Little by little, SSDs are replacing our good old mechanical hard drives (HDDs) in our devices. The flash memory chips they contain prevent the frequent failures caused by shocks or drops. Much more resistant than conventional drives, they are nonetheless not immortal, and a few tips will help you maintain their performance.
This new generation of memory is increasingly found in devices (ultrabooks, tablets, smartphones, …). While they are valued for their light weight and the absence of mechanical parts that make them silent, it is above all their performance that gets the most attention.
Flash cells for unmatched speed
Thanks to their read/write speeds far superior to conventional models, they can start up Windows, Mac OS, and your software in just a few seconds. Also sold in a standard 2.5-inch SATA housing, they can therefore be easily installed in a more conventional laptop to replace your old HDD. While they are just as easy to use, their structure is quite different, which requires adopting new maintenance habits. Indeed, the flash memory cells responsible for data storage have a limited lifespan, which manufacturers express as a number of read/write cycles. Depending on the model, after 1000 to 3000 cycles, these cells “die.” That still amounts to several years of use. Good habits, however, can help optimize their lifespan and avoid an emergency data recovery.
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Give priority to the SSD for the operating system and software.
To avoid running low on RAM, Windows uses part of the hard drive as a virtual extension of RAM in the form of a paging file. If your RAM is greater than 4 GB, this file offers few benefits. On the other hand, it consumes write cycles at the expense of your SSD. It should be moved to another storage device. Access the advanced system settings from the System and Security panel, then System in the Control Panel. In the Performance section, click the Settings button. Open the Advanced tab and, in the Virtual Memory section, choose Change. Uncheck the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives option. You can then move this file to another storage device or disable it by clicking No paging file, then Set.
Check the TRIM function
The TRIM function helps maintain SSD performance and optimize its lifespan by intelligently managing memory blocks. Empty blocks are used as a priority, and the function ensures that each flash cell receives a uniform number of writes and erasures. It is now built into most SSDs and is managed by Windows 7, 8, and 10. To check that the function is enabled, open the Start menu and search for the cmd.exe utility (Win + R on Windows 8). Then enter the command fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify. Press Enter to confirm. If you get DisableDeleteNotify=0, the TRIM function is active. If you get 1, you will need to make a change to the Windows registry after verifying that your SSD supports TRIM, that its firmware is up to date with the manufacturer, and that your motherboard’s SATA controller is set to AHCI mode.
Forget about Prefetch and Superfetch
The Superfetch function was designed to cache files that are accessed regularly. Here again, SSD performance is such that this feature only makes sense for mechanical hard drives. Prefetch, meanwhile, consists of loading entire sections of program files into RAM. Disabling it not only frees up system memory but also lets the SSD work as it was designed to. Click Start, then type regedit in the Search programs and files box. Once in the registry, follow the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSessionManagerMemoryManagementPrefetchParameters. Right-click EnablePrefetcher, choose Modify, then set a value of 0 (originally 1 or 3) and finally click OK. Repeat the operation with EnableSuperfetch. Restart your computer.
Stop Windows Search indexing
Windows Search creates an index of files, folders, and other specific items on the storage device. The index is located in a hidden folder, C:ProgramDataMicrosoftSearch, and represents about 10% of the total amount of indexed content. Searching with Windows Search is fast because part of the index is loaded into RAM. However, the SSD gains almost nothing from this and may even see its performance decrease because of this function. Click Start and type services.msc in the search box, then confirm. Go to Windows Search, double-click it, then Disable the startup type and click OK.
We can never stress this enough: before a hardware failure causes you to lose your files and require data recovery in our lab, remember to perform regular backups.