Solid State Hybrid Drive for my desktop computer

[spendorman]

My desktop machine runs XP. It works well at the moment, has 2GB RAM, AMD Sempron 3400+, PCI-e slots, USB 3.0 card and a Terratec DM6 Fire 24/96 sound card. HD is a Seagate 500GB 700 RPM.

I am thinking of buying a solid state hybrid hard drive so as to improve boot time etc.

Will I see any improvement? What about hard drive defragmentation, will be unnecessary/ undesirable?

[Tim]

You will definitely see an improvement in boot times and overall performance with a hybrid drive. If you are putting a new drive in I would also STRONGLY advise a new O/S as support for Windows XP ends in under 2 weeks. Windows 8 ideally, but 7 will also do it. A new drive and Windows 8.1 will make you think you have a new computer, as its significantly faster than Windows XP.

As for defragging, well I'm not sure about a hybrid drive, but for a pure Solid State Drive, no, you shouldn't defragment them. Best guess is for a hybrid you should but Google it ;)

[spendorman]

Thanks for that, I am reluctant to change the operating system, I have Windows 7 and am not keen on it, and my ancient, but good sound card does not seem to work properly under W7.



You will definitely see an improvement in boot times and overall performance with a hybrid drive. If you are putting a new drive in I would also STRONGLY advise a new O/S as support for Windows XP ends in under 2 weeks. Windows 8 ideally, but 7 will also do it. A new drive and Windows 8.1 will make you think you have a new computer, as its significantly faster than Windows XP.

As for defragging, well I'm not sure about a hybrid drive, but for a pure Solid State Drive, no, you shouldn't defragment them. Best guess is for a hybrid you should but Google it ;)

[Tim]

Thanks for that, I am reluctant to change the operating system, I have Windows 7 and am not keen on it, and my ancient, but good sound card does not seem to work properly under W7.
Well you will be at significant risk if you use the internet, imagine if your identity was stolen or your personal accounts hacked? If you never use the internet no problem, but if you do you put yourself at risk of serious financial loss at worst, or inconvenience at best if you are attacked by malicious software. Its going to be a free for all for hackers attacking machines with Windows XP after April 8th. My day job is dealing with this area of IT and the consequences can be significant and sometimes life changing.

Would you run through a fire naked? ;)