O.T. - Problem with Defraggler

[magineer02]

I have a new Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7
Professional, SP1,with Spywareblaster, Avast,
and Windows firewall.
1 TB HD
Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz
Ram 12.0 GB
System type : 64-bit operating system


I usually check for updates and run CCleaner,
Defraggler at least once a week. Yesterday
while running Defraggler I noticed that my
used spaced increased during the process which
is something I have never seen before.

When I bought the computer 2 months ago it had
60GB of used space but that number has now risen
to 73.4GB! I've added some files but not 13.4GB!

I keep my computer as simple and clean as I can,
and no games but I don't understand why Defraggler
is doing this and over time this is going eat up
my HD.

So my question is how can I stop Defraggler
from eating up my HD and is there a way to recover
the 13.4 GBG?


Thoughts/Suggestions?
Robert

 

[Paul]

I have a new Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7
Professional, SP1,with Spywareblaster, Avast,
and Windows firewall.
1 TB HD
Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz
Ram 12.0 GB
System type : 64-bit operating system


I usually check for updates and run CCleaner,
Defraggler at least once a week. Yesterday
while running Defraggler I noticed that my
used spaced increased during the process which
is something I have never seen before.

When I bought the computer 2 months ago it had
60GB of used space but that number has now risen
to 73.4GB! I've added some files but not 13.4GB!

I keep my computer as simple and clean as I can,
and no games but I don't understand why Defraggler
is doing this and over time this is going eat up
my HD.

So my question is how can I stop Defraggler
from eating up my HD and is there a way to recover
the 13.4 GBG?


Thoughts/Suggestions?
Robert

This is a hint for you.

http://www.piriform.com/docs/defraggler/troubleshooting/issues-after-you-have-run-defraggler

"I ran Defraggler on my Windows Vista/7 PC and now
I've lost one or more System Restore points.

This is a known issue with Windows Vista/7 and
third-party defragmentation tools such as Defraggler.
The problem occurs when the amount of disk space
set aside for System Restore is too low.

Advanced users can clear out old System Restore
points ('volume shadow copies') to make more room
using this procedure."

So what that tells you, is Defraggler is triggering
tracking of the file changes it is making, and System
Restore is making copies of *each* defragmented file.

It's true, that "clearing out the old System Restore points",
will recover the space, but that is a stupid thing to do.
Better to use a defragmenter, that does not have an issue
with System Restore. Then, there is no mess to clean up.

And no, I don't have a list of defragmenters that work right

Just a guess,
Paul

 

[Paul]

This is a hint for you.

http://www.piriform.com/docs/defraggler/troubleshooting/issues-after-you-have-run-defraggler


"I ran Defraggler on my Windows Vista/7 PC and now
I've lost one or more System Restore points.

This is a known issue with Windows Vista/7 and
third-party defragmentation tools such as Defraggler.
The problem occurs when the amount of disk space
set aside for System Restore is too low.

Advanced users can clear out old System Restore
points ('volume shadow copies') to make more room
using this procedure."

So what that tells you, is Defraggler is triggering
tracking of the file changes it is making, and System
Restore is making copies of *each* defragmented file.

It's true, that "clearing out the old System Restore points",
will recover the space, but that is a stupid thing to do.
Better to use a defragmenter, that does not have an issue
with System Restore. Then, there is no mess to clean up.

And no, I don't have a list of defragmenters that work right

Just a guess,
Paul

This will give you a list to work from, if you want
to try some other ones out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_defragmentation_software

Paul

 

[magineer02]

I always thought these were better products. I
had them on the 8200 and thought I would just
use them on the 8500. From your question, I
shouldn't?


Robert

 

[magineer02]

According to David I shouldn't be using either Ccleaner
or Defraggler but just stick with what the computer came
with but I don't even know what that's called, whether its
automatic or where it's located?

Robert

 

[magineer02]

I've uninstalled CcCleaner and Defraggler.


Robert

 

[jim]

I always thought these were better products. I
had them on the 8200 and thought I would just
use them on the 8500. From your question, I
shouldn't?


Robert

It's up to you what you use .

 

[David H. Lipman]

I always thought these were better products. I
had them on the 8200 and thought I would just
use them on the 8500. From your question, I
shouldn't?


Robert

If you were someone , here, answering questions and had thorough OS knowledge - no
problem.

However you have shown that you are not that knowledgeable and that you have a new PC a
with a new OS (to you) and I don't think it is a good idea to use 3rd party software to
"tweak" the OS so soon after its acquisition.

 

[Paul]

If you were someone , here, answering questions and had thorough OS knowledge - no
problem.

However you have shown that you are not that knowledgeable and that you have a new PC a
with a new OS (to you) and I don't think it is a good idea to use 3rd party software to
"tweak" the OS so soon after its acquisition.

There is another way you could answer this question.

The OP had the 8200 running WinXP and the 8500 running Windows 7.

The OSes come with an Upgrade Advisor, which you can get
in advance. In this case, you would run the following
tool on the 8200, to get some idea whether the software
programs on the 8200 would be "compatible" when run on
the 8500 with its Windows 7 OS.

"Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor"

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20

The compatibility rating is very rough, in that there
could be cases where a software application does work
pretty well on the new platform. It might be only a
tiny aspect which is not compatible (something not
a lot of people use in it). The database of information
Microsoft collects, isn't exactly a precise review of
what works or doesn't work, when a program is moved
to the new OS.

So while you do get a nice list, it's mainly for
the amusement value. If you want to run the software
bad enough, you end up installing and testing it
anyway. If the old version really doesn't work, then
you end up buying, installing, and testing a newer version.

Paul

 

[magineer02]

Everyone has their own forte, and I never
claimed that I was computer literate. I've
tried to do my best from the advice I get
here.

Robert

 

[magineer02]

It sounds as if Microsoft's version of System Tools
Scan disk, Chkdsk and Defrag)aren't that great and
most people don't know this level of information or
are aware of it.

It seems there's allot to just maintaining the
computer. I don't want to mess up this computer but
at the same time I would like some maintenance programs
to keep it clean.

Again, I thought computers were suppose to be user
friendly?

Robert

 

[dadiOH]

It sounds as if Microsoft's version of System Tools
Scan disk, Chkdsk and Defrag)aren't that great and
most people don't know this level of information or
are aware of it.

It seems there's allot to just maintaining the
computer. I don't want to mess up this computer but
at the same time I would like some maintenance programs
to keep it clean.

Clean of what? Malware? Viruses? Best solution for that is to avoid
browsing questionable sites. At least some browsers now have the capacity
to warn you of questionable sites. Be sure to keep your anti-virus program'
definitions up to date too.

If by "clean", you mean a registry free of extraneous entries then my best
advice to you is to just leave it alone. A bit of extra won't hurt anything.

Same goes for defragging. True it may take a tiny bit more time to access
something that is fragmented but that time is so small you could never
measure it. Other than that, there is no reason to defragment a drive. Oh,
OK, the extra thrashing might cut a bit of time off the drive's life but -
again - that would be very small.

Again, I thought computers were suppose to be user friendly?

They are, relatively so, if you use them as a consumer. If one tries to be
an IT guy without the necessary knowledge, they could be formidable.

Really, Robert, the best things you can do are to make an image of the new
machine once you have it set up and then to leave it (the machine) alone.
Don't mess with it and things will go smoothly for you.

dadiOH

 

[Paul]

It sounds as if Microsoft's version of System Tools
Scan disk, Chkdsk and Defrag)aren't that great and
most people don't know this level of information or
are aware of it.

It seems there's allot to just maintaining the
computer. I don't want to mess up this computer but
at the same time I would like some maintenance programs
to keep it clean.

Again, I thought computers were suppose to be user
friendly?

Robert

Some forms of maintenance, are optional.

Keeping your AV software up to date, and checking
with other uses to determine whether you've got the
right product mix, is a good idea.

Setting up backups, is again, optional but necessary,
as hard drives don't live forever. If your internal
drive fails, you want a second copy of the files.

Defragmentation and registry cleaning are optional.
I've *never* used a registry cleaner. I have
defragmented on occasion, for fat32 partitions.

The one time I checked my Windows 8 box, there wasn't
enough fragmentation (a couple percent) to even worry
about.

Paul

 

[Paul]

Regsitry cleaners are NOT optional. They are Snake Oil and should not
be used and actually avoided.

Defragmentation should be performed either manually or via Task
Scheduler at least once per month (depending on use, etc). The OS
built-in The OS built-in defragmentation utility is all that's needed.
Albeit I don't like Vista's lack of any feedback and Win7 and Win8's
minimal feedback. I prefer Win2K, XP's and Win9x/ME visual
representation of defragmentation.

As far as I'm concerned, they had to remove the defragmentation
graphical feedback, because it would show the still-fragmented files
larger than 50MB. And then there would be too many support questions
to answer.

The older OSes defragmented everything, so the display was "worth
looking at". To see how close to perfection it could get.

Paul

 

[Buffalo]

I've uninstalled CcCleaner and Defraggler.


Robert

I personally believe that you should reinstall CCleaner and use it, EXCEPT
for its Registry Cleaner. CCleaner can speed up cleaning up temp files,
history, cookies, etc. Leave the Registry Cleaner alone!!!!
Buffalo

 

[magineer02]

I've read all your comments and I
appreciate your time and effort in
responding to my questions. I'll
leave the computer alone.


Thank you,
Robert

 

[RJK]

At the very minimum a histogram would is warranted. Thus you have an idea
what has been done and how long since started and you have an idea what is
needed to complete and one can estimate a time frame for completion.

Having cast my eye through this thread, ...all very interesting !
Several areas here where I'm gonna chuck in my two penny'worth !

I thought someone would have clarified offline and online defragging, and
before running either, checking to make sure there are no errors in the file
allocation table first. ...and to defragment system files locked in place
while Windows is online, a defragger that will mark the disk as dirty, so
that offline defragmentation is run on reboot to defrag. hiberfil.sys,
pagefile.sys, meta files etc. ....and noone mentioned stopping Windows from
resizing pagefile.sys to help prevent that being chucked around all over the
hard disk. And noone mentioned retaining the necessary minimum, swapfile on
the boot-drive, and the x1.5 ram main swapfile on the first partition of a
2nd hard disk, where possible for some small performance gains - to reduce
heads skittering around all over boot-drive perhaps whilst loading an
allication and accessing swap file on same drive etc.

regards, Richard

 

[Buffalo]

wrote in message


According to David I shouldn't be using either Ccleaner
or Defraggler but just stick with what the computer came
with but I don't even know what that's called, whether its
automatic or where it's located?

Robert

Well, I would still recommend using CCleaner for clean up tasks, EXCLUDING
THE REGISTRY. Just select what you want it to remove and it can be very
helpful. DO NOT USE the Registry Cleanup function.
I use it to clean temporary files ( do not delete temp files if you just
installed a program that needs to a reboot to complete, until after that
reboot, otherwise the temp files needed to complete the installation may be
deleted). internet history, etc. If used properly, it can be very useful.
Buffalo