On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 03:12:19 -0500, "Mikey"
DEFRAG: Microsoft relented on the suggested frequency, revised
way-downwards its benefits.
That also varies with file system; it's expected to be less important
in NTFS than it is in FATxx, See
http://cquirke.mvps.org/ntfs.htm
Best strategy:
- keep C: small and most gunk off C:
- reduce absurd IE web cache bloat, in all user accounts
- curb excessive SR useage
Then, before installing stuff, do this:
- defrag to consolidate free space
- set pagefile minimum to at least 512M
Defrag whenever:
- after you have just deleted or uninstalled large stuff
- before you install large stuff
- after you purge a directory full of a *large* number of items
The last is a biggie on FATxx, as this looks up dir entries in a
linear fashion. A long and fragmented cluster chain, bloated with
"deleted" ghost entries, means a long and slow critical window during
writes to that directory. Hopefully, defrag will purge the "deleted"
ghost entries and rebuild the dir as a small and contiguous chain.
As examples of the above, think:
- clearance of IE cache
- clearance of "FFF..." files in Windows dir after killing MDM.EXE
- clearance of junk in root, after certain virus attacks
- clearance of Temp directories
That OS has a "prefetcher" built into it.
This to increase the "snappiness" of the system.
True. But it takes time for the system to generate PF informtion, so
an early post-install defrag won't leverage PF to good effect.
That's why it takes a second defrag, some weeks after installing SP2,
to get back the speed you may have lost after installing SP2.
Start with one brand new hard-disk on a brand new PC.
Install the latest WinXP version (with SP2 already integratred).
Add all your latest drivers.
Install SOME or ALL your apps but do not open any.
Get rid of all the *.tmp files you can.
Yep - and then, set your swap (pagefile) minimum.
The less RAM you have, the more swap you will *really* need, but some
settings can "need" more swap the more RAM you have (e.g. full memory
dump). Fast user switching can be expected to need more swap, the
more users and RAM you have (as each user's context is stored there)
You never surfed the web yet.
Drop IE's absurd web cache size before doing so.
No disputing the fact that the disk is organized or do I have it wrong
somewhat/somewhere?
The only drawback is that until the PC's been used in a typical manner
for a while, there isn't any useful PreFetch (PF) info to guide
Defrag's choices as to what goes where.
On the one hand, you have the defragmenter.
It's purpose is very clear.
It can be taken literally as "make sure all file and dir data cluster
chains are contiguous", or generally as "make the system run faster".
On the other, the prefetcher.
It is active thru the life of the install.
There to also increase the response/snappiness/performance
BUT.... it FRAGMENTS your disk.
Yes - because as of Win98, Defrag knows that deliberately fragmenting
code files, so that often used *parts* of those files are nearer the
"front" of the volume, can speed up the system.
Then there's the matter of "Net Surfing".
The biggest thing there is killing IE web cache bloat, which is
repeated in every iser account.
If you think about what web cache is supposed to do (speed up slow
connections when old material is re-read), it's obvious you don't need
much more than 40M web cache, tops. Any connection that can pull down
over 40M in a short enough period for the oldest to be still relevant,
is fast enough not to need web caching.
Large web caches that take months to delete the oldest items, will
cause significant fragmentation - not only because of all the tiny old
files that create "holes" when eventually deleted, but because even
when the cache uses multiple dirs, each dir will have a very long and
fragmented cluster chain that has to be fully traversed every time IE
needs to know that a name for a new item is unique. OUCH!
------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
The most accurate diagnostic instrument
in medicine is the Retrospectoscope
