OK, thanks. As I raely write to the disc, once defragmented it should last a while..
I use all SSDs now so I have defragging shut off and won't worry about fragmentation until one gets above 20%-25%.
As I am sure you aware, the general consensus is never to defrag SSDs... but, as in all subjects discussed on the internet, there is plenty of dispute.
No kidding there is plenty of dispute!All seriousness aside, the concept that SSDs never need defragging comes from concerns that defragging will create excessive writes to SSDs, reducing the remaining write life (true, to a degree) and thinking that SSDs, even though they can handle far more fragmentation without performance loss than HDDs, can handle unlimited fragmentation (they can't). SSDs take longer to build up enough fragmentation before they need to be defragged but, eventually, they will need defragging. Win 8.1 and Win 10 are able to handle that automagically without any intervention on the users part (and it is best to allow that) and without noticeably reducing write life but the defragging has to be done manually in Win 7. However, for most people, that may be once every three or four years. If one has to do it more than once every year or two, one needs to examine how they are using (or abusing) the SSD.
Well, you takes your choice as to who to believe :) My SSDs (I just checked) resister as between 10 & 50% fragmented. Which leaves me in a dilemma of course!
This is the sort of advice out there (from reputable sources like PCWorld and what have you):
NEVER defrag an SSD. SSDs work in an entirely different manner from hard drives; spreading data over multiple channels to multiple chips. Attempts to defrag do nothing but use up precious write cycles (sometimes as few as 1,000), prematurely ageing the SSD.
An SSD unlike a hard drive can access data from any sector as fast as any other sector.. With a hard drive the disks spin and an arm moves across the disks to find and read/write to it so defraging groups the data together to get faster access, that's not required on an SSD so a defrag does nothing other than put unnecessary wear on the drive.
Last edited by martinlest; 16 Oct 2017 at 16:03.
I agree that if your data is badly fragmented on your SSD, your only choice is to defragment the SSD. No matter how you look at it, it's better to have a file written as one contiguous piece rather than a bunch of non-contiguous pieces.
No matter how you look at it, it's better to have a file written as one contiguous piece rather than a bunch of non-contiguous pieces.
But not if you believe what is written above, that data on an SSD is read just as quickly if it is spread across the disc as if it is in contiguous sections... I don't know enough to say which is correct, especially with so many totally contradictory statements on the internet..
TRIM helps to prevent most defragmentation but defragmentation will build up eventually. Things like TRIM not being enabled and the SSD being too full can cause fragmentation to be accelerated (and make defragging take longer and cause even more writes).
Defragging will not noticeably reduce write life if not done more than once every couple of years (or even once a year).
I am not so much worried about the life of the SSD, were I to defrag partitions every year or so, but I read in many places that there is no point, given (as above) that a file fragmented all over the drive will be read as quickly as if it's all in one piece on a single part of the SSD. If that is true, then there's no point defragmenting at all of course.
But there are so many more opinions than indisputable facts out there on the internet, what's a chap to believe?!
Just for S & G I have defragged my Intel SSD's. Running the Intel SSD Toolbox all my SSD's are still at 100%.
I have noticed that Windows 7 on my systems get very little fragmentation.
After about a year I'm at 17% fragmentation. Things are still as quick as greased snot on a warm window pain, so I will leave things alone.
Jack
Jack
True, on an SSD file access will be fast whether the file is fragmented or not. However, if you have to do a recovery on the drive, say, you accidentally delete some important files, or you inadvertently format the drive, the less fragmented your data, the greater your chance of doing a successful file recovery.
I'm pretty sure you can defrag SSDs as long as you are using the manufacturer's tool, not Microsoft's.
Defragmenting duration on HDD depends on the capacity, but that makes little difference. What's important is the fragmentation percentage.
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