(OT) Defrag - How Often?

Hi,
I haven't done a defrag for over a year in the thought that with the high
access times and large hard drives, a defrag isn't needed very often. Now
while poking around Vista Home Premium I find that the kids in Redmond set
as default a defrag every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. That explains why my hard
drive goes hyper once in a while. Is the Microsoft Vista defrag program
adequate and does it need to run weekly? Also are there any freeware defrag
programs that do a better job than Microsoft's.
Dean

I don't do them anymore at all.

Dean-MN wrote:
Hi,
I haven't done a defrag for over a year in the thought that with the
high access times and large hard drives, a defrag isn't needed very
often. Now while poking around Vista Home Premium I find that the kids
in Redmond set as default a defrag every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. That
explains why my hard drive goes hyper once in a while. Is the Microsoft
Vista defrag program adequate and does it need to run weekly? Also are
there any freeware defrag programs that do a better job than Microsoft's.
Dean

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:22:12 -0500, "Dean-MN" wrote:

Hi,
I haven't done a defrag for over a year in the thought that with the high
access times and large hard drives, a defrag isn't needed very often. Now
while poking around Vista Home Premium I find that the kids in Redmond set
as default a defrag every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. That explains why my hard
drive goes hyper once in a while. Is the Microsoft Vista defrag program
adequate and does it need to run weekly? Also are there any freeware defrag
programs that do a better job than Microsoft's.
Dean


My opinion is I think it depends on what you do and how often you do
it. Some don't think it's necessary and I can't say they are right
or wrong. For me, I prefer to use a commercial defragger which runs
at nite automatically so it least impacts me.

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:22:12 -0500, "Dean-MN" wrote:

Hi,
I haven't done a defrag for over a year in the thought that with the high
access times and large hard drives, a defrag isn't needed very often. Now
while poking around Vista Home Premium I find that the kids in Redmond set
as default a defrag every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. That explains why my hard
drive goes hyper once in a while. Is the Microsoft Vista defrag program
adequate and does it need to run weekly? Also are there any freeware defrag
programs that do a better job than Microsoft's.
Dean

I defrag once a week, on Wed. nights when I am asleep.

I also defrag whenever I do any large installs or uninstalls.

It all depends on what products you use, and how badly they abuse the hard
drive. Doing a hard drive cleanup with CCleaner is usually more beneficial
than a defrag. But I use Eudora email which leaves its mailboxes in a highly
fragmented state over time, so I have to defrag just to get email running more
smoothly. Other email and database software packages may do similarly.

.... Ben Myers

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:22:12 -0500, "Dean-MN" wrote:

Hi,
I haven't done a defrag for over a year in the thought that with the high
access times and large hard drives, a defrag isn't needed very often. Now
while poking around Vista Home Premium I find that the kids in Redmond set
as default a defrag every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. That explains why my hard
drive goes hyper once in a while. Is the Microsoft Vista defrag program
adequate and does it need to run weekly? Also are there any freeware defrag
programs that do a better job than Microsoft's.
Dean

Once a year I feel is a long time, it depends on how often and how you
use your computer.

A bit like washing up the longer you leave it the harder it gets, if
you defrag regularly then it won't take as long... better to do a disc
clean up before hand or empty the temporary Internet files either in
outlook or through Internet options.

Guess once a month at least is a good starter, gotta be obvious if you
have files all over the place it's gonna slow things down finding them.

I use CC cleaner it cleans all the temporary files out and never had a
problem yet - you do have to be careful though and it does let you make
a back up should it be a registry file.

You'll find a free down load here 'CCleaner.com'
(http://www.ccleaner.com/) I would avoid any dedicated registry cleaners
as they can cause more harm than good, CC is timid compared to these.

Davy

"Dean-MN" wrote in message . ..

Also are there any freeware defrag programs that do a better job than
Microsoft's.

This is one I've been meaning to study:

http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/index.html

Once a year I feel is a long time, it depends on how often and how you
use your computer.
A bit like washing up the longer you leave it the harder it gets, if
you defrag regularly then it won't take as long... better to do a disc
clean up before hand or empty the temporary Internet files either in
outlook or through Internet options.

I'd go along with that - it's pointless defragging the crap on your
system !

I use one called PowerDefrag nowadays... all it is is a simple front-
end interface to the contig.exe defragger by Sysinternals.

Use the "powermode" option the first time you use it, and leave it
running overnight... (it ain't quick, but it seems very effective)

Hi,
Thanks all for the feedback. I have enough tips now to make an informed
decision.
Dean
"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message t...
Once a year I feel is a long time, it depends on how often and how you
use your computer.
A bit like washing up the longer you leave it the harder it gets, if
you defrag regularly then it won't take as long... better to do a disc
clean up before hand or empty the temporary Internet files either in
outlook or through Internet options.

I'd go along with that - it's pointless defragging the crap on your
system !

I use one called PowerDefrag nowadays... all it is is a simple front-
end interface to the contig.exe defragger by Sysinternals.

Use the "powermode" option the first time you use it, and leave it
running overnight... (it ain't quick, but it seems very effective)

Years ago, Norton defrag trashed my hard drive. Haven't defragged
since...


--


When they discover the center of the universe,
a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.

....Bernard Bailey