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Hdd V Ssd

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gl556tr | 22:30 Mon 14th Dec 2015 | Computers
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SSDs are fast campared to the usual HDDs. Now that the prices of SSDs are becoming affordable (at least for 100-200GB), I was am considering purchasing one. But, I recall one "disadvantage" was that they could/should not be be defragmented. Also, something about their low life-expectancy, that is, that they do not last so long as HDDs. Can anybody help me on this matter, please? Perhaps today's SSDs last just as long as the HDDs.Apart from their speed, is there any justification in spending so much more than one would for a HDD?
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I have an SSD in my PC and you will be so surprised how much faster your PC will boot up and do stuff. My PC will start from cold and ready to use in under 10 seconds. It is probably the best upgrade you can do for your PC. As for defragmentation of drives. With modern Windows 7, 8, 10 you should not need to defragment a drive anyway. As for durability see below
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2856052/grueling-endurance-test-blows-away-ssd-durability-fears.html

I dont think durability is a worry either. Do it if you can afford it.
Fragmentation is pretty much unique to the way that Windows manages the allocation and reallocation of disc space. The disadvantage lies here. SSD's manage their allocation and reallocation of disc space in a much different way and mustn't be defragmented. This should be considered an advantage. MacOS also handles allocation and reallocation of disc space i a different way to Windows and does not need defragmenting,
The main issue you may have is transferring all your data from the HD to the SSD.

If you are fairly technical it should not be a problem, but just be aware of that.

It is actually best to do a clean install of Windows on to an SSD rather than a transfer fro a HD.

Also probably best to backup everything on your HD before you start in case it all goes wrong.

Is this a desktop or a laptop?
I've got a 1 TB SSD in my main machine. I've had it about 4 years with no problems. The other advantages of SSDs are less heat and totally silent running (both quite important when recording audio)
To help you understand, a quick lesson on discs.

Windows hard discs have the data written to them in concentric circles from the centre to the outside; each of these circles is split into segments, each one called a block.
When you want to read some data from the disc the arm carrying the read/write head has to be moved to be over the appropriate circle; the system then has to wait until the correct block comes under the head when it can read/write it. Compared with the clock (calculating) speed of the computer this is a VERY VERY slow process. If all of the file you are trying to retrieve is in one block that's fine; if it takes up more than one block this process has to be repeated each time a fresh block is needed. It is quicker if all the blocks are next to each other as the read can then be done with just the one seek. Because of the way data on disc is deleted and re-used, after a while the disc gets very fragmented and needs a defrag to collect all the empty blocks together. All versions of Windows need regular defragging - it's just that the later versions mentioned by stoofur will do it automatically for you (if you let it).
An SSD is used differently. There are no moving parts and all the blocks can be accessed directly, so there is no waiting for a read-arm to move in/out or wait for the disc to rotate to the correct place. This makes reading much quicker and defragging completely unnecessary. There was a belief in the early days of SSDs that there was a limit to the number of times they could be written to. Advances in the hardware of the SSDs and advances in the way they are written to has made this limit to be not significant.
Once you have an ssd as your main drive, you won't go back! As it's been mentioned, do a clean install of Windows. This will also probably ensure that AHCI mode is enabled for optimal use of the SSD. Search on the internet for more information on this. Ensure Windows defrag is disabled after installing wndows. An SSD is specially good for an older laptop. Ensure that you have sata connectivity in your laptops drive bay.
I've got an SSD and hybrid in my main pc and a hybrid and HD in the other.

I would never go back to the HDD. The life expectancy of a SSD is much better than it used to be. Go for it!

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