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)?
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
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.
Hi:
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).
Correct, it is TRIM.my trim is set ON , but i guess its function is not really defrag. related .
IMHO such products are not needed, but I expect others may have a different opinion on this.i did not use 3rd-party alternative as well.
Cheers,
MM
P.S. If your question has been answered to your satisfaction, please consider marking it "Solved". Thanks.
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.
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.
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.
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:
As long as TRIM is enabled on a SSD running Win7, that ought to be all that's needed, as mentioned earlier.Warning: Solid State Drives (SSD) and USB flash key drives do not need to be defragmented. Doing so may shorten the lifespan of them.
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.
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