How often do the experts recommend doing an XP defrag?

[Dev]

Hi,

Since reading the posts here I have changed my computer using habits such as
avoiding proprietorial tools such as registry mechanic and JV16 which
automatically delete registry files, which I now discover can do more harm
than good.

What is the situation with regard to defragging? On my old 98SE I have a
version of a well known defraggmenting program that did the job alot quicker
than the 98se defragmenter.

Is it recommended to keep away from these kind of programs as well? The
program I used to use was a professional version of Diskeeper Pro? Should I
"not" install this on my new XP installation?

Many Thanks and I hope my questions are of interest to the wider audience,
as I have read many other peoples posts and find that I have learnt from
their posts and hte answers given.

 

[Robert Moir]

What is the situation with regard to defragging? On my old 98SE I
have a version of a well known defraggmenting program that did the
job alot quicker than the 98se defragmenter.

Is it recommended to keep away from these kind of programs as well?
The program I used to use was a professional version of Diskeeper
Pro? Should I "not" install this on my new XP installation?

I'm personally not a fan of diskkeeper for various reasons, my personal
preference is for Raxco's perfect disk... which also isn't perfect ;-)

As for using these kinds of 3rd party defragging tools, all the ones from
reputable dealers that understand how to play nicely with XP are fine (and
disk keeper and my preferred alternative both live in this group). In fact,
I think the defragger built into windows is a "light" version of Diskkeeper,
and if it isn't then its very similar.

How often to run a defragger? - "it depends". I defrag my home machine every
couple of months and it seems fine. If i make major changes to the contents
of a disk or if i see a slowdown in file operations that i can't blame on
something else then I run the defragger a bit more often. The needs are
based more on how you use your system, how often disk contents change, than
on a set number of days before it all falls apart. One thing that helps is
that I tend to keep my operating system and applications on a seperate drive
partition from my data.

There was a myth way back in the days of Windows NT, the operating system
that XP is based upon, that NTFS drives never needed to be defragged. We've
since seen that is no longer true, but I do feel that NTFS systems are
generally more resistant to fragmentation than Windows 9x and the FAT drive
format are.


--
--
Rob Moir, Microsoft MVP for servers & security
Website - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html

Kazaa - Software update services for your Viruses and Spyware.

 

[Vagabond Software]

It depends on your system usage. If you are installing/uninstalling or creating/deleting/re-creating large files on your computer often, you may want to defrag often... say, once a month or even once a week. However, I would venture to say that the average user need only defrag once or twice a year.

Last year I defragged this computer twice, and I think I only defragged once the year before last. And I am running a low-end machine (PIII-600).

carl

 

[Dev]

Dev wrote:


I'm personally not a fan of diskkeeper for various reasons, my personal
preference is for Raxco's perfect disk... which also isn't perfect ;-)

As for using these kinds of 3rd party defragging tools, all the ones from
reputable dealers that understand how to play nicely with XP are fine (and
disk keeper and my preferred alternative both live in this group). In
fact, I think the defragger built into windows is a "light" version of
Diskkeeper, and if it isn't then its very similar.

". I defrag my home machine every couple of months and it seems fine. If i
make major changes to the contents of a disk or if i see a slowdown in file
operations that i can't blame on > something else then I run the defragger a
bit more often.

Seems like there is a huge difference between windows xp and 98, so then we
could even suggest that XP makes third party defragmenters redundant as
well, the one in windows xp would be fine if it is only needed every month
or so.

Rob Moir, Microsoft MVP for servers & security
Website - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ -
http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html

Thanks for your input Rob.

 

[Robert Moir]

Seems like there is a huge difference between windows xp and 98, so
then we could even suggest that XP makes third party defragmenters
redundant as well, the one in windows xp would be fine if it is only
needed every month or so.

The one in XP is very good but has some limits which the "full" version of
diskkeeper and the products that compete with diskkeeper don't have. Not the
least of which is ease of use for scheduling defrags when you're away from
the computer, and suchlike.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Hi,

Since reading the posts here I have changed my computer using habits
such as avoiding proprietorial tools such as registry mechanic and
JV16 which automatically delete registry files, which I now discover
can do more harm than good.

What is the situation with regard to defragging? On my old 98SE I
have a version of a well known defraggmenting program that did the
job alot quicker than the 98se defragmenter.

Is it recommended to keep away from these kind of programs as well?
The program I used to use was a professional version of Diskeeper
Pro? Should I "not" install this on my new XP installation?

Many Thanks and I hope my questions are of interest to the wider
audience, as I have read many other peoples posts and find that I
have learnt from their posts and hte answers given.

It depends on your usage and File System. I use NTFS and defrag once a year
or so. It doesn't make much performance difference that I can see.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

 

[Dev]

Not the least of which is ease of use for scheduling defrags when you're
away from

the computer, and suchlike.

I was assuming that XP defrag would be able to be "scheduled" for regular
maintenance. I am sure that 98 had this feature.

 

[Dev]

It depends on your usage and File System. I use NTFS and defrag once a
year or so. It doesn't make much performance difference that I can see.
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

Seems another reason why we should use NTFS, once a year? Then it seems
hardly necessary to bother with a third party tool.

 

[Al Dykes]

I'm personally not a fan of diskkeeper for various reasons, my personal
preference is for Raxco's perfect disk... which also isn't perfect ;-)

As for using these kinds of 3rd party defragging tools, all the ones from
reputable dealers that understand how to play nicely with XP are fine (and
disk keeper and my preferred alternative both live in this group). In fact,
I think the defragger built into windows is a "light" version of Diskkeeper,
and if it isn't then its very similar.

How often to run a defragger? - "it depends". I defrag my home machine every
couple of months and it seems fine. If i make major changes to the contents
of a disk or if i see a slowdown in file operations that i can't blame on
something else then I run the defragger a bit more often. The needs are
based more on how you use your system, how often disk contents change, than
on a set number of days before it all falls apart. One thing that helps is
that I tend to keep my operating system and applications on a seperate drive
partition from my data.

There was a myth way back in the days of Windows NT, the operating system
that XP is based upon, that NTFS drives never needed to be defragged. We've
since seen that is no longer true, but I do feel that NTFS systems are
generally more resistant to fragmentation than Windows 9x and the FAT drive
format are.

IMO, it depends on what yo uuse your machine for and how much free
space you've got on disk.


If you've got a 40GB disk with XP, running Office, you've got more
than 30GB of free space and XP will always be able to find big chunks
of free space to write a file. In this case, a defrag done after the
machine was set up would be good for the probable life of the machine
and the user would never notice any speed improvment by doing a
defrag. These people will probably never install an Office upgrade.

If you're a software developer, constantly reinstalling complex IDEs
and filling the disk, then a frequent defrag is called for.

My experience is with NTFS.

OTOH. It doesn't hurt, or cost anything of you use theone that
comes with your OS.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

W98 did have that ability, WinXP does not, but there is a link on Kelly's
site to a tool that allows for a scheduled defrag for all system tools. On
another note, you will find that XP does not need to be defragged as
frequently as a 9x system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Alex Nichol]

Is it recommended to keep away from these kind of programs as well? The
program I used to use was a professional version of Diskeeper Pro? Should I
"not" install this on my new XP installation?

Diskeeper is a good program, more comprehensive that the Lite defrag in
the System. Having tried both my personal preference is Perfect Disk,
from www.raxco.com - used about once a month, or if I have been doing
major operations like a Service Pack install

 

[Dev]

Hi,

W98 did have that ability, WinXP does not, but there is a link on Kelly's
site to a tool that allows for a scheduled defrag for all system tools. On
another note, you will find that XP does not need to be defragged as
frequently as a 9x system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

I love XP, the more I find out about it the more I love it.

Years without defragging, years with out system reinstallation? can it be
any better??
I'm digging up real gold gems here on this newsgroup about how to keep the
system in tip top working condition.

Be wary of overuse of system reverse/backdate
Not to use automated registry cleaners

And a few other gems. I'm amazed how I managed to get around my windows 98
system without resorting to newsgroups, my only fly in the oitment is that
generally these questions are too advanced for me to answer anybody elses
query

 

[Ken Blake]

In

What is the situation with regard to defragging? On my old 98SE
I
have a version of a well known defraggmenting program that did
the
job alot quicker than the 98se defragmenter.

Is it recommended to keep away from these kind of programs as
well?
The program I used to use was a professional version of
Diskeeper
Pro? Should I "not" install this on my new XP installation?

The built-in defragger is OK, as is Diskkeeper. I prefer Perfect
Disk, but there isn't necessarily a compelling reason to spend
the money for a third-party product.

Regarding how often to defrag, this is one of those many
questions where there's no simple single answer that's right for
everyone. You should defrag when your drive is fragmented enough
to adversely impact your performance. How often that is depends
on your usage patterns, and since everyone's usage patterns are
different, the answer is different for each of us.

Here's my recommendation: arbitraily pick some period, say
monthly, and defrag on that schedule a few times in a row.
Following these defrags, do you generally sense an improvement in
speed? If so, defrag more frequently. If not, defrag less
frequently.

Repeat that procedure a few times, and you should settle into a
defrag frequency that works well for you.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Not the least of which is ease of use for scheduling defrags
when
you're away from


I was assuming that XP defrag would be able to be "scheduled"
for
regular maintenance. I am sure that 98 had this feature.

I prefer not to schedule defrags, but to start them manually when
the time is available, for example when I'm away for an
afternoon, or perhaps at night. Because I don't always know in
advance when it will be convenient for me to do this, I just set
a to-do task in Outlook at around the time I want to do it. It
doesn't much matter if I end up doing it a few days sooner or
later than planned.