defragmentation?

[subdude]

hello,

how often should a pc be defraged?
some say monthly, others after every install/uninstall of software, others once a year, what do you recommend?

also, why does the standard defrag programm from windows take hours and hours to do it while other software does the same in minutes? is one better than the other?

thanks for any suggestions.

[danlisa]

How often should a PC be defraged? :

When you experience slow seek and slow application startup times compared to when you knew the system was fully defragged. You know, those times when you say "that's taking ages to.....". Or when you reach 10% fragmentation on your HDD that houses your OS.

Others after every install/uninstall of software: (edit - misread that but my answer stands)

No, just NO! Fragmentation is caused by uninstalling and reinstalling software. You should always defrag before or after large amounts of data are added or removed from your HDD.

Why does the standard defrag program from windows take hours and hours:

Because it's sh1t. Simples.:D

You are advised to use a dedicated 3rd party program that can be initiated when you want and can defrag your HDD by these means: By Name, By Access Date, By Size etc.....I recommend O&O Defrag. This program manages my system and keeps my fragmentation below 0.15%.

A last word on Defragging. Occasionally (your choice) it is advisable to disable your Swap File (aka Virtual RAM), reboot and then defrag. This file occupies a large section on your HDD and can easily become spread out over the sectors on any HDD.

The aim of defragging is to move and rearrange all your programs so that their data sets are continuous on your HDD sectors, not having them arranged together means that your system is searching for different data sets in different areas of your HDD. Not optimal.

[tashen]

how often should a pc be defraged?
That depends on your usage and how soon and badly your drive gets fragmented. For example I need to defrag often since I do a lot of photo editing on my system. I run Diskeeper09 in the automatic mode, it defrags in the background even as the PC is being used. I dont need to run defrag manually, its very efficient:up:

also, why does the standard defrag programm from windows take hours and hours to do it while other software does the same in minutes? is one better than the other?

I too feel the Windows defragger is very slow, the one in Vista runs at very low priorty and takes its own sweet time to defrag and also lacks a visual display. Plus most defraggers need atleast 15% free space while DK works with as less as 5%. I personally prefer it over any other defraggers. You can try the demo versions of various programs and decide for yourself.

[AngusJS]

I run Diskeeper09 in the automatic mode, it defrags in the background even as the PC is being used. I dont need to run defrag manually, its very efficient:up:Is Diskeeper 2009 supposed to replace the Windows defragmenter? I wanted to try the Windows one after installing DK09, and it's disappeared! The icon under Accesories/System Tools has been replaced by DK09, while I get a "File Not Found" error message when I try to start the Windows defragmenter reached by right clicking on the hard drive in My Computer.

This is beyond the pale.

[onelifecrisis]

Personally I don't think there is that much to be gained from buying a defragmenter. Your money would be much better spent upgrading your hardware.

Defragmenting (with the default windows defragmenter) before and after you install software should keep everything running smooth. If you defragment at any other time then all you'll really be doing is defragmenting your temporary files, downloads, documents, music, videos, and anything you work on (images, videos, whatever) none of which will tend to affect performance all that much. It's worth doing it once in a while (exactly how often really depends on how often you add/edit files on your computer) but there's no need to go nuts and do it every week.

BTW, stay away from JKDefrag/MyDefrag.

[CaptainHaplo]

Want the "windows 2000" answer from Microsoft?

Never - NTFS never needs to be "defragged".

I kid you not - that was their answer when the move from FAT to NTFS was made with 2k.

As for now - do what I do - defrag when you think about it. If your thinking about it - then your seeing a slowdown so its a good time.

[Arclight]

Is Diskeeper 2009 supposed to replace the Windows defragmenter? I wanted to try the Windows one after installing DK09, and it's disappeared! The icon under Accesories/System Tools has been replaced by DK09, while I get a "File Not Found" error message when I try to start the Windows defragmenter reached by right clicking on the hard drive in My Computer.

This is beyond the pale.
Basically, yes. The defrag utility in windows is a basic form of Diskeeper. ;)

[Tchocky]

Piriform Defraggler does the job for me.

Free, too.

[kiwi_2005]

I use Auslogics Disk Defrag free version, does what its meant to do. Very fast as well.

http://www.auslogics.com/en/

[subdude]

many thanks to all your contributions, as always you were all very helpful! what a civilised place this is!

allow me one more question:

should i defrag my external hard drive where i store music files and do my back ups?

[CaptainHaplo]

It won't hurt. If you notice the HD accesses more and more often - then defrag. Not something that has to be done constantly though.