Question Question about the article on the Kingston DataTraveler Max

[Helix FR]

Hi,

Ganesh T S wrote that this USB drive has the "TRIM Passthrough". Does it mean that Windows is able to trim it automatically or that it can be done manually with the "Defragment and Optimize Drives" feature or with a command (defrag /L or Optimize-Volume -ReTrim)?
The only thing I'm sure about is that it needs to be an NTFS partition.

 

[fzabkar]

UNMAP is the equivalent SCSI command for USB mass storage devices.

 

[Helix FR]

Yes, that's for the theory. What I'd like to know now is how trim (unmap via UASP) is triggered in practice in Windows. Is it automatic or does it have to be manual?

 

[fzabkar]

I always thought TRIM/UNMAP was automatic, but now I'm not so sure.

You can test this by creating a file, then deleting it. Use a data recovery tool, eg DMDE, to recover the deleted file and then examine it with a hex editor, eg HxD (freeware).

https://dmde.com/
https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/

A TRIM-ed file will normally be zero-filled.

 

[Helix FR]

Or simply trimcheck from CyberShadow? Though I don't know if it's viable, I tested it on my internal SSD and it detected trim, and then on my old USB drive and it didn't so it seemed to be working.
Anyways, I don't have the drive yet, I'm actually trying to understand how it's supposed to work on Windows and to know which fast USB drives support it before buying one.

 

[fzabkar]

I guess that tool should work, although I don't like this stipulation:

"Place this program file on the same drive you'd like to test TRIM on, and run it."

 

[Helix FR]

I ended up buying the PNY Pro Elite V2 and confirm that trim is automatically working on NTFS. Same for the less expensive HP x911w that I also had the opportunity to test.

 

[mikeymikec]

Why do you need NTFS on a flash drive? I tried it for a while but gave up on it because performance seems to tank harder over time with NTFS than other file systems (e.g. exFAT).

In case you're labouring under a misapprehension, TRIM does not require a particular file system, just a recognised file system with an OS that is capable of TRIM.

 

[Helix FR]

Windows only supports trim on NTFS and that's why NTFS doesn't really lose write speed compared to exFAT, at least when the drive is able to trim (which is not the case for the SanDisk Extreme Pro for example). I installed Ventoy on it while using NTFS for my ISOs partition and I can boot on them without any trouble even on my old laptop.
Actually, it seems to me that when the drive supports UASP (which the SanDisk doesn't), it also supports trim (unmap).