June poll - When was the last time you defragged your hard drive?

[Computer Hope Admin]

For the month of June we thought it would be interesting to see when the last time you defragged your hard drive was, either using the Microsoft Defrag tool or a third-party defrag tool. Feel free to talk about any success you've had with degragging your hard drive, what third-party defrag utility you enjoy using if any, how long it took, or the highest percentage of fragmention you've dealt with on a hard drive.

All past monthly polls and results can also be found on the Computer Hope poll page.

[Helpmeh]

hehehe...first vote/reply.

[rthompson80819]

I defrag at least once a month, and more often if I add or remove many programs.

BTW, I have been using defraggler for a while now and like better than the standard windows defrag.  I think defraggler gives better feedback than the standard defrag.

[Broni]

There is no option for me to check
I use SmartDefrag, which defrags my drive on the go - anytime my computer is idle.

[BC_Programmer]

The last time  I defragmented a hard drive was the last time it made a non-negligible difference to speed- when I used MS-DOS 6.

[styxbound]

I've seen it make a big difference too many times to debate its'  usefulness.

[Computer Hope Admin]

There is no option for me to check
I use SmartDefrag, which defrags my drive on the go - anytime my computer is idle.

Good suggestion. Added.

[Broni]

[Cityscape]

I voted "several months ago". Last time I defragged was Nov/Dec 2009 when I had XP installed.

I now use Linux which never needs drefragging (due to a better filesystem) so I doubt I will be defragging again in the near future.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Hmmmm.....Do Macs have a defrag utility?

[BC_Programmer]

Hmmmm.....Do Macs have a defrag utility?

I know originally they didn't have one... (mac classic) the system disk came with "disk first aid" which was pretty much like chkdsk/scandisk. I don't think it came with a defrag though.

In an interesting twist- Apple said that the HFS filesystem they used "didn't need defragmenting". Considering that NTFS is pretty much a superset of HFS and conversely, is considered to need regular defragmenting... They can't both be right.

Anyway, not surprisingly, Apple still claims the very same thing nowadays:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1375?viewlocale=en_US

It's curious to note that even though they say "you probably wont need to optimize with OSX" they still continue to provide instructions for what to do if you think you do. Which isn't bad but just seems odd. "You don't have to waste your time, but here's how you can if you think you need to" type thing.

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a filesystem that can't be defragmented. Eventually, clusters from the same file are going to to be become noncontiguous, and wether the filesystem driver works to avoid such scenarios by essentially defragmenting on the fly or if that work would need to be done later by a third party program is redundant. The question is how does one define when a filesystem/drive "needs" to be defragmented?

out of curiousity (and expecting rather high fragmentation rates) I started disk defragmenter, only to find that the only drive on my system with a non-0% fragmentation rate was my external drive, sitting at a whopping 1% fragmented. Considering I've had this system for a good 6-8 months and used it extensively in that time, that's a tad strange for an OS that "requires constant defragmentation".

[Allan]

Once a week on all systems (with Perfect Disk). Even though it really isn't required with NT file systems, I've been doing it since 1985 and it's simply habit now.

[Cityscape]

Hmmmm.....Do Macs have a defrag utility?

Os X and Linux are both Unix and both don't need defragging. Although in recent months I have heard people claim that OS X does need defragging.

[Cityscape]

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a filesystem that can't be defragmented. Eventually, clusters from the same file are going to to be become noncontiguous, and wether the filesystem driver works to avoid such scenarios by essentially defragmenting on the fly or if that work would need to be done later by a third party program is redundant.

Ext partitions on Linux can be defragmented but it is very difficult. I is normally done during startup because it it impossible to defrag the system drive on Linux  while the OS is running.

out of curiousity (and expecting rather high fragmentation rates) I started disk defragmenter, only to find that the only drive on my system with a non-0% fragmentation rate was my external drive, sitting at a whopping 1% fragmented. Considering I've had this system for a good 6-8 months and used it extensively in that time, that's a tad strange for an OS that "requires constant defragmentation".

How do keep the fragmentaton rates so low? All windows pc's i see have at least 5%

[patio]

I never bought into the myth that an OS never needs defragging...and still don't.
I run mine weekly on each machine and sometimes more often under heavy use

[BC_Programmer]

How do keep the fragmentaton rates so low? All windows pc's i see have at least 5%

your guess is as good as mine.

[patio]

hehehe...first vote/reply.

Ridiculous...

[kpac]

Never. Takes too long with a 1 TB HDD and only 150 GB used. PC's only six months old anyway and I probably wouildn't see any speed difference.

[Allan]

Never. Takes too long with a 1 TB HDD and only 150 GB used. PC's only six months old anyway and I probably wouildn't see any speed difference.

Yeah, there is that. Given the speed of today's processors and hd's any performance increases will be negligible. Of course you will gain some added space by making the files contiguous, but again - nothing major. On the other hand, there is a bit of a wear & tear advantage to having the hd heads travel a little less.

[michaewlewis]

Don't remember the last time I defragged a hard drive.  It was probably a windows xp box, though..... maybe five years ago........ I don't really see the point.

[Cityscape]

I never bought into the myth that an OS never needs defragging...and still don't.
I run mine weekly on each machine and sometimes more often under heavy use

Are you talking about Windows or all operating systems? I know that Windows needs defragging, I have proved it to myself. When I defrag a Windows computer that has like 10% fragmentation, I know does. I get a performance boost.

Linux is completely different though. Would you defrag a Linux box, patio?

[michaewlewis]

In Linux, the hard drive defrags you.

[Cityscape]

In Linux, the hard drive defrags you.

[rthompson80819]

I've have always defragged on a regular basis and have never seen a noticeable change in performance on any of my machines but that's probably because I do it on a regular basis.

However, a friend asked me to look at his computer because it had a hard time playing a certain game.  The game would start and stop constantly.  It was almost unplayable.

He had the computer for 3 or 4 years.  I asked him when the last time he defragged.  He said what's defrag?

I did a diskclean and defragged twice for good measure, and then the game ran fine.

It depends on the circumstances, but defrag can make a difference.

[Helpmeh]

    In America, you can always find a party.
    In Soviet Russia, the party always find you.

    In America, you drive the car
    In Soviet Russia, the car drives you

    In America, you listen to the radio
    In Soviet Russia, the radio listens to you

    In America, your job determines your marks
    In Soviet Russia, Marx determines your job

    In America, you assassinate the president
    In Soviet Russia, the president assassinates you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Smirnoff#Russian_reversal

In Soviet Russia, music downloads YOU!
In Soviet Russia, Waldo finds YOU!
etc, etc.

[SilentAssasin64]

I haven't defragged mine in over 2 years.  During one of those years I didn't have access to my machine so the need was non-existent.  The other year I've been running Linux. 

[overthehill]

There is no option for me to check
I use SmartDefrag, which defrags my drive on the go - anytime my computer is idle.

I defragged earlier this week and typically defrag every couple of weeks. I never really cared for the the defrag program that came with XP, so I took Broni's lead and downloaded SmartDefrag. I checked it over and ran the program. Looks like a keeper. Thanks Broni

[victimofgrace]

I defragged sometime in may. Can't remember which day though...

[soybean]

I use SmartDefrag, which defrags my drive on the go - anytime my computer is idle.

Same here. 

Never. Takes too long with a 1 TB HDD and only 150 GB used.

That's a reason to partition your HD.  Then, you can defragment only your OS partition or select any individual partition.  It takes less time than defragmenting an entire HD.

[Allan]

That's a reason to partition your HD.  Then, you can defragment only your OS partition or select any individual partition.  It takes less time than defragmenting an entire HD.

Not really. The defrag utility will only concern itself with occupied space unless told to do otherwise, and even then it takes no time to "compact free space"

And btw, I'm a HUGE proponent of lots of partitions, so please don't think I'm arguing against that. It's just that it will not effect defrag time.

[BC_Programmer]

Not really. The defrag utility will only concern itself with occupied space unless told to do otherwise, and even then it takes not time to "compact free space"

And btw, I'm a HUGE proponent of lots of partitions, so please don't think I'm arguing against that. It's just that it will not effect defrag time.

well, it probably wouldn't effect overall defrag time, but defragmenting a 500GB partition as opposed to a 1TB one will be faster.

[Allan]

well, it probably wouldn't effect overall defrag time, but defragmenting a 500GB partition as opposed to a 1TB one will be faster.

Marginally if only 150 Mb is occupied.

[BC_Programmer]

Marginally if only 150 Mb is occupied.

That's not the point. let's say your OS, files, and programs come in at around 40GB. if there is 40GB on a single partition, it will take longer then it would if you had the 15GB of windows on one drive and everything else on another, or some similar arrangement. the fact is, wether you partition a drive or not you will usually end up with the same files- the only difference is if you don't partition then the files will be more fragmented as well as there being more of them.

They will be more fragmented simply because that one large partition will be accessed for everything- the OS updates, program updates, personal data- but when the two are separated the fragmentation is lessened on both drives simply because the writes are segregated.

Let's say you write a word document, perform a OS update, and then add to that word document. In the single partition scenario your word document is probably fragmented. if you have your OS and data on separate partitions, then it won't be. compound this for thousands of various operations on each drive and the effects become quite noticeable*.


*(I mean as in the amount of fragmentation, speed almost never suffers in any non-negligible amount)

[soybean]

Not really. The defrag utility will only concern itself with occupied space unless told to do otherwise, and even then it takes no time to "compact free space"

OK, in that case, kpac should see no significant difference in defrag time whether his HD was 1TB or 500GB or 320GB, right? 

Also, let me clarify a point from my previous post.  I was assuming most or all of the partitions would have significant used space.  For example, if I have a partition for photos and I generally add photos but do not delete photos, then that partition will not become defragmented. So, I have no need to run disk defragmentation on that partition.  If, on the other hand, my OS partition normally experiences some defragmentation, then I could only defragment that partition.

Edit: I just read BC_Programmer's post, which my comments somewhat overlap. 

[kpac]

I will be partitioning the hard drive in the next few weeks so we'll see...

[alyoob]

I defragged my hard drive last month but do not use the built in windows defragmenter. I use smart defrag because it not only defragges your hard drive but also optimises it. The software is currently free. Here is the website.  http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html I also have a mac and the good thing about mac is that you do not need to defrag the copmuter.

[Allan]

Actually, Vista and W7 will place frequently used files at the beginning of the disc without a third party utility (what you refer to as "optimizing" in your post).

[macdad-]

I rarely defragged before I found Priform's Defraggler 

Now it's every month.

[naturegurl]

I haven't defraged in a while. Perhaps tonight.

[rockerchick1990]

i havent done mine for a while cause i havent been able to get to it. i live with mother in law who will not let me hook it up. anyway i have to work on it and get viruses out

[naturegurl]

I haven't done my for a while.  Soon!

[overthehill]

i havent done mine for a while cause i havent been able to get to it. i live with mother in law who will not let me hook it up. anyway i have to work on it and get viruses out

Hi rockerchick1990 and welcome to CH. If you think that you may have encountered a virus, this would be a good place to start.
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,46313.0.html

[Starwind51]

Is there a difference between defragging and runing Disk Cleanup?

Anyway, last week I got fed up with my computer running in slooooowwwww moootttiiiooooonnnn, and I made a note of the amount of free space I had on the hard drive (in kb), ran Disk Cleanup, checked again, and I had less free space than I did before!  How is that possible?

Anyway, it turns out my slow motion problem was due to the anti virus service I was using and when I switched, everything perked right up. 

I'm in the process of taking files off my hard drive and putting them on a flash to sort out because I have some files that are too similiar and I want to combine them to make them more useful, and whenever I have a significant reduction in free space I'll do a Disk Cleanup again, but other than these recent events I go years without thinking about it.  Maybe it's because I have a lot of files, but they're all pretty small, they don't really fragment?

[macdad-]

Defragment - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation

Disk Cleanup just deletes temporary files, Windows log files and etc, where Defragmenter moves the files physically on the hard drive to make them faster to access.

And if you only have a few hundred KB of free space then no wonder you are in slow-mo.
Your hard drive has allocated space for the Virtual Memory(A backup for your Physical RAM), as well as allocated space by other programs and Windows itself for necessary operations.

[naturegurl]

I defragged last night.  You got me thinking when the last time I defragged was so I immediately did it.

[Starwind51]

Disk Cleanup just deletes temporary files, Windows log files and etc, where Defragmenter moves the files physically on the hard drive to make them faster to access.

And if you only have a few hundred KB of free space then no wonder you are in slow-mo.
Your hard drive has allocated space for the Virtual Memory(A backup for your Physical RAM), as well as allocated space by other programs and Windows itself for necessary operations.

I had more than a few hundred KB, and once I switched from the CA (Computer Associates) antivirus, etc. that Road Runner provides to Microsoft Security Essentials it's been like night and day - my computer has the speeds I expect from it.

So, if Disk Cleanup, isn't a defragger, how do I defrag?

[BC_Programmer]

I had more than a few hundred KB, and once I switched from the CA (Computer Associates) antivirus, etc. that Road Runner provides to Microsoft Security Essentials it's been like night and day - my computer has the speeds I expect from it.

So, if Disk Cleanup, isn't a defragger, how do I defrag?

you run the defragmenter.

I think it's in Start->All Programs->Accessories->System tools, but I'm not sure. you can start it with Start->Run "Defrag.msc" though.

[Starwind51]

you run the defragmenter.

I think it's in Start->All Programs->Accessories->System tools, but I'm not sure. you can start it with Start->Run "Defrag.msc" though.

Ok!  Thanks - I looked where you said and found it.

[hopebride]

hey
just this month
so useful
get rid of dark spaces!!!!!!

[overthehill]

hey
just this month
so useful
get rid of dark spaces!!!!!!

We'll hopefully you won't find any dark spaces here ! Welcome to Computer Hope.

[2x3i5x]

I have defragger on autodefrag so it defrags whenever it sees the need to AND I have idle resources that it can use.

[maximdymok]

I've never defragged my hard drive before (2 years!!!) and free space on the drive was getting low-5 gb out of 220. When I scanned... 27% was fragmented!!!!!LOL!Took a LOOOOONG time to defrag.

[2x3i5x]

I heard OSX does some automatic defragging so you don't need to do it???

[BC_Programmer]

I heard OSX does some automatic defragging so you don't need to do it???

I believe so.

Actually, I discovered that is the reason why my fragmentation amount is so low on my machine. Windows 7 automatically defragments in the background as part of it's idle processing.