how do I turn off automatic defrag?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob
  • Start date Start date
B

Bob

I need to turn automatic defrag off, it's driving me nuts. Someone please
tell me how.

Bob
 
I need to turn automatic defrag off, it's driving me nuts. Someone please
tell me how.

Bob
Click to expand...

Automatic defrag occurs once every 3 days and lasts a few seconds. It is
not an intense operation. Are you sure that's where your extra disk
activity is coming from? Is it possible that you have "indexing" turned on?
This feature causes more disk activity and can be quite intense - at least
until the basic index is built. Smaller bursts of activity for new
additions to be indexed.

If you have a full scale defrag occurring on a regular basis, that is not
normal in XP. Either a task has been added to Task Scheduler or there is a
third party defragmenter with its own scheduling options being used.
 
Hello
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Scheduled Tasks>right click Disk
Defrag then delete or disable.

--
Hope This Helps
Haus
Not a MS-MVP
Not a MVP
Not nothing, just a good ole boy.
 
Hmmm. Nothing's listed in Scheduled Tasks.



Haus said:
Hello
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Scheduled Tasks>right click Disk
Defrag then delete or disable.

--
Hope This Helps
Haus
Not a MS-MVP
Not a MVP
Not nothing, just a good ole boy.
Click to expand...
 
Sharon F said:
Automatic defrag occurs once every 3 days and lasts a few seconds. It is
not an intense operation. Are you sure that's where your extra disk
activity is coming from? Is it possible that you have "indexing" turned on?
This feature causes more disk activity and can be quite intense - at least
until the basic index is built. Smaller bursts of activity for new
additions to be indexed.

If you have a full scale defrag occurring on a regular basis, that is not
normal in XP. Either a task has been added to Task Scheduler or there is a
third party defragmenter with its own scheduling options being used.
Click to expand...

I disabled indexing and System Restore long ago.

Your information on automatic defragging is in disagreement with another
source:

http://windowsxp.devx.com/articles/perfen/default.asp

"
The last hardware change of note is that Windows XP will automatically
perform disk defragmentation during activity lulls. As described previously,
these lulls consist of 13 minutes of no user I/O. The result of this is, of
course, more-efficient disk access.
"
This description is consistent with what I have been experiencing. In the
middle of writing code - which itself has no I/O until I save the files - my
machine will randomly start disk activity which takes 1-3 minutes. And if I
stand by/suspend my computer while it's doing this, any instances of IE and
OE lock up forever, and I can't reboot without physically turning the
machine off. So much for Windows XP's vaunted stability.

There was nothing in Task Scheduler, but since I disabled it there has been
no more unsolicited disk activity.

Bob
 
The article you refer to here. http://windowsxp.devx.com/articles/perfen/default.asp doesn't mention anything about defragging at all. If you are referring to the optimization that the article talks about (moving files to make them contiguous during luls in activity) this is rather misleading as it isn't referring to defragging but rather prefetching. There simply isn't any "automatic" defrag in XP.There are some boot optimization that take place about every 3 days but no defrag or why would you need a defrag utility? I have solved many a system slow down problem by defragmenting a system that has reached %40+ fragmentation so if there were such a program then XP would never reach these levels. Programs like Diskkeeper and Perfect Disk do have options to have defrag run at times when the OS needs it or at preselected times. When this activity takes place you should go into the task manager and then click processes to see what process is using the CPU and then track down the culprit using a process viewer. You actually answered your own post by stating that you have disabled the task scheduler so I rather suspect a program was using this to enable it's auto"something" function even though it didn't have a listing in the main GUI. Good luck.{:~)
 
I disabled indexing and System Restore long ago.

Your information on automatic defragging is in disagreement with another
source:

http://windowsxp.devx.com/articles/perfen/default.asp

"
The last hardware change of note is that Windows XP will automatically
perform disk defragmentation during activity lulls. As described previously,
these lulls consist of 13 minutes of no user I/O. The result of this is, of
course, more-efficient disk access.
"
This description is consistent with what I have been experiencing. In the
middle of writing code - which itself has no I/O until I save the files - my
machine will randomly start disk activity which takes 1-3 minutes. And if I
stand by/suspend my computer while it's doing this, any instances of IE and
OE lock up forever, and I can't reboot without physically turning the
machine off. So much for Windows XP's vaunted stability.

There was nothing in Task Scheduler, but since I disabled it there has been
no more unsolicited disk activity.

Bob
Click to expand...

"Optimization" is a feature tied into XP's disk defragmenter. This process
occurs every 3 days.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...s/appendix/hh/appendix/enhancements5_3oc3.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_uutk.asp

If using a third party defragmenter, check that program's settings.
 
It's a hidden task. You won't see it.

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows File System

Disclaimer: I work for Raxco Software, the maker of PerfectDisk - a
commercial defrag utility, as a systems engineer in the support department.

Want to email me? Delete ntloader.
 
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