Defragging and Vista

[occam]

I gather, from reading several forums, that defragging in Vista is done
'on the fly' - and that once I set it to 'automatic' I do not have to
worry about it.

Question - My portable ( Vista Business) is switched off when I'm not
using it. I do not intend switching it on just for defragger to run at
my designated time, not even for uncle Bill.

What happens in this case - I see no other setting option in the utility
('run at startup' or similar)

 

[Guest]

Hi occam,

The defrag program in Vista is different to those in previous versions of
Windows. It no longer has a graphical interface showing its progression, but
it does integrate much better with the system than in previous versions. I
recommend that you change the settings to a more convenient time and that you
set it to defrag every day instead of weekly. You can still perform a manual
defrag by clicking on the 'Defragment now' button. If you wish to use an
alternative defragmentation program, a suitable one is produced by Auslogics.
The current version is 1.4.10.249. This program has a graphical interface
which shows its progression and is very fast in running.
Dwarf

http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Try doing it through the Command Prompt:

To use the command line defrag tool in Windows Vista, you have to run the
Command Prompt as an administrator. In Vista, this is not automatic even if
you are logged in as the administrator. Click the Windows button (previously
the Start button in earlier versions of Windows), the All Programs menu item
and the Accessories menu item. Right click the "Command Prompt" button and
select "Run as administrator". A command prompt window will appear.
Everything you run in this Window will be run with administrator rights.

1.. To view a file fragmentation analysis of (say) your C: drive, type:

defrag c: -a -v
The "-a" parameter tells the defragger to perform a fragmentation analysis.
The "-v" option tells it to be verbose in its report. If you want a report
on drive D: or some other drive, substitute that drive letter in place of
c:.

Be aware that defrag may tell you that you have no fragmented files even
if you have some. On NTFS partitions, the reporting function of defrag does
not consider fragmented files with fragments greater than 64 MB as
fragmented. If you need truly detailed information, you may have to consider
getting a third party defragmenter such as those listed on the Free
Defragmentation Utilities page on thefreecountry.com.

2.. To defragment a particular drive, say C:, type:

defrag c: -v -r
The "-r" option tells the defragmentation utility to treat files that are
fragmented with 64 MB fragments or larger as though they are not fragmented.
This partial defragmentation is the default for "defrag", and it's the only
way the GUI defragmenter in Vista works.

You can also force the defragmenter to defragment everything. That is,
even if the file fragments are larger than 64MB, the Vista defragmenter will
still attempt to put the file into contiguous sectors. To do this, run the
defragger with the following options:

defrag c: -v -w
As you have probably have guessed, "-w" tells the Vista defrag tool to do a
full defragmentation. All file fragments will be consolidated where
possible.

You will still not get any feedback as to the progress of the
defragmentation with the command line tool, just as you did not with the GUI
version. However, at the beginning and the end of the defragmentation,
"defrag" with the "-v" option will give a report, much like the old Windows
XP GUI defragmentation utility. Again, though, it will not report fragmented
files with 64 MB fragments (or larger) as being fragmented.

http://www.howtohaven.com/system/vistadefragmentation.shtml

 

[occam]

Try doing it through the Command Prompt:

The issue here is not how to do manual defrag. If I wanted to 'force'
defragging -- by doing it manually -- I would not use the Vista
defragger but a faster and, dare I say, more professional one
(Diskeeper, Auslogics).

My query was - is there any way around the fact that Vista only allows
for pre-scheduled defrags, given that fixed-schedules are not feasible
for a portable which is switched off.

I quite like the idea of a 'background defragging' - if only I could
have it activated automatically at 'power on'.

 

[Guest]

Hi occam,

You cannot modify the settings in the main defrag dialog to do what you want
- instead you have to modify them in the 'Task Scheduler'. Click 'Start',
'All Programs', 'Accessories', 'System Tools'. Right-click 'Task
Scheduler'and provide administrative credentials to open this program with
administrative privileges. In the left-hand column, click 'Task Scheduler
Library', 'Microsoft', 'Windows', 'Defrag'. In the main window (central
column), double-click 'ScheduledDefrag'. This brings up a page entitled
'ScheduledDefrag Properties'. Select the 'Triggers' tab. Highlight the
current schedule and click 'Edit...'. At the top of this dialogue box there
is an option 'Begin the task:'. You can then change the trigger of this task
to what ever you like, including 'At startup'. Select the option that you
require and then click 'OK' twice. You should now be back at the main
display. If you have done this correctly, the 'Triggers' column for
'ScheduledDefrag' should read 'At system startup'. Close the 'Task Scheduler'
program. When you next start your system, the defrag program will
automatically run. Please note that you will no longer be able to perform a
manual defrag without first resetting the schedule to its default.
Dwarf

 

[occam]

Thanks Dwarf - it's so simple, I wonder why *I* did not stumble across
this solution . Will give it a go.