Your SSD (Solid State Drive) is one of the most important components in your M-Tech system. It controls how quickly your computer boots, loads applications, saves audio, and handles realtime work. This guide explains how SSDs behave, how to keep them healthy, and how to avoid slowdowns caused by low free space or background activity.

1. Why SSD Health Matters

SSDs are extremely fast, but their performance depends on:

• Available free space
• Drive wear level
• Background disk activity
• File system health

Keeping your SSD healthy ensures smooth performance for Dragon, Speechmatics, and CAT software.

2. Keep at Least 20–25% Free Space

SSDs need free space to operate efficiently. When the drive becomes too full, you may notice:

• Slow file saves
• Lag in CAT software
• Dragon delays
• System-wide sluggishness

For best performance, keep at least 20–25% of your SSD free.

3. Avoid Storing Large Audio Archives on the SSD

Large audio files can quickly fill your SSD. To prevent slowdowns:

• Move old audio to an external drive
• Archive completed jobs off the SSD
• Keep only active work on the internal drive

This keeps your SSD fast and responsive.

4. SSD Wear Level Is Normal

SSDs slowly wear down over time. This is normal and expected. Symptoms of wear include:

• Slower write speeds
• Occasional stuttering
• Longer boot times

M-Tech systems use high-end SSDs designed for long life, but monitoring wear is still helpful.

5. Avoid Heavy Background Disk Activity

Background disk usage can cause temporary slowdowns. Common causes include:

• OneDrive or Dropbox syncing
• Windows indexing
• Antivirus scans
• Large file transfers

Pause or limit these tasks during realtime work.

6. Restarting Helps SSD Performance

Restarting your system clears temporary files and resets disk queues. For best results:

• Restart daily
• Restart before important realtime sessions

This ensures clean, consistent SSD performance.

7. Symptoms of SSD-Related Issues

You may be experiencing SSD problems if you notice:

• Slow file saves
• Dragon lag or delayed dictation
• Speechmatics latency
• System freezing or stuttering
• Long boot times

These symptoms often improve after freeing space or restarting.

8. When to Replace an SSD

An SSD may need replacement if:

• It is consistently slow even with free space
• SMART health warnings appear
• The drive is several years old and heavily used
• You experience repeated file corruption

M-Tech can help diagnose SSD health if needed.

9. Summary

Keep your SSD at least 20–25% free, avoid heavy background disk activity, restart regularly, and archive old audio files.

These steps ensure fast, reliable performance for Dragon, Speechmatics, and CAT software.

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(Use ProductCart's Related Articles feature to link to OneDrive Optimization, Background Process Cleanup, Windows Behaviors That Affect Performance, and Dragon Optimization.)