A doubt in context to 'Defragmentation' of Hard drive!

[Saurabhdua]

Hello There!

I read somewhere, that before defragging the Hard-drive, Antivirus or any Security program for that matter should be snoozed!?

How valid is this suggestion? How does the 'Real-time' monitoring of Security app. interfere with De fragmentation process? 

[Salmon Trout]

"Real time" monitoring by antivirus programs involves scanning the hard drive, which means moving the read/write heads. Defragmenter programs work by reading data from one place on a hard drive and writing it to another place so therefore they are competing for control of the read/write heads which makes defragmentation takes longer.

[BC_Programmer]

Also, software wise, as long as the AV programs are open they have Change Notification handles open on the volume, which may give the defragmentor greater difficulty.

[Allan]

While the above posts are correct, I have NEVER disabled anything before defragging and there is no real reason for you to do so either.

[Saurabhdua]

Thanks for this clarification Guys!

I would now prefer to snooze my Avast before going for Defrag or Optimize of Hard-drive!

Afterall, my Sys. config. dates back to year 2002 & I would not like its further wear & tear, knowingly!

Thumbs up!

[Saurabhdua]

Are the same facts also applicable for other Items running in the Taskbar like RAMBOOSTER or Launchy?

Should I 'Right Click' to exit these all till Defrag/Optimization completes? 

Also, what if I use a 'Stand-by' Anti-Malware utility to scan my PC occasionally(say Malwarebytes AntiMalware)? Should I SNOOZE my active & main armor Security app.(Avast in my case) till the former finishes with its scan?

I believe that at this occasion both utilities will still vie for their share?

What's the advise?

[patio]

Un-install RamBooster...

That would be a good start.