2016 -advice to not defrag a SSD still holds win7 ?

[prukeyhi]

read some stuff about the issue & found this from 2014
The real and complete story - Does Windows defragment your SSD? - Scott Hanselman -claim win 7 does not behave as win8 and above handling defrag.
So what do you think defrag. or not (win7 only)?

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

That is still correct.
SSDs should not be defragmented, as it may shorten the lifespan of the disk.
However, starting with Win7 and above, Windows already optimizes a SSD automatically with TRIM.
TRIM ought to be enabled by default.
You can check as follows:
How to Check if TRIM Is Enabled for Your SSD (and Enable It if It Isn’t)
(If there is a tutorial for this here at sf.com, I apologize, but I could not find it.)

AFAIK The built-in TRIM in Win7 ought be sufficient for your SSD.
If you opt instead for a 3rd-party alternative, be sure before you run it that it is able to detect the SSD and to "TRIM" it, rather than subjecting it to a standard defrag.
(I have not used a 3rd-party utility for this on any of my SSDs.)

Someone will correct me if I am wrong about any of this...

Cheers,
MM

 

[prukeyhi]

Thanks,
there is no option in win7 "optimizes" a SSD .
my trim is set ON , but i guess its function is not really defrag. related .
i did not use 3rd-party alternative as well.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

Thanks,
there is no option in win7 "optimizes" a SSD .

Correct, AFAIK.
IIRC Win10 does offer both options in the built-in utility (I am on a Win7 box at the moment, so I cannot check).

my trim is set ON , but i guess its function is not really defrag. related .

Correct, it is TRIM.

i did not use 3rd-party alternative as well.

IMHO such products are not needed, but I expect others may have a different opinion on this.

Cheers,

MM

P.S. If your question has been answered to your satisfaction, please consider marking it "Solved". Thanks.

 

[prukeyhi]

thanks again,
I expect other may have a different opinion on this issue as well,
and i consider this thread as an open discussion -because there isn't definitive yes/no answer for my thread topic.

 

[Mellon Head]

I would agree with MoxieMomma. There is no need to defragment an SSD. You'll gain no speed advantage from it, and it will just shorten the life of your drive by committing unnecessary writes to the drive.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While it is true that there is no need to routinely defrag an SSD, there will come a time when it eventually will become defragmented enough to strain the controller and reduce performance or start introducing errors. That point is pretty high and will take a few years to get to for most people. I defragged the SSD in the computer after it had been running 24/7 for about three years (I forget what percentage it was but it was getting up there) and I did notice a small improvement in performance. Since then, so far, there is still no need for another defrag, yet.

Read here for more.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

The original article quoted by the OP appears to be using the term "defragment" generically, for both HDDs and SSDs.

There is a technical difference between the defragmenting performed on a HDD and the TRIM performed on a SSD.

The tutorial here at this forum clearly states:

Warning: Solid State Drives (SSD) and USB flash key drives do not need to be defragmented. Doing so may shorten the lifespan of them.

As long as TRIM is enabled on a SSD running Win7, that ought to be all that's needed, as mentioned earlier.

If you want to actually "defrag" (not TRIM) a SSD using the native Win7 utility or a 3rd-party app, that's up to you.
But, as previously mentioned, it will not improve anything and may shorten the life of the SSD.

That appears to be the consensus at any number of computer help sites.

Cheers,
MM

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hi:

The original article quoted by the OP appears to be using the term "defragment" generically, for both HDDs and SSDs.

There is a technical difference between the defragmenting performed on a HDD and the TRIM performed on a SSD.

The tutorial here at this forum clearly states:

Warning: Solid State Drives (SSD) and USB flash key drives do not need to be defragmented. Doing so may shorten the lifespan of them.

As long as TRIM is enabled on a SSD running Win7, that ought to be all that's needed, as mentioned earlier.

If you want to actually "defrag" (not TRIM) a SSD using the native Win7 utility or a 3rd-party app, that's up to you.
But, as previously mentioned, it will not improve anything and may shorten the life of the SSD.

That appears to be the consensus at any number of computer help sites.

Cheers,
MM

If an SSD becomes fragmented enough, it will impair performance. Like I said before, it takes a lot of activity for that happen. In fact, most people will probably never get to that point. I did and got a noticeable increase in performance.

Will defragging shorten the life of the SSD? Of course it will. But doing so once every three years or more will not do so noticeably. You are far more likely to retire it or replace it with newer technology before you wear it out.

 

[Brink]

In addition:

TRIM Support for SSD - Check and Enable or Disable

 

[prukeyhi]

Thanks for your comments ,
I agree with Lady Fitzgerald, as the article claim and it make logic (at least for me..)
"file fragmentation (when the metadata can’t represent any more file fragments) which will result in errors when you try to write/extend a file. Furthermore, more file fragments means more metadata to process while reading/writing a file, which can lead to slower performance"

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi, prukeyhi:

This thread at our system forum might interest you:
Whats the best Defragger for Windows 10? - Windows 10 Forums

The fact that they are talking about Win10 does not matter, as the same advice would apply to Win7.

The newer SSDs are more robust than older ones, but they work differently from SATA HDDs.
When they fail, it can happen suddenly and it's much harder (often impossible) to recover data in the same manner as from a spinner.
I would not want to do anything that could hasten that failure.
As already mentioned, defragmenting will commit a lot of unnecessary "writes" to the drive.
And there are other ways to improve computer performance and "speed" on a given set of hardware specs.
But it's certainly up to you.
If you're going to defrag your SSD, I suggest following the advice in the other thread to ensure that you have frequent, robust data backups and system images to help recover from a potential disk failure.

Cheers,
MM

 

[prukeyhi]

thanks MoxieMomma,
though i should point that according to the article in #1 , windows 7 does not know how to
"deal" with ssd defraf. comparing windows 8/10

 

[notis]

Hello everyone!
I've a question for someone who knows well defraggler from piriform.
I (also), never was using third party tools but last week I decided to download it because from all the good reviews there are around... Now I'm a bit in confuse if it s worth to use it when is so hard to know exactly what it is doing .. or maybe it is difficult to use it right .
My confuse.. is in the drive map where shells (small boxes) represent sectors or small amounts of space.
When I started I thought they represent clusters or a fixed amount and everything was clear... after when it happens to drag the map and change it's size I found out that is completely arbitary what they represent...
I started to count and I found out that other times one small box could be 34 MB or 50 or any amount dependent of how larger or smaller you make the whole map... This is very confusing (at least for me...) because the "picture" that they are all continuous with not empty spaces it says nothing.... also when there are empty spaces again you cannot know what exactly it means... I tried to make it clear ..like to see what files there are inside how much space anyone takes and what is going on with no success..... In the end it was so complicate.. that I "gave up"..... I mean to decide if I've to defrag the drive or not in relation from the "picture" the map is giving is total meaningless.

If you understood my poor english... Do I miss something here? For example if I've two files continuous 5 and 10MB, when the shells are representing 15MB each , it'll show the boxes continuous with the next, no wholes... but when the boxes represent eg. 3MB it'll show one empty box.. (fragmented)
Thanks

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've found the Win 7's defragger works just fine and is much better than Defraggler. In fact, even though Defraggler worked great in XP, I found that it does not work well in Win 7.

 

[prukeyhi]

notis,
do you have ssd derive?
according to discussion in the thread its better not to defrag ssd. at all

 

[Layback Bear]

This is my simple methods and thoughts.


Windows 7 does not get fragmented like older operating systems.
***Please note:
I have never run a computer 24/7.

1. I know of no SSD manufacture of quality SSD's that recommends defragging.

2. Defragging any type any type of drive put a heavy load on the drive.

3. A hard drive needs defragged to help Windows 7 to find things without searching all over the drive. A SSD has no problem finding things if TRIM is set properly.

4. When defragging a hard drive I use the built in Windows 7 defrag program.
A year or so ago I tested various defrag programs on a hard drive and found that none worked better than the built in Windows 7 defrag.
Windows 7 defrag puts things where Windows 7 wants them, not where a 3rd party program wants them.

5. Can one defrag a SSD? Yes you can. I have done it for S & G and found (Zero) improvements.

Conclusion that I have come up with is very simple.

Defragging a SSD is useless if things are set up properly by using TRIM.
All defrag does is put a unnecessary work load on the SSD.

**I use Intel SSD's, therefore I use the Intel SSD Toolbox about once a week as recommended by Intel.

Jack

 

[prukeyhi]

I have done it for S & G -?

 

[Layback Bear]

S & G = Sh-ts and Grins = Just to see what would happen.

 

[prukeyhi]

thanks Layback Bear.
your Intel SSD Toolbox- what does it do once a week/what actions?
i have crucial ssd
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ssd
and never had tool box or support for my SSD ....
maybe this ?
Crucial Storage Executive Tool | Firmware Download | Crucial.com