C
Couldn't Say
When the drive starts audibly chattering or twice a year, whichever comes
first.
(Go ahead, flame me. But it's true).
first.
(Go ahead, flame me. But it's true).
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D
D. Spencer Hines
I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week really improves
performance.
Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends in
speed.
What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
DSH
performance.
Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends in
speed.
What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
DSH
K
Keith
Defrag once a week for all partitions is what I scheduled.
W
watercress_soup
nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid use...
is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along? rather than
having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so to complete in one go?
I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp. although my vista
laptop only runs at, unfortunately, 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.
and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it actually looked like
it was doing something.
steve
is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along? rather than
having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so to complete in one go?
I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp. although my vista
laptop only runs at, unfortunately, 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.
and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it actually looked like
it was doing something.
steve
J
Jeffrey S. Sparks
Vista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default schedule is 1am
every wednesday.
Jeff
every wednesday.
Jeff
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
having a fully defragged HD MAY increase performance of things that
read/write to your HD. In my case, I have two extended partitions,
one for graphics-only data, and the other for every other kind of
data. The only data on my C:\ is that which Windows and my apps
store there and I cannot conveniently change it.
So, when I do a full balls out backup of my system periodically,
which starts with an agressive malware scan, I do defrag C:\ but
I've never seen a performance increase because there are too many
"can't move" huge blocks that prevent what is needed. And, my
extended partitions don't get enough churning to be seriously
defragged. Once in a great while, though, I'll double back up my
extends to two different externals, and simply reformat the
partition and start over.
So, my opinion, and YMMMV, is that I don't find a need nor a
benefit for anything at all like a weekly defrag, plus I feel it
unnecessarily invites a visit from Murphy. The latter is why I have
APC UPS boxes on both systems. The LAST thing you want is to have a
power hit in your house during a defrag.
As the saying goes, all things being equal but they seldom are,I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
really improves performance.
Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per
month really pays dividends in speed.
What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
having a fully defragged HD MAY increase performance of things that
read/write to your HD. In my case, I have two extended partitions,
one for graphics-only data, and the other for every other kind of
data. The only data on my C:\ is that which Windows and my apps
store there and I cannot conveniently change it.
So, when I do a full balls out backup of my system periodically,
which starts with an agressive malware scan, I do defrag C:\ but
I've never seen a performance increase because there are too many
"can't move" huge blocks that prevent what is needed. And, my
extended partitions don't get enough churning to be seriously
defragged. Once in a great while, though, I'll double back up my
extends to two different externals, and simply reformat the
partition and start over.
So, my opinion, and YMMMV, is that I don't find a need nor a
benefit for anything at all like a weekly defrag, plus I feel it
unnecessarily invites a visit from Murphy. The latter is why I have
APC UPS boxes on both systems. The LAST thing you want is to have a
power hit in your house during a defrag.
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...
do is turn off ALL the automatic stuff, both scheduling and
updating. I simply will not let software do that stuff without my
knowledge. I've been down that road and no longer have the energy
to recover. I can't tell you how many friends go to sleep at
night with a 100% functional system on 98, ME, 2000, or XP and
get up in the morning to a system that either won't start at all
or is majorly wounded. The two biggest culprits are a rennegade
MS critical update patch which itself is flawed and an auto
update of their video driver, and then, 99 44/100% of the time
they have nVidia, which is why I have ATI.
Now, everybody must take responsibility for their lives, their
actions, and their computers, it ain't up to me to tell them what
to do or not do, I just provide a perspective if asked.
When, not if, I "upgrade" to Vista, the very first thing I willVista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default
schedule is 1am every wednesday.
do is turn off ALL the automatic stuff, both scheduling and
updating. I simply will not let software do that stuff without my
knowledge. I've been down that road and no longer have the energy
to recover. I can't tell you how many friends go to sleep at
night with a 100% functional system on 98, ME, 2000, or XP and
get up in the morning to a system that either won't start at all
or is majorly wounded. The two biggest culprits are a rennegade
MS critical update patch which itself is flawed and an auto
update of their video driver, and then, 99 44/100% of the time
they have nVidia, which is why I have ATI.
Now, everybody must take responsibility for their lives, their
actions, and their computers, it ain't up to me to tell them what
to do or not do, I just provide a perspective if asked.
J
Jeffrey S. Sparks
I left all the automatic stuff on and haven't had any problems. I would say
the nice thing about updates though is that before Vista does an update it
creates a system restore point. That way should you have a problem (lets
say a bad driver update) you can just load the restore point right before
the update and bingo, back in action. I like not having to mess with
updating anything but to each their own....
Jeff
the nice thing about updates though is that before Vista does an update it
creates a system restore point. That way should you have a problem (lets
say a bad driver update) you can just load the restore point right before
the update and bingo, back in action. I like not having to mess with
updating anything but to each their own....
Jeff
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, Couldn't Say made these interesting comments ...
well, I have heard strange noises from my HD but not any cured by
why any flames, you saw and heard what you saw and heard, none of
the rest of us have, nor can anyone here speak with certainty
over the millions and millions of PCs with and without defragging
under multiple O/S's, even before Windows.
When the drive starts audibly chattering or twice a year,
whichever comes first.
well, I have heard strange noises from my HD but not any cured by
defragging! said:(Go ahead, flame me. But it's true).
why any flames, you saw and heard what you saw and heard, none of
the rest of us have, nor can anyone here speak with certainty
over the millions and millions of PCs with and without defragging
under multiple O/S's, even before Windows.
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...
also do not believe in giving Murphy an even break, so if your
experience is positive, there's no reason for you to change, but
also no reason for me to change either. XP is supposed to create
a RP, and usually does, but I've seen - or think I have - where
updates do not create one. So, I do my own. And, I always look to
see what MS is proposing to download and uncheck anything I don't
think I want at all or at that moment. If I do delay, I lurk
hereabouts and often hear horror stories for some updates from
time-to-time, hence reinforcing my extreme caution.
But, as to getting control back from a previous RP, plenty of
people can describe situations where that didn't work, starting
with strange messages about prior RPs being invalid/corrupt to
plain complete inability to even start XP in order to do a
restore, even from Safe Mode. Common? No. Possible? Definitely.
Good luck with your system. You sound knowledgeable and
undoubtedly also have a well-defined and rigid backup regiment to
avoid other forms of disasters.
Jeff, I don't believe in fixing things that aren't broken and II left all the automatic stuff on and haven't had any
problems. I would say the nice thing about updates though is
that before Vista does an update it creates a system restore
point. That way should you have a problem (lets say a bad
driver update) you can just load the restore point right
before the update and bingo, back in action. I like not
having to mess with updating anything but to each their
own....
also do not believe in giving Murphy an even break, so if your
experience is positive, there's no reason for you to change, but
also no reason for me to change either. XP is supposed to create
a RP, and usually does, but I've seen - or think I have - where
updates do not create one. So, I do my own. And, I always look to
see what MS is proposing to download and uncheck anything I don't
think I want at all or at that moment. If I do delay, I lurk
hereabouts and often hear horror stories for some updates from
time-to-time, hence reinforcing my extreme caution.
But, as to getting control back from a previous RP, plenty of
people can describe situations where that didn't work, starting
with strange messages about prior RPs being invalid/corrupt to
plain complete inability to even start XP in order to do a
restore, even from Safe Mode. Common? No. Possible? Definitely.
Good luck with your system. You sound knowledgeable and
undoubtedly also have a well-defined and rigid backup regiment to
avoid other forms of disasters.
J
Jeffrey S. Sparks
Good luck with your system. You sound knowledgeable and
undoubtedly also have a well-defined and rigid backup regiment to
avoid other forms of disasters.
I may have been lucky with XP as I only had a couple of problems with
updates on their but I have to admit I have turned automatic updates OFF on
my servers at work. I didn't realize I had left it on and they started
rebooting during the middle of the day. NOT a very pleasant experience I
can tell you.
I haven't used the Backup built into vista business as I like Acronis. One
of these days I may try the built-in backup, but like you say, if it isn't
broke don't fix it....
Jeff
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...
It has been said that if you're lucky you don't have to be smart
but if you're smart you don't have to be lucky. Maybe so, I guess
I'd like to try to be both. But, home vs work is a BIG
difference. In a business environment you simply cannot tolerate
an outage during working hours, no matter how small. Again, back
to my old job, we only installed PC, CAD, and other software
updates or new versions on 3rd shift Sunday night. For the really
big changes, like a new version of CATIA, a crew of several
hundred people would be called in, the change tentatively made,
then legions of testers would verify it. The idea was to make a
go-nogo decision by 6:30AM when the first people came to work.
The majority of the time, it worked just fine, but there were
some CATIA changes that had to be emergency backed out, and THAT
re-tested, a process that held us up one time until about noon
Monday morning. There were some really pissed off senior managers
in the car groups!
True Image 9.0. I like it, and in keeping with my don't fix it if
it ain't broke philosophy, I so far see no reason to upgrade to
10.0. Also, at the same time, I bought 2 new 200 gig externals
and rotate my backups into a larger bank safety deposit box every
4-6 weeks, so if there is a fire or weather disaster that takes
me out, I can at least recover my data back no more than the
rotation period. In my early IT days, this was called
grandfathering of backup tapes,only it was 3, not 2, hence its
name.
I'm sure you'd agree that the time most people decide on a backup
regimen is the day AFTER their HD crashes. And, I know people who
killed their PC with a rogue nVidia driver they updated in some
silly ass attempt to extract some performance or the even sillier
notion that they need to keep up with every new update of
everything. I used to do that stuff, too, until one day in the
summer of 1995, I had an awakening and suddently realized I was
spending more time on fixing problems caused by constant upgrades
than I was getting in productivity. So, I simply quit cold turkey
and now prefer not to give Murphy an even break.
Have a good one!
I may have been lucky with XP as I only had a couple of
problems with updates on their but I have to admit I have
turned automatic updates OFF on my servers at work. I didn't
realize I had left it on and they started rebooting during the
middle of the day. NOT a very pleasant experience I can tell
you.
It has been said that if you're lucky you don't have to be smart
but if you're smart you don't have to be lucky. Maybe so, I guess
I'd like to try to be both. But, home vs work is a BIG
difference. In a business environment you simply cannot tolerate
an outage during working hours, no matter how small. Again, back
to my old job, we only installed PC, CAD, and other software
updates or new versions on 3rd shift Sunday night. For the really
big changes, like a new version of CATIA, a crew of several
hundred people would be called in, the change tentatively made,
then legions of testers would verify it. The idea was to make a
go-nogo decision by 6:30AM when the first people came to work.
The majority of the time, it worked just fine, but there were
some CATIA changes that had to be emergency backed out, and THAT
re-tested, a process that held us up one time until about noon
Monday morning. There were some really pissed off senior managers
in the car groups!
I research in another NG for an imager a year ago, and decided onI haven't used the Backup built into vista business as I like
Acronis. One of these days I may try the built-in backup, but
like you say, if it isn't broke don't fix it....
True Image 9.0. I like it, and in keeping with my don't fix it if
it ain't broke philosophy, I so far see no reason to upgrade to
10.0. Also, at the same time, I bought 2 new 200 gig externals
and rotate my backups into a larger bank safety deposit box every
4-6 weeks, so if there is a fire or weather disaster that takes
me out, I can at least recover my data back no more than the
rotation period. In my early IT days, this was called
grandfathering of backup tapes,only it was 3, not 2, hence its
name.
I'm sure you'd agree that the time most people decide on a backup
regimen is the day AFTER their HD crashes. And, I know people who
killed their PC with a rogue nVidia driver they updated in some
silly ass attempt to extract some performance or the even sillier
notion that they need to keep up with every new update of
everything. I used to do that stuff, too, until one day in the
summer of 1995, I had an awakening and suddently realized I was
spending more time on fixing problems caused by constant upgrades
than I was getting in productivity. So, I simply quit cold turkey
and now prefer not to give Murphy an even break.
Have a good one!
P
Poprivet
Jeffrey said:I may have been lucky with XP as I only had a couple of problems with
updates on their but I have to admit I have turned automatic updates
OFF on my servers at work. I didn't realize I had left it on and
they started rebooting during the middle of the day. NOT a very
pleasant experience I can tell you.
I haven't used the Backup built into vista business as I like
Acronis. One of these days I may try the built-in backup, but like
you say, if it isn't broke don't fix it....
Jeff
As often as it takes to keep the defrag time from getting excessively long.
H
HEMI-Powered
Today, Poprivet made these interesting comments ...
that in my case, as I've never really seen a performance
improvement from Windows defragging alone, I used to with Norton
Utilities but it won't work anymore, I only defrag during my
periodic backup regimen. Key parts of what I do every 4-6 weeks
take a long time, e.g. doing a full system-wide malware scan may
take 6,8 12 hours. So, since my HD is pretty well tied up by this
or a defrag or what have you, I just slow down the intensity of
what I'm trying to do and watch more TV. But, I'm sorry, I won't
run that sort of thing at night when I can't keep an eye on it.
But, I also believe that people should do what works for them, not
follow my lead, except if they see some small shred of wisdom in my
ramblings.
I suppose that is a good benchmark, Pop, as good as any. ExceptAs often as it takes to keep the defrag time from getting
excessively long.
that in my case, as I've never really seen a performance
improvement from Windows defragging alone, I used to with Norton
Utilities but it won't work anymore, I only defrag during my
periodic backup regimen. Key parts of what I do every 4-6 weeks
take a long time, e.g. doing a full system-wide malware scan may
take 6,8 12 hours. So, since my HD is pretty well tied up by this
or a defrag or what have you, I just slow down the intensity of
what I'm trying to do and watch more TV. But, I'm sorry, I won't
run that sort of thing at night when I can't keep an eye on it.
But, I also believe that people should do what works for them, not
follow my lead, except if they see some small shred of wisdom in my
ramblings.