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Is Vista better than XP for SSD use?

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I have a DELL laptop running XP and I also have the original SATA drive that came with Vista(32) pre-installed. I used a new HD to install XP as I was concerned about needing the original install in case there were DELL warranty issues.

I have a Kingston V+ SSD drive on order and am wondering if I should use Vista or XP for the SSD? I will align the partition and follow the "using TI to image the OS onto an SSD" tips I've read on this forum. But is there a good reason to use Vista32 vs XP? I really don't care which I use as I use Vista64 on my main computer and am very pleased with it.

1) Given that I'd prefer to not use Windows 7 on the laptop, even though I've read that it is the best choice for running on an SSD, which would be the #2 choice: Vista or XP?

2) The Vista install has the AHCI enabled on the mobo. Are there any known issues with running SSDs in AHCI mode? I'm thinking that if I switch the mobo to IDE mode the restored OS on the SSD might get messed up.

Any help is appreciated :-)

Thanks

Russell

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Russell:

I'm not sure that I can answer all of your questions, but if it were me I would install Vista. I may have been in a minority but Vista ran better for me than XP on my PCs. Since you're already running it on your main computer, having the more-modern operating system on the laptop should be an easy decision.

If you're installing from scratch the Vista installer will create partitions with 1 MB offsets which will be a good alignment choice for the SSD. You will need to consult the SSD manufacturer to see whether AHCI mode is supported or recommended. I doubt you can "mess up" the disk by switching modes; the issue is whether Windows has the correct driver installed to support AHCI mode or not. If not, a stop error will be generated when Windows boots. Usually you can switch modes to IDE, boot into Windows, install the right AHCI driver, switch back to AHCI and reboot if this becomes an issue.