I get this question asked to me quite often, worded in many ways, like:
I have a Solid State Drive (SSD), do I need to defrag?
Quick answer, NO. In fact doing so will typically present an error prompt stating that Windows detects you have an SSD and it doesn't need defragging. TRIM is what happens with an SSD drive and this is something you should only be doing if you know what you are doing and I will leave it at that, because your IT Pro should be performing this only if necessary. Most new O/S will manage this but it does require monitoring if you are doing your job right as an IT Professional.
If you have any drive that is NOT SSD then YES, it does require defragging and there are many (free) programs if you aren't satisfied with the built in defrag method. But I warn you, programs like Defraggler work differently then the Windows method. You will also find advance options to move large files to an end of the drive. This is "Old School" but then again, so is your old drive. The problem is the way the O/S reads the drive and so if you are using a third party program, you need to allow it to "be in charge" which means telling windows this. If you opt for the free version then this will not happen automatically whereas most paid versions will have the ability to change the registry automatically to let Windows know this is the default program to handle the defragging maintenance. You can also then schedule it if you want.
Posts
