Should write cache be enabled on IDE HDs? NM

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Phrederick said:
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Good gotcha. Do them as they do you. "-" sucks for a username. Gee,
is it Mr. -, Ms. -, Mrs. -, Mz. -, or Sir - (where you make a raspberry
when sounding the hyphen). I didn't even bother to answer (except to
your reply) since a blank message gets a blank response (i.e., no
response). Talk about being super lazy.
 
your reply) since a blank message gets a blank response (i.e., no
response). Talk about being super lazy.
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Sorry - I didn't think it really mattered that much since NM means no
(further) message I thought I was saving people's time! I thought why write
the same thing twice!

I just wondered if the write cache really improved the system's speed that
much or if it affected anything very much that was all really.
 
- said:
Sorry - I didn't think it really mattered that much since NM means no
(further) message I thought I was saving people's time! I thought why
write the same thing twice!

I just wondered if the write cache really improved the system's speed
that much or if it affected anything very much that was all really.
Click to expand...

Reading from memory is faster than reading from spinning rust platters.
I remember about a decade or more ago there was experimentation in using
bubble memory since it had permanence when power was removed and because
it was memory then it was much faster than physical platters, but I've
never see a consumer-grade product yet for it (too expensive). Even the
RAM-based hard drives were way too expensive, but they sure were fast.

PC Guide: Hard Disk Cache and Cache Circuitry
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/cache.htm

Although http://www.storagereview.com/ has links in their drive guide
(http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/op/cache.html) back to
PC Guide's articles, PC Guide's content 2-1/2 years old, but mostly what
I've seen is a simple bump up in the cache's memory size when memory got
cheaper. Some articles at StorageReview.com are a bit newer, like
http://snurl.com/345c.

Even if your EIDE drive doesn't allow disabling of its integral hardware
memory used for caching, you can get something of the feel by disabling
the "system cache" is the OS. Boot into Safe mode for Windows and note
how long it takes to load and how slow everything gets. The slow-down
effect will be much more pronounced when disabling the system's software
cache than disabling the drive's hardware cache.

I would take advantage of any speed boost that was already included in
the hardware or software that I've already paid for. Is there a real
reason beyond idle curiosity as to why you want to disable your drive's
hardware cache?
 
I would take advantage of any speed boost that was already included in
the hardware or software that I've already paid for. Is there a real
reason beyond idle curiosity as to why you want to disable your drive's
hardware cache?
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Nope, I'm just idling. And curious as always, of course. Thanks for the
links - there was some interesting info in there - I think since I have no
mission critical applications should my power go down I'll definitely risk
any potential loss of data to get greater efficient responsiveness of my
machine, thanks.
 
- said:
Nope, I'm just idling. And curious as always, of course. Thanks for
the links - there was some interesting info in there - I think since
I have no mission critical applications should my power go down I'll
definitely risk any potential loss of data to get greater efficient
responsiveness of my machine, thanks.
Click to expand...

No UPS? Oh oh. How often do you create disk images (or backups
although they are more of a pain for a full system recover)?

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No UPS? Oh oh. How often do you create disk images (or backups
although they are more of a pain for a full system recover)?
Click to expand...

Nah - I'm just a home user afterall! Fair enough for businesses though. I'm
used to reinstalling windows from time to time anyway should the OS get
corrputed and my important data is duplicated across several systems and
backed up regularly, and some kept on seperate partitions and drives, so I'm
not fussed either way - computers always go wrong in the long wrong - its
just a question of when! I hate computers! Love live computers.
 
- said:
Nah - I'm just a home user afterall! Fair enough for businesses
though. I'm used to reinstalling windows from time to time anyway
should the OS get corrputed and my important data is duplicated
across several systems and backed up regularly, and some kept on
seperate partitions and drives, so I'm not fussed either way -
computers always go wrong in the long wrong - its just a question of
when! I hate computers! Love live computers.
Click to expand...

Then you might want to consider partitioning your drive (if you don't
have 2 or more drives). Have the OS on C: and the data on D:. Some
programs will let you change where they store their configuration and
data files. Some take TweakUI to change. And others require a registry
hack. I've done all of these and even move My Documents to D: (which is
a separate second drive). That way, when (not if) I have to eventually
reinstall Windows, I can reinstall it without losing any of my data (but
then have to reconfigure Windows and the applications to use the data on
the D: partition/drive). Having it on a second drive makes backups
faster and easier and protects it should the C: drive go bad or get
corrupted. Although I do have a UPS (and mine is for home use, too), I
still like to put my data in a separate partition or drive than where
the OS is installed.
 
Then you might want to consider partitioning your drive (if you don't
have 2 or more drives). Have the OS on C: and the data on D:.
Click to expand...

Snap. I even have a E:, F:, G:, H:, and I partitions for my different
logical sets of data, that way reinstalling windows is such a pleasure! I
also have a second HD with a further 2 partitions for backing up too and
then there's backup media - a CDRW until that's full when I burn a CDR and
then duplicate that and send a copy to family members to look after too!
Photos are precious things...
the D: partition/drive). Having it on a second drive makes backups
faster and easier and protects it should the C: drive go bad or get
corrupted. Although I do have a UPS (and mine is for home use, too), I
still like to put my data in a separate partition or drive than where
the OS is installed.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree with you more. Afterall, we have to protect our data against
windows itself as well as hardware failures.
 
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