Defrag?

[Hymer]

Hello,

I regularly defrag my Windows XP SP1 using the Windows defragger. After
defragging my c drive, the analyzer says I should defrag again. This happens
even when I run defrag from Safe Mode.

The analysis says that it could not defrag "documents and settings" which is
1.5 gigs. The drive is 10 gigs with 2.7 gigs free.

Does anyone know what I should do to really defrag the drive or know why the
analysis says to defrag so quickly?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Alias]

Hello,

I regularly defrag my Windows XP SP1 using the Windows defragger. After
defragging my c drive, the analyzer says I should defrag again. This happens
even when I run defrag from Safe Mode.

The analysis says that it could not defrag "documents and settings" which is
1.5 gigs. The drive is 10 gigs with 2.7 gigs free.

Does anyone know what I should do to really defrag the drive or know why the
analysis says to defrag so quickly?

Thanks,

Bob

Do you do a clean up before defragging?

Alias

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello,

I regularly defrag my Windows XP SP1 using the Windows defragger. After
defragging my c drive, the analyzer says I should defrag again. This happens
even when I run defrag from Safe Mode.

The analysis says that it could not defrag "documents and settings" which is
1.5 gigs. The drive is 10 gigs with 2.7 gigs free.

Does anyone know what I should do to really defrag the drive or know why the
analysis says to defrag so quickly?

Thanks,

Bob

Frequent defragging of a disk is like pissing in your wet suit:
It will give you a warm feeling but nobody will notice any
difference. I'm serious: While the picture of a nicely defragged
disk may be aesthetically pleasing, you won't notice any difference
in performance unless you use a stop watch. Occasionally we
see posts in this newsgroup about a defragging operation
having gone wrong, perhaps during a power outage. The
question then is: If it is an intrusive operation than delivers
no noticeable benefits but can go wrong, why bother? Doing
it once a month is probably more than enough.

 

[Alias]

Frequent defragging of a disk is like pissing in your wet suit:
It will give you a warm feeling but nobody will notice any
difference. I'm serious: While the picture of a nicely defragged
disk may be aesthetically pleasing, you won't notice any difference
in performance unless you use a stop watch. Occasionally we
see posts in this newsgroup about a defragging operation
having gone wrong, perhaps during a power outage. The
question then is: If it is an intrusive operation than delivers
no noticeable benefits but can go wrong, why bother? Doing
it once a month is probably more than enough.

That doesn't explain why the defrag didn't defrag properly, the OP's
question. You answered the following question:

"How often should I defrag?"

Alias

 

[Hymer]

That doesn't explain why the defrag didn't defrag properly, the OP's
question. You answered the following question:

"How often should I defrag?"

Thanks for the comments. I usually defrag about once per month but have been
doing it more often when I noticed that the analysis wanted me to defrag
again right after doing it. I do a cleanup when I do it once per month prior
to defragging.

I am wondering if I need to do a defrag from the c prompt. I think that the
1.5 gig documents and settings folder is not getting defrag because I am
going through Windows.

Does that make sense? Perhaps I need a third party defragger that works
through the c prompt.

Bob

 

[Alias]

Thanks for the comments. I usually defrag about once per month but have been
doing it more often when I noticed that the analysis wanted me to defrag
again right after doing it. I do a cleanup when I do it once per month prior
to defragging.

I am wondering if I need to do a defrag from the c prompt. I think that the
1.5 gig documents and settings folder is not getting defrag because I am
going through Windows.

Does that make sense? Perhaps I need a third party defragger that works
through the c prompt.

Bob

I use SystemSuite, http://www.v-com.com but it isn't free. I find that
the JetDefrag with SystemSuite is more thorough and lasts longer. That
said, when I used to use XP's I never had the problem you're having and
I did it in normal mode.

Alias

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

That doesn't explain why the defrag didn't defrag properly, the OP's
question. You answered the following question:

"How often should I defrag?"

Alias

Indeed. But them I'm pragmatic: Why spend time on an
issue that has no downside and whose resolution delivers
no benefit?

 

[Alias]

Indeed. But them I'm pragmatic: Why spend time on an
issue that has no downside and whose resolution delivers
no benefit?

Yeah, makes one wonder why you even bothered to reply to the thread,
given its insignificance to you.

Alias

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the comments. I usually defrag about once per month but have
been doing it more often when I noticed that the analysis wanted me to
defrag again right after doing it. I do a cleanup when I do it once per
month prior to defragging.

I am wondering if I need to do a defrag from the c prompt. I think that
the 1.5 gig documents and settings folder is not getting defrag because I
am going through Windows.

Does that make sense? Perhaps I need a third party defragger that works
through the c prompt.

Bob

What is the percentage of free space on the drive? Defrag needs about 15%
free to be able to do its thing. I wonder if the 1.5gig file is bigger than
the free space hence it cannot be consolidated.
Jim

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yeah, makes one wonder why you even bothered to reply to the thread,
given its insignificance to you.

Alias

It's because many people are quite religious in their defragging
efforts. Few ever make a reasonable effort to measure its
benefits. Have you ever taken out your stop watch to measure
your PC's performance before and after a defrag? If so, please
let's have your test results: What exactly you measured, how
you measured it, what the results were and how long since the
previous defrag.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

It's because many people are quite religious in their defragging
efforts. Few ever make a reasonable effort to measure its
benefits. Have you ever taken out your stop watch to measure
your PC's performance before and after a defrag? If so, please
let's have your test results: What exactly you measured, how
you measured it, what the results were and how long since the
previous defrag.

I defrag every couple yeaqrs just for the heck of it. I never notice any
benefit. NTFS file system.

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

 

[Hymer]

It's because many people are quite religious in their defragging
efforts. Few ever make a reasonable effort to measure its
benefits. Have you ever taken out your stop watch to measure
your PC's performance before and after a defrag? If so, please
let's have your test results: What exactly you measured, how
you measured it, what the results were and how long since the
previous defrag.

OK, OK, I will not be so compulsive about defragging. However, the free
space is 25% of the drive so I don't think that is the problem.

Nevertheless, I will not worry about it.

Bob

 

[Alias]

It's because many people are quite religious in their defragging
efforts. Few ever make a reasonable effort to measure its
benefits. Have you ever taken out your stop watch to measure
your PC's performance before and after a defrag? If so, please
let's have your test results: What exactly you measured, how
you measured it, what the results were and how long since the
previous defrag.

Not the subject at hand and I suspect the OP has a problem that needs to
be addressed that's causing the defrag not to complete properly.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what it might be.

I defrag after installing a large program like XP, SP2 or office or
after installing five or six small programs. Same with uninstalling.
Degragging every other day as routine maintenance is a bit anal, I agree.

Alias

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Hello,

I regularly defrag my Windows XP SP1 using the Windows defragger. After
defragging my c drive, the analyzer says I should defrag again. This
happens
even when I run defrag from Safe Mode.

The analysis says that it could not defrag "documents and settings" which
is
1.5 gigs. The drive is 10 gigs with 2.7 gigs free.

Does anyone know what I should do to really defrag the drive or know why
the
analysis says to defrag so quickly?

Thanks,

Bob

Have you tried running scandisk and then trying to defrag in safe mode?


Bobby

 

[Hymer]

Have you tried running scandisk and then trying to defrag in safe mode?


Bobby

No, I will give it a try.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Gerry Cornell]

After you have run Disk Defragmenter what appears , if any, in the "Most
fragmented
files" list?

The amount of free space is very important when running Disk Defragmenter. A
minimum of 15% is required but sometimes 20% is desirable if the drive /
partition
contains one or more large files. You can run Disk Defragmenter a second and
third
time if files are still fragmented after the first run. You can put files
more prone to
fragment in their own partitions.

If you use Outlook Express regularly compacting Outlook Express before
running
Disk Defragmenter is helpful.

Disk Defragmenter provides a "Most fragmented files" list. When a fragmented
file is
larger than the largest pocket of free space available then the files is not
fragmented.
Running Disk Defragmenter a second or third time does move files around and
can
reduce / eliminate the contents of the "Most fragmented files" list. The
more free
space on the drive / partition, the more likely it is that all fragments
will be
eliminated.

Free space cannot be defragmented with the Windows XP Disk Defragmenter.
Neither can your pagefile cannot be defragmented because the file is in use
whilst
Disk Defragmenter is running. You can purchase other Defragmenting Utilities
e.g.
Perfect Disk, which will defragment your pagefile and free space. Another
option is to
place your pagefile in it's own partition. A pagefile partition is best
located as the first
partition on a second hard drive. You should leave a small page file at the
original
location.
http://www.raxco.com/

~~~~~~


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Plato]

[Too] Frequent defragging of a disk is like pissing in your wet suit:

Agreed.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Have a look at the post with the Subject "Disk Defragment --loss of data"
posted in this group one hour ago. If might have an influence on how often
you should defrag your disk.

 

[2techs]

Possible if required space is not there the defragger does nothing an
the analyser will ask you to do defrag again

Perhaps you should download a third party tool, its faster than th
windows XP defragmenter. do run chkdsk bfore the defrag. Also on
advantage of defragging regularly is that it doesnt take too lon
eac
time. Also better to do it when u have free space than when the driv
is full or is severly fragmented and both these situations are no
uncommon even with NTFS file systems. Depends on how ur usage is

 

[Plato]

Perhaps you should download a third party tool, its faster than the
windows XP defragmenter. do run chkdsk bfore the defrag. Also one

Defrag is one of those things you really shouldnt worry about how long
it takes. No need to sit and watch it. Run it and then go eat dinner,
etc.