Defrag: Is this possible?

[Deon H]

Hi there.

Win XP Prof SP2 with latest updates.

I have just re-installed XP with all the updates and everything after a
complete re-format.

I have also just done a defrag of my drive. After it finished, not all
the files were moved to the left and still very much white space between
the bars.

Is there a way to defrag to such an extend that everything is moved to
the left, excluding the un-movable files?

I know with Win 9X I had a dos command, something like this:
defrag /all /f (something like this)

Regards,

Deon

 

[Sandman]

It seems you may be mistaking the graphic representation of the HD as an
actual position of, for example the page file, free space etc as well as
the way Xp places large files on the disc. I don't think all files would
move to the left, as you describe, after a defrag. Because of the way XP
orders, or installs files, a system of order, (as opposed to disorder),
there are unmoveable files, and for a reason, so they can't be in a tidy
'all to the left' as you describe...(It's why several partitions onna drive
makes little sense)
Do a browser search for info about this and someone somewhere will explain
this 'system' better than I. It's a Microsoft thing.

 

[R. McCarty]

The native defrag in Windows XP does not consolidate Free Space.
This is why you see segments of white (Free Space) interspersed in
the graphical display of the disk layout.
To do what you are seeking, you'll need a 3rd party defrag tool, such
as Raxco's Perfect Disk 7.0

 

[Guest]

It seems you may be mistaking the graphic representation of the HD as an
actual position of, for example the page file, free space etc as well as
the way Xp places large files on the disc. I don't think all files would
move to the left, as you describe, after a defrag. Because of the way XP
orders, or installs files, a system of order, (as opposed to disorder),
there are unmoveable files, and for a reason, so they can't be in a tidy
'all to the left' as you describe...(It's why several partitions onna drive
makes little sense)

My guess is that the graphics display is supposed to reflect that files
placed further to the left in the graphical display are further to the
outside of the actual physical hard drive, meaning that they get read faster
than files closer to the inside. The built-in defragger attempts to make
guesses, probably based on file type, about what files the user wants to open
more quickly. Thus, archive files, zip files, and the like are moved more to
the inside, while executables and data files are closer to the outside.
Large music and video files also seem to be stored more to the inside. But
again, I'm just speculating.

In any event, if you regularly defrag your drives with the built in
defragger, you will eventually see a migration of files to the left, except
for the above-mentioned category of files. This will happen faster if (1)
before defragging, you always run disk cleanup and, in addition, manually
clean out junk in your data files and the temp file, (2) you run defrag (even
if you don't need to do so) before you install, modify, or delete a large
number of files, and (3) you run defrag again (even if you don't need to do
so) immediately after installing, modifying, or deleting a large number of
files. If you are the type of user who doesn't do much adding, modifying, or
deleting, you should still do step (1) and then defrag at least once a week
for best results.

Ken