM should be executed on a weekly basis to prolong the SSD. Any enlightenment on this?

4) In the event if I need to reformat the SSD in the future, can I use the quick format function to wipe it clean or it is a must to use HDerase?

I appreciate your sharing.

[idata]

1. The firmware you can instal later, will not erase your data.

2. Is no need to keep your files and apps separately. Only movies or iso images etc.

3. The Trim function is only in windows 7 and will work in AHCI mode (bios) with msahci driver only. NTFS or FAT32 doesn't matter. I don't now what about Mac OS.

4. Always use quick format.

[idata]

1. If the OS hasn't been installed, update any firmware first. It should also work after installing the OS.

2. Many users seem to be concerned about the writing to their drives. Don't be. The minimum useful life is considered to be 20 GB per day for 5 years. No counting the initial image copy, I've written less than 200 GB to my SSD in one month. So, at that rate, I'll reach the minimum data written in about 15 years, or long after the useful life of the drive in time. I have the pagefile on the SSD, indexing is turned on. I keep large data off the drive, but that's as much because I want a smaller amount of data when I back the OS partition to an image.

3. No it will not mess up anything. Trim simply tells the SSD that blocks previously used by the file system of the OS that is running are no longer used. This allows the SSD to organize the space during idle time so that future writes may take place at maximum speed. Manually running a tool in Windows 7 is not required because NTFS and the MS AHCI driver both support trim - ie both the file system driver and SATA controller (AHCI) driver must support trim for it happen automatically. The Intel AHCI driver is expected to support trim in the future.