disk defragmentation

[JD]

Hi,

It seems that XP's disk defragmentation tool doesn't work well when too many
fragmented files exist. Most of time I need to manually run the tool
several times to get improvement step by step. How come it doesn't provide
an extensive feature consuming more time but getting the job done
automatically. Besides, it always end up some fragmented files even there
is still lots of disk memory. Can it just compact those files by
relocation? Your suggestions and opinions are much appreciated.

By the way, another disadvantage is that XP cannot schedule an auto,
periodical defragmentation, if I am not mistaken.

JD



,

 

[Unknown]

What size disk do you have and how much free area is there? For defrag to be
efficient, it needs space to work with.
Do you do a disk cleanup before a defrag?

 

[JD]

I have about 280 G and only use up 20% or so. Yes, I did often clean up my
disk. The issue I raise is not a matter of efficiency. I can run the tool
during mid nights. I don't mind it takes hours if it needs to relocate
files in a more aggresive way. I think the tool should have two modes, one
for efficiency (consuming less time) and the other for better results in
terms of defragmentation (consuming longer time). The 2nd mode is what I am
talking about.

Thanks.

JD

 

[JS]

Some files are 'in use' and XP defrag tool can't handle these types of
files.
One tool that will help is: PageDefrag v2.32
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/PageDefrag.mspx

Note that my pagefile is a fixed size on another drive, so PageDefrag may or
may not help with the pagefile on your PC, but it will with the others file
types that it defrags.

JS

 

[ctowers]

Hi,

It seems that XP's disk defragmentation tool doesn't work well when
too many fragmented files exist. Most of time I need to manually run
the tool several times to get improvement step by step. How come it
doesn't provide an extensive feature consuming more time but getting
the job done automatically. Besides, it always end up some
fragmented files even there is still lots of disk memory. Can it
just compact those files by relocation? Your suggestions and
opinions are much appreciated.
By the way, another disadvantage is that XP cannot schedule an auto,
periodical defragmentation, if I am not mistaken.

Have you looked at ScanDefrag? It will do most of what you're asking for,
including scheduling.

 

[JD]

Hi ctowers,

Thanks for your reply. I just downloaded ScanDefrag after reading your
reply and then tried it over last night. This morning, when I turned on my
computer, guess what? The XP's task bar on the screen bottom which
usually hosts the notification area and tool bars such as "quick launch",
"Windows Media Player" were totally messed up. It took me not a long time
to recover it to some degree. Did you have such an experience? In
ScanDefrag, I also set the option for "Page File and Registry Defragment".
ScanDefrag will then invoke PageDefrag. I think PafeDefrag may be at fault.
I wonder whether it messes up other things causing problems that may show up
later.

Any help is much appreciated.

By the way, my hard drive is defragmented in a much better way after running
ScanDefrag. That's the bright side.

Tony

 

[Gerry]

JD

I am not clear why you are encountering problems. A 280 gb hard drive
with 80% free disk space should not be creating difficulties.

How large is your pagefile -minimum and maximum? Is it showing as a
solid green block or as many splinters? Green represents unmoveable
files. If splintered this is not helpful.

What space is allocated to system restore? Right click your My Computer
icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. The default setting is
12% which if unaltered is 33.6 gb.
..

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[JD]

Hi Gerry,

I'm sorry to mislead you. The 280 gb is my new machine. I tried ScanDisk
on my old machine last night which caused the problems. My old machine has
a virtual memory page 2 gb (initial) and 4 gb (maximum) It has 12% (13 gb)
for system restore. It has totally 111 gb and 64% (72 gb) is used. There
is only one green area which is small. It looks like even my old machine
should be easy for ScanDisk to handle. Your further help is appreciated.

Tony

 

[ctowers]

I've used various ScanDefrag configurations on XP sp2 without incident
but it does create a Restore Point if you should need it.
Most recently I'm using it with all the MS utilities and the "Page File and
Registry Defragmenter".

Rearrangement of the desktop is sometimes associated with booting into
Safe Mode, have you done that recently?

 

[Gerry]

JD

You are causing confusion with your latest post as well <G>!

Are we discussing a computer with Windows XP or some other operating
system? Scandisk is not provided with Windows XP so if you were using it
your computer has an earlier operating sysatem e.g. Windows 98. The
comparable disk checking utility provided for use with Windows XP is
chkdsk. Scandisk will takes a very long time to check a 111 gb disk and
I hate to think what it would make of a 280 gb disk.

Running Disk Defragmenter on a disk with 36% free space should also not
normally cause problems but it might take a while if Disk Defragmenter
has not been run on a regular basis and this is the first for some time.
If run regularly it will take less time the next time. There could be
exceptions.

What is the computer processor speed and how much RAM? This is really a
question of the capacity of the computer to handle XP but it can impact
on the time taken to run Disk Defragmenter.

In Windows 98 it was advisable to run Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode as
running it in normal mode often caused Disk Defragmenter to restart. The
Disk Defragmenter in Windows XP is less susceptible to this problem so
most people run it in normal mode. However, you still have an option to
run it in Safe Mode if it is being interupted.

A pagefile that is not contiguous will mean that files tend to fragment
more rapidly. It is contiguous if the file is represented by a solid
green block in the Disk Defragmenter graphical representation of the
partition. Note the pagefile will normally be fragmented whether it is
contiguous or not contiguous. Defragmenting the pagefile is generally a
waste of time.

The size of files can affect the ability to defragment especially where
free disk space is less than say 25%. A non-contiguous pagefile
exacerbates the problem where there are large files to be written to
disk. The system may find smaller pockets of free space scattered over
the disk so it writes bits of the large file where it can. When you get
to partitions with less than 15% free space you can find large files
remain fragmented and eventually Disk Defragmenter will not run.

If you wish to get the best results you should not run Disk Defragmenter
in isolation. Before running Disk Defragmenter you should remove
unnecessary files by running Disk CleanUp for all user profiles,
including the System Restore option on the More Option tab. An
alternative to Disk CleanUp is cCleaner but if used you still need to
run the System Restore option in Disk CleanUp. Also some programmes such
as Outlook Express have a compacting option which should be carried out
before using Disk Defragmenter.

It is usually a good idea to carry out housekeeping after making
significants changes or downloading large files. I don't do it but I
suspect after burning CDs might be another time to do some housekeeping.

The allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore on your C
partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right
click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore.
Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the
slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you
get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[JD]

_ct_,

I didn't boot into Safe Mode. I don't think ScanDefrag boot into Safe Mode
either. Or otherwise, I should see "Safe Mode" on the 4 corners of the
screen.

JD

 

[ctowers]

Varying the ScanDefrag configuration on the next run might lead to an
understanding of where the problem is originating. Just be sure to have it
create the initial Restore Point and you should be alright.