I’m new here, so still trying to find my way around searching out information.
Norton 360 Advanced and Utilities Ultimate are installed on my PC and my question is relating to how Norton handles SSD drives, as I want to ensure that Norton does not try to defrag them. I have disabled the optimize option in 360 Advanced, but cannot find an option to disable it in Utilities Ultimate.
The Norton Disk Optimization defragments SSD drive on Windows article tells me about how Windows manages SSDs, but not how Norton handles them.
What does Norton’s optimization actually do with SSDs?
Does it defrag, trim, or just remove files?
How can I turn off optimization in Utilities Ultimate?
Does Utilities Ultimate solely rely on the optimize function in 360 Advanced?
Any help and clarity provided on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Normal it works with ssd and m2 and it can also clean up files on m2 and ssd but it works better on old harddisk and if you hit the tre … you can clean speciale files there is extre hard to clean
I am not sure about Norton Utilities, but Norton 360 does defragment SSD drives instead of trimming them. This is a very old issue (many years) that I have reported multiple times without any reply from Norton. Norton 360 actually utilizes Windows’ disk optimization tool, but calls for the traditional defragmenter instead of the trimmer. There is no actual benefit from running the optimization through Norton 360. Keeping the scheduled optimization off and re-enabling the automatic schedule of Windows is the best option.
@tzon89 Norton 360 traditionally does the following for SSD drives: With Norton installed it uses the Windows subset of system calls to have Windows perform TRIM on SSD’s. When I was initially allowing that to happen on my systems my SSD drive health went from 100% to 85% in just four months. I DO NOT allow Norton to perform any maintenance on my SSD drives and allow Windows to perform those for me. My drive health is no longer depleting.
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No, Norton’s Disk Optimization tool generally doesn’t perform defragmentation on SSDs. Instead, it uses a process called TRIM to optimize the drive, which is a more efficient and safer method for SSDs. While Norton’s Disk Optimization may trigger Windows’ built-in optimization process, which can include TRIM, it’s not a traditional defragmentation.
Here’s why defragmentation isn’t ideal for SSDs and why TRIM is preferred:
SSDs manage data differently than traditional hard drives. They use a process called garbage collection, where they move data around to wear down cells evenly and efficiently. Defragmentation, which involves physically moving data around, can be detrimental to an SSD’s lifespan and performance.
TRIM is a command that tells the SSD which blocks of data are no longer in use. This allows the SSD to perform garbage collection more efficiently and extend the drive’s lifespan.
When Windows optimizes an SSD, it essentially uses TRIM to re-mark the blocks of data as free. This is a more efficient and safe way to optimize an SSD compared to defragmentation.
Norton’s Disk Optimization likely leverages Windows’ built-in optimization capabilities, which include TRIM, rather than performing traditional defragmentation on SSDs
Norton Utilities in just more snake oil in my view. Windows itself does a very nice job of doing what it states vice taking chances with NU goofing things up.
SA
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It actually doesn’t call the trim command, but the defrag command. You can verify this by opening side to side Norton 360 and the Windows Disk Optimization tool. When you click optimize in Norton, a traditional defrag starts on the Windows tool, instead of a trim. This is also obvious by the time it takes to complete. Trim should take only a few seconds. Defrag lasts several minutes, as it happens with Norton on SSDs. Keeping the Windows tool enabled while turning off Norton is probably the best option.
Norton 360 → Optimize Disk
500 GB SSD
Analyzing hard drives for fragmentation
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Thank you bjm
Norton’s Disk Optimization tool generally doesn’t perform defragmentation on SSDs. Instead, it uses a process called TRIM to optimize the drive, which is a more efficient and safer method for SSDs. While Norton’s Disk Optimization may trigger Windows’ built-in optimization process, which can include TRIM, it’s not a traditional defragmentation.**
Windows will also do a “re-trim” usually set in the OS for weekly to keep things tidy while not decreasing the life of the SSD.
SA
