Diagnostic on a M550 SSD?

[Kahoona]

Hi

I fave been using a M550 SSD for several years and it seems to work fine.  I have treated it well by using it only for the boot drive (win 7) and  avoiding things like defrag. It is always 1/2 full or less.  I am on a budget and would like to keep using it. I want to check it over and make sure that it is in good conditoin. The Crucial Storage Executive only gives Smart Data and I would like to know more. I remember when I had a Samsung SSD they provided software that gave detailed information on the condition and functioning of the drive as well as allowing tweeks for speed or longer life. Is there anything like this I can safely use on this drive?  Thanks for any information you can provide.

Rob

[targetbsp]

SMART data *is* how you diagnose drives.   Any program showing anything different is probably just interpreting the SMART data for you in a more user friendly format I would imagine.

Most of those tweaks were more aimed at much older SSD's were endurance was more of a problem.  They generally trade speed or data safety for loinger drive life and wouldn't typically be recommended on more modern drives which have much more endurance.  If you search this forum you'll probably find much older posts linking to such things.  But to re-iterate, I do *not* recommend you follow them.

As for the SMART data, the main value to keep an eye on for wear is 202.  This tracks average wear across the drive as a percentage of its rated wear.  So when it reaches 100%, on average the drive NAND has been re-used the number of times it was rated to take.

Probably the next most important stat is 180.  This is your reserve NAND.  When this reaches zero, enough of the NAND has worn out and been replaced by reserves that your reserves are now depleted.

Then you have the general drive error stats. 1, 5, 171, 172, 187, 196, 197.  Ideally these will be zero.

In all cases, make sure your important data is fully backed up.  Even a seemingly healthy drive (and type, make or model) can fail without warning.

[Kahoona]

Thanks. The Storage Executive just days that the drive is fine. Where would I get the actual results that you mentioned? That is exactly what I need and   you'r explanation tells me exactly what I wanted to know, mainly how much of the life is used up.

[targetbsp · Accepted solution]

See the highlighted bit

[Kahoona]

Ohhhh...Now I feel dumb. I didn't realize that I had to push the SMART button for the details. Mine is at 7% life used which is wonderful. I'll check out the rest od the results later. Thanks for all of the info. Just what I needed.