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Updated Intel Statement On SSD Firmware Issues

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Just saw this updated statement in the Intel SSD forums:

Intel Solid-State Drive Firmware Update — Nov. 16, 2009

Intel has confirmed an issue with the firmware update process for 34nm (G2) Intel® X25-M SSDs (80GB and 160GB). This predominantly affected Windows* 7 (64bit) users during or immediately after the upgrade process to 02HA firmware using the firmware update tool (version 1.3). Intel plans to release a fix for this issue by the end of November 2009.

Please see below to decide what you should do:
– If you have not upgraded to 02HA but using 02G2 or 02G9 – then use new tool when available to upgrade to new firmware to get Trim support and better sequential write performance (160GB)
– If you have successfully upgraded to 02HA – then continue using the SSD, there are no known issues.
– If you have received a SSD with 02HA pre installed – then continue using the SSD, there are no known issues.
– If you have unsuccessfully upgraded to 02HA – then contact Intel Customer Support for instructions on how to recover the SSD via secure erase or return SSD to Intel for replacement or refund.

http://communities.intel.com/community/tech/solidstate?view=discussions

Windows 7 Superfetch

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I’m about 2/3 of the way done with writing the Windows 7 tweak guide. I’ve come across an issue that I need some help with. It applies to SSD’s. During my research I found these 2 statements:

“In Windows 7, SuperFetch is automatically enabled for disks that have a low Windows Experience Disk Score and disabled for disks that have a high score.”
Performance Testing Guide for Windows

and

“If the system disk is an SSD, and the SSD performs adequately on random reads and doesn’t have glaring performance issues with random writes or flushes, then Superfetch, boot prefetching, application launch prefetching, ReadyBoost and ReadDrive will all be disabled.” Engineering Windows 7 – Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives

One problem with the above 2 statements. I have an SSD disk (specifically the Intel X25-M Generation 2). My Windows Experience score for Primary hard disk is 7.7 (out a possible 7.9). This was a clean install to this disk, not a clone or image. According to the above statements Windows 7 should have disabled Superfetch. Windows 7 did not disable the service nor adjust the registry settings. It is visable via Task Manager (SysMain) and is actively using system resources.
I’m interested if anyone has had Windows 7 disable this as they claim.
I would also like to know what qualifies as a high “Windows Experience Disk Score” according to Microsoft. (not really expecting an answer on this)

iTunes 9.0.2

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About iTunes 9.0.2
iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.
System Requirements
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, 32-bit editions of Windows Vista, or 32-bit editions of Windows 7
* 64-bit editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7 require the iTunes 9.0.2 64-bit installer

Download iTunes
Be sure to see: Ed Bott – Slimming down the bloated iTunes installer

Firefox 3.5.4

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Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 has been released.

v.3.5.4, released October 27th, 2009
* Several security issues.
* Fixed several stability issues.
* Added the ability to re-submit crash reports (bug 378528)
* After using Clear Recent History some SSL sites would not load all images and styles without pressing reload (see bug 480619)

CCleaner v2.25.1025

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v2.25.1025
——————————————–
– Improved Windows 7 jump list cleaning.
– Improved Windows 7 thumbnail cache cleaning.
– Added support for Windows Server 2008 R2.
– Improved 64-bit support and performance.
– Fixed issue with Windows 7 task scheduler.
– Fixed issue with Startup tool, displaying incorrect folder contents.
– Added support for AVG Antivirus 9.0.
– Added support for ExcludeKey in INI files.
– Improved support for wildcards and RECURSE/REMOVESELF.
– Fixed minor GUI bugs in non-English versions.
– Fixed minor GUI usability issues.
– Improved input validation.
– Lots of minor bugs fixed.

Download CCleaner (slim)