Disk cloning to "restore" SSD performance

[Sabs212]

I have a Kingston 40GB SSD on order, and have a question about cloning.

Scenario: performance has been degrading over time on a SSD. Drive is imaged using Ghost, Acronis, or other software. SSD is securely wiped, then the image is restored to the drive.

Will performance of the drive be restored, or does the imaging process carry over the problem?

I'd like to know this so I can determine whether I need to create an image as soon as I install programs on my new drive, or whether I can wait and do it if/when performance drops. I'd prefer the latter, as it will allow me to retain the most up-to-date programs and settings.

 

[railman]

Your performance should be restored as long as whatever utility you use to securely wipe the drive is capable of resetting the NAND cells to free space. Unlike a HDD SSD controller look for cells that show as 1's which indicates they are free, HDD's on the other hand look for blocks that show 0's which indicate they are free.

 

[Throckmorton]

How does erasing and reimaging the drive reverse physical degradation of the memory cells?

 

[rcpratt]

How does erasing and reimaging the drive reverse physical degradation of the memory cells?

It's not the degradation of the NAND chips that they're trying to reverse, it's the performance degradation as the drive is filled.

 

[taltamir]

How does erasing and reimaging the drive reverse physical degradation of the memory cells?

because physical degradation of the memory cells has absolutely nothing to do with the loss of performance experienced by SSD drives.
It is also not an issue in realistic usage environment (aka, it is one of the longest lasting components in your PC; and will be obsolete long before it fails)