Defragmenting the hard drive

[bethel95]

I subscribe to a PC magazine (not as useful as Windows Secrets) but this month the free cover DVD stuffed with programs I don't generally want included O&O's defrag program. So my question is, is there any benefit in using a separate defrag program.

Rather than repeating myself, here's a link to my Lounge post "How much defragmenting is enough?"

My bottom-line answer is that developing a "defragmenting strategy" is worth only as much as the real-world performance gain that you get from implementing it, so I'd say simplest is best. I suspect that occasionally using CCleaner would have a bigger impact (but who knows for sure?). If defragging after cleaning ever really made a noticeable difference, then I suspect that what you really need is a larger HDD, because your swapfile is probably getting fragmented. (You could put the swapfile in its own partition, but that's another discussion...)

As for me, I just modified the stock Task Scheduler Defrag task to run weekly during a time when I know my computer will be on, including specifying that it should run only if the computer is idle. Note that if you put your system to sleep overnight, rather than shutting down, the Defrag task will wake up your system in order to run.

[Drew1903]

Peter,

For what the opinion of an IT Pro may be worth... Use clean up things (CCleaner, Disc Clean-up, Internet Options) so, Defrag isn't bothering w/ things that are unneeded, in the 1st place and let the native Defrag run wkly, as by default and just carry on as such. Will be just fine.

Cheers,
Drew

[Duchess843]

I used Auslogics for quite some time (still on my wife's PC) but I switched to Win 7 default defrag and seems fine to me.

The only time I actually defrag my HD is just before creating an Image of my OS partitions.

Can I jump in here to ask a question?

How can I set Windows 7 defrag to only run when I choose it to run? Currently it's scheduled to run on the 15th of every month.

Gloria

[bbearren]

Can I jump in here to ask a question?

How can I set Windows 7 defrag to only run when I choose it to run? Currently it's scheduled to run on the 15th of every month.

Gloria

Delete it from the list of scheduled tasks in Task Scheduler, and then it will only run when you actually invoke it.

[Drew1903]

Yes, check Task Scheduler. Because, by default, Win7 defrags every Wednesday @ (I think it's) mid-night or might be 2 AM. In the Defrag window that can be changed... to Daily, for example or the time changed. But, to have it @ a single specific date, check what's going on in Task Scheduler. I'm in 8, right now, so, going by memory & can't give pictures. If, I'm back in 7 soon, I'll... well, you know.

Cheers,
Drew

[Wakkierob]

I think I will stick with the windows version as well

Wrong move some Third Party Defraggers are free as well as giving you important info like seeing files on the drive that you don't like, like a hidden melware or program auto-installed from internet using lots of space and not to mention Windows Defrag is a basic utility not recommended I think!

Plus you get no info except defrag complete or it just stops that's it woopie!

plus you can't organize which files get defragged first and speed things up instead you wait, wait, wait.....

[satrow]

Wakkierob, third party defraggers are much more likely to trigger unexpected problems than the native defragger. Pretty does not make better if you cannot boot outside of Safe Mode!

Start > Run > cmd, input defrag /? and press Enter. Lot's of highly configurable options for defragging are listed there (eg. defrag /b = boot files laid out in the fastest area), they can also be transferred into a Scheduled Task.

[bbearren]

I use a 3rd party tool, MyDefrag, which uses Windows Disk Defragmenter to do the actual moving of files, Windows Disk Defragmenter boot optimization history, and MyDefrag algorithms to defrag system and data drives/partitions. And it can also be scheduled in Task Scheduler.

Defrager.PNG

It's a set-it-and-forget-it thing. I've used MyDefrag (which used to be known as JKDefrag) for a number of years, know what it does and how I like it to run, and it's one of the first things I put on a new PC or laptop.

Most (but not all) 3rd party defraggers use the Windows Defragmenter system library to do the actual work; they offer algorithms that are different than the Windows one-size-fits-all set of algorithms. We all have our own preferences and reasons.

[Duchess843]

There is increasingly no need for a 3rd party defrag program as hardware and operating systems have improved
considerably to contribute to minimizing the actual need. A small degree of fragmentation never hurts and will not reduce performance noticably.
The Windows 7 default utility is sufficient in most circumstances.

SSD's don't require defragmenting, and other internal mechanical drives seldom need defragmenting on the order that was done even a few years ago.
Third party defrag tools are not worth paying out for, especially since there are some decent free ones, as mentioned above.

Clint, my Windows Defrag is set to the 15th of every month at 3:00 AM. But defrag does not appear in the Task Scheduler.

Is there someway I can make it appear ?

[bbearren]

Clint, my Windows Defrag is set to the 15th of every month at 3:00 AM. But defrag does not appear in the Task Scheduler.

Is there someway I can make it appear ?

In Control Panel > Administrative Tools right-click on Task Scheduler and select "Run as administrator". That should show the tasks that have been scheduled by Windows.

[CLiNT]

Example:
Untitled4.jpg

I've removed it from here.

Configure Disk Defragmenter Schedule in Windows 7 or Vista

Task Scheduler - Create New Task

[Duchess843]

Wakkierob, third party defraggers are much more likely to trigger unexpected problems than the native defragger. Pretty does not make better if you cannot boot outside of Safe Mode!

Start > Run > cmd, input defrag /? and press Enter. Lot's of highly configurable options for defragging are listed there (eg. defrag /b = boot files laid out in the fastest area), they can also be transferred into a Scheduled Task.

I get the message that Windows can't find input. Any suggestions?

[jwitalka]

Just type defrag /? into the cmd window, not input defrag /?

Jerrry