Need help with Defragment - would like to "Cancel Defragmentation".

I have a laptop with 250 gb hd. Haven't defragged in over a year, and I have almost filled the drive and then moved a lot of files to an ext. hd, several times, so it should be well overdue for a defrag.

Vista Defragmenter analyzed and told me there was no need for a defrag.

I started the Defrag anyway, and that was about 4 hours ago and it's still going.

This is the 2nd and last time I will ever use the Vista Defragmenter - the only other time I did it took overnight before it turned off, probably 12 hours or more.

My questions are:

1) Is it okay to click "Cancel Defragmentation".

I saw someone in a thread in these forums state that it is okay to turn it off at anytime by design.

Somone in another forum thread said never to turn it off.

Help please. I would like to turn it off now.

2) Can I use the computer while it is defragging? At least for web surfing?
I haven't used the computer since I started the defrag, but got on it now to post this and research this issue.

3) Why do you think it said that I don't need defrag, and then when I choose to defrag anyway it's not done after 4 -5 hours?

4) I read in a thread somewhere that anytime the computer is used during a defrag, causes the defrag to restart!
Any truth to this?

General comment - Vista Defragmenter is awful. There's no excuse for not giving a progress bar and/or visuals.
Is it running at all? Will it be 5 more minutes or 18 hours or never before it's done?

Please help - I'm hoping it's okay to Cancel the Defrag. so I can use the computer now, and will only use a defrag. with visuals in the future (was happy with the one in XP).

you can cancel a defrag.. but its advisable to let it run.. just minimise it and forget it.. i won't hurt..

Yes you can use your pc while its defragging

If it tells you, you dont need to defrag.. it means that your operating system is seeing it as been ok at the moment.. even though if you click on defrag it will still defrag the hard drive.. hard drive defrag is known to be a slow running process which yes take hours depending on how many files you have

I would advise you to run a defrag at least once a month even thou your machine sees it as the hard drive do not need to be defrag

Do not cancel it, you will be half done, but should not cause a problem. Then you must start over the next time.

If you use it, will never get done.

Even if you do not need it, checks every area.

To cut time it takes, get off the net, delte unnecessary folders etc, do a disc scan before defrag,

ashvin - "you can cancel a defrag.. but its advisable to let it run.."

Can you be more specific - why is it advisable to let it run?
Do I take the chance of losing data/causing problems with the OS/other?

richc46 - "Do not cancel it, you will be half done, but should not cause a problem."

When you write that it "should not cause a problem", can it cause a problem?
If so, what consequences can there be?

Was this designed to be able to be stopped at any time?

I choose my words carefully, I say stopping can cause damage, because even doing it can cause damage. Defrag is not something to do everyday. 3, 4 times a year for the average user.
Simply Running A Defrag Operation Could Cause Minor Damage To The Registry

You can cancel a defrag.. but its not advisable!! if you click on the cancl button it will cancel it.. but yes its advisable to let it run.. !!
I would say its a subject that can be debated..
the job of defrag in simple terms is to remove gaps between files and data and compress them so that your computer run faster as result to the file are easily found and accessed,, with no empty or unused gap

Cancelling that process.. means that the file had already been moved will stay there.. which can be a part of a program file have moved further and the other part is still behind so cancelling the defrag may make your computer run slower as it needs to find the file..

the solution if you cancel a defrag is to re run it as soon as possible.. but cancelling a defrag to my knowledge won't do major damage.. refer to richc46 link..

cheers