SSD Partition Failure

[Aequus]

Here (in fench sorry) the result of a chkdsk DOS command on a SSD Hard Drive (SanDisk Ultra SSD 120Gb SATA 3GB/s 16Aug2011 LBA: 234,441,648). This is a boot drive on a WIndows 7 64bit operating system.
The partition table seems to be damaged.
I need a diagnostic and some advice.
Should I try to repair it (which software ?)
Should I try to reformat the disk and reinstall all the stuff ?
Should I throw it to the garbage and buy a new SSD ?

Secondary questions : is the SSD technology safer today than 5 years ago ? What is the lifetime of a SSD (mine is nearly 5 years old)






F:\>chkdsk /v /f /r F:

Étape 1 : Examen de la structure du système de fichiers de base...
241664 enregistrements de fichier traités. estimée : 0:35:07 .
La vérification des fichiers est terminée.
1620 enregistrements de grand fichier traités. n estimée : 0:35:05 ..
0 enregistrements de fichier incorrect traités. ée : 0:35:05 ...

Étape 2 : Examen de la liaison des noms de fichiers...
Erreur lecture disquec00000b5 fin estimée : 0:28:51 .
Correction des erreurs dans l’index $I30 du fichier 79464.
CHKDSK a découvert de l’espace libre marqué comme étant alloué dans la bitmap de l’index $I30 pour le fichier 79464.
An unspecified error occurred (696e647863686b2e 820).

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Aequus.

The first thing you should do is to backup any important data which you might have on that SSD, if you haven't done so already. This is just a precaution and a standard procedure whenever there's a possible issue with the drive.

Since chkdsk was unable to resolve the issue, I can't tell for sure if there's something wrong with the drive itself, so you'll have to do a little troubleshooting. Try the SSD with a different SATA port and different cables (or a different computer if you have that option), to see if the issue reoccurs. You should also download the manufacturer's SSD diagnostic tool (or a 3rd party one if the manufacturer doesn't offer one) and test the SSD for errors, to see if anything alarming shows up.
If everything seems to be OK with the drive, the best thing to do would be to make a fresh install of Windows. I'm usually not one to suggest partition repairing tools as this can often lead to further complications.

Basically as technology progresses it's only natural for newer HDDs and SSDs to be more reliable than 5 years ago. However, as you know all mechanical and electronic devices may fail at any given moment. It's not like it's very likely, but sometimes it happens so there are 100% guarantees. So basically if you were able to get 5 years out of your SSD, I'd say it was a good deal.
Newer SSDs also support TRIM as I'd imagine a 5-year old SSD might not have that feature.

As for the lifetime of an SSD - that depends. As you probably know the technology an SSD uses has a limited write capacity. This means that once that write limit is reached, you won't be able to write anything on the SSD. So if the drive is OK it all depends on how often you use the SSD and how much you write on it everyday. Note that for modern SSDs this limit is pretty high and it's no likely that you'd reach it in 5 years with regular usage.

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Aequus]

Thanks a lot for your answers Boogieman
There are helpful for me !
I have followed your advice and I performed a fresh new install of windows. In fact I mounted an image of an identical PC and so far this install has succeeded.
Your answer about the lifetime of SSD has restored my confidence but I wonder how to use the trim command to check the available/corrupted blocks of a SSD Drive. Does a specific software or tool needed ?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

TRIM is an OS feature which basically takes care of residual data by deleting it. However not all of the older SSD models support it so you'd have to check that out in the SSD's spec sheet I guess or contact the manufacturer's customer support and ask.

There's no extra software needed in order to enable it. For Win 10 it should be enabled by default. In order to enable it, all you have to do is to open CMD (Command Prompt) and type fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0.

Here's a link with a lot of helpful tips for SSD users: https://www.maketecheasier.com/12-things-you-must-do-when-running-a-solid-state-drive-in-windows-7/.

As for checking you SSD for errors and bad blocks, you'd have to download a diagnostic tool. You can pick a 3rd party tool from this article: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/tophddiag.htm

 

[Aequus]

Thanks a lot for these 2 very useful links !
Make the "hardware people" know them ;-)