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| Thread ID: 52456 | 2004-12-19 16:20:00 | Is there a defragger that does files AND free space? | argus (366) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 305652 | 2004-12-19 16:20:00 | I use two basic tools to tidy up my HD - the Windows (XP Pro) defragmenter and Norton's Speed Disk (Systemworks 2004/Norton Utilities). The Windows tool concentrates on defragging the files themselves, but seems to introduce a lot of fragments of free space. The Norton assiduously compacts all the free space together, but seems to re-fragment some of the files, according to the Windows defragger's red-blue chart. The Windows tool, in any case, doesn't seem to do a very good job. When it's done, a little less than half the total occupied space is still showing as fragmented, and if I start it up again immediately, it says "you should defragment this drive". Are there good (and safe) independent defraggers out there that will do both jobs simulataneously and leave me with as close as possible to the ideal chart consisting of a swathe of blue (unfragmented) followed by a swathe of white (free space)? Or is it time for a total backup, format and reinstall? (last done 4th June 04)? Argus |
argus (366) | ||
| 305653 | 2004-12-19 20:51:00 | O&O do a defragger here (www.oo-software.com) As to whether it does what you want..... try it and see. |
Spout (6433) | ||
| 305654 | 2004-12-19 20:53:00 | You will never get a 'perfect' HDD layout. Not even Linux filesystems like Ext2, Ext3, Reiser4 or XFS will do that sorta perfection (Although no defragging rocks). I would personally just use one and leave it at that, performance will not be noticable. You said "The Windows tool concentrates on defragging the files themselves, but seems to introduce a lot of fragments of free space.". Im not 100% sure what you mean, as Free space is free space and doesnt need to be 'defragged' if its degfragmenting the 'data' on the drive properly. If you _really_ wanted, I'd suggest removing all apps you dont _require_ for a day, shifting your data across a LAN if possible, then filling the free space with a single file that's just a whole lot of "1's". Chill. |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 305655 | 2004-12-19 21:09:00 | Also make sure you have about 15% free for sorting space. I never have defraged an XP system and seen any improvement, so I hardly ever do it now. But if you realy must I would suggest 6monthly defrag with the windows defragger. |
Rob99 (151) | ||
| 305656 | 2004-12-19 21:32:00 | When I switched to XP from win 98, I found defragging a pain in the bum, takes forever and never seems to do the job properly. As you say if you run defrag again it just seems to start all over again as though it had never been done. Quite unlike W98, where if a defrag is run twice, the second time it goes through like a dose of salts, and is all over and done with in seconds, even for a large drive. The Windows XP defragger I believe is based on an 'early' cut down version of Diskeeper, so I tried the shareware version 8, and decided to buy it. It runs in the background when it thinks it should do, so you never have to worry about defragging again. Version 9 is available now, but there is no upgrade discount outside of US/Canada. :yuck: http://www.diskeeper.com |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 305657 | 2004-12-19 21:36:00 | defrag your hard drive can save a lot of spave, like if you uninstall lots of apps they leave bits everywhere and it takesup alot of space, so it is good to do it once in a while :) but the best thing to clean out your pc is a fresh install of your os, i tend to do this once a year, it really cleans it out and you can notice the performance difference :) | Prescott (11) | ||
| 305658 | 2004-12-19 21:36:00 | Sounds more like your system has issues,XP defrag is a good 5 times faster then W98 version,and usually the second run through can be done in seconds..... | Metla (12) | ||
| 305659 | 2004-12-19 22:21:00 | I have noticed that System restore files always get fragmentmented very quickly. My HDD would be more than 10% fragmented just days after a defrag. Just ran Norton Speed disk analysis on my work PC (Reinstalled and defraged 4 weeks ago). 20.3% fragmented, 95% of this are system restore files. I turned system restore off at home and I haven't had to defrag for 3 months. The only time I find I need to defrag is after a program upgrade where files have been over written with new versions and get fragmented. |
Davesdad (923) | ||
| 305660 | 2004-12-19 22:28:00 | Thats an intersting observation, I'll have to keep it in mind. On my personal systems restore is the first thing i disble,and the majority of system's I work on its not activated untill the comp is in a state where all the work is done and its ready to go back to the customer..... |
Metla (12) | ||
| 305661 | 2004-12-19 22:54:00 | You said "The Windows tool concentrates on defragging the files themselves, but seems to introduce a lot of fragments of free space.". Im not 100% sure what you mean, as Free space is free space and doesnt need to be 'defragged' if its degfragmenting the 'data' on the drive properly. Chill. I mean the free space is not contiguous; in the Windows red-white-blue chart, there are narrow (and some sizeable) white bands in among the red or blue, and red or blue bands up in the white region. If, say, I wanted to create a new partition in the "free" region, I assume I would need a sizeable piece of contiguous free space. But even in normal operation it's surely better to have the free space in as large pieces as possible, so new files inserted into that space don't become fragmented. Or am I wrong? Argus |
argus (366) | ||
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