# How do i restore my SSD performance?



## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

basically, my Kingston SSDnow V100 SSD has lost over 50MB/s read speed and ~50MB/s write speed in the past 5 months !

how do i get it back to good performance? secure erase? and if so, what are the risks?

i did have another thread here, but il launch new instead !

been looking here
http://www.kingston.com/redtech/articles/00007/00007.asp

and here
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649711
but it turns out that the methods wont work for me !

i type in "HDDErase" but nothing happens !

any help?
thanks


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## W1zzard (Jun 19, 2011)

when using windows 7 you can just format the drive normally


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> when using windows 7 you can just format the drive normally



thanks.

i have done this tho and i still notice the substantial performance loss !

i have also been told that formatting the drive doesnt work as the flash is already written to, so the SSD looks for new flash (or something like that )


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

What I do is use Acronis to image the drive to another drive.

I then format the SSD, doing a "secure erase" with "GParted", then I re-image the data back onto the drive. Only needed to do this once in the past 6 months.


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

thanks !

do i need an OS installed for that Gparted? as i currently only have my brother's computer which runs Windows 7, and my PC doesnt have an OS on it atm :/!


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

I've been using a LiveCD; I have a Corsair F60 drive, so have been using methods listed on thier support site. The link is here:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=81492

No OS required.


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## W1zzard (Jun 19, 2011)

you can run gparted from cd .. they have an iso image for download


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

thanks guys !

bit of a noob question, but do i have to change any settings to make the CD bootable? or can i just burn it like a regular ISO ?


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

You should be able to just burn it. I have a cd that has many utilities on it, and didn't use the exact version lsited in that thread.


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

thanks !

so just burn the gparted live, run it, select "secure erase" !

did u _have_ to use the usb adapter?


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

No, i do not use a USB adapter. It's maybe easier to locate the drive that way, I guess, I dunno.


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

thanks !

i hope it works fine for my kingston SSD as well !


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

> Step 1a - Command Output (should display "not frozen"):
> If the command output shows "frozen" you cannot continue to the next step. Most BIOSes block (do no allow) the ATA Secure Erase command, they block it by issuing a "SECURITY FREEZE" command to "freeze" the drive before booting an operating system, your BIOS may (most likely not) have a switch to disable the security freeze.
> A possible solution for SATA drives is hot-(re)plug the data cable (this might crash your kernel). If hot-(re)pluging the SATA data cable crashes the kernel try letting the operating system fully boot up, then quickly hot-(re)plug both the SATA power and data cables.



mine is displaying frozen, then when i unplug the SATA data cable and re-plug it, that doesnt work to un-freeze it, but it doesnt crash the system either !


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

Guess I got lucky.

Here's a method from OCZ forums:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?74093-How-to-use-HDDErase


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

i think that is only for sandforce drives !

already tried HDDErase and it doesnt work !


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## cadaveca (Jun 19, 2011)

Dunno why you're having such issues, even W1zz's method should have worked.


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

nor me !

i tried it first with my brother's cheaper intel ssd, and it would not let me in, no matter what !

il try it now with my kingston drive.

what do u mean W1zz's method?


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

nope, my kingston drive also displays the "frozen" message and it wont become "not frozen"

this method is out the window then 
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase


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## lucas4 (Jun 19, 2011)

now im gonna try "parted magic"


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## lucas4 (Jun 20, 2011)

i used this method while running ubuntu 11.04 to use it !

thanks for the help guys


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