Can you force garbage collection on a ssd how?

[WINTERLORD]

how do you make the drive clean up huge files you just deleted. also when you do a firmware upgrade does it destroy your data

 

[Pinhedd]

how do you make the drive clean up huge files you just deleted. also when you do a firmware upgrade does it destroy your data

If your OS, driver, storage controller, and SSD all support TRIM the SSD will automatically be told not to relocate that data next time the garbage collection routine is run. I do not believe that you can invoke the garbage collection routine manually, it will be run on its own and usually within short order.

As for upgrading the firmware, no it usually will not delete your data. If you're upgrading from a firmware revision which has resulted in degraded performance due to a bug, it may be a wise idea to upgrade the SSD's firmware and then reset the device using the ATA internal SECURE_ERASE command. This will delete all data on the drive and restore any diminished performance.

 

[WINTERLORD]

thanks. how do i intiat that internal secure erase command or do i need the software on an iso disk

 

[Pinhedd]

thanks. how do i intiat that internal secure erase command or do i need the software on an iso disk

You can do it from within Windows if the Windows install that you boot from is on another disk. If you normally boot from the SSD then you will have to use a Linux LiveCD. The Linux LiveCD called PartedMagic has a built in tool for erasing disks.

Here is a guide that you can follow

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20115106-285/how-to-securely-erase-an-ssd-drive/

 

[WINTERLORD]

ok but i can boot from a copied windows disk and select it or do i need speacial commands to use the command line

 

[Pinhedd]

ok but i can boot from a copied windows disk and select it or do i need speacial commands to use the command line

You will need a full environment to do so. Secure erase is not the same as simply deleting all the partitions on a drive