Colin's Weekly Tip: Defrag Your HDD

[Colin]

Have you ever heard your HDD chug along when you launch a large program? Because of HDD's fast rotational speed, they often plunks down data all over the place on the platter of the drives when you're storing information.. This is very inefficient and takes a lot of time when bits and pieces are all over the place. <BR><BR>Defragging your HDD puts all related information next to each other for quicker access and since all the data is in the same proximity the drive doesn't have to search when you request data. <BR><BR>Microsoft has included a defragging program in their OS's for the longest time even dating back to the DOS days. You can access your hard drive defrag program in the "System Tools" folder that is usually in your "Accessories". <BR><BR>It's recommended that you defrag your HDD at least once a month so your HDD doesn't get bogged down.<BR><BR>

[Comixion]

Thats all good, and i need to do it to this 1 reeeaaalll bad. But I get a popup saying "Administrative priviliges required"<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"><BR>

[Max Page]

If you are using windows XP or Windows 2000, you will need to be logged in under the Administrator account, or have you account set so that you have those all important Administrator Privillages.<BR><BR>If you are trying to defrag an office computer, bug your IT person to come help you out. If you are trying to defrag your home computer, get the person with the administrator account to log in and do it for you. Don't forget to turn of things like IM, or it might reset the defrag.<BR><BR>Max Page<BR>Editor - PCstats.com

[duhwebb]

I am using winme too but it worked great on mine. I did find a third party defrag that does the job 10x faster than the one that came with my puter. Its about 10mb's but worth it. Its diskeeper lite and you can got2 http://www.execsoft.com/freeware/diskeeper-lite/download.asp to get it.<BR>

[zogmool]

<br><br><< <i>I am running Windows ME and i defraged and it curruped my hard drive and i had to reformat and i lost everything <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"></i> >><br><br><BR><BR>I'd suggest gettin new hard drive then. There's something very wrong with it if defragmenting was harmfull to the drive!

[1ceMan()]

Would it be a good idea to run Defrag in safe mode to avoid programs in the background??

[Freakker]

That would probably be best to do.

I use the full version of Execsoft's Diskeeper, and it has a "set and forget" option.
You set a timer to run when and it will keep on repeating until the stop time, or you can set it to run only when the screen saver is on.

[nesh02]

that's great

[speedy11309]

the only problem i have with diskeeper is that i cant run it in safemode. im using xp pro and it just fights me as hard as possible to not run in safemode. so i just run it in regular. does work so much faster though.

[HK-X-Force]

WinXP start to use Diskeeper's technology, and the risk of damaging HDD is very low.
If you are using Win9X/ME, I recommand you use Diskeeper.

[Freakker]

Even on XP, Diskeeper is much faster.
According to an ad I saw in eWeek, Executive Software, makers of Diskeeper, also made the built-in Windows defrag.

[wacko]

i feel stupid for this nood question but might as well ask ... when i use the disc defrag on XP pro i have to close all the program in the lower tool bar otherwise the defrag goes up to 3% then start over... is it normal? i always guess so. and is there a way to use a program to defrag while lets say using this great new forum i just found? lol

[gokusimpson]

No, I don't think so. I just turn on diskeeper and just go and eat something and watch TV. I come back later when it's done and repeat with my 2nd drive. Then I can go play cs:s. or do homework or something.

I think it has to restart becuase it's putting information on the hard drive that is being defragged. It gets new fragmented info so it has to restart and refrag.

[joims]

dont ya mean re-defrag :P

refrag would make it worse'r lol :P

[Hodges]

if you do defrag, it is best to do it in safe-moe, then most of those 'unmovable' sections can be defragged also

[BetaKilo570]

To make the standard Windows disk sefrag work faster, boot the computer into safe mode so minimal services and no apps are running. This will allow the hard drive to defrag faster since it does not also have to keep apps open and in use. And yes, it does work!

[joshua]

I defragment a couple of servers i run regularly and personally have experienced more stability in terms of boot issues as well as fewer crashes.
I came across this interesting whitepaper on the impact of fragmentation which may be of interest here.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers
Here's one on page file defrag
http://www.theeldergeek.com/defragmenting_a_page_file.htm