How to Install a SATA SSD in an Old PC with IDE Interface?

SSDs have become the fashionable storage par excellence due to the advantages it provides, but we usually associate it with very new systems. We explain how to install an SSD in an old PC, so much so that it does not have a SATA interface and it seems impossible to install one. In passing we also explain the problems that you are going to encounter.

Restoring an old PC without SATA with an SSD

The first element to break in a PC is usually the hard drive, so it is normal that if you have an already very old PC that you want to restore and after performing the relevant operations to do so, in the end you will find that the computer does not start. The reason? The degradation of the mechanical hard drive.

How about we connect an SSD to it? Well, there are computers that are old enough not to be able to connect an SSD disk to them for the simple fact that they do not even have a SATA interface, luckily there are adapters that allow us to connect SATA disks to IDE ports.

Connecting an SSD to an IDE port

Well, although it may seem impossible at first glance, it is possible to connect an SSD in an extremely old PC even if we do not have a SATA interface.

For this, we only need to adapt SATA to IDE in which to connect the SATA SSD, I do not need to tell you that NVMe disks are completely discarded in this scenario since the IDE interface will end up being a bottleneck, losing the huge bandwidth they have.

Advantages of SSD beyond speed

Okay, let’s say we can plug an SSD into an extremely old PC. What advantages would it bring? Well, if you understand what the benefits of an SSD are beyond the bandwidth, which we will not have here due to the speed of the interface, then it is clear that it is an excellent option to a hard disk.

• SSDs are very fast when it comes to reading randomly, the reason is that in a conventional hard drive the hard drive has to put the needle back on the proper plate. Problem that the SSD has not to deal with.
• Sequential write operations in which data is stored serially benefit. Which means an improvement in the speed of the installations.

Random writing, a problem for SSDs in older systems

But it is with random writing in older operating systems that SSDs have problems compared to conventional hard drives. And it is something that seems to go against logic. If the readings are not a problem, why are the writings?

The reason for this is why bit cells in flash memory, whatever their type, are nothing more than cells for electrons. So to write in a cell where there was data before, it must first be opened to free the electrons in it. So as long as the SSD has memory available to write the data, it will be written until there are no cells available.

Your old PC can’t do TRIM, an essential function for the SSD

Unfortunately, old operating systems lack a process called TRIM, which consists of the operating system itself releasing the cells of the SSD that are apparently busy but do not store anything. In other words, an SSD is not going to free up space unless the TRIM function of the operating system tells it to do so and older operating systems have precisely that functionality.

That is why using an SSD in an old operating system means that the useful life of the SSD is going to be much lower if we install it in an old computer than a mechanical hard disk, and the last thing we want is that the disk last less weather. The other problem is that as the disk becomes full, its performance will begin to decline and have less and less free space.

Create a Linux partition to TRIM the SSD on your old PC

Since TRIM is a function of the same operating system, there is no way to run it on older operating systems, especially Windows, so double partitioning is usually recommended.

• On the one hand, as is obvious, the Windows partition from where we will execute the programs.
• On the other, a Linux partition that we will use to perform the TRIM.

In Linux you just have to mount the hard disk from the terminal and write fstrim / -v in it to perform the TRIM operation manually. Note that the TRIM function does not work with the FAT32 file format but only with the EXT4, Btrfs, JFS, XFS, F2FS, VFAT and NTFS-3G formats . P or what you recommend installing Linux partitions from NTFS-3G format.

Not all SSDs need to perform TRIM function

If you are lucky you may have managed to acquire a hard drive with TRIM functionality included in its flash memory controller and its firmware. So you should not worry at any time about performing this function to keep your SSD with a longer life if you have one of these.

Whatever SSD you have, and regardless of how you have to perform the TRIM, keep in mind that the story is not over yet and you will still have to make a few changes for maximum performance.

Move the Pagefile.sys from your old PC’s hard drive to the new SSD

In the root directory of the hard disk there is a file that you should make a backup copy of first of all, its name is Pagefile.sys and it is the file that has the entire index of files on the hard disk. Think of your hard drive as a library full of books and Pagefile.sys the index that the librarian uses to sort the books on each shelf.

So regardless of whether you also use a mechanical hard drive apart from the SSD, we recommend that you put the pagefile.sys file since it benefits from random reads and sequential writes. But, if the SSDs don’t need this file, why keep it? Well, due to the fact that operating systems prior to Windows 7 do not differentiate an SSD from a conventional hard drive.

Disable certain periodic Windows services on your old PC

You should disable the following periodic services from older versions of Windows to keep your SSD alive:

• Defragmentation
• Superfetch.
• Windows Search.
• The periodic indexing of files.
• The Windows System Restore, since the system will not stop making backup copies while it is activated.
• You should move the Pagefile.sys to the root directory of the SSD.

Once this is done, you should be able to enjoy using the SSD on your antediluvian PC.