Conventional wisdom is that we should not defrag an SSD drive. The additional writes needed to accomplish the defrag shortens the drive life, and there is almost no speed benefit for data access to doing it anyway.
This has a free trial mode. The basic new idea here is that there is a new algorithm that is OK to use on an SSD, and is far more conservative than traditional defragging methods. The algorithm is called SOLID.
Try at your own risk. In my case, it took about 4 minutes to improve an SSD drive that was 11% fragmented down to under 1%.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Interesting, I had just asked a related question on a different (Not PG) forum, as Windows is showing my SSD as been optimised on a frequent basis, and I wondered if this should be turned off or not, seems it should be left on.
Didn't someone mention Windows cleaning software from the same company in a different thread?
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
there is no speed benefit for data access to doing it anyway...
In my case, it took about 4 minutes to improve an SSD drive that was 11% fragmented down to under 1%.
I am totally ignorant but curious about SSD drives. If you knew there would be no speed benefit why even do this? You said "improve an SSD" from 11% to under 1% but why does it matter? There must be something else that I am not aware of as to why you chose to defrag??
In theory, the benefit for defragging an SSD is pretty small but real.
The delay reading data on a standard mechanical hard drive is the time for the head to move as the disk rotates, so when a file is fragmented into pieces, there is more movement and hence slower access time. While the access time on an SSD is magnitudes of order faster, it still takes longer if a large file is fragmented than if it isn't.
This is one of those things about how much effort is too much for the benefit. For anyone reading, this is really on the cutting edge and not necessary. It's for those of us who like to tweak for tweak's sake, for a little improvement, just because you can. The point of my post is, now you can. That was news to me.
Oh, and replacing your mechanical hard drives in your computer with SSD drives is the single best performance improvement you can now make in a computer.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
An SSD was the best upgrade that I ever did on my now almost ten year old computer, did it three to four years ago, boot went from an agonising almost five minutes to well under a minute or less. The way things were going, computer was almost unusable with the OS on the traditional hard drive.
Well I would have expected by now that I would get a lot more capacity with an SSD for the same price, its a multiple of two, but here's hoping things get better in that regard.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
In theory, the benefit for defragging an SSD is pretty small but real.
The delay reading data on a standard mechanical hard drive is the time for the head to move as the disk rotates, so when a file is fragmented into pieces, there is more movement and hence slower access time. While the access time on an SSD is magnitudes of order faster, it still takes longer if a large file is fragmented than if it isn't.
This is one of those things about how much effort is too much for the benefit. For anyone reading, this is really on the cutting edge and not necessary. It's for those of us who like to tweak for tweak's sake, for a little improvement, just because you can. The point of my post is, now you can. That was news to me.
Oh, and replacing your mechanical hard drives in your computer with SSD drives is the single best performance improvement you can now make in a computer.
Hey Matt, I tried it on my main PC as I was curious. I was at 9.8% fragmented before and 0.17% after running the Solid/Quick. It took about 18 minutes on my 1 TB C:\ drive. I had chosen Solid/Complete but I guess it runs Quick first. I just stopped it when it started the Complete run as it said it would take over 4 hours just to clean that last 0.17%. Of course, I said, "NOPE!".
So bottom line is that Solid/Quick should be good enough for most folks. It also provides a nice before/after screen when it's done:
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
Larry, no, I don't notice any difference but I did not expect to. Perhaps if I were running an industrial size database or a massive number of tracks in a DAW?
Jim, it's early days but I think the answer is supposed to be Yes, it's not the same as Trim (which I do routinely). I don't have a better explanation than that at this time. Yet.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
From what I understand, TRIM does not optimize the drive. It only informs the Operating System which blocks are now available to be wipe internally. I would guess that the percent of fragmentation would remain exactly the same. If anything, it would become worse since any writes done after TRIM would scatter even more, any newly written data blocks since they would be placed in areas that have now become available.
Also from what I have read in the tech write-ups,O&O is defiantly worth investigating.
Also on a related topic, I currently have by BIAB install on my E Drive, along with quite a few music programs and a ton of data files. I am seriously thinking of adding a 250GB or a 500GB SSD into the mix and move just the BIAB install to that drive so it would be for BIAB ONLY.
Would I have to do anything before hand so as not jeopardize the activation status?
I would think not but it helps to get other opinions before I do that.
Hmmmm. I tried it using the "SOLID" algorithm but it hung up when working on the Windows search / indexing database. I had it skip that and move on. I then opened up Defraggler and did an analysis with that. Defraggler showed there were still files that were not addressed. Also, Defraggler seems faster. But I do like the graphics in OO software.
Yea that's what I thought and the following is not a "finger pointing" exercise just my opinion (and we all know what opinions are worth) coming through.
This seems to me to be one of those "just because you can doesn't mean you should" things. But that's me.
I won't be doing this on any of my SDD's until documented and proven reasons are given for why it should be done.
Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
That's fair and sensible. I did say to use it at your own risk. Or maybe I should better say, wait for more feedback on this. I just found it interesting.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
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For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
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Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
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