How To Make Vista more responsive and faster

How To Make Vista more Responsive and Faster​

   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 doesn't defrag file fragments bigger than 64MB or even include them in the fragmentation statistics
When you have file fragments for one program scattered all over your hard drive, it takes time to recompile them in order to execute the program/data in question. Consolidating all file fragments regardless of their size will result in faster access and execution. Now multiply this by hundreds of thousands of individual file fragments that the cpu must recompile to execute in proper sequence per Windows or User command at the same time. I have seen the GUI show 0% fragmentation where the -w command will show 10% fragmentation on a 640GB SATA RAID 0 drive- thats alot of little individual file fragments scattered over a modest size drive...

But this is only part of the problem, now add into the equation file system errors, bad sectors on the disk, and attribute record (NTFS Directory) corruption...and even the fastest system will slow to a crawl over time.

two steps to a faster system:
(Diskcheck can be scheduled at same time as defrag is running, and will commence upon reboot of system)

1. Do a full defrag- Consolidate all file fragments regardless of size (-w)​

Start>All Programs>Acessories>Right Click Command Prompt>"Run as Administrator">at command prompt, copy and paste the following>hit "Enter": (or just type cmd in search at start, right click program "run as administrator")​

(Do not close command (cmd) screen-flashing cursor in empty space indicates defrag running. see note below or page 2 of this tutorial (second post from bottom to see screen shots of the 3 defrag stages))​

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defrag c: -w ​

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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​

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

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   Note

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

   Note

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Do not close the "Administrator:Command Prompt" window untill defrag is complete, or it will abort (wait until you see flashing cursor at C:\Windows\system32>_)​

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Defrag does not delete files- it just rearranges them on the drive and consolidates. If you notice increase/decrease of storage space on the drive, It can probably most likely be attributed to the Check Disk scan verifying/correcting errors in file data and free space, and/or bad sectors recovered, or marked as "unrecoverable" on the disk. See scan results for more info upon completion of Disk Check.​

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If your Disk is marked as "Dirty" see Method 3 here: Check Disk - chkdsk​

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Related Tutorials

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• How to Speed Up the Performance of Vista
• To Reset and Check All Drives and Run CHKDSK If a Drive is Dirty
• scan for and fix system integrity violations

 

[Backfire3788]

This is the Safe way of speeding up your computer
use Auslogics Disk Defrag it defrags in 5-10min

 

[tasaholic]

This is the Safe way of speeding up your computer
use Auslogics Disk Defrag it defrags in 5-10min

Totally agree,been using it on everything for a few years now..never fails!

 

[JimJoe]

I use Diskeeper, but its the same. Much faster than Windows defrag.

 

[dlstorm]

I carried out this process, following directions accurately. I have Vista 64 on a Sony Vaio notebook. After defrag it said it was able to defrag only files up to 64k. After a 2 hour disk check, the computer would not reboot and notified me that files were damaged. I had to pull out my repair disks to fix the problem. There's no speed up.

 

[DarkDavil]

Something wrong with your computer? it does say that, but after that you have to keep waiting until the blinking cursor changes,

 

[dlstorm]

?? ...well whatever. My notebook was still acting flakey even after my attempted repair; even my system recovery points had vanished. I finally reinstalled an earlier Ghost image of my system, all's well now, after hours of frustration....think I will leave well enough alone.

 

[carl424]

Can you start this of from any directory, or do you have to be in C:\windows\system\32 to start defrag.


Also, in windows xp, a tip i was given, was to turn the hibernation feature of while defragmenting.
Is there nay need to do this in vista.......

Thanks guys

 

[rive0108]

Can you start this of from any directory, or do you have to be in C:\windows\system\32 to start defrag.


Also, in windows xp, a tip i was given, was to turn the hibernation feature of while defragmenting.
Is there nay need to do this in vista.......

Thanks guys

NO

this must be done as admin in command prompt, or RE
no need to disable Hibernation

 

[rive0108]

I carried out this process, following directions accurately. I have Vista 64 on a Sony Vaio notebook. After defrag it said it was able to defrag only files up to 64k. After a 2 hour disk check, the computer would not reboot and notified me that files were damaged. I had to pull out my repair disks to fix the problem. There's no speed up.

Thats because you have attribute/system file Integrity corruption of Windows. That is what the scans look for, and fix if they can. (e.g. "disk check"), as well as a full defrag which will speed up a healthy system.

 

[Wii Master 64]

how long does it generally take for check disk?

 

[JimJoe]

how long does it generally take for check disk?

There is really no set time. It could take over 30 minutes, it could take less. It could take over an hour.

But don't interrupt it.

 

[ilikefree]

The defrag thing is.. uh.. well..

Vista comes with a default scheduled task to run a defrag at 1am every Wednesday. Any system that is on at that time (or turned on after that time) will run a defrag on its own anyway. Unless a massive amount of misfitting writes and deleted are performed in that time, there will not be any noticeable fragmentation anyway. On my systems, the automatic defrag tends to run for just a few minutes.

This will not defrag your whole system only files under 64MB so any movies etc. will not be defragged, not the full defrag you think you are getting

 

[rive0108]

The defrag thing is.. uh.. well..

Vista comes with a default scheduled task to run a defrag at 1am every Wednesday. Any system that is on at that time (or turned on after that time) will run a defrag on its own anyway. Unless a massive amount of misfitting writes and deleted are performed in that time, there will not be any noticeable fragmentation anyway. On my systems, the automatic defrag tends to run for just a few minutes.

This will not defrag your whole system only files under 64MB so any movies etc. will not be defragged, not the full defrag you think you are getting

You are incorrect

That would be true if it were a "default" defrag, but keep in mind you are using it via command prompt with "-w" that means ALL files regardless of size.

 

[kire612002]

I followed your instructions and there is a definite speed improvement.
Thanks