Slow boot time with Samsung SSD in Latitude E7440 ultrabook

Thanks for your response... yes, I used the Samsung Magician utility to change the settings. I pretty much changed every setting in there that looked like it could make a difference!

The confusing (and very annoying!) thing is that it booted quickly with the old, "slow" SSD, but even with the exact same settings as that one (in terms of hardware, BIOS and software) the new, "fast" one runs slower!

(Sorry if I didn't word that very well!)

Hi 846,

Did you use the Samsung utility to optimize the drive settings? Not sure what settings you fiddled with so a bit hard to know what to suggest.

Any ideas, anyone? I know it sounds like a stupid thing and it's not a huge issue, but it is annoying me and I would like to get it sorted out before I start using the laptop.

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

In all likelihood, this is an OS installation issue, not a problem with the SSD. So what you really need to explore is your slow boot. There are lots of tools and tutorials on troubleshooting slow boot times. That's where I would start.

That's what I thought at first, but I did a fresh installation of Windows using a DVD, so there is not anything in terms of software that would be slowing it down.

Despite that I have looked into it quite thoroughly with startup monitors etc and I haven't found anything.

Any other advice?

Thanks

There are two potential issues. First, the drive could be operating at a slower speed than specified. For that, the Samsung utility should be able to tell you what's wrong. Second, you could have some Windows startup issue unrelated to the drive. For that, you simply need to do some searching on the internet for troubleshooting steps. It could be something as simple as an incorrect network setting.

Thanks for your response! I don't think the drive is operating slower than it should, and the Samsung utility doesn't show up anything wrong - see the attached screenshot for more details.

I have looked into startup issues quite thoroughly and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong there.

Thanks for your help; please respond as soon as you can.

That's a shame then, especially as technically this new SSD is meant to perform faster than the old one! And actually it does perform faster in Windows, it's only the startup that's slower!

Thanks for your help. I guess I'll just have to accept it as it is.

If anyone else has any more suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Thanks

Since you've ruled out any problems, then it would seem that you're getting the expected performance from your new SSD. I have nothing else to suggest.

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd chime in. When you did a clean install of windows, did you do it clean from the factory.wim so the install includes all the proper dell drivers? You have to be careful doing a clean install of windows on a Dell laptop or even PC. If you just install windows and let windows detect the drivers for the motherboard etc it can impact performance. Windows update will install generic drivers that will work, but you may notice odd performance issues. Its always best to make sure the Dell drivers for the motherboard etc are installed AND in the proper order. That's why the factory.wim is so important and useful.

I learned this the hard way. In my opinion its always best to make sure you create a factory restore bootable backup of your machine on a USB. Then use that factory image if you ever want to restore to a new drive. 

Thanks for that. I did the install from a Windows installation disc, not a Dell one (I only have a Dell disc for XP and 7 and this laptop has 8.1). Normally what I'd do in this situation (and what I did do this time) is download all the drivers from Dell's website to replace the ones that come with Windows. This has always worked for me in the past

Regardless of that, using the installation disc I have(with AND without the extra drivers from the Dell website and therefore exactly the same WIndows installation), Windows booted much faster on my old SSD.

Can you tell me more about the factory.wim? I've never heard of it before to be honest.

Any more help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hi 846,

There is a hidden partition on your hard drive that contains a factory restore image. You can literally restore your computer to factory out of the box condition using this factory restore image (Factory.wim). No need to manually install windows and figure out what drivers to install.

There are two ways to use this restore image. 

1. If you ever wanted to reimage your laptop to factory state with all dell drivers, hidden restore partition and a clean install of windows using the existing disc in the laptop.

a. reboot the computer,
b. hit F8 before the computer boots into windows
c. once in the the safe mode boot screen select the option that says "repair my computer"
d. you will see windows boot into a repair screen
c. connect with a local admin account
d. on the repair menu choose the Dell Data restore option
e. select the factory.wim and click continue to restore.

This video shows the procedure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ECjkiGFYM#t=36


2. You can also use this Dell backup restore utility to create a bootable restore USB. I highly recommend doing this. In fact anytime you get a brand new dell, use this utility and create restore USB. To create this USB, start-up up the Dell data restore utility. There is an option to create bootable media (USB) using this tool. Whats cool about this utility is that the bootable restore USB can be used at any time to restore your laptop to out of the box condition with all dell drivers and partitions. It also allows you to create image snapshots of your laptop after the fact with apps you've installed etc. Basically what apps like Acronis True image do, but it doesn't cost you anything because this tool comes with your Dell.

This is how I'd recommend installing windows on your new SSD. Create a bootable USB with the factory.wim using the dell data restore utility. Put the new SSD in your laptop, in the bios make sure AHCI is enabled (it probably is already). Boot your computer off the USB and select to restore the image to your new SSD. This will image your SSD with windows and include all the proper dell drivers and hidden partitions for the restore image.

Now for the bad news. Since you already installed windows manually, you may have removed the hidden restore partition. If this is the case, you wont be able to create the bootable usb using the factory.wim because it was removed. If this is a new dell you might be able to request to get a restore disc.