Optimizing CIS for use on a solid state disk

Comodo Internet Security - CIS Install / Setup / Configuration Help - CIS
#1

I have my operating system installed on a SSD, and so I do not want lots of writes to my hard disk.
Is there a way to configure CIS to use my D: drive instead of C: for it’s files like logs and temporary files it needs to write to?

Thanks

#2

SSDs are great but like any tool, they’re meant be be used.

  • If you’re really concerned about about the wear rate, stop using it now! ;D
  • If you’re still concerned about excessive writes , maybe CIS is not for you. Regular disc cloning/imaging might be a better strategy
#3

I understand your suggestion is to either not use CIS or not use the SSD. Thanks for this tip.

In regards to your last point where you suggest using disk cloning instead of using CIS. May you please explain in more detail? I can’t see how this is a solution, but I will try it if you can explain what you meant. I mean, I know what disk imaging is, but not sure what you meant by using it instead of CIS in regards to my worry about CIS’s disk writes.

#4

I have an SSD too and I am afraid they have a future. But your statement scares me. What are the many writes that CIS does? Sure - logging should be switched off. But you write that if anybody cares about writes they should not use CIS. What did I overlook?

#5

I think the" wear" issue with SSDs is over-rated, especially the ‘Sandforce’ controller models.

It’s not that CIS is necessarily writing to the disk any more than another security program (though it might be). If someone is really concerned, as an alternative to real-time AV, creating daily incremental backup images of your primary disk/partition to another drive provides good disaster recovery without any writing.

#6

The fear of excessive writes is probably groundless.

With Windows 7 using C.I.S. 5.3 a daily C:\ Partition image incremental backup file was around 500 MB.
That represents every sector that has been rewritten by Windows and all applications.

By simply duplicating the entire folder C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\Repair to a different folder,
and then replacing the original folder with a Junction Folder / Reparse point to the duplicated folder,
the 200 MB Bases.cav was no longer held on C:\ - but C.I.S. did not complain.
500 MB fell to 300 MB per day because now C:\ held only one instance of Bases.CAV, not two.
By disabling auto-update it was brought down to only 100 MB until I permitted an update.

The daily rewrite of 100 MB was brought down to 50 MB when I similarly relocated the Firefox Profiles.

Conclusions :-
Windows re-writes 50 MB per day for the shear fun of failed attempts at enhancing itself,
and Firefox adds another 50 MB per user profile which I now avoid by another Junction Folder / Reparse point.
On top of this I suffered 200 MB each day when CIS v. 5.3 updated the 200 MB Bases.cav,
and now I am using CIS v 5.8 I only suffer 100 MB - pleasant surprise how much smaller Bases.cav has become,
almost tempted to let it update each day now.

#7

Those reparse points sound very interesting. I have software with high disc access on RAM disks. With the reparse points I could use them even more. Have to check it out the next days. Great idea :-TU

#8

I remember my first PC only ran DOS 3.3??
and Confiig.sys + AutoExec.bat would create a 360 KB RamDisk out of what was left of a 1 MB memory card because Bill Gates declared that no operating system could use more than 640 KB.
AutoExec.bat would then copy all my *.BAT files from Floppy Disc A:\ to the Ram Disk D:\

There was quite a difference between running a *.BAT from A;\ and running it from RAM 88)

When I started using XP I was unable to find suitable RamDisc.

I would be interested in how you get your RamDisk set up.

Regards
Alan

#9

I do not run RAM disks like this simple Windows version. I use software you (sadly) have to pay for.

The contents oft some of the RAM disks gets saved when I shut down the system and this gets loaded at the next start. In addition I use on Win7 32 all the memory above the 4GB - in my case up to 8 GB for RAM disks.

I use those ram disks for software like Firefox, video rendering, often used tools, swap file and software that writes very often to the disk.

So I have to check out what more I could do with those reparse points. Will try to move the Comodo logs to the RAM disks. On the other hand something like the location of the log files you should be able to customize in CIS. Just some statements in the code.