Defragging XP

[Guest]

I recently had XP installed on two computers. Previously, with ME on the one
older computer, to defrag effiiciently I needed to disconnect from the
internet, disable my screen saver, and use CTRL/ALT/DLT to terminate any
programs running in the background besides Explorer and SysTray. I needed to
defrag once a week to keep ME running smoothly, or I'd start to run into
problems. Doing it this way (turning everything off), the defrag took an hour
or 90 minutes. Otherwise, it would go on forever.

How often is it recommended to defrag Windows XP? Do I still need to turn
off the screensaver, disconnect from the 'net, and terminate background
programs? I'm not sure how to terminate the background programs in XP. Can
someone tell me? Or does the Windows defragmenter tool in XP handle the
program termination for you?

Thanks,
Syd13

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You should defrag your hard drive at least once
a month. It would be best if you simply booted
into Safe Mode, then perform a defrag.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I recently had XP installed on two computers. Previously, with ME on the one
| older computer, to defrag effiiciently I needed to disconnect from the
| internet, disable my screen saver, and use CTRL/ALT/DLT to terminate any
| programs running in the background besides Explorer and SysTray. I needed to
| defrag once a week to keep ME running smoothly, or I'd start to run into
| problems. Doing it this way (turning everything off), the defrag took an hour
| or 90 minutes. Otherwise, it would go on forever.
|
| How often is it recommended to defrag Windows XP? Do I still need to turn
| off the screensaver, disconnect from the 'net, and terminate background
| programs? I'm not sure how to terminate the background programs in XP. Can
| someone tell me? Or does the Windows defragmenter tool in XP handle the
| program termination for you?
|
| Thanks,
| Syd13

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I recently had XP installed on two computers. Previously, with ME on
the one older computer, to defrag effiiciently I needed to disconnect
from the internet, disable my screen saver, and use CTRL/ALT/DLT to
terminate any programs running in the background besides Explorer and
SysTray. I needed to defrag once a week to keep ME running smoothly,
or I'd start to run into problems. Doing it this way (turning
everything off), the defrag took an hour or 90 minutes. Otherwise, it
would go on forever.

How often is it recommended to defrag Windows XP? Do I still need to
turn off the screensaver, disconnect from the 'net, and terminate
background programs? I'm not sure how to terminate the background
programs in XP. Can someone tell me? Or does the Windows defragmenter
tool in XP handle the program termination for you?

Depends how you use the machine.. I defragment once every 3-6 months, if
that much.
You must have had a large amount of data on a large drive.. I have a very
full 600GB and it takes just about as long as you say your Windows ME took.

All of that should NOT have been necessary before, so no - you don't HAVE to
do it now.. Unless those applications are accessing and changing large
amounts of data on the disk, you should make it through a disk
defragmentation without issue.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Best practices
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...all/proddocs/en-us/defrag_best_practices.mspx

Before Using the Disk Defragmentation Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkd_tro_oegv.asp

Disk Defragmenter
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_asgk.asp

Running the Disk Defragmenter Snap-in
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_grov.asp

Tips for Using the Disk Defragmentation Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_ckyh.asp

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone who replied. I'll look up those websites, Wesley

Carey, how does one boot into Safe Mode?

Shenan, the hard drive on the old ME machine was only 40
whatever-they're-called. The new machine is 160. But the kids used the old
machine extensively (exclusively now, they're not on the new one at all), and
if I didn't run Ad-Aware and defrag once a week, I was reformatting the hard
drive every 5 months. With the defragging once a week, the comp. went 18
months without reformatting until we installed XP recently.

Thanks,
Syd13