Corsair SSD reliability.

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GJTech94

GJTech94

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Sep 2, 2013
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I have a Corsair Force GT Sata III 60 gig SSD that is about a month old now.

When I first got it August 18th, I installed Windows 7 Pro, Avast, MS Office 2007, Skype, Chrome, Firefox, Dropbox, GIMP, Corsair's SSD Toolbox etc etc. I had roughly 23 gigs free space when I got done putting what I want/need on it.

About 2 weeks later, I had to use the Windows Startup Repair tool because Windows wouldnt boot. I also noticed I could not use the optimize/TRIM button in the Toolbox. I got an TRIM failed: Layout Validation error. I called Corsair's tech support line and the tech there said, "Windows 7 does TRIM when it is booted but not logged in. Just start up Windows and dont log in, in about an hour it will start doing TRIM" Wierd response but OK.

After that, my outlook that checks a couple IMAP email accounts when it starts up, stopped working completely. It complained of disk errors and so on. I just stopped using Outlook altogether.

About a week later, when I start up WIndows, it took progressively longer to get to the login and sometimes it sat for a 3-5 minutes at the "Welcome" screen before the desktop appears.

I finally gave up on that installation when it took about 10 minutes for my desktop to come up.

Yesterday, I got out my Windows CD again and re-installed Windows 7. I have Avast, Chrome, Firefox, MS Office and my documents on the drive so far and thats it. What should I do differently to make sure this installation stays working for longer than a month? I am a technical writer on elance.com so I depend on my computer to make a living.

I also recommended a Corsair Force GS 128 gig drive to a friend with a MacBook because his 200gig HD was making his computer glacially slow.

I like SSDs alot but need to know more about reliability and so on. I know i should not defrag it but what else do I need to know about how to use one?

Thanks!
 
Solution
Dereck47


The tech support was partially correct.
When you boot to the login screen idle Garbage Collection (not TRIM) works in the background to maintain/restore drive performance.

So, if your system does not support AHCI mode, or if you have multiple SSDs in a RAID array then you need to use GC to maintain drive performance.

Most SSDs need to be in AHCI mode in order for TRIM to work.
Go into your motherboard’s BIOS and see if you have an option to change SATA modes. If so, then make sure your SSD is in AHCI mode.
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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Mar 27, 2013
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You mean you purchased it on August 18th, a month ago?

That's definitely not normal, probably a faulty one.

This is also a great guide for SSD optimization: http://www.thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-ultimate-windows-8-edition/

Also, run "fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify" in a command prompt. If it returns 0, TRIM is enabled. If it returns 1, it's disabled.
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Jan 20, 2011
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The tech support was partially correct.
When you boot to the login screen idle Garbage Collection (not TRIM) works in the background to maintain/restore drive performance.

So, if your system does not support AHCI mode, or if you have multiple SSDs in a RAID array then you need to use GC to maintain drive performance.

Most SSDs need to be in AHCI mode in order for TRIM to work.
Go into your motherboard’s BIOS and see if you have an option to change SATA modes. If so, then make sure your SSD is in AHCI mode.
 
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Solution
GJTech94

GJTech94

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Sep 2, 2013
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That command returns a DisableDeleteNotify = 0
 
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GJTech94

GJTech94

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I previously had a WD Scorpio Blue drive and I remember setting the SATA to AHCI mode then. I have a Dell Inspiron 1440 laptop.
After I bought it, I set up a password in the BIOS to prevent making changes but I have forgotten it. How do I remove that password?
 
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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BIOS passwords on laptops are much harder to reset due to the fact that you can't just open it and change jumpers or anything like that.

I'd consider contacting DELL and explaining that you forgot your BIOS password. If you're the original owner, shouldn't have much trouble.

Even if they say they can't do anything, they can probably tell you a way to "fix" it.
 
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GJTech94

GJTech94

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Sep 2, 2013
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I bought the laptop from LaptopExchange so Im guessing im the X th owner.
I remember setting the SATA to AHCI when I first set it up. Im a bit of a "password-paranoid" user so I click on "forgot password" links alot.

I just restarted and went into the BIOS. I cant change anything but I can confirm that the SATA mode is set to AHCI.
 
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GJTech94

GJTech94

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Sep 2, 2013
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I got the final answer to this problem earlier this week.

I finally reached Corsair's tech support and they told me the data on my SSD was misaligned. Misaligned data would cause really strange problems in about two weeks or so they told me, which was my experience.


I documented the answer on my blog here: https://gjtech.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/corsair-tech-support-is-awesome/

Check out that blog post to see what Corsair's awesome support suggested for me to do.
 
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