Many computers are moving to Solid State Drives, or SSDs, rather than Hard Disk Drives, or HDDs. Although both SSDs and HDDs have their place, many people wonder, how long do SSDs last? If you switch to an SSD over an HDD, are you going to have to replace the drive more easily? In general, SSDs should last many years. However, it’s still a good idea to know the warning signs of a failing SSD.
If your SSD is reaching the end of its life cycle, you’re going to see these problems.
1. You’re Having Issues With Reading And Writing Files
As the SSD starts to have problems, you’re going to start seeing errors involving so-called “bad blocks.” These bad blocks are physical issues with your SSD, and they mean that any data stored in the area of the bad blocks become difficult to access. That can either mean issues with reading the files, issues with writing the files, or both. If you’re having any sort of regular issues with reading and writing files, there’s probably a problem of some kind, whether it’s a problem with your drive or not.
2. The File System Is Giving You Error Messages
Error messages regarding your computer’s file system can arise from a variety of places, and the SSD is possibly one of them. These error messages can sometimes happen because your computer didn’t shut down properly; if you’re seeing file system error messages, consider rebooting the computer to see if it fixes it. If it doesn’t, the problem may lie in the SSD.
3. Your Computer Is Crashing During The Boot Cycle
Crashing during a boot cycle is never a good idea, but the problem is that this problem can arise due to a variety of problems. However, one of those problems is that the computer is having a difficult time reading the information necessary to boot the computer. If you’re starting to experience crashes during the boot cycle, make sure that you have a backup of all your files just in case the drive fails.
4. Your Drive Will Not Write Data To The Disk And Becomes Read-Only
In the worst-case scenario, your hard drive might not be able to write data to the disk at all. Instead, the drive will become read-only, which means that it’s only possible to pull information off the disk. At that point, you do have to replace the disk entirely. However, you can gather the information off the disk to transfer it to your new one.
Conclusion
It’s fairly uncommon for people to experience an SSD failure, but it does happen. If you start noticing issues with reading and writing information on your SSD, it’s a good idea to back up all your information virtually or on extra external hard drives so that you can access files even if your drive starts to fail. That way, you don’t have to worry about experiencing serious issues regarding the loss of any information on your current solid state drive.
