defrag

supra

OSNN One Post Wonder
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Do you defrag your drive? Is it normal to take a few hours to complete? I'm asking because I defragged for the first time last night and it took over 3 hours to complete.
 
If you haven't before then it could. Defragging helps speed up the computer by making the data easier to find.

What Operating System do you use?
 
Defrag time is determined by:
-Size of the drive
-The program you use (windows built in is slow)
-How messed up the drive is to begin with (time since last defrag)
-The speed of your computer (RAM, CPU and HD)
-How big your files are

So if you have a big, messed up drive on a slow computer, lots of video files and are using windows 3 hours is not bad at all.

I prefer Perfect Disk.
 
I defrag everyday. The time takes from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much data I have moved around/added
 
I use Executive Software's Diskeeper Pro, and it runs in the background using very little resources. Whenever it detects my hard drives get to a specified percentage of fragmentation, it takes care of it without being told or prompting me. How about that, a maid who cleans and never complains :)
 
i use o&o defrag v8 which does similar to what kcnychief's program does.
 
I'm pretty sure all professional programs can run a defrag against a percentage protocol...I would never run a defrag while I was working unless it actually worked "in the backround" (when absolutely nothing else was running)
 
I might defrag once a month, disgraceful, but I do sit there and watch it :)
eheh
 
kcnychief said:
I use Executive Software's Diskeeper Pro, and it runs in the background using very little resources. Whenever it detects my hard drives get to a specified percentage of fragmentation, it takes care of it without being told or prompting me. How about that, a maid who cleans and never complains :)

Hmm, I wonder if they updated this? The versions of Diskeeper I had owned in the past (for winNT 4.0 and win2k) used to do it based upon a set number of hours apart. One could set each partition as such...

That said, they were adding features in each version

- 3.0 introduced directory, boot time defragmentation
- 4.0 added pageing file boot time defragmentation (though I didn't get 4.0)
- 5.0 (I think it was) added defragmentation of the MFT on an NTFS partition

etc

They might have added this...

And yes, as to various factors already mentioned, it can very on time to completion. Along with CPU speed, is also how loaded the CPU is. Playing a game while defragmenting (with the auto-defrag for instance) it will take longer...

Basically when it defrags it, it puts the various "parts" of the file which are located in each given cluster into sequential order. This was, when it's read from the HD, it can be read sequentially; without it having to check the file table to find where the next fragment is located, and then locating the next fragment, move to that part of the drive to start reading from there...
 
I use diskeeper to defrag, it works beautifully. diskeeper is nice also. Usually, defragging for the first time does take longer than normal. Depending on the size of the drive will determin how long it takes.

You don't need to do it everyday. About once a week or month is good. With perfectdisk I have it set to defrag once a week .. I might try diskeeper again ..
 
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I support daily defrag too, the automatic defragmenter will worry about it:) I think it definitely helps improve system performance and keeps it stable especially for systems which are 'heavily' used, the difference can be felt noticeably. If you dont use a automatic tool, check your frag levels/defrag whenever you add/install a lot of files or large files.
 
I am trying diskeeper again. I have it set on set it and forget it mode, running in screensaver mode. Works very well ..
 
perris said:
I think daily defrag will will cause your drive to wear years ahead of time

That is a common myth that defragmentation lowers the life of your drive. I think it will extend the life of the drive because when a disk is defragged, the head does not have to move as much because the files are bunched together. Most PC users upgrade their computers in 2 to 3 years and today's hard drives will last a lot longer than that.
 
Well keeping it well defragmented will help. Defragmenting every year wont help the life of it since it will have to do alot os searching and moving to defrag.
 
1badtech said:
That is a common myth that defragmentation lowers the life of your drive. I think it will extend the life of the drive because when a disk is defragged, the head does not have to move as much because the files are bunched together. Most PC users upgrade their computers in 2 to 3 years and today's hard drives will last a lot longer than that.


here's my information;

your statement presumes that the files that become fragmented are the ones that you're accessing...this isn't always the case, for instance logs...there isn't any reason to defrag files that you don't acess

next, when you use the term "files are bunched together" you are talking about consolidating free space, not defragmentign a drive...we both agree, there should be some internal function to create sequential data writes..however once one of these professional product does "defragment free space" on a drive for a practical period of time where doing it again would involve moving more then one file around to defragment the space further...is not a good idea

second, head movement under normal use doesn't put the same pressure as head movement in a concentrated function...for instance if you drive from new york to california in a straght run you would do more damage to your car then the same amount of miles spread over a couple of weeks

your example would be correct if you weren't talking about daily defragmentation...daily defragmentation will cause more head movement then file access on a moderately fragmented drive

when the drive has a normal amount of fragmentation there is hardly any head movement regardless..once the file is accessed for the most part work comes from memory...new work will go to the hardrive and usually be fragmented from the original work anyway, same hardrive activity

as far as most users upgrading their computer before the drive would go bad regardless, I agree with this point, but most of us in tech hang on to our hardrives
 
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The built in version of Disk Defragmenter is a very "lite" version of the one by Exective Software (Deskeeper). Has been since Microsoft first put the system tool into Windows.

Useless knowledge, but enjoy.

And I agree with perris, disk optimization should occur when files aren't in use; at night, when no other tasks are scheduled to run.
 
perris said:
It's not a myth it's a fact

first, when you use the term "files are bunched together" you are talking about consolidating free space, not defragmentign a drive...we both agree, there should be some internal function to create sequential data writes..however once one of these professional product does "defragment free space" on a drive for a practical period of time where doing it again would involve moving more then one file around to defragment the space further...is not a good idea

second, head movement under normal use doesn't put the same pressure as head movement in a concentrated function...for instance if you drive from new york to california in a straght run you would do more damage to your car then the same amount of miles spread over a couple of weeks

your example would be correct if you weren't talking about daily defragmentation...daily defragmentation will cause more head movement then file access on a moderately fragmented drive

when the drive has a normal amount of fragmentation there is hardly any head movement regardless..once the file is accessed for the most part work comes from memory...new work will go to the hardrive and usually be fragmented from the original work anyway, same hardrive activity

as far as most users upgrading their computer before the drive would go bad regardless, I agree with this point, but most of us in tech hang on to our hardrives

Dear Mr. Eiffel Tower (sp?)

I want to start with the fact that I do, and always have, enjoyed your posts. However, I would like to state my opinion on something. Your comments, at least from what I can tell, seem very FORCEFUL. Most people say, "in my opinion", or "from my experience", or "i'm pretty sure". Some of your threads, this one, the one about the Page File which I posted on a few times, you are so STUCK that your "opinion" is all that matters. You took what someone said, and basically said "it's not a myth, it's a fact". I agree with the fact that you OBVIOUSLY know what you are talking about, at least to a point that I can't prove you wrong. However, I would suggest going a little easier on how you relay your opinion, first posters or people with lighter personalities might get offended. Keep up the good work, great information and good posts, just stop eating everyone for lunch who disagrees with you :)

Anyways, just my opinion :)
 
perris agrees...I'll turn my post into something less forcefull and will work on my personality...I've been thinking the same thing btw...thanx for the reality check
 
perris said:
perris agrees...I'll turn my post into something less forcefull and will work on my personality...I've been thinking the same thing btw...thanx for the reality check

I don't want you to think I was launching a personal attack on you at all. As I said earlier, your knowledge is an invaluable asset to this forum. No hard feelings, right? :)
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
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Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
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