Any downsides in disabling Volume Shadow Copies?

I just ran O&O Defrag Pro on my SSD and it warned me that Volume Shadow Copy is enabled and recommended to disable it as it causes system performance loss and excessive writes to the SSD. Now, I don't use Windows System Restore as my Alienware laptop has a tool called SupportAssist which periodically created system snapshots (images) so is there any other downside other than perhaps the built-in Windows System Restore not working in disabling the service?

 

I'm going to assume, since every other imaging product (IFW, Reflect, Backupper, O&O Disk image, etc.) use VSS that SupportAssist does too. I mean, why reinvent the wheel? Maybe it doesn't. But is the negligible impact really worth it? I'd trust those others before I trust any defragging SSD app.

 

Why would you defrag an SSD?

Isn’t the general consensus that this is not needed (no moving parts) and even bad for its lifetime (limited number of writes of flash memory)?

 

O&O Defrag Pro is just the name of the app, if it detects and SSD, it optimizes it. that's not the question of the thread though.

 

Personally, I would have the built-in Windows optimization tool do the re-trimming and uninstall the Defrag Pro, let's keep things simple.

Acadia

 

O&O Defrags SSDs rather than just doing a TRIM, just like Windows does from time to time.

 

The downside is that your backup program will not work if it uses VSC. Set that service to Manual instead.
It`s impact as such is neglibible, and since it is just 1, more so.

 

got it, I'll just set it back to the way it was before then which is "Manual"

 

Agree. Manual setting would be the best choice for that. Imaging programs rely on VSS and they work out well.
By the same token i personally use registry back up programs in addition and they initiate VSS to conduct perfect shadow copies that although rarely needed, the confidence gives me peace of mind in that whenever needed those particular shadow copies backup and restore without issue

 

Shame on O&O for recommending this. SSDs don't need any placebo tools. Let the OS do its thing and be happy to be using a SSD. Ineffective tweaks that cause more problems than they solve is a waste of time

 

As long as you do full system backups by 3rd party program just disable system restore, not the whole VSS (shadow copy service)

 

Their explanation of how they defrag SSDs is intriguing. Do you notice it making any difference?

 

Then let Windows also do the occasional defrag, whatever. The point is, your system will "thank you" for not gumming it up with fancy, useless, utility programs.
Acadia

 

I see this every month or so. My image backup size increases by 1 to 2 GB after the defrag.

 

Defragging a SSD with O&O led to a noticeable increase in benchmark speeds with CrystalDiskMark, but I didn't really notice any difference in the performance of my computer. However it's never caused any problems and I don't see how it could, considering that if I wasn't using this, Windows would be doing a monthly defrag my of SSDs anyway.

It's does provide some benefit as noticed above and my computer runs fine with it installed, just as it did beforehand.

I got better benchmark scores with CrystalDiskMark.

 

In order to resolve the system performance impact warning that O&O Defrag Pro is giving you, all you need to do it to disable the "system protection" on that SSD. You do not need to do anything to VSS. Disabling system protection does not disable the VSS service or the volume shadow copies creation process. VSS service should always be left enabled, but set to its default manual start setting, so that it is available when a software requests it, otherwise VSS service does not run on the system in the background.

Now if "System Protection" is turned on, every time a file is moved, lets say during de-fragmentation process, VSS treats it as a deletion, and creates a shadow copy of that file and saves it under the previous version tab of that file's properties. Now if you run a defrag software continuously or multiple times on a disk, these shadow copies build up and take up space, not to mention the extra disk I/O. Naturally on an SSD, it is not a good idea to have all these extra write operations when you do not even use system restore or have a third party backup software to create images, so it is recommend to disable system protection on a SSD.

This is what O&O Defrag Pro is warning you about.

If you disable the VSS service however, all third party backup or snapshot software that depend on it will stop working properly, so it is not recommended.

 

Perfectly TRUE! And a simple yet important FACT to take note of and some confidence in.

In my case ever since Windows XP i have after every new Windows Install ALWAYS made it a point to turn off System Restore Protection. Mainly because when it finished it would wipe away all my programs that took weeks and months to add to a perfectly good computing experience and cost me so much unnecessary effort to start all over from scratch again and again anytime i used it.

That being said VSS continued and still functioned as you rightfully pointed out in your reply.
Applies the same even now years later.

 

Regarding defragging SSDs, I have asked a member of MalwareTips who used to write SSD firmware to see if there is any point defragging SSDs and if the claims of it improving the life of a SSD are true, or if it's just a waste of time. I'll post again when he's replied.

 

got it, thanks man

 

Same here. I have always had System Restore disabled since Windows XP era. It was very unreliable and always failed to restore when you needed it the most. I switched to imaging softwares and never looked back. I have always wondered if Microsoft ever improved System Restore in later versions of Windows and made it a little more reliable.

 

You are welcome!

 

Same here, it never worked for me when I needed it but on Windows 10 recently and now 11, it worked a few times when I tried it for a quick fix. I use it as a quick fix but I do images from time to time as I cannot trust it 100%

 

Wise choice as you well know. MS is totally unreliable with that so called feature. Horrible of them.
Probably deliberate of them such lamers as they proved time and again. Users need and expect an Emergency Recovery but System Restore was nowhere near up to helping customers. Pitiful outfit.

 

Good to know that it worked for you a few times, maybe they did improve it a bit from when I last used it. But since even you do not trust is 100%, so that unreliability factor is still there.

 

It is strange to think that they first released System Restore during a time when they were known for releasing quality software. It was a time when they actually had a quality assurance department and tested their software thoroughly before releasing to public. Unlike nowadays where they release half baked software and use customers for quality testing.