defrag

[If_Its_Junk]

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

No need to, nor was there in Win98. The need to defrag depends on usage,
even a heavy gamer only needs an occasional defrag. A moderate user can
easily go 3 or more months without any noticable reduction in performance.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Chuck Davis]

When you start defrag, the XP system will perform an analysis and respond
that the drive selected does not need to be defragged. It will be months
before it will recommend a defrag.

I curious as to how your 98SE system needs to be defragged so often. Under
normal usage, once every two to three months would probably suffice.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition ($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the background and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly needed.

 

[johnf]

Agree. With XP, the very occasional defrag should only be used when
performance drops off.
The 'Set and Forget' feature can be a bit of a trap if set incorrectly.
e.g. - if you set it to run every day, the defrag really stresses the drive
mechanics, which naturally causes an earlier failure of the drive.


--

johnf

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9
Home edition ($20) and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature.
Diskeeper then goes into action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It
works in the background and I have never detected a performance hit
while it is running. There is a free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when
truly needed.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Set and Forget does not require a schedule. It runs upon detection of a
fragmentation threshold. It might not run for weeks and then run several
times in a single day if you do a lot of installations that day.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

Agree. With XP, the very occasional defrag should only be used when
performance drops off.
The 'Set and Forget' feature can be a bit of a trap if set incorrectly.
e.g. - if you set it to run every day, the defrag really stresses the
drive mechanics, which naturally causes an earlier failure of the drive.


--

johnf

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9
Home edition ($20) and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature.
Diskeeper then goes into action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It
works in the background and I have never detected a performance hit
while it is running. There is a free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when
truly needed.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

That's *way* overkill.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not
why
not?

No. You shouldn't be doing it on either machine. The amount of
fragmentation you get in a single day is insignificant.

For almost everyone, defragging more often than once a month or
so is completely unnecessary and achieves nothing.
You should defragment your drive when doing so results in a speed
up. Here's what I recommend. Pick some arbitrary interval--for
example once a month. Defragment on that interval a few times,
and assess whether the computer generally feels faster after
doing so. If the answer is yes, defrag more frequently. If the
answer is no, defrag less frequently.

Repeat a few times, and you'll soon settle into a frequency that
works well for you.

 

[johnf]

You must be joking - or haven't done your homework very well.

'Set and Forget' can be consumer programmed to run whenever and how often
you want it to.

--

johnf

Set and Forget does not require a schedule. It runs upon detection of a
fragmentation threshold. It might not run for weeks and then run
several times in a single day if you do a lot of installations that day.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

Agree. With XP, the very occasional defrag should only be used when
performance drops off.
The 'Set and Forget' feature can be a bit of a trap if set incorrectly.
e.g. - if you set it to run every day, the defrag really stresses the
drive mechanics, which naturally causes an earlier failure of the
drive.

--

johnf

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9
Home edition ($20) and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature.
Diskeeper then goes into action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so.
It works in the background and I have never detected a performance hit
while it is running. There is a free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs
when truly needed.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why
not?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I'm not joking. The first option under Set and Forget, Set Smart Schedule,
enables the automated defrag-as-needed function. Yes, you can set specific
times, but it isn't necessary to.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

You must be joking - or haven't done your homework very well.

'Set and Forget' can be consumer programmed to run whenever and how often
you want it to.

--

johnf

Set and Forget does not require a schedule. It runs upon detection of a
fragmentation threshold. It might not run for weeks and then run
several times in a single day if you do a lot of installations that day.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

Agree. With XP, the very occasional defrag should only be used when
performance drops off.
The 'Set and Forget' feature can be a bit of a trap if set incorrectly.
e.g. - if you set it to run every day, the defrag really stresses the
drive mechanics, which naturally causes an earlier failure of the
drive.

--

johnf

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9
Home edition ($20) and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature.
Diskeeper then goes into action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so.
It works in the background and I have never detected a performance hit
while it is running. There is a free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs
when truly needed.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why
not?

 

[RRR_News]

If_Its_Junk,
For just your Win98SE PC, you should be using a program called "Maintenance
Wizard" that will defrag/scandisk and disk cleanup your PC on a regular
schedule.

On the W98SE pc> START> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Maintentence
Wizard> Choose settings> I personally use the default settings, but on the
scandisk tab, check the box to fix errors.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
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In

 

[If_Its_Junk]

If_Its_Junk,
For just your Win98SE PC, you should be using a program called "Maintenance
Wizard" that will defrag/scandisk and disk cleanup your PC on a regular
schedule.

On the W98SE pc> START> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Maintentence
Wizard> Choose settings> I personally use the default settings, but on the
scandisk tab, check the box to fix errors.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



In

I use ScanDefrag from Blueorbsoft because it restarts the system before it
runs all of its programs - is there an advantage to changing to using the
Maintenance Wizard?

 

[Jack E Martinelli]

I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition ($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the background and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[johnf]

Which is what I said.
Most programs have options & default settings.
Sure, if you install it and don't change anything, that's fine, but most
people are curious, go through the various options & choose the one they
'think' is right.
The words 'recommended setting' would obviate that problem.


--

johnf

I'm not joking. The first option under Set and Forget, Set Smart
Schedule, enables the automated defrag-as-needed function. Yes, you
can set specific times, but it isn't necessary to.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

You must be joking - or haven't done your homework very well.

'Set and Forget' can be consumer programmed to run whenever and how
often you want it to.

--

johnf

Set and Forget does not require a schedule. It runs upon detection
of a fragmentation threshold. It might not run for weeks and then run
several times in a single day if you do a lot of installations that
day.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
Agree. With XP, the very occasional defrag should only be used when
performance drops off.
The 'Set and Forget' feature can be a bit of a trap if set
incorrectly. e.g. - if you set it to run every day, the defrag
really stresses the drive mechanics, which naturally causes an
earlier failure of the drive.

--

johnf

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9
Home edition ($20) and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature.
Diskeeper then goes into action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so.
It works in the background and I have never detected a performance
hit while it is running. There is a free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs
when truly needed.
--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why
not?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not just the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to which the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition ($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the background and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Jack E Martinelli]

Thank you, Colin. FWIW, I purchased two copies of Diskeeper 9 today.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not just the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to which the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition ($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the background and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[RRR_News]

I look over the specs for the program you mentioned. It looks similar to the
built in Maintenance Wizard, your program has the restart feature that could
be useful, but even the program doesn't require it, if everything else
works.

Unless you are doing heavy graphic use, using/creating/deleting large
image/media files daily. Or using the PC for testing purposes by
installing/removing programs constantly, there should not be a need to
defrag daily. If the program has a command line to shut off pc after
running program. You might consider having the program run Friday night,
when you leave the office, so Monday morning your pc will be defragged for
the coming week.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

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"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message

If_Its_Junk,
For just your Win98SE PC, you should be using a program called "Maintenance
Wizard" that will defrag/scandisk and disk cleanup your PC on a regular
schedule.

On the W98SE pc> START> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Maintentence
Wizard> Choose settings> I personally use the default settings, but on the
scandisk tab, check the box to fix errors.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



In

I use ScanDefrag from Blueorbsoft because it restarts the system before it
runs all of its programs - is there an advantage to changing to using the
Maintenance Wizard?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

It is a sound buy. Hope you are satisfied with it. (Now if my commission
check makes it here before the first.... )

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

Thank you, Colin. FWIW, I purchased two copies of Diskeeper 9 today.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not just the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to which the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition
($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes
into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the
background
and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly
needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Saavedro]

You should run a boot defrag as soon as you get diskeeper 9 installed.
Here's how:
Open the program.
Click 'Change Your Settings'
Click 'Set a boot-time defragmentation'
Select the volume (drive) you want to run a boot time defrag on.
Select 'On Next Manual Reboot'
Check the following selection boxes:
'Put all folders together on the volume'
'Defragment the paging file'
'Defragment the Master File Table (MFT)'
You can also select the option 'Run the system "CHKDSK" utility before
defragmentation" if you have
a lot of time on your hands. If you select it, it will take approxamately 3
hours to run. All depending
on the size of the volume you are defragging.
Now, click ok, and the program will give you a few notifications that you
set the boot defrag, and will
also tell you to back up files. This isn't absolutely necessary. I didn't
and I have no problems, but I would
recommend backing up important documts, just in case.
Now, Reboot your coputer (I know you know how to do that!)
It will look like it is starting normally, then you will get a different
screen right before it would normally go
into windows. This will run the Checkdisk and defragger. After this
completes, is will automatically restart,
and look like it is running again, but it is checking to make sure your
volume is 'good to go'. Let is run, it will
only take 5 minutes. Then it will proceed to restart again, and Poof!
Faster performance.

Thank you, Colin. FWIW, I purchased two copies of Diskeeper 9 today.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not just the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to which the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home edition
($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then goes
into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the
background
and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly
needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Only if he buys the Pro version. It is not available in the Home version.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

You should run a boot defrag as soon as you get diskeeper 9 installed.
Here's how:
Open the program.
Click 'Change Your Settings'
Click 'Set a boot-time defragmentation'
Select the volume (drive) you want to run a boot time defrag on.
Select 'On Next Manual Reboot'
Check the following selection boxes:
'Put all folders together on the volume'
'Defragment the paging file'
'Defragment the Master File Table (MFT)'
You can also select the option 'Run the system "CHKDSK" utility before
defragmentation" if you have
a lot of time on your hands. If you select it, it will take approxamately
3 hours to run. All depending
on the size of the volume you are defragging.
Now, click ok, and the program will give you a few notifications that you
set the boot defrag, and will
also tell you to back up files. This isn't absolutely necessary. I
didn't and I have no problems, but I would
recommend backing up important documts, just in case.
Now, Reboot your coputer (I know you know how to do that!)
It will look like it is starting normally, then you will get a different
screen right before it would normally go
into windows. This will run the Checkdisk and defragger. After this
completes, is will automatically restart,
and look like it is running again, but it is checking to make sure your
volume is 'good to go'. Let is run, it will
only take 5 minutes. Then it will proceed to restart again, and Poof!
Faster performance.

Thank you, Colin. FWIW, I purchased two copies of Diskeeper 9 today.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------

Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not just the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to which the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home
edition
($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then
goes
into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the
background
and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There
is a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly
needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why not?

 

[Saavedro]

hmmmmmmm... yes you are right. So, definately invest in the pro version...
it's only a few bucks more.

Only if he buys the Pro version. It is not available in the Home version.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

You should run a boot defrag as soon as you get diskeeper 9 installed.
Here's how:
Open the program.
Click 'Change Your Settings'
Click 'Set a boot-time defragmentation'
Select the volume (drive) you want to run a boot time defrag on.
Select 'On Next Manual Reboot'
Check the following selection boxes:
'Put all folders together on the volume'
'Defragment the paging file'
'Defragment the Master File Table (MFT)'
You can also select the option 'Run the system "CHKDSK" utility before
defragmentation" if you have
a lot of time on your hands. If you select it, it will take
approxamately 3 hours to run. All depending
on the size of the volume you are defragging.
Now, click ok, and the program will give you a few notifications that you
set the boot defrag, and will
also tell you to back up files. This isn't absolutely necessary. I
didn't and I have no problems, but I would
recommend backing up important documts, just in case.
Now, Reboot your coputer (I know you know how to do that!)
It will look like it is starting normally, then you will get a different
screen right before it would normally go
into windows. This will run the Checkdisk and defragger. After this
completes, is will automatically restart,
and look like it is running again, but it is checking to make sure your
volume is 'good to go'. Let is run, it will
only take 5 minutes. Then it will proceed to restart again, and Poof!
Faster performance.

Thank you, Colin. FWIW, I purchased two copies of Diskeeper 9 today.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
Executive Software recommends a defrag threshold of 2% to be on the
safe
side. Diskeeper 9 introduced a new analysis screen which shows not
just
the
fragmentation map, but also an impact map. It shows the degree to
which
the
fragmentation present will degrade performance.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
I concur with Colin, and while I personally prefer Raxco's "Perfect
Disk"
to Executive Software's "Diskeeper", for very technical reasons which
MVP
Alex Nichol, et.al., are better able to explain than me, both
defragmenters
are very fine tools.

One should be mindful that both offer the option to "Analyze" the
disk
prior
to defragging it. One can then choose to defrag, according to one's
personal preference at that time.

FWIW & IIRC, MVP Jim Eshelman has previously commented that in his
experiments under Win 9X, esp. Win 98, he observed some performance
degradation beginning when fragmentation reached 4-6%. I suspect XP
will
be
quite different, ... under NTFS, at least.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
Opinions are all over the place. The only agreement is that a
fragmented
hard drive is a Bad Thing. Personally, I use Diskeeper 9 Home
edition
($20)
and take advantage of the Set and Forget feature. Diskeeper then
goes
into
action when fragmentation reaches 2% or so. It works in the
background
and
I have never detected a performance hit while it is running. There
is
a
free trial option.

Other people like Perfect Disk. Whatever, but I do recommend a
defragger
that doesn't have to run on a set schedule but only runs when truly
needed.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"If_Its_Junk" <If_Its_Junk at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
I do a defrag daily on my Win98SE machine.

Should I be doing the same on my new WinXP machine, and if not why
not?