Does sleep mode really damage SSD's?

[azibux1]

Hi,

I read that sleep mode should not be used if you have an SSD as it makes lots of reads and writes, " deducting from your limited read and writes on your SSD.

So I don't use sleep but would like to if this is not actually true... So is it?

Thanks!

 

[Antowns]

The argument is that yes, there are limited read and write speeds on an SSD, the less time you use it, the longer it will last, same goes for flash drives (memory sticks). Though you shouldn't really worry about this too much, I'm pretty sure the lifespan of these are huge.

 

[Clav]

Also sleep mode is mainly to reduce the time it takes to get to Windows. Which is what an SSD does anyway. I never use it

 

[R088ieS86]

Sleep mode shouldn't cause issues with an SSD as the PC state is stored into RAM.

Hybernation mode(normally used in laptops) saves the state to disk (SSD or HDD) using read/writes.

Hybrid Sleep does both.

The only issues i've heard about with SSDs and sleep mode is older SSD controllers had issues rebooting from low-powered state. long since fixed.

 

[wazza300]

i cant see how it hurts the ssd,its gonna be obsolete long before it wears out

 

[ChileanLlama]

Hi,

I read that sleep mode should not be used if you have an SSD as it makes lots of reads and writes, " deducting from your limited read and writes on your SSD.

So I don't use sleep but would like to if this is not actually true... So is it?

Thanks!

Only in the same way that taking out of the box and using it damages them.

 

[Cyber-Mav]

sleep mode wont cause any additional wear, you must be confusing it with hibernation mode which is otherwise known as Suspend to disk.

 

[AbsenceJam]

i cant see how it hurts the ssd,its gonna be obsolete long before it wears out

This.

 

[philjohn]

The other reason people disable hibernate is it sticks a honking great hiberfil.sys on your disk, which cannot be moved (with junction point trickery or other methods). By default this is set to start at 75% of your system memory, so if you have 16GB it'll take up at least 12GB of space.

You can shrink this to start off at 50% by using the following (from an elevated system prompt):

powercfg -h -size 50

 

[azibux1]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Sleep mode shouldn't cause issues with an SSD as the PC state is stored into RAM.

Hybernation mode(normally used in laptops) saves the state to disk (SSD or HDD) using read/writes.

Hybrid Sleep does both.

The only issues i've heard about with SSDs and sleep mode is older SSD controllers had issues rebooting from low-powered state. long since fixed.

This must be what I'm thinking of then ... I assume when you go to start, and click on 'sleep' that is full sleep and not hybrid?

I think I must have been thinking about the last issue you mentioned about them not waking properly

I don't use hibernate at all on my PC (explained more below)

The other reason people disable hibernate is it sticks a honking great hiberfil.sys on your disk, which cannot be moved (with junction point trickery or other methods). By default this is set to start at 75% of your system memory, so if you have 16GB it'll take up at least 12GB of space.

You can shrink this to start off at 50% by using the following (from an elevated system prompt):

powercfg -h -size 50

Thanks for this info, good to know, but I've actually used 'powercfg -h off' instead to free up that extra bit of space on my SSD, I got 6GB back I think





Think after reading this then it is safe to use sleep mode. Also someone said why use it as SSD's improve boot time, I do understand this but with sleep mode it is almost instant so it seems like the better option? Obviously if I'm not using the PC for a while I will turn it off completely

 

[unleashed]

Best play it safe guys and leave the PC switched off …. akin to having a performance car and never going beyond 1st gear

 

[Sighn]

sleep mode wont cause any additional wear, you must be confusing it with hibernation mode which is otherwise known as Suspend to disk.

This. It makes sense.

 

[JTrickle]

I use sleep/hybernate loads on both my desktop and laptop ssds. Uses 2W and takes 1 second to resume instead of 20s for a restart (laptop not as fast).

I'll just buy a new ssd as and when this one fails. I use mechanicals for data backup/storage.

 

[coolamasta]

For reference, I bought a 120gb OCZ Vertex 2 when it first came out which must be a good 18-24 months ago now and I use sleep all the time, in fact my PC pretty much lives in sleep mode and probably was woken up and put back into sleep 3-4 times a day with a reboot every now and again.

The drive has been flawless, never crashed and running SSDlife on it says the drive is still 100% perfect even though the power cycling and usage hours are pretty high, I have now upgraded to a new rig and a Samsung 256GB 830 SSD and using sleep on that too now for last few months.

Personally I don't think its anything to worry about, like it has already been mentioned you will be moving on to bugger and better SSD's wellllllllll before you get close to the maximum writes on a modern SSD!

 

[Phil2008]

Hi,

I read that sleep mode should not be used if you have an SSD as it makes lots of reads and writes, " deducting from your limited read and writes on your SSD.

So I don't use sleep but would like to if this is not actually true... So is it?

Thanks!

Yes, but if you disable the hibernate file so it cant write to your ssd, your A ok. As sleep stores the memory on the disk, so if you have powerloss your windows session will still be ok, as it will pull it back from the disk.

This is how to disable/delete hibernate/hiberfil.sys

1 Run command prompt (Run as Administrator).

2. Type powercfg -h off and press Enter.

Ive always disabled the hibernate/hiberfil.sys from day 1 of having my ssd. But I guess for me its a tad diff, as I will never have powerloss as I have a UPS, so theres no real point for me having the hibernate/hiberfil.sys. Plus recovering out of hibernate or from powerloss during sleep is dog slow with ssd's for some reason?

 

[azibux1]

For reference, I bought a 120gb OCZ Vertex 2 when it first came out which must be a good 18-24 months ago now and I use sleep all the time, in fact my PC pretty much lives in sleep mode and probably was woken up and put back into sleep 3-4 times a day with a reboot every now and again.

The drive has been flawless, never crashed and running SSDlife on it says the drive is still 100% perfect even though the power cycling and usage hours are pretty high, I have now upgraded to a new rig and a Samsung 256GB 830 SSD and using sleep on that too now for last few months.

Personally I don't think its anything to worry about, like it has already been mentioned you will be moving on to bugger and better SSD's wellllllllll before you get close to the maximum writes on a modern SSD!

Sounds fairly safe to do then and doesn't sound like you've had any issues

One thing that is slightly weird that I noticed since yesterday when I started using sleep mode after the answers in this thread, is that when I put it into sleep, then wake it up, the mouse scroll speed becomes really really slow? It is a logitech vx nano and the setpoint software is installed. I have to reboot the PC to make it go back to normal.

Any ideas on how to sort that? As after reading here that it isn't an issue ... I'd really like to use sleep more often and just turn the PC off at night.

Thanks!

Yes, but if you disable the hibernate file so it cant write to your ssd, your A ok. As sleep stores the memory on the disk, so if you have powerloss your windows session will still be ok, as it will pull it back from the disk.

This is how to disable/delete hibernate/hiberfil.sys

1 Run command prompt (Run as Administrator).

2. Type powercfg -h off and press Enter.

Ive always disabled the hibernate/hiberfil.sys from day 1 of having my ssd. But I guess for me its a tad diff, as I will never have powerloss as I have a UPS, so theres no real point for me having the hibernate/hiberfil.sys. Plus recovering out of hibernate or from powerloss during sleep is dog slow with ssd's for some reason?

Okay that's good to know. I've already done this a little while ago to gain extra space on the SSD ... Means I'm safe to put it into sleep mode then

Would you have any ideas about my question above? Thanks!

 

[Phil2008]

Yeah your safe as houses now, as I dont like the idea of sleep writing and deleting huge chunks of data to my ssd everytime I use it and I do use sleep a lot of times during the day, now that energy is a total rip off.

You could try stopping your usb hub from powering down, that the mouse is connected to when you use sleep, in the device manager.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

Actually sleep mode is really bad for SSDs.

You see, when the computer goes to sleep, it sends lots of ZZZZZZ commands. The SSD sees these as 2s (because Z and 2 look alike), and as we know, computers only use 0s and 1s.

So when the SSD starts putting the 2s in the drive, it takes up twice the amount of room (because 1 + 1 = 2).

When the computer comes out of sleep mode, it tries to read the SSD and finds lots of 11s from all the 2s it couldn't fit in, and it causes corruption.

 

[Phil2008]

Actually sleep mode is really bad for SSDs.

You see, when the computer goes to sleep, it sends lots of ZZZZZZ commands. The SSD sees these as 2s (because Z and 2 look alike), and as we know, computers only use 0s and 1s.

So when the SSD starts putting the 2s in the drive, it takes up twice the amount of room (because 1 + 1 = 2).

When the computer comes out of sleep mode, it tries to read the SSD and finds lots of 11s from all the 2s it couldn't fit in, and it causes corruption.

?? A hdd or ssd doesn't do anything when it goes in and out of sleep if the hiberfill.sys is disabled , it just powers on and off the ssd or hdd...

I think is better for ssd's if the hiberfil.sys is disabled, as theres no loading of windows or super fetching to be done and your everyday progs will still be stored in the memory resuming from sleep, so 99% of the time the ssd will be idel and putting its feet up, if you use sleep.

I had my ssd for 3yrs now and Ive use sleep from day 1, as its still much quicker then shutting down. Plus I must use sleep 5+ times a day, I haven't had any probs with my Vertex 2e SSD and the Vertex 2/2e are dodgey drives

 

[BrianB]

Apparently S3 sleep is okay, but hibernate isn't as okay. I don't think it matters because by the time the SSD fails you will hopefully have upgraded anyway.