Vista Tutorial - Defragment Boot Files - Enable or Disable

**Brink** · **OPTION ONE:**

How to Enable or Disable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup in Vista

Information

This will show you how to enable or disable the defragging of the boot files automatically during the startup or restart of Vista. This is enabled by default in Vista.

NOTE

When enabled, this can help improve the performance of the computer by consolidating the fragmented boot files to get a faster startup time.

Tip

If you would like to create a Defragment Boot Files shortcut so you can manually defrag the boot files when you want to without having to restart the computer, then see: How to Create a Defragment Boot Files Shortcut in Vista

RELATED LINKS:

OPTION ONE:
Through a Download

1. To Disable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup -
A) Click on the download button below to download the Disable_Auto_Boot_Defrag.reg file.

B) Go to step 3.

2. To Enable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup -
A) Click on the download button below to download the Enable_Auto_Boot_Defrag.reg file.

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.

4. Right click on the .reg file (on Desktop) fand click Merge.

5. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.

6. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.

7. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).

OPTION TWO:
The Manual Way

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Click on the Continue button for the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

5. To Disable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup -
A) In the right pane, right click on Enable and click Modify. (See screenshot above)

B) Type N and click OK. (See screenshot below)

C) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)

D) Go to step 7.

6. To Enable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup -
A) In the right pane, right click on Enable and click Modify. (See screenshot above)

B) Type Y and click OK. (See screenshot below)

C) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below step 4)

7. Close regedit.

That's it,
Shawn

**krisdestruction** · 07-30-2008

does vista do this every time it starts up?

**Brink** · 07-30-2008

Hi Krisdestruction, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Yes, but only as needed.

**WildEagle** · 08-08-2008

Gonna do the work to set the Vista defrag utility to defrag boot files, on boot up as needed, when I get a chance.

Thanks for this, I was wondering if something like this was possible, since I don't use Diskeeper anymore.

**Brink** · 08-08-2008

Your welcome WildEagle. It should be enabled by default though.

**WildEagle** · 08-08-2008

Just checked it is enabled by default. Wasn't sure if it was enabled already.

**krisdestruction** · 08-11-2008

I'm currently using PerfectDisk 2008 and defrag on boot is not a problem. Defragging the MTF and lots of other places are available too.

**TorchMan** · 10-19-2008

Hello. I have a little qestion. What mean's "LcnEndLocation"? In your registry entry i can seen value 575821, but in my registry is this value 0. Is this range of space in bytes of the system files on the disk or something?

Thank you in advice

TorchMan™

**Brink** · 10-19-2008

Hi Torchman,

Well basically LcnEndLocation stands for the "Logical Cluster Number (on the hard drive) End Location" of the files moved by Disk Defragmenter for boot optimization (defrag), and LcnStartLocation is for the start location.

The data within these cluster numbers is usually the prefetch data. The size numbers for LcnEndLocation and LcnStartLocation will vary and should not be manually modified.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

kiddieboy12 · 02-20-2009

um. what if i use smart defrag. and i defag like every 20 minuites. will i need it?