Reconfigure Aspire v7 SSD caching on Windows 10

Hello,

I have upgraded to Windows 10 on my Aspire V7 482pg (5861). I have installed all the recommended drivers from the support page, and have not run into any significant errors. However, this particular notebook comes with a SSD for caching, and I have not been able to reconfigure it to do so. The ExpressCache software I was using before on Windows 8.1 does not appear to be compatible with Windows 10.

Is there any other caching software I should try using? One of the downloads on the support page is Intel Rapid Storage (even though the description on the page says Rapid Start, it is definitely Rapid Storage that was installed). Right now, the only thing that Rapid Storage seems to be doing is reducing power consumption during idle periods.

Should I attempt to configure this system to use Smart Response? Is it even possible with this version of the Rapid Storage technology?

Any help would be appreaciated,

Thanks Smiley Happy

Accepted answers

Assemblerize

Hello

I've got the same laptop and I faced with the same problem. I downloaded the ExpressCache driver for Acer ME600 from the support page, modified the installator and now SSD caching works ok. Link

Hope this helps

P.S Intel Smart Response in't supported by our chipset

All comments

Assemblerize

Hello

I've got the same laptop and I faced with the same problem. I downloaded the ExpressCache driver for Acer ME600 from the support page, modified the installator and now SSD caching works ok. Link

Hope this helps

P.S Intel Smart Response in't supported by our chipset

Jfmartel

Wow! This works perfectly. It discovered the SSD and correctly formatted and setup the software right away. Awesome! Thank you so much

bakudan

I downloaded the attachment and installed it.

However, I can't seem to find it activitating my ssd cache capabilities. In command prompt, eccmd -info tells me that I have no expresscache driver installed, and disk management would say the drive is not configured.

Intel Rapid Storage, however, says the drive is enabled for caching.

How do I confirm if the drive is caching anything? I also believe that because the caching drive is not configured properly, it's messing up my computer's ability to hibernate. 80% of the time the computer fails to go into hibernation and would be stuck with both power and battery lights on, but the screen being completely black and requiring a hard reset.

It would also fail to restart and certain times, abruptly shutting down once the computer attempts to restart.

Jfmartel

I am not sure why the installer is not working for you. When I installed it, I had the SSD memory all unallocated, is yours the same way?

I am also having the same hibernation and restart issues, however it only occurs for me around 20% of the time, rather than 80%. I don't think it's related to the caching. I think in my case its related some how to the power source, seeing as my PC seems to consistently die at 15% battery. On the failing restarts, its like it tries to start but just can't, and turns back off immediately. I'm reinstalling Windows to see if this fixes the issue or not

DougVining

You may have to use DISKPART to clean the SSD drive before installing Expresscache. Another tip I've seen is setting the SSD disk controller to RAID instead of AHCI (for Intel SRT) but that may require a Windows re-install. I've also not got the caching working on my Aspire V7 482PG yet.

I don't have problems with Hibernation and Resume, just very slow, but my laptop won't Sleep - just turns the screen off and hangs until you do a hard reset. I think it's related to the Fast Start options. Right now, Windows 10 performance is no good on this machine, I'll have to get these issues sorted out or go back to 8.1.

If anyone has a proper solution, please share!

DougVining

Update: when I tried to install Expresscache it told me a newer version of the software was already installed - but performance is terrible and no caching seems to be happening.

DougVining

As I had upgraded from Win 8.1 the ExpressCache software was still on my machine, it just had to be configured. Now it's working and the laptop is really quick. Hibernate works fine when I close the lid, but the Sleep option still causes the PC to hang.

bakudan

Once I cleaned the drive with diskpart and installed expresscache that way, it formatted the drive.

I then proceeded to follow this guide to try to get the drive working with Intel Rapid Start.

http://community.acer.com/t5/S-and-R-Series/GUIDE-Install-ExpressCache-for-SSD-Caching/td-p/64381

It all worked fine and dandy, and I was finally able to get a response from eccmd -info. However, Windows 10 (actually 8.1 onwards, I believe) has built in drive encryption that is incompatible with Rapid Start, so I uninstalled it.

I am still getting readings ike this from eccmd -info.

My question is: on Acer's website, Rapid Storage was provided for download. Was that alone sufficient enough for the whole ssd caching mechanism to start working?

I read from here that the drives needed to be configured as RAID with a fresh install for rapid storage to work. Shouldn't Acer inform users of that if it were true?

I also don't notice my laptop being "really quick". What else, besides eccmd, can I use to test the performance?

I believe I was mistaken before, and it is indeed Sleep that my computer has issues with as well.

When upgrading from 8.1 to 10, my expresscache folder becomes empitied as well, so I wondered if you had to have installed a newer version prior to upgrade to retain it.

eccmd.PNG

Assemblerize

My question is: on Acer's website, Rapid Storage was provided for download. Was that alone sufficient enough for the whole ssd caching mechanism to start working?

Only if your system supports Smart Response technology, becouse it's a hardware solution. If not, you should use ExpressCache.

I also don't notice my laptop being "really quick". What else, besides eccmd, can I use to test the performance?

I believe I was mistaken before, and it is indeed Sleep that my computer has issues with as well.

Try to install a newer version from here

DougVining

OK, so I installed the newer version of ExpressCache and my V7-482PG seems to sleep and hibernate properly, thanks! One question: should I remove the Intel Rapid Storage service, as it doesn't seem to run? And what about Intel Smart Connect left over from Win 8, should I uninstall that too?

DougVining

I'm still having problems with the sleep function, only works if memory not heavily loaded.

bakudan

It has to do with Intel Management Engine. The newest version for Windows 10 (ver 11) is screwed up. Install Version 9 and then disable drivers from updating automatically solved the problem for me.