Don’t Throw Away that Old PC (Part 2)

1 June  2019  Update

Introducing PrimoCache

What is PrimoCache?

PrimoCache is another caching software that utlilises small capacity solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash drives to accelerate relatively slow Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in PCs.  It is developed by Romex Software.   It is different from the other caching software described earlier as it can also use system memory as well as SSD.  Furthermore,  it is  much easily to install as the installation is using Graphic User Interface (GUI).

The  instructions are shown here in this link.   One can either download the software from Romex Software or from here



7 November 2018

This Part 2 was written for those PCs or notebook (PCs) that cannot use the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) to accelerate their mechanical hard disk drive (HDD).  Part 1 about how to use IRST to speed up the HDD  can be found in this link.

Many older PCs did not comply with the IRST requirement to use small capacity msata SSD drive to speed up the mechanical drives.  Manufacturers like  Acer, ASUS, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo and Fujitsu have to use another similar technology called “ExpressCache”.  If one has such PC,  salvage and revive it for the kids to play computer games;  alternatively,  one can try this technology out before acquiring such old PCs.

What is ExpressCache?

It is a Windows-based SSD caching technology developed by Condusiv Technologies.   Like IRST,  it uses a small SSD drive, usually less than 32 GB,  to cache those programs that are frequently used.  Unlike IRST,  the SSD is not part of RAID drives.  It  is  a standalone unit and therefore,  can be partitioned off from a higher capacity SSD. 

How Does it Work?

It is a general knowledge that the intelligent ExpressCache will remember which software were used frequently.  It will store them in the small SSD drive or load them into the RAM during Windows startups.  This will speed up the booting and the computing processes by 2 to 3 times.

What’re the Advantages?

ExpressCache is more flexible than IRST as it has more settings to play around.

1.  It does not need one to re-install the Windows whether the existing system is in AHCI or IDE or in RAID mode;

2.  One could partition off from a larger SSD so that the remaining of the SSD can be used as virtual memory cache drive to further speed up the PCs; 

3.  One could “preload” the necessary windows files into the SSD cache drive to make the PC boot or run faster.  

What is the Catch?

Unlike IRST which is free,   ExpressCache is an OEM product that requires a license to use.   The software will perform a licensing check at every window startup and will not work if a "key" is not found.   It is not available for sale in the market.

What is a OEM product? Can we use it?

Here is a good article about the OEM product and if we can use it.  

In short,  one cannot use or even transfer ExpressCache from an OEM licensed PC to another.  .   However,  for the purpose of investigation if ExpressCache can be used in older PCs,  this article will only explore the steps to be taken to experiment its uses for the benefit of others to further acquire or explore such OEM technology.

What’s used in this Experiment?

1.  A 120 GB SSD drive to work with the 500 GB mechanical hard disks;

2.  An old PC that has LGA 775 ASUS P5K motherboard with E8400 CPU and 4 GB DDR2 RAM running on Windows 7;

2.  An old ExpressCache setup software downloaded from here  or here

Step by Step

Description	Actions	Remarks (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Preparing the 120 GB SSD drive and create an ExpressCache drive	1.  Uninstall ExpressCache if it has been installed before.  A  reboot will be required. 2.  Use EaseUS or similar partition tools,  partition 2x60 GB drives;  one marked [Cache] and the other [VM] in the Volume. Note and copy down the disk number (disk # where # is the disk number) of the SSD drive. 3.  Fire up the [Command Prompt] window as Admin 4.   Type [diskpart]  to start the program and then type [select disk #] at next prompt 5.   Type [Clean]  after ensuring the correct disk number is selected in step 4 above as the disk will be erased. 6.  Type [convert MBR], followed by [create partition primary size=####] - where #### equals the size, in megabytes or just type [60000].  7.  Type [set id=73 override]  to set the partition type.  Lastly,  type [exit]	1. Check the installation in Program & Features in Control Panel The VM partition can be used as virtual disk. Prepare the drive as a cache drive;  otherwise,  the Expresscache will not recognise it. Important Note:  all data in selected disk will wiped off.   Use [List Disk} command to check the correct drive selected
2.  Install the Expresscache	1.  Navigate to the folder where Expresscache is downloaded and fire up [Expresscache.exe] 2.  Follow the instructions to install the software.
3.  Successful Installation	A restart will be prompted upon successful installation	On successful installation,  one should not receive any error messages;  otherwise,  goto "Installation problems and Error Message" section to find the solution

Tips and Tricks

Description	Actions	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Create an ExpressCache drive after installation	1. At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [net stop expresscache] 2.  Then type  [eccmd (space)-partition][diskID] [size] to create the partition; 3.  Then format the drive by typing [eccmd (space) –format] to format the drive	For example [eccmd -partition 1 24GB]
2.  Check if the Caching is working (DOS method)	Restart the PCs.  At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –info].  If the cache is working,  one will be shown the screen at the right;  otherwise,  it will show errors such as "Product is not licensed to run on this system"	If the cache is set up properly,  one should have very high read and write %,  higher than 85% after a few Windows restarts.
3.  Erase the Cache	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –format]	This will erase all the contents in the ExpressCache’s SSD disk
4.  Preload a program	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –preload]	One could preload the commonly used programs by Windows to speed up the booting by running this batch file in this link. The conventional wisdom is preload the whole windows folder into the Cache Drive but this is not necessary.
5 No Logo	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –Nologo]	No copyright message will be displayed.
6. Exclude a Drive from Caching	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –exclude ]  (space) driveletter	Exclude a drive from being cached. for example  eccmd –exclude C to exclude C drive from caching

 

Interpretation of ECCMD –info results

Description	Explanation	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  EC Cache Info	Besides describing the partitioned size, it also describes the capacity left over and how much memory space has been used for storing the cache etc
2.  Tiered Cache Stats	It shows how much and how often the  RAM memory were used to speed up the PC
3.  Cache Stats	It describes how the Cache were being used in terms of size and  number and the %  of time the Cache drive were used.

Installation Problems and Error Messages

Description	Actions	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Expresscache cannot find SSD drive	Go to "Tips and Tricks" to create an ExpressCache drive	The SSD has not been formatted with the correct id
2  Product is not licensed to run on this system	Expresscache cannot find the licensed key to complete the startup	Here are some keys but they have not been tested yet ASUS,  ACER, HP,  LENOVO, SAMSUNG. 1. Download the above link for respective brands and place the file in the ExpressCache folder and 2. change the existing EC.LMF to EC.LMF.Old and rename the downloaded file to EC.LMF. If the PC is not licensed,  then one will have to use the batch file that comes with the downloaded file to patch Expresscache in order to proceed further.
3.  ExpressCache not working after Windows update or ExpressCache did not run as fast as expected	A re-installation of Expresscache might be required to restore all the essential files 1.  Format the ExpressCache drive and  2. Preload this batch file using this link for Win 7. 3.  Restart Windows to refresh the system file.  This should  restore the ExpressCache.	The following shows that the Cache is not really working though the read count is high;  may be some preloaded program is affecting the operation.
4.  There is 0 cache shown in eccmd -info	Make sure there is no Windows System files installed in any SSD drive	The cache will show 0% if ExpressCache found Window installation in other SSD drive
5  eccmd exited with error 0x10df 4319	Clear the system error;   erase any application installed just before this happen;  do a system restore if necessary.	The PC appears to have a system or application error and could not proceed further

Result

Note:  The test results may not represent the actual working speed of ExpressCache because the result will depend on where the test program were loaded;  for example,  the test program might just have tested the actual speed of the mechanical hard disk rather than the SSD cache drive.

	Before	After
Speed Test before and after the ExpressCache installation
Speed Test after the Windows’ system files were preloaded but .  before and after the Crystaldiskmark were preloaded onto the Cache drive

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