Ssd Trim Software
Did your SSD start out Usain Bolt fast but now limps along? You can whip your drive back into shape using a handful of toolkits and optimization software, but caveat emptor: Some SSD optimization software are pure snake-oil at best and potentially damaging to your solid state drive at worst.
I divide optimization software into four categories: SSD analysis tools, SSD Toolkits, SSD Benchmarking Software and Snake-oil optimizers. Three of these four categories will help you maintain your device for longer than and at optimal speeds. Analysis tools help determine your model, its condition and its firmware version. Toolkits will automatically optimize the drive. Finally, SSD benchmarking software determines whether or not your drive functions at peak or near peak performance.
May 30, 2016 I have a Samsung EVO SSD 850, I would just use Samsung Magician but it says that Windows 8+ will automatically TRIM the ssds. I navigiated to 'Optimize Drives' and I see that my SSD needs optimization, is this the same as trimming? By enabling Trim, the SSD data blocks are cleaned and maintained preemptively using our custom Trim driver. This leads to fewer operations during the writing process, unlocking the maximum performance potential of your SSD while at the same time minimizing wear on the data cells. Apr 03, 2016 TRIM is an ATA command set that was originally designed for the purpose of keeping a Solid State Drive at its optimal performance throughout its lifespan.
Ssd Trim Optimization Software
Beforehand, it’s important to explain some basic concepts regarding SSDs.
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Reading, Writing and SSDs
SSDs receive praise for their intensely fast read times, which speeds up booting and load operations. They are equally well-known for their notoriously weak ability to absorb writes. As most solid state enthusiasts know, the multi-level cell flash memory cells in SSDs sustain only a finite number of writes before failing. The average MLC memory block can absorb roughly 10,000 such writes, which often translates into about 5-years of heavy use or much longer with lighter use.
Additionally, SSDs do not erase blocks of memory in the same manner as a standard, platter-based drive. The SSD controller must mark each block of memory for erasure before successfully overwriting it. To speed up the read-write process, SSDs use TRIM to keep the drive running optimally.
Consequently, the kind of optimization software out there aims to do three things: reduce writes; update the drive’s firmware; check to see if the drive is optimized.
The SSD Optimization Toolkits
The three best OEM optimization programs are the Intel toolkit, the OCZ optimization toolkit and Samsung’s SSD magician. If you don’t have a drive from any of the above companies, I recommend using SSD Tweaker, which shuts off a number of write-intensive features of your operating system, potentially lengthening the life of your SSD’s flash memory.
- SSD Tweaker: The SSD Tweaker does several important functions that Windows may not enable during the default installation process. It also includes an “auto tweak” function, which streamlines the optimization process into a one-click affair. Most of these improvements provide only a marginal reduction in total writes. And it comes at the expense of some of Windows’ other features. For the most part, it provides the easiest way to optimize your drives.
- OCZ Toolbox: The OCZ Toolbox does not install on your hard drive, since all it does is update the system’s firmware. You may notice from the screenshot that it does not properly detect my RAID 0 configuration. In fact, in order to flash a drive, you must have two drives connected to your computer. The Toolbox will only flash secondary drives. It also doesn’t help that I have a RAID 0 array, which wasn’t detected by any of the software in this article.
- Intel Solid-State Drive Toolbox: Intel’s Toolbox provides not only the easiest to use drive optimization process, it’s also the most frequently updated. In addition, since many of Intel’s older drives do not offer background garbage collection, Intel had to design into its Toolbox the ability to manually run garbage collection on the drive. This feature can actually be scheduled and automated, which is extremely handy.
- Samsung Magician: Samsung provides solid toolkit support in the shape of the SSD Magician. It provides firmware updates, drive health analysis, optimization and over provisioning (which extends SSD life). It comes very close to rivaling even Intel’s Toolbox in value.
- AOMEI Partition Assistant: The only feature in this toolkit worth using is the partition alignment tool. By default, modern operating systems automatically align partitions on an SSD, prior to installation. However, Windows XP will not do this by default. Also, most disk-cloning software do not properly align an image onto an SSD. In either case, you will want to use a disk alignment program.
Analysis and Benchmarking SSD Tools
An SSD analysis tool can tell you some amazing things about your hard drive. In particular, it can provide insight into how many writes it already absorbed – and therefore how long until it fails – as well as the firmware number. Together, this information tells you whether your drive requires a firmware update. Adobe master collection cc 2018.
Benchmarking software determines the speed of your drive. It will often reveal the Achilles ’ heel of your SSD. For example, if you bench (short for ‘benchmark’) a drive and it shows poor write performance, then you most certainly have a malfunctioning TRIM command. On the downside, benchmarking software write a tremendous amount to your drive and should only be used sparingly.
- CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo: CrystalDiskInfo can tell you a great deal about an SSD’s life expectancy by pulling information from its SMART sensors. CrystalDiskMark can also benchmark SSD drives. However, be aware that using CDM frequently may expedite your drive’s failure as it writes a great deal of information to hard drives. The astute may notice that my drives are actually substantially underperforming.
- SSDLife: SSDLife does about a quarter of the work CrystalDisk does, however, it has the advantage of specialization, telling you exactly how much data has been written to your drive.
- AS SSD: AS SSD reigns as the king of benchmarks for solid state drives. If you elect to bench your drives, give AS SSD a try. As you might notice from the screenshot below, my write performance is abysmal for an SSD. Especially for a RAID array.
Snake-oil SSD Optimizers
Configuring your system for fewer writes will extend its lifespan. Fortunately, modern operating systems already optimize SSDs out-the-box. Windows 7 and 8 do virtually everything for you. On the other hand, Windows XP does not – and so a toolkit may provide some degree of benefit for XP.
Unfortunately, many SSD optimizers will do quite a bit of damage to your drive. Avoid any “optimizer” claiming to defragment or erase empty space. Defragging an SSD will only cause a tremendous number of writes and won’t increase your drive’s speed.
Conclusion
I recommend the following: If you’re having issues with your SSD, consider benchmarking or using an analysis tool to determine the kind of issue. Slow writes generally imply a fault within either TRIM, firmware or garbage collectionHow To Optimize SSD Speed & PerformanceHow To Optimize SSD Speed & PerformanceAlthough Solid State Drives can deliver break-neck computing speeds, most users don’t know a nasty secret - your drive might not be properly configured. The reason is that SSDs don’t come optimized out of the..Read More. If it does display such a fault, use an optimization toolkit to streamline the drive.
If you use a notebook and are looking for additional optimization tips, check out Simon’s roundupGetting Cramped? 5 Ways To Increase SSD-only Ultrabook or Netbook StorageGetting Cramped? 5 Ways To Increase SSD-only Ultrabook or Netbook StorageThe ultra-portables can't afford the room for a big, hulking hard drive. SSD comes at a price; literally, and figuratively. These expensive drives (although progress is made every day) still cannot reach the capacity of..Read More of the best five tips for improving notebook performance. Matt, on the other hand, recommends moving write-intensive operationsUsing a Small SSD & a Regular Hard Drive: How To Organize Your FilesUsing a Small SSD & a Regular Hard Drive: How To Organize Your FilesI recently reviewed a Samsung 830 512GB solid state drive that now serves as the primary drive for my computer. Before it, however, I was using a 60GB solid state drive. Why? For the same..Read More to a standard platter-based drive.
Does anyone else have any optimization toolkits, software or tips for SSDs? Feel free to share in the comments!
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Ssd Trim Software For Xp
Hi Kannon, I run a laptop xpSP3 and just bought a Sandisk Plus SSD ( no xp compatible optimizer available from this brand, and not sure it has a Garbage Collection function either )
Is it better to do a manual trim with a live tool (live CD/USB) or is it ok with the OS running ?
How many hours are needed for a manual trim (SSD 120 GO) ?
Is it possible to use the pc when trimming is launched, or does it imply to shut down any running software ?Many thanks
Kannon, Do you if any of any tools keep track of how many times garbage collection or TRIM is triggered? Is the information available on S.M.A.R.T.
Kannon, it'd be very nice to see an update on this article covering Windows 10 and the latest Apple and Linux versions. Happy Holidays!
Enable TRIM to linux ssd optimization trim
TRIM (Trim command let an OS know which SSD blocks are not being used and can be cleared)
Back up fstab first in case something wrong happen.
# cp /etc/fstab ~/fstab.bkEdit fstab file
# nano /etc/fstabAdd discard to your ssd drives or partitions, after ext4
UUID=bef10b86-494d-41c6-aa46-af72cfba90fd / ext4 discard,errors=remount-ro 0 1Let me add my personal experience to this article: make sure to keep your firmware updated! I once lost the entire contents of my SSD due to a firmware bug! Check online or with your SSD software (IE. Samsung SSD Magician) to ensure that you are using the most up to date firmware!
Any tools for Linux?
Linux (most flavors anyway) works very nicely with SSDs. I had a SSD rendered inoperable because XP doesn't have support for TRIM and my computer was rarely idle for more than 20 minutes to allow the garbage collection to work. I booted to a live CD of Linux Mint and I had no troubles with the drive. I also tried Knoppix and it worked fine. After a little research I found that most distributions of Linux have supported TRIM commands for 3 or 4 years. So there shouldn't be any need for these tools.
-Hi, kevin, I'm in the same case than you with my windowsXP-SSD(soon) laptop.
Do you think a LiveUSB Linux will work too, or only a LiveCD (as trim function and USB are not friends if if understand correctly, and a CD drive has a SATA connection) ?
Did you simply burn directly an available linux Mint distro onto a CD, or did you optimize it i.e. enabling trim and other changes before?
Many thanks
I have a Crucial SSD in a WinXP system. Although the SSD has GC built in, it is a pain to run. I have to leave the drive powered for between 8 and 24 hours for it to run. Would something like the Intel Toolbox work with it or are this tools specific to the particular SSD?
how bout for Mac?