When was the last time you defragged?

For newbies and those that rarely defrag I have attached a thumbnail (before and after), on how a hard drive becomes fragmented over a very short period.

I used WinContig to defrag only some of my Folders and yesterday clicked on the XP Prp defrag to see the difference a day or two makes.

WinContig is available at http://majorgeeks.com/WinContig_d5614.html

Thumbnail also, for newbies, on how to find Defrag in XP.

Bazza

 

The last time I defragged was 9/26/07. I usually do it every 3 or 4 weeks.

WinContig sounds interesting; I may try it.

 

Well worth a try, IMO. :major Bazza

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I understand that Good Queen Bess (Q.Elizabeth I) defragged her hard drive once a year "whether it needeth it or no."

It really depends on how you use you pc and how you configure it to how much defragging you need to do.

For instance I keep a partition especially for Video work. I never defrag this as although necessary that way is too slow. I just reformat it after every job. (video files need large amounts of contiguous disk space).

Another for instance is having a data partition for things which will change rarely. Consequently that partition rarely needs defragmenting.

It's much easier to keep things healthy if you separate that which needs frequent defragging ( because the files are forever being dragged out, edited and put back) and that which doesn't because it is merely a record.

 

Oh which is better?

JK Defrag or Win Contig?

 

I’ve been using Diskeeper “set and forget” for a long time now and have found it to be an excellent program. Some good information and tips on defragging can be found here:
http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/general/0,295582,sid68_gci1218435,00.html

 

The latest review of defrag programs I found is this link:


http://donnedwards.openaccess.co.za/2007/04/great-defrag-shootout-part-1.html

jkdefrag does very well.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/JkDefrag_d5542.html

Defragmentation isn't the only strategy to make a PC run faster, but it is one of the strategies that are useful. "Regular" defragmentation is better than "random" defragging, but how often is "regular"? It depends on your PC. If you are generating lots of files, or editing databases, a daily defrag may be required. If your files are pretty small, a monthly defrag is probably good enough.

My own rule of thumb: if the defrag takes longer than an hour you need to do it more often. If it takes less than 10 minutes, defrag less often. You don't want to waste a lot of time in order to save a little time. Do the defrag during a quiet period, such as when you're away from your desk for a meeting, or after hours. In that way you don't waste any productive time. (from above link)

 

as i am doing this post i am running ULTIMATE DEFRAG the last time was 3 weeks ago and it tells me it will take 3 hours to finish

 

WinContig is a specialised defragger. With it you can defrag a Folder (or Folders) or a File (or Files) or a combination of both. It is a skin over the MS defragger in XP (Pro) at least. Not sure how it works with other OS's.

For example if you defrag C:\Documents and Settings you also defrag all the accompanying sub-folders like C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents, C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Favourites, etc.

I usually use Norton's Speeddisk as I have been using it for years, now, over various Versions, and various MS OS's, dating back a long while.

Bazza

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Last time I defragged manually or scheduled a defrag was ...well can't remember...it's been a while
But my defragmenter is automatic, so it conveniently defrags in the background or during system idle if fragmentation increases, so I don't have to. Drives are in a defragmented state most of the time. I haven't spent any time defragging (as I used to) on weekends.:cool

 

Been a long time here too, just checked and it's quite fragged even though I don't do a lot of installing and deleting programs, guess it's time to schedule one.