How to defrag a solid state hybrid drive, and is it safe?

Enigma

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I just bought a Seagate ST750LX003 Momentus XT 750 GB as the new primary drive for my gaming laptop, and I'm wondering how to defrag them, and whether it is safe. I wanted the best of both worlds (space and speed) so I went for the middle ground. What is the difference between a regular HDD, SSHD, and a SSD? Do I just let Windows perform its' normal defrag routine as I normally would, or do I need to download some kind of proprietary software from Seagate that will do it? I like to use 3rd party software (UltimateDefrag) for my defrag operations, is all. And how much can I fill it up before it starts to slow down? I ask because I've heard that you cant fill an SSD up past around 50 to 60% or so before it slowly starts to degrade, since it needs room to perform its' TRIM (defrag) operations. Is this also true of SSHDs?

Thanks for any help!
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64, Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G700
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3632QM, 2.20 GHz
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The Momentus uses a small secondary memory chip to save often used program data to assist speedy start, but the rest is a traditional spinning disk. It's quite safe to defrag the HDD, as it basically operates much the same as any other HDD.

You can check how fragmented the drive is with the disk defragmenter program and if isn't not overly fragmented, leave it as it is.

What you really should do is partition the drive so that a smaller portion is used for the OS and programs and a larger portion used for data storage (given that it's a 750GB drive), that way it will be easier to defrag a smaller sized drive when needed and the drive will perform better anyway.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
Thanks, Ray8, I forgot to say that my laptop is an ASUS G75VW, it has 2 HDD slots. I bought a second drive (regular HDD), a 1 TB Western Digital, for the 2nd slot. it will mainly be used for static data storage and games. as for the Seagate, do you still recommend partitioning it so that the main OS goes on its' own partition? I also plan to dual-boot Ubuntu Linux on it. As well as using TrueCrypt to encrypt the system partition (c drive), which is an even better reason to leave the OS on its' own partition, so that games etc can be elsewhere and not be affected by the encryption overhead. Perhaps you can help me formulate a good strategy on how to I should lay everything out. If you don't mind.

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64, Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G700
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3632QM, 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA 720M, Intel HD 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 (max)
    Hard Drives
    1 TB HDD (5400 RPM), 1.5 TB HDD (5400 RPM) installed in a 12.7mm disc drive caddy
    Case
    Lenovo
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Laptop/notebook keyboard/touchpad
    Internet Speed
    It varies, since I'm mobile most of the time
    Browser
    Chromium (the open-source browser which Google Chrome is derived from)
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, Spybot, Privatefirewall
    Other Info
    I will add more information here later
I think that partitioning the drive will still be of benefit, you'll need to do it for Linux anyway, unless you install using WUBI. You should try Linux Mint instead, it's a lot better than Ubuntu (my view anyway). Just have a look at how much space is currently taken up and then give yourself some headroom for any extras that you might install over time. I have about 250GB in a partition for the OS and programs, which still leaves me with about 140GB free.

Also, I'd steer clear of TrueCrypt, I tried it and had a massive failure and couldn't access the system at all (the rescue codes didn't work), luckily I had a recently copied image of the drive. I now use this: Free Encryption Tool for File and Data Encryption | Sophos Free Tools, and find it a lot easier and better than TrueCrypt. You can easily encrypt individual files, folders, USB drives, SD cards etc and access them very easily.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
TrueCrypt is among the best software I've ever used. I have over a dozen SSDs, hard drives (both internal and external in enclosures and bare for use with a dock), and thumb drives fully encrypted, and I've had zero problems in the 3-4 years I've been using it. The only drive I have that isn't fully TrueCrypted is a thumb drive I use when building new systems, transporting firmware to non-PC devices like TVs, etc. TrueCrypt. Just. Works. I wouldn't use anything else.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
I acknowledge that TrueCrypt is considered one of the best, if not best, free encryption software, but there is a fair bit of evidence that it can have issues. It's also not quite the easiest thing to use. The Sophos encryption software that I linked to is free, very easy to use and probably just as secure as TrueCrypt. I'd recommend people to try both and see which hat fits their needs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
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