SSD Upgrade

The Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB works a treat on my 7548.

Steve C said:

The Samsung 850 EVO 500Mb looks a good option based on test reports, price, Amazon customer feedback and the 5 year warranty. The Samsung Magic SSD software has a "RAPID" Option which claims to improve performance. However, this inserts a low level device driver filter and many people report BSOD problems and other issues. Do you use the RAPID option and has this caused any problems? I've had problems before with Acronis software installing low level driver filters which were very hard to remove.

Last time I tried, the option to enable RAPID mode was grayed out, incompatible with new SSD. Only time I used it is to update the firmware. However, it is good as is without RAPID mode enabled.

Steve C said:

The Samsung 850 EVO 500Mb looks a good option based on test reports, price, Amazon customer feedback and the 5 year warranty. The Samsung Magic SSD software has a "RAPID" Option which claims to improve performance. However, this inserts a low level device driver filter and many people report BSOD problems and other issues. Do you use the RAPID option and has this caused any problems? I've had problems before with Acronis software installing low level driver filters which were very hard to remove.

The latest release of Samsung Magician software (v 4.9) will enable RAPID mode for the EVO 850.

More on top of what topgundcp said:
I don't use RAPID mode - I tried it and, after watching my system performance/behavior for about a week (NOT paying any attention to the benchmarks), concluded I was perceiving no benefit from it in any of the usages I put my system to - presumably, there would be a more perceivable benefit if you do things that require a deep queue depth. I ran into no problems with my 7548 while RAPID mode was enabled. I disabled RAPID mode, mainly in the interest of the K.I.S.S. principle plus an abundance of caution, and have no need to investigate it again at the moment. Others at TF have asserted that they perceive benefit from RAPID mode. Obviously, YMMV.

I keep Samsung Magician installed but not running at startup or in the background - only running it in case I have reason to check the performance benchmark or want to check for a firmware update.

BTW, the Acronis behavior you mention AND its developmental progression and upgrade pricing structure after I began using it back in '06 or so put me off of it entirely. I've used Image for Windows/Linux/DoS (Terabyte) as my second tier backup/imaging software but, having added it within the last 6 months or so, Macrium Reflect as my PRIMARY backup/imaging tool ever since then.

If you look at my specs. I am now using a M.2: Amazon.com: Samsung SM951 256GB AHCI MZHPV256HDGL-00000 M.2 80mm PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD - OEM: Computers Accessories as my C drive. using Samsung SSD 850 as my storage for backup image.

The m.2 is actually designed for Laptop and more expensive but will beat any SSD with speed. So if your laptop has a slot that supports M.2 and you are willing to spend more money then that's the way to go.

A new version of M.2 from Samsung is: Amazon.com: Samsung 950 PRO -Series 256GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD 2-Inch MZ-V5P256BW: Computers Accessories

I'll keep the old almost working Windows 10 installation on the old HDD for a while then wipe it and put in a USB HDD caddy for use as a backup drive.

Yes, I saw the other post that you had problem upgrading to 10 and decided to stay out since there were so many advices given and did not want to add more confusion.

So if your Windows is running smooth and the problem is just only the partition scheme not organized the way it should, You can re-arrange those partitions and copy back just only the C: Drive so you won't have to re-install all the third party softwares. Follow this link:
Solved Help With Partition Management - Windows 10 Forums