Defragmentation taking too long.

Hi people,

(I hope this is the right place to post this thread. Else, can the moderators please move it to wherever it must be? Thanks.)

I tried defragmenting my hard drive, but it was unusually taking way too long. Is this normal? I was using the windows builtin defrag option.

The reason I was defragmenting yesterday was that couple of weeks back I was doing the "compress files to save hard disk space" but then I realised it will only slow down the performance even more and then I did the opposite, which is 'decompress' the C drive. This I was doing by just unchecking the box in the C drive properties. but I did not let it complete then.. So, after some suggestions from this forum, I decided to do it completely all over again so that all the files remain decompressed and the process is completed. Once it was done fully, I decided to do a defragmentation, but it was taking way too long, which I thought was a bit strange. Currently I have a 320 GB HDD and its filled with about 80 GB... it was taking more than 3 hours.. though there was no error or anything like that.

Is this normal? And is this taking so long because of the decompress thing I did before and the data are scattered all over the place?

In fact I had to cancel the defragmentation since I thought it was taking way too long. Should I just run it again and let it complete no matter how long it takes? and may be from the next time on, it would be quicker?

Thanks a lot in advance for the replies.

 

Windows defragger takes long, I have had it run for days on some systems and if I defrag weekly on some it still takes 12. Try using a third party defragger, they are faster and more efficient.

 

. few hours from a built-in windows defrag utility is "normal" (whatever it means)
. there r some free stuffs out there, IObit, Auslogics etc ... give them a try and see, it should shorten the time of defrag considerably, comparing to the windows built.in ones

cheers ...

 

How fragmented is your HD? If it became really fragmented through all the compression stuff, then that would explain the timing. On some really bad computers I've worked, the defrag would take the whole day. Also, try defragging with jkdefrag.

 

I second that. JkDefrag

 

Thanks a lot people, for the quick replies. I will check out the jkdefrag thing..

As for the how fragmented my hard drive is, I really did not defrag completely ever since I'd got it. So I guess it explains the timing. Also since I was messing around with this compress/decompress thing, I guess its taking long. I will do the defrag again today and see how long it takes and this time, I will let it get done completely.

Thanks again people. Will get back soon. Cheers and good day.

UPDATE: Woww... this jkdefrag thing is super cool Its really nice. Thanks a lot.

 

Vista's defragger is quite slow, try some other defragger. I recommend using a VSS compatible defragger on Vista. I personally have Diskeeper 2008 running on the Vista notebook and highly recommend it.

 

I don't even recommend Vista defragmenter; it doesn't optimize. Use JKDefrag instead.

Run it once with "-a 7" (no quotes) switch at the end in Run... to sort everything by name. After that run it with no switch. It will take awhile but you only have to do the switch once. This is what JKDefrag recommends.

 

Ah ok, thanks Arkit...

But how do u run the command line tool? I mean I start the commandline version of jkdefrag and it starts up automatically. How do I stop it and start with a new option like -a 7 or -a 3? how do I run a new command? Thanks.

 

You don't necessarily have to run the commandline version.

Press Windows Key+R to bring up the Run prompt. Browse for the JKDefrag executable file. You should have something like this in the Run prompt now (depends on where you extracted the files),

"C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Desktop\JkDefrag-3.34\JkDefrag.exe"

From there, just add "-a 7" (no quotes) so you end up with this,

"C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Desktop\JkDefrag-3.34\JkDefrag.exe" -a 7

Then hit enter. Let that defragmentation finish (will probably take awhile). After that, open up the Run prompt again and remove the "-a 7" and just hit enter to run JKDefrag in default mode. From now on, you can run it in this default mode.

This is on XP, but I doubt it's any different in Vista besides the directory paths. Hope that helps.

Good luck!

 

Remember to read the FAQ of JkDefrag.

 

Thanks a lot @ Arkit.. I am doing it now, I mean the first part, the one with -a 7.. and then I will let it run normally. Thanks again.

 

Thanks mate.. I was just reading it but I got confused a bit with all those comp tech language.. Thanks anyway. I am doing it now.

 

A lot of members of this forum use 3rd-party defrag programs. I, personally, use JKDefrag. It goes much faster and, from what I've read over and over, it does an excellent job.

 

my advice...defrag more often...use a better third party defrag prog as others have suggested...my choice is DisKeeper V. 9...partitioning also helps...i have a small partition dedicated to Tempoary Internet Files...Temp files...and TMP files...takes about 5 seconds to defrag that partition and it naturally is the partition that gets fragged the most due to the fact that a lot of fragmentation is caused by these three files...just my .02¢

 

Wow, how long does the "Fixup" stage take? Seems as though I'm in for the long haul.

 

The more you defrag, the less time it will take each time after. At least that's what I've come to find.

 

Happened for me too.. but in the end it was worth the wait and for sure it was not as long a haul as the builtin windows defrag!!!

 

Arkit - The jkdefrag thing works like a charm. Thank You So Much and the other who supported this tool why dont the computer/software developers right away incorporate all the wonderful tools I have found here? then I guess the computer systems that come right out of the box would be so wonderful to work with off the block.

Btw, any one for any idea about what to do with the unmovable files? I checked around but no sure fix caught my eye. I guess as the name suggests, we just leave it as it is. Right? Thanks.

 

The unmovable files could be anything. Most likely the pagefile? I don't know. I just ignore it. Other defragmenters couldn't move it either.

 

Okie.. I was thinking the same.

But I just did the procedure for pagefile.sys defrag from the webpage of jkdefrag.. it still is the same. So I guess I will not force anything further and let it be. The other parts are looking much better now and this jkdefrag thing went without a hitch. Super stuff

 

Sweet, it finished! The computer feels almost brand new. Thanks for the great suggestion for JkDefrag!

 

For me too Its done and it feels so good to even just sit in front of this wonderful laptop, The One and Only XPS M1530 Thanks so much fo JkDefrag! It worked like a charm and I have listed it in my weekly maintenance schedule Hope this helps others too and I would for sure recommend JkDefrag to anyone from now.

I had absolutely no problems whatsoever.. it went on so smoothly Cheers and a beer for everyone on me!

 

For those using XP, be sure to download/install TweakUI and disable "Optimize hard disk when idle" under the General category so the built-in Windows defragmenter doesn't undo what you just did. You can do that or follow this link,

http://www.technipages.com/enabledisable-optimize-hard-drive-when-idle.html

Vista users, you're on your own. Sorry; I don't know how to disable that for Vista.

 

How do we know when is time to defrag the HDD?

 

Anytime you want really. If you feel your computer is becoming a little sluggish, then it's probably time to defragment.

 

the way i have my drive cut into seperate partitions...i usually defrag once a week...takes maybe 5 minutes at the most...120 MB drive

 

I just wanted to mention that JKDefrag GUI is an option, it's JKDefrag with GUI if you don't want to do stuff with the CLI.

 

I try to defrag once a week. I use Auslogics' free defrag program. It takes about 15mins to do so. Defragmenting Windows will take overnight and that's why it's recommended to do it before you go to sleep... and pray that the power doesn't go out!

 

Hey thanks for the info, but poor Vista users :-(

But doesn't disabling the defragmentation 'run on schedule' in Vista somehow disables the optimize hard disk when idle? Or lets say, if we check in the task scheduler and its disabled there?? I am asking this out of curiosity and with whatever knowledge I'd got... Please let me know. Thanks.

 

Ok I am a bit confused now - JkDefrag just worked fine yesterday. I also came across this powerdefragmenter thing which they say is pretty nice as well, and its particularly for people who want something similar to windows builtin defragmenter, but which runs faster!!!

So, whats recommended? I would like to particularly for the system I have (please see my sig) and I would like to hear from one thats using a similar system and a tool which has been working for them well. For now I am pretty pleased with the jkDefrag thing.. but I would like to assure myself on one application so that I just follow that, and that which will keep the system clean and good. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Update: I just tried the powerdefragmenter thing on my external hard disk just to see how its going, and it seems pretty nice as well, though it doesn't seem to really 'optimize'.. Looks like it just defragments the files and makes all of them contiguous but scattered all over the hard disk. From this perspective, can I assume that the JkDefrag thing is better because it defragments and optimizes, as well as sorting the files if we want?

So can someone assure me on just one thing which I can follow up, because I don't want to keep mixing these tools up and end up in a mess. Thanks a lot.

 

Yeah, that's what the Vista built-in defragmenter does as well; no optimize, just scatter.

If you run the built-in after you run JKDefrag, it will undo what you wanted to do by scattering your data. That's why I recommend that you turn off "optimize when idle" because it will un-optimize your system.

 

Exactly, but as you said, that turning off option was only for XP, and you said you had no idea about how to do it in Vista. I tried looking for it in google, but could not find anything.

By the way, will it work in the same way in Vista like the link you mentioned where we change the values in the "HKEY....." thing???

 

If you find the same registry key, I wouldn't see why not.

 

Okie thanks, I will check it out then and get back here... Cheers.

 

Just to chime in here. If you run defrag from the command prompt (run in admin) and enter defrag c: -w -v it will tell the OS to do a full defrag and optimization and will attempt to consolidate data on the drive regardless of file size. The -v switch gives you detailed information about the state of your drive and how much or how little is fragmented.

 

Thanks for that.. will keep in mind

 

The other thing which may have not been mentioned and someone else said it on this forum. Is that Vista's defrag program will attempt to reconfigure data on the drive and place it in areas for faster access. This method has been used in Mac OSX and is referred to as "Hot Zones" which is one reason why you shouldn't use a defrag program on OSX.

 

Hey there, I checked the registry key.. everything is the same till "optimal layout".. here I see two entries, as follows -

* (Default) - Type REG_SZ - Data (value not set)
* LayoutFilePath - Type REG_SZ - Data C:\Windows\Prefetch\Layout.ini

So should I go ahead and set the value at 0 like mentioned in the link you gave us before??? Or is it ok if I just leave it at value not set, meaning the 'optimize while idle' is already disabled?

Thanks in advance for your reply.. I am not changing anything now, I will wait to hear from you since I am not very familiar with these registry things.. and I don't want to take a risk.

 

Will disabling "optimize while idle" make a huge difference?

 

Well it seems to (though I am not saying this form my own experience) but from the countless places / posts / articles on the web I have seen.. it seems to make a huge difference simply for the fact the it completely 'un-does' what you just did with the defragment and optimize tools like JkDefrag. I am just waiting to see it for myself.

 

Can you tell me how to do that?

 

hehe @ Thaansa3... I was asking the same thing.. ;-) He had mentioned a link in one of his previous posts but that was for XP and not Vista.. so I'd checked and asked him another question for which I am still waiting for the answer.. please check the previous pages. Hope we can get this done in Vista somehow / if at all its possible. Cheers.

 

In XP, I have three values. I have the two you mentioned plus one labeled "EnableAutoLayout". I assume this is the value to change because mine already has a value of 0 from TweakUI, but it seems Vista doesn't have this key.

If you search google with the term "vista enableautolayout" you'll find people suggesting to add the key in. Here is an example,

http://arunbalasubramanian.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/windows-hard-drive-optimisation/

 

Great!! Thanks.. personally, would you recommend I go ahead with the suggestions and add the key?

 

Okie dokie. I checked in google in couple more pages, and I have added this new key like, New>DWORD>Named it EnableAutoLayout>set the value to 0>base was hexadecimal by default, and I let it as it is. Shouldn't make much difference between hexadecimal/decimal, right?

Edit: By the way, the "type" value is REG_DWORD (It came on automatically when I chose New>DWORD).. and this is what another page suggested as well!!!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/81031-35-disk-drive-constantly-active > search for "enableautolayout", this is a big page!!!

 

would it be a new dword or a new qword for vista 64 bit?

 

I dont remember where I saw exactly, but when searching for "vista enableautolayout", in one of the many pages, I remember reading that, for 64 bit it would have to be a QWORD. But still, I guess you'd be better off waiting for some expert replies here or do a google search and you might hit on a page.

 

Information
Many people are having a problem in regards to either a slow boot up, or that windows is slow to load Programs.
I am using a SATA RAID 0 config, and even with 4GB of ram This can result in heavy fragmentation over two drives, and a slow system- especially after recording tv on MCE or any other activity that writes large files to disk.

Deframenting speeds up the system dramatically, BUT using the default defragmenter setting doesn't defrag files bigger than 64MB or even include them in the fragmentation statistics.



So here are two steps to a faster system:
1. Do a full defrag- all files
Start>All Programs>Acessories>Right Click Command Prompt>"Run as Administrator">at command prompt, copy and paste the following>hit "Enter":

defrag c: -w

2. Check disk for errors
Start>Computer>Right Click "C" drive>Click Properties>Tools>Error Checking-Click "Check Now">Under Check Disk Options click "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"> Restart Computer

(note-substitute "c" for the drive letter you want to defrag/check for errors)

NOTE
When the computer restarts after check disk, you will notice that the system is much faster and more responsive