Any benefit to running defrag multiple times?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LurfysMa
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LurfysMa

A tech support guy told me that it's good to run the defrag utility
multiple times. He said that each run will do a better job and the
defrag will get faster and faster.

I asked him if it really made that much difference and whether the
increase from the second defrag wouldn't be lost almost immediately
when I started using the system. He said no.

I just ran a test. The first defrag took almost 2 hours. The second
one, ran immediately after the first took almost an hour and, while
there was a slight improvement in the map, is was very small.

Can anyone confirm or contradict this advice? It seems wrong to me.

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LurfysMa said:
A tech support guy told me that it's good to run the defrag utility
multiple times. He said that each run will do a better job and the
defrag will get faster and faster.

I asked him if it really made that much difference and whether the
increase from the second defrag wouldn't be lost almost immediately
when I started using the system. He said no.

I just ran a test. The first defrag took almost 2 hours. The second
one, ran immediately after the first took almost an hour and, while
there was a slight improvement in the map, is was very small.

Can anyone confirm or contradict this advice? It seems wrong to me.

--
Click to expand...

The test you ran means nothing. What you should really measure
is if defragging produces any noticeable benefits in performance,
not how long it takes to defrag. If you carefully design a test and
if you then measure performance with a stop watch then you will
find that defragging often produces no measurable benefit
whatsoever. It's a waste of time. Perhaps defragging once a
month might show some difference, depending on what you
do with your hard disk.

In other words: Don't just defrag because it gives you a warm
feeling inside. Do some proper tests, then adopt a strategy that
is in line with your test results!
 
The test you ran means nothing. What you should really measure
is if defragging produces any noticeable benefits in performance,
not how long it takes to defrag. If you carefully design a test and
if you then measure performance with a stop watch then you will
find that defragging often produces no measurable benefit
whatsoever. It's a waste of time. Perhaps defragging once a
month might show some difference, depending on what you
do with your hard disk.

In other words: Don't just defrag because it gives you a warm
feeling inside. Do some proper tests, then adopt a strategy that
is in line with your test results!
Click to expand...

So it sounds like you are agreeing with me. The second defrag is
useless. Right?

I typically defrag whenever the system seems sluggish. Usually about
2-3 months, but sometimes longer. I usually notice a big improvement
right afterwards for awhilge.

--
 
LurfysMa said:
So it sounds like you are agreeing with me. The second defrag is
useless. Right?

I typically defrag whenever the system seems sluggish. Usually about
2-3 months, but sometimes longer. I usually notice a big improvement
right afterwards for awhilge.

--
Click to expand...

Unless you make an effort and measure your PC's performance
with a stop watch, you will never know for sure.
 
Unless you make an effort and measure your PC's performance
with a stop watch, you will never know for sure.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess if you mean to the second, no. But why do I need that
information? If the system performance is not noticably improved
without timing it, who cares? It's not important to me that some
standard task that took 47 seconds now takes 44. If it dropped to 20
or even 30, I'd be able to tell without a timed test.

--
 
Well, I guess if you mean to the second, no. But why do I need that
information? If the system performance is not noticably improved
without timing it, who cares? It's not important to me that some
standard task that took 47 seconds now takes 44. If it dropped to 20
or even 30, I'd be able to tell without a timed test.
Click to expand...

In my expereince, a second defrag typically makes little or no difference
in the number of fragmented files or in the total number of fragments, so
it cannot have any significant effect on performance. Whether the first
defrag makes a difference in performance will depend in part on how you
use your system, and you'll need to do some careful measuring to determine
the size of the effect. On my home system, defragging never appears to
make nay difference at all. My theory is that if you can't perceive the
difference, then there really isn't one.
 
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