I have a 512GB Samsung SSD that originally came with my laptop, and I've noticed that its health is now only at 35%. I recently formatted my laptop and moved Windows to a secondary SSD, leaving the 512GB SSD completely empty. My question is, does an SSD lose health simply from being used, or does it degrade in health even when not in use? Since I'm not using it and it's empty, can I repurpose it as an external SSD? Also, I transferred about 15TB of data from this SSD. Additionally, does converting my disk to a dynamic disk in Windows impact its health? Thanks for any insights!
1 Answer
It's interesting that your SSD shows 35% health after only two years. Usually, that kind of drop wouldn’t be typical from just regular use unless there are serious issues with the drive itself. As for your question, SSDs can indeed degrade over time, but usually not significantly while sitting unused. They can lose health due to cell wear from writes, but they also have a lifespan regardless of use. So technically, yes, you can use it as an external SSD if it's still functional, but I’d suggest monitoring it closely just in case. Also, turning a disk dynamic doesn't generally affect health; it's more about the functionality of how you can use the disk. Keep an eye on those health metrics!
That makes sense! Just be careful about how much you’re writing to it. These things can be unpredictable if their health drops so low.