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If your SSD hard drive suddenly slows down, you should be suspicious. There could be several reasons for this.
SSD really slower? How to measure the speed
If your SSD is really running slower than usual, you can measure this using certain tools.
- One of the most popular tools is AS SSD Benchmark. It is free and allows you to check the speed of your SSD directly without any further preparation.
- Another program is CrystalDiskMark, which is also free and uses a similar testing method. Install the tool and run it to get information about the SSD speed.
- Close all other programs during the test and do not work with Windows. The test may take several minutes.
- Then check the manufacturer’s specifications for the installed SSD. If the test results do not deviate too much from these, everything is fine.
- Note: Make sure that your BIOS and system firmware are always up to date. Outdated software can not only slow down the SSD, but also lead to incorrect test results.
SSD suddenly slow: causes and solutions
There are several possible causes for a slower SSD. The appropriate solutions will help to eliminate the problem.
- The most common cause of slow SSDs is a full memory. The hard drive type no longer works optimally when you use up all the storage space. Delete unnecessary files or move them to another hard drive.
- When transferring data from your SSD to another storage device, the transfer is usually slower than it would be for the SSD. It only runs as fast as the slower device allows. So don’t be surprised if it takes a little longer.
- This also applies to the RAM. If the RAM is full, the cache size is reduced and the SSD has to work harder. If possible, upgrade your RAM.
- With slower HDD hard drives, certain files are continuously sorted by Windows so that they can be found more quickly at startup. These functions only slow down an SSD. Disable the Superfetch and Prefetch functions to fix the problem.
- Ensure that the boot order is correct. HDDs significantly slow down system startup and can cause conflicts with the SSD. You can change the boot order in the BIOS.
- Make sure that AHCI mode is enabled and any onboard VGA is disabled. This will allow you to get even more performance out of your hard drive. Both can be done via the BIOS settings.
- Note: In rare cases, the hard drive may be defective and you will need to replace the SSD.
Suddenly, the SSD is slow: Activate the TRIM function
Check whether the TRIM function is enabled to optimize SSD performance. It immediately frees up deleted blocks so that the hard drive can always work quickly.
- To do this, open the command prompt as an administrator and enter the command fsutil.behavior.query.DisableDeleteNotify. Confirm with [Enter].
- If you receive the message DisableDeleteNotify = 0, it is active. In this case, you do not need to do anything else.
- If you see DisableDeleteNotify = 1 instead, you must activate the TRIM function yourself. To do this, enter the command fsutil behavior Set DisableDeleteNotify 0 in the command prompt and confirm again.
- Caution: The TRIM function deletes certain data without the possibility of restoring it. For this reason, make sure you have a good data backup system in place.
