Disk Fragmenter

[Guest]

Hi Can anyone out there please tell me how I can check on the progress once
I start a Disk Fragmenter task. With XP I could analize and decide if I
needed to run the task and then on screen you had a visual of the progress.
With vista all you get is that it is running and could take from minutes to
hours. I cannot find out how the task is progressing. Please ,Please help me.
I cannot find the answer on the site

 

[Pulse]

I use the free Auslogic defrag tool. It seems to work and is free, probably
some will say that it's useless like CCleaner which I also like!

P

 

[John Barnett MVP]

The option to 'see' what disk defragmenter is doing has been removed.
Microsoft didn't think it was necessary for the user to be stuck in front of
the screen watching coloured strips moving back and forth as the
defragmentation proceeded.

You could use the command prompt to defragment the drive. This will tell you
what percentage of the drive is fragmented, but it is still extremely slow.
You also need to use the command prompt in 'elevated' mode (click start>all
programs>accessories. Right click command prompt and, from the drop down
menu, click 'run as administrator')

I'm not sure about the defragmenter that Pulse recommends, mainly because i
have never used it. An excellent thrid party defragmenter (not free,
unfortunately) is PerfectDisk. This is the defragmenter that I constantly
use and, at least, with perfectDisk, you can 'analyse' the disk prior to
defragmenting.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Pulse, CCleaner is far from useless, i for one use it regularly and
recommend it, too. A lot of people complain about the so called 'damage'
that may be done when using CCleaner's 'Issues' option. Unlike a lot of
registry cleaners at least CCleaner does prompt you for a backup prior to
removing any registry entries. Having said that the Issues option of
CCleaner is one part that isn't all that good. As for the rest of CCleaner
i'm with you, I like it and think its great!

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Abe]

Hi Can anyone out there please tell me how I can check on the progress once

I start a Disk Fragmenter task. With XP I could analize and decide if I
needed to run the task and then on screen you had a visual of the progress.
With vista all you get is that it is running and could take from minutes to
hours. I cannot find out how the task is progressing. Please ,Please help me.
I cannot find the answer on the site

Windows has a built-in disk FRAGMENTER?

 

[vanilla]

It seems like Microsoft made a strong "slash and burn" effort to remove
unnecessary code from Vista. Perhaps, at 55+ million lines of code, this was
a good thing. I, too, miss the ability to watch the graphical display in
disk defragmenter. I would only watch for a few minutes, then minimize, then
come back later to see how things were going. In an instant, you could see
how far along the run was and estimate how much longer you had until it was
finished.

Perhaps this code (and Contacts back in the bottom of the left pane in
WinMail) would be good to have in a future version of Vista PowerToys (g).
Thanks for definitely stating that the code has been removed. Now we know.

.... vanilla ...

 

[JerryM \(ID\)]

HaHaHa, I'm sure she means DeFragmenter.

Windows has a built-in disk FRAGMENTER?

 

[vanilla]

There was no reason to correct the original post. Minor typos and misnomers
are irrelevant when context supplies the correct understanding. Curiously,
my post and the post to which I replied were snipped from your reply ... and
you did it so quickly ...

 

[Abe]

HaHaHa, I'm sure she means DeFragmenter.

There was no reason to correct the original post. Minor typos and misnomers
are irrelevant when context supplies the correct understanding. Curiously,
my post and the post to which I replied were snipped from your reply ... and
you did it so quickly ...

Lighten up, it was a joke.

 

[Steve Thackery]

Best thing you can do is stop worrying about defragging. Just let Vista do
its thing once per week and it'll be fine.

Steve

 

[Drew]

I personally use Diskeeper2007..I have been a diskeeper user for at least
6yrs and have never had a problem...Very fast and very detailed...Please
check out Diskeeper.com and download the free trial of the home version..By
the way even Microsoft recommends it.........All the best...

 

[Rock]

It seems like Microsoft made a strong "slash and burn" effort to remove
unnecessary code from Vista. Perhaps, at 55+ million lines of code, this
was a good thing. I, too, miss the ability to watch the graphical display
in disk defragmenter. I would only watch for a few minutes, then minimize,
then come back later to see how things were going. In an instant, you
could see how far along the run was and estimate how much longer you had
until it was finished.

Perhaps this code (and Contacts back in the bottom of the left pane in
WinMail) would be good to have in a future version of Vista PowerToys (g).
Thanks for definitely stating that the code has been removed. Now we know.

That's not why it was removed. There was a long thread in one of the Vista
newsgroups discussing this issue and the reasons why. One reason was that
the graphical display in XP was very inaccurate to begin with so no reason
to have it.

 

[Rock]

Hi Can anyone out there please tell me how I can check on the progress
once
I start a Disk Fragmenter task. With XP I could analize and decide if I
needed to run the task and then on screen you had a visual of the
progress.
With vista all you get is that it is running and could take from minutes
to
hours. I cannot find out how the task is progressing. Please ,Please help
me.
I cannot find the answer on the site

The graphical display was removed because there was no point to it. It was
inaccurate. Vista is set up for the defragmenter to run at night when the
computer is likely to not be in use. Don't worry about it. Let it do it's
automatic defragmenting at an off time. Spend your time using the computer
for other things.

If you really must see a graphical interface and watch blocks jiggle and
move, then get one of the third party tools such as PerfectDisk or
Diskeeper. But frankly it's just the same as throwing your money away.

 

[vanilla]

Thanks, Rock ... I know this is probably very unusual, but I very rarely
leave my machine turned on when I am not actively using it, so I usually
start the defragmenter manually, and only after I have moved a lot of files
around for better organization or brought back stuff offloaded to CD
previously, installed a bunch of stuff, etc. Solution for me is to
disconnect the ethernet, set it to run and lock it up if I can't be in the
house.

 

[Rock]

Thanks, Rock ... I know this is probably very unusual, but I very rarely
leave my machine turned on when I am not actively using it, so I usually
start the defragmenter manually, and only after I have moved a lot of
files around for better organization or brought back stuff offloaded to CD
previously, installed a bunch of stuff, etc. Solution for me is to
disconnect the ethernet, set it to run and lock it up if I can't be in the
house.

Sometimes it's a good idea to look at adapting to fit a situation. Leave it
on overnight one night a week for example or start it, then turn it off when
you go to bed, and it will pick up where it left off the next time it's
turned on, while you're doing something else around the house Of course it
can be running in the background while you're using the computer for other
things. It runs at a low priority so as not to interfere with other
operations. You just don't see the graphical (and essentially misleading
and useless) display of it's progress.

If you want to through away some money to see a graphical view, then go
ahead.