How often should i defrag?

[Leo]

I was just wondering if i should only defrag my hard drive when i analyze and it tells me that it should or should i defrag more
often?
Is there such an application that it would do a better job or am i just being crazy here, cuz i remember reading somethin' about an defrag application!
thanks !

 

[madmatt]

I have NSW set to optimize/defrag my C_DRIVE every night (4 AM).

There is no harm (that I know of) in doing it nightly/daily. It actually keeps your HDD organized and speedy.

 

[Leo]

The reason i ask is that everytime i defrag my system it performs great but once i think i should run a defrag,windows tell me that i don't have to defrag right now.

 

[NetRyder]

Do it when you see some red areas in your fragmentation map. Red areas represent fragmented files ... and when there are fragmented files, a defrag always helps

 

[Leo]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Jason Roberts]

I don't defrag my drives (I have five). They all work okay.

But anyway I am going to do it tonight as part of my maintenance night.

(Friday nights is Maintenance night for the computer).

 

[djwhite]

If you get in the habit of defragging every night it should only take 5 mins, very small price to pay for a speedy system.

 

[mafiafromrussia]

i usually defrag it when i'm bored and/or watching movies on my computer. i got time so why not do a defrag as well

 

[Perris Calderon]

ok, ntfs does not need defrag like fat, it doesn't harm do it, except for the extra harddrive wear and tear, but unless your drive is close to 85% full, you should not notice a performance gain.

microsoft didn't even want to put a defrag utility into the nt kernal, but diskeeper talked them into it.

also, for a much more efficient defrag, you should try the trial of perfect disc, this defrag program not only defrags, but also brings all the files together, so the entire information on your harddrive is contigous...a very excellant program..it will also do boot defrag, so your pagefile is handled as well

also, you can download diskeeper lite...a free lite verson of the diskeeper pro, though it's pretty much the same utility that comes with xp, with a differant gui.

 

[chronic]

I also Defrag every night(Diskeeper 7.0). If your drive is heavily fragmented you should notice a difference in performance and it's a lot quieter, if not, you might not notice anything.

Run the File System Benchmark in SiSoft Sandra before and after Defrag, albeit small the numbers speak for themselves.

 

[EventHorizon]

dealer...Norton Speed Disk also does this as well.

 

[Leo]

Thanks!

 

[Perris Calderon]

Originally posted by EventHorizon
dealer...Norton Speed Disk also does this as well.

thanx event...I don't use norton products, so I'm not versed...I asked around though, and it seems the norton utility does not move the boot time files...it does defrag them, but it doesn't optimize.

On recomendation from those that use both, I believe perfect disc has an edge here

 

[Iceman]

will it is true ntfs doesn't need to be defragged as often as Fat32, it still needs to be defragged once in awhile, how often is a matter of much debate, I usually do mine once or twice a month.

I like O&O Defrag Professional Edition, just a personal choice really

 

[2z]

I tried NSD for a while although it did seem to speed up the box
what I did notice is that certain files were marked as unmovable: -
dll cache, prefetch & temp internet files

NSD can actually move the Meta data files and resize or truncate the MFT during a normal defrag operation.

After running CHKDSK I noticed that NSD was causing damage to the security descriptors on the HD which could cause the drive to become unbootable (albeit rare)

Out of all the defraggers I prefer Diskeeper

I don't defrag very often as it doesn't need it (FAT32)

look at the analysis report: - if all you see is .logs & files contained in temporary folders - then theres no need to defrag
there is no benefit from defragging these files

the times I make a point of defragging is: -

1. after uninstalling/deleting programs/files
2. before & after installing new programs (depending on the size of the program)
3. after writing a lot of files to disk

 

[Perris Calderon]

Originally posted by TwoZigzagColt45
I
After running CHKDSK I noticed that NSD was causing damage to the security descriptors on the HD which could cause the drive to become unbootable (albeit rare)

this is one of the reasons perfect disc does a better job, it doesn't try to move these files while they're in use...not a good idea.

2z, you know me, I'm whtih ms on this, and I never notice a speed increase from a defrag, but perfect disc does do a very nice job bringing these files together...give the trial a shot...I think it's up to 90 days on the trial

 

[Henyman]

i defrag when i remeber,normally once a month. i tend 2 do virus scan.defrag etc all 2gether takes a while but i bugger off + have lunch or sumin while it does it

 

[Leo]

I've ran a defrag yesterday using windows defrag and today i've put Diskeeper lite in my computer(Followed Dealer and others suggentions) and this is what happened when i went to run a defrag using it(See attachment)

Im keeping this prog for good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kitct]

I defrag as littlle as once a week and as much as 6 to 10X a day!

By the time I've finished downloading,moving,deleting extra files,making backups,cleaning the registry,mabe running boot-vis and reconfiguring user interface tweaks,I've GOT to do a defrag or two or more on my 5 partitions to make everything just-so.
Squeeky-clean as it were!

Ohh-and the games,the games,the games...esp. Max Payne and Medal of Honor,whewww!


BTW-I still use Diskeeper for some of my drives,but I just got that full version of PerfectDisk.It does seem that the PerfectDisk is sometimes a better deal.(Of course your milege may vary!)

 

[ghayes]

"NSD can actually move the Meta data files and resize or truncate the MFT during a normal defrag operation"

This is incorrect. NO defragmenter can change the size of the $MFT.

While SpeedDisk can defragment the $MFT, it is unable to defragment the remainder of the NTFS metadata - regardless of which version of Windows it is installed on. The ONLY defragmenter that can defragment all of the NTFS metadata is PerfectDisk (what other defragmenter even tells you about these metadata files?)

- Greg/Raxco Software

Disclaimer: I work for Raxco Software, the maker of PerfectDisk and a competitor to SpeedDisk, as a systems engineer in the support department.