Is running a Windows 7 VM on an SSD a bad idea?

Question

I'm using VirtualBox to run a 64-bit Windows 7 VM, with the guest drive being on an SSD for speed. Host OS is also 64-bit Windows 7.

I know Windows 7 automagically tweaks some settings if it detects it's running on an SSD, but I'm guessing that running inside a VM, it will have no idea that it's on an SSD.

So do I need to manually turn TRIM on, disable defragmentation, etc? Or should I just generally not worry about such things?

If there are things I should do within the VM to make it work better on an SSD, what are they?

Solution

Virtualbox since 4.1.0 has had an option to expose the storage device as an SSD to the guest.

virtualBox Changelog: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog

Storage: ATA/SATA drives can be marked as non-rotational, i.e. the guest OS will detect them as a SSD if supported, which can improve performance.

Once you've configured storage for the host, click Settings -> Storage. Click on the drive image, then click Solid-state drive.

There are a number of tips and good links on verifying your existing Windows 7 guest install is set up correctly for an SSD: Confirming that Windows 7 is using SSD optimizations

Comments

[Ross Aiken]

Not sure that this answer is entirely valid: forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48314 (in short, SSD Optimization just disables HDD optimization, it's mainly a behind-the-scenes thing). I'd recommend verifying that TRIM is enabled: superuser.com/questions/145697/…