Technical Tips - Living with a Mini 9 netbook

In January 2010 I finally took the plunge and bought, on eBay, a Dell Inspiron
Mini 9 netbook computer. Although it is a discontinued model the Mini 9 has, for me, three main advantages over the currently ubiquitous 10" netbooks: it is significantly smaller; it has a solid-state drive (more rugged than the hard drive fitted to most current netbooks); it is considerably cheaper (£150 to £190 for new and almost-new models on eBay) than the £300+ asking price for the better 10" netbooks. The Mini 9 was originally sold with either the Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP Home operating systems but most of those available now are the XP model.

The Mini 9 does, however, have one major disadvantage compared with current netbooks: the standard spec solid-state drive (SSD) is a mere 8GB whereas a 10" netbook is now fitted, typically, with a 160GB hard drive. There is a lively aftermarket in Mini 9 upgrades but, with 2GB of RAM costing £35-£40, 16GB SSDs costing £50-£60, and 32GB SSDs costing £80-£100, upgrading is not a cheap option. The challenge was, therefore, to make the Mini 9 work for me at minimal extra cost.

Fine-tuning the initial installation

The notes below describe the end result after several frustrating days when it seemed that almost any change generated a "You are running dangerously low on disc space" alert.

  • Remove unused programs : My Mini was delivered with very little bloatware but I still gained a useful amount of space by removing all the unwanted programs. Read how to Remove unused programs.
  • Reduce size of Page File : A standard Windows installation sets the Page File minimum at 1.5 times the RAM and the Page File maximum at 2 (or more) times the RAM. This is ridiculous for a PC with 1GB RAM and a 8GB SSD and I have re-set mine to 500MB minimum and 1GB maximum. There is endless internet debate about optimising the Page File size but 500MB - 1 GB seems to work for me. To alter the size of the Page File: right-click on My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Virtual Memory > Change > select Custom Size, insert the desired values, then select OK.
  • Disable Hibernation : It is a little-known fact that the Windows "Hibernate" function is allocated disc space equivalent to the amount of RAM. As with the Page File, ring-fencing 1GB of a 8GB SSD just for the Hibernate function is space wasted. To disable Hibernation: Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate > Check that Enable Hibernation is un-ticked, then select OK.
  • Install utilities : All my favoured A List utility software was installed on the SSD by downloading.

The end result of this fine-tuning is a Mini 9 with all essential software installed and over 2GB of free space on the SSD.

Application software and data files

The above configuration is fine if you intend to use mainly web applications, and store most of your data in the Cloud, but a few more tweaks are desirable to extend the Mini 9's capability.

Basic

  • My Documents : I have chosen to locate this folder in the C drive on the SSD to prevent any conflicts when the SDHC memory card (see below) is removed. Files which I want to be available at all times are synchronised with my other computers using Dropbox.
  • Choose appropriate programs : This might seem obvious with the benefit of hindsight, but don't choose programs which install lots of additional files on the SSD even if the program itself is installed on the SDHC card. I installed a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 on the SDHC card, and everything ran perfectly, but just the .NET files needed for Office 2007 took up a lot more disc space on the SSD (where Windows is installed) than a complete installation of Excel and Word 2000.
  • Install programs using a USB memory stick : There are a number of ways of installing programs which are supplied on CDs or DVDs - remember that the Mini 9, like most netbooks, has no optical drive - but by far the easiest is to copy the entire contents of the CD/DVD to a USB memory stick and run the installation routine from the memory stick.

Additional

  • Add SDHC memory card : With the capacity of the cards rising, and the cost of the cards falling, adding a SDHC card is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to increase the storage capacity of the Mini 9. I've gone for an 8GB card, but 16GB, 32GB and 64GB are available. I use the card for large data files, such as music and photographs, but it works equally well for additional programs if there is insufficient space on the SSD.
  • Caps Lock Indicator : The Mini 9, like so many netbooks, has no visual indicator to show whether the Caps Lock key is On or Off. I've installed the little Caps Lock Tray Light utility which adds a small icon to the system tray to indicate the Caps Lock status. Download this utility from the TEK911 website at www.tek911.com.
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