SSDs have pretty much replaced HDDs thanks to storage prices dropping significantly over the past few years. SSDs have the upper hand over their mechanical counterparts but still face some problems from time to time.
The main reason for buying an SSD is the storage speeds it offers. However, not every SSD hits the advertised data transfer speeds and that can be a headache for the owner. In this article, we’re taking a look at why your Sandisk SSD is slow and what you can do to fix the problem.
Why is your SSD slow?
There are a number of reasons why your SSD might not give transfer speeds as fast as advertised, including
- Incorrect or incompatible ports
- Using the SSD with a USB2.0 port
- Firmware issues on the PC or SSD.
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How to fix this?
Here are five fixes you can try out.
Check your cables
If you’re using an external SSD, make sure to use the cable that came with your SSD when connecting it to a computer or any other device. Most SSD manufacturers including Sandisk will give you compatible cables with enough bandwidth to extract the most out of the SSD. If you’re using a lower bandwidth cable, your SSD performance will degrade.
Check the ports
The port on your PC that you use to connect to your SSD also matters. You’re going to get the best speeds on a USB-C or USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port. If you’re connecting your drive to a USB 2.0 or slower port, the data transfer speed will naturally suffer.
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Disable hibernation
While hibernating your PC might be a good idea on an HDD, considering they take far longer to load your operating system, doing the same on an SSD wouldn’t give you much of an advantage and can sometimes cause slow performance as well.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run prompt. Type cmd and hit enter.
Step 2: Type the following command and press enter.
powercfg.exe /hibernate off
Now restart your PC and the SSD performance should be better.
Set SATA mode to AHCI
ACHI or Advanced Controller Host Interface mode on your PC’s BIOS makes sure that the maximum data bandwidth is extracted out of your SSD. If your BIOS is set to use the in-built SATA port as IDE, you might miss out on performance.
Try changing the SATA mode to AHCI in your PC’s BIOS configuration and your SSDs should start working faster.
Completely format the drive
If nothing else works and the SSD is rather old, you can try completely formatting the SSD to ensure that all data tables (including any partitions) are completely erased before putting the SSD to use again. Doing so can free up data registers inside the drive allowing for faster performance.
Also read: SSD unable to initialise: 4 Fixes
