Can I schedule for defragmentation to run?

[toakala]

From my xp prof, Start>all prog>accessories>system tools>schedule task, I
cannot see the defragmentation program to set it to run at a schedule time.
Is there a way to do it? Thanks

 

[C]

From my xp prof, Start>all prog>accessories>system tools>schedule task, I
cannot see the defragmentation program to set it to run at a schedule time.
Is there a way to do it? Thanks

Why would you want to do that?

C

 

[toakala]

Oh, I have found the link on how to do it, but I have some questions:-

1/ When they asked for the password, has it got to be the same password that
you log in to use the xp? (just for interest this question)

2/ We do not use any password to log into the xp xystem, once we power up
the xp, it goes strainght to desktop. So what happen if we forget the
password after the set the password for the defragmentation process. Is there
anywhere to overide this password?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[toakala]

I dont quite understand which part are you refering too. Presumably, as I
understand it, defrag helps to improves the performance.

 

[C]

I dont quite understand which part are you refering too. Presumably, as I
understand it, defrag helps to improves the performance.

Agreed but why do you want to schedule it to run every day? Considering
it's good practice to disable your anti virus before running the defrag
and to do a check disk beforehand, I fail to see the benefit and can
only see problems for you if you do it.

C

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I dont quite understand which part are you refering too. Presumably, as I
understand it, defrag helps to improves the performance.

On a heavily fragmented disk you might notice an improvement in performance
after defragging. If you defrag your disk after one working day then you
won't get anything other than a warm feeling inside for having a disk with
mostly contiguous files. Keep also in mind that defragging is an intrusive
operation. If something goes wrong in the middle then you might end up with
a trashed file system.

To decide if frequent defragging is worth the trouble, try this:
1. Defrag your disk.
2. Schedule a job that runs at logon time. Its sole purpose is to open your
EMail program.
3. Use a stopwatch to measure how long it takes from a cold boot until your
EMail program is operative.
4. Do not defrag your disk for a month.
5. Repeat Step 3.
6. Use the results from Step 3 and 5 to decide how often you should defrag
the disk.

 

[Jim]

Oh, I have found the link on how to do it, but I have some questions:-

1/ When they asked for the password, has it got to be the same password
that
you log in to use the xp? (just for interest this question)

2/ We do not use any password to log into the xp xystem, once we power up
the xp, it goes strainght to desktop. So what happen if we forget the
password after the set the password for the defragmentation process. Is
there
anywhere to overide this password?

Many thanks for your help.

Scheduled tasks can only be run by an account which has a password.
Jim

 

[Patrick Palczewski]

To add to Jim's response, typically it's the Administrator account and
password that's use to schedule the tasks, IIRC.

 

[Jose]

From my xp prof, Start>all prog>accessories>system tools>schedule task, I
cannot see the defragmentation program to set it to run at a schedule time.
Is there a way to do it? Thanks

The answer to your question is yes and Microsoft tells you how to do
exactly that:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/gehrke1.mspx

Setting up STs takes some knowledge, practice and patience until you
get the hang of it and MS recommends you set up any STs using an
account that has a password. You can read about that here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308569

It is not required to have a PW for STs, but it is recommended so that
you do not circumvent built in security measures just to set up a ST
(but it can be done).

Either assign a PW to your account (even if you automatically log in),
or create a new account with a PW just for STs.

There is no need to use the Administrator account for STs.

Only you can decide if there is any benefit (real of perceived)
associated with the effort.

Here is some notes I have for when your STs do not work:

Not so popular advice from me to troubleshoot STs:

It is strongly suggested that the task be assigned to a user that has
a password (not the Administrator), so create a new user with a
password just for tasks or add a password to your account if needed.
You can temporarily assign yourself a PW to test and worry about this
later.

If you don't use an account with a password, you will get an error
trying to create the task. It will still be created, but will not
run
properly.

There is a way around this, but get this working first to be sure
your
mechanism is not afflicted.

Stop the Task Scheduler service.

Delete or rename the probably cluttered ST log file:

c:\windows\schedlgu.txt

Restart the Task Scheduler service to create a new log.

Browse to the c:\windows\tasks folder to see all your tasks.

The Next Run Time, Last Run Time, Status and Last Results columns
are of interest. You can also click Advanced and view the log.

Choose to Add Scheduled Task. Create a new task to run Command
Prompt
once, now. If you don't have a PW, you will get an error trying to
create it (more on that later). It will still be created, but will
never run.

Right click the new Command Prompt task and choose Run and a command
window should open immediately. If not, something is wrong. If yes,
your mechanism is sound. Look in the log file to see your results.

You know how to remove the log now, so that is up to you. Be sure
the
Task Scheduler service is running again.

Try to Run your new or troublesome task, observe the columns, and the
log.
If your task fails to run manually, the errors in the log file are
the
clues to what to do next.

 

[toakala]

Many thanks for all the info. Intented to set to defrag say once a month but
it seems its easier to start the process manually. Thanks .

 

[HeyBub]

I dont quite understand which part are you refering too. Presumably,
as I understand it, defrag helps to improves the performance.

Not really. A drive formatted NTFS has its directory in a pseudo-relational
database which is quick-like-a-bunny in gathering up all the pieces of a
file.

Routine defragmentation of such a drive has no detectable effect on
efficiency.