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Thread ID: 115140 2011-01-04 08:42:00 Can't defrag my USB external HDD powerover (12121) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1166875 2011-01-04 08:42:00 I am using windows 7 home premium 64 bit

I would like to defrag my USB external HDD.

Went into "my computer", right click the drive, click on "properties"

then click on the "tools" tab, then click on "defragment now.."

then win 7 fires up the defragment tool, and my USB external HDD isn't on it....it is telling me, which I quote "only discs that can be defragmented are shown......" :badpc:

I am reluctant to install third party software to do this task (trying to keep everything lean and mean here), why can't win7 perform this simple task??? Am I missing something here?


Thanks for the help
powerover (12121)
1166876 2011-01-04 08:55:00 try defraggler GameJunkie (72)
1166877 2011-01-04 09:01:00 IIRC there is a portable defragmenter over at portableapps.com, can't remember its name though.

:pf1mobmini:
pcuser42 (130)
1166878 2011-01-04 18:06:00 External 'storage' drives, by the nature of how they are used might not be as prone to fragmentation.
Fragmentation is caused by the freeing ad re-writing of blocks of data. Placing a big file where smaller files used to reside leads to fragmentation.

If you seldom delete files, using the drive more as a storage device where you simply add files then there may be almost zero fragmentation.

However, if you use it for a backup process that 'refreshes' particular files as they change, then yeah, it'll be fragmented heavily.
Paul.Cov (425)
1166879 2011-01-04 18:18:00 External 'storage' drives, by the nature of how they are used might not be as prone to fragmentation.
Fragmentation is caused by the freeing ad re-writing of blocks of data. Placing a big file where smaller files used to reside leads to fragmentation.

If you seldom delete files, using the drive more as a storage device where you simply add files then there may be almost zero fragmentation.

However, if you use it for a backup process that 'refreshes' particular files as they change, then yeah, it'll be fragmented heavily.

Thanks for the info Paul. I add and delete files off it all the time, be it big or small files, and I have had it for a few years now so won't hurt if I defrag it a bit :P
powerover (12121)
1166880 2011-01-04 18:19:00 IIRC there is a portable defragmenter over at portableapps.com, can't remember its name though.

:pf1mobmini:

Great, will try it out ASAP. Thanks heaps. :thumbs:
powerover (12121)
1166881 2011-01-05 07:00:00 Arrh the defrag, the magical fix for everything. Alex B (15479)
1166882 2011-01-09 05:50:00 Just an idea.
Are you plugging the drive into a USB Hub?
If so, try plugging it into the computer direct.
mzee (3324)
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