Vista - How Often To Defragment HDD's?

When the drive starts audibly chattering or twice a year, whichever comes
first.

(Go ahead, flame me. But it's true).


"HEMI-Powered" <none@none.sn> wrote in message
news:Xns98EC7EF319883ReplyScoreID@216.168.3.30...
> Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
>
>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
>> really improves performance.
>>
>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
>> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per
>> month really pays dividends in speed.
>>
>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>
> As the saying goes, all things being equal but they seldom are,
> having a fully defragged HD MAY increase performance of things that
> read/write to your HD. In my case, I have two extended partitions,
> one for graphics-only data, and the other for every other kind of
> data. The only data on my C:\ is that which Windows and my apps
> store there and I cannot conveniently change it.
>
> So, when I do a full balls out backup of my system periodically,
> which starts with an agressive malware scan, I do defrag C:\ but
> I've never seen a performance increase because there are too many
> "can't move" huge blocks that prevent what is needed. And, my
> extended partitions don't get enough churning to be seriously
> defragged. Once in a great while, though, I'll double back up my
> extends to two different externals, and simply reformat the
> partition and start over.
>
> So, my opinion, and YMMMV, is that I don't find a need nor a
> benefit for anything at all like a weekly defrag, plus I feel it
> unnecessarily invites a visit from Murphy. The latter is why I have
> APC UPS boxes on both systems. The LAST thing you want is to have a
> power hit in your house during a defrag.
>
> --
> HP, aka Jerry

I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week really improves
performance.

Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends in
speed.

What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?

DSH

Defrag once a week for all partitions is what I scheduled.

"D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week really
> improves performance.
>
> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
> backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends
> in speed.
>
> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>
> DSH
>

nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid use...

is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along? rather than
having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so to complete in one go?

I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp. although my vista
laptop only runs at, unfortunately, 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.

and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it actually looked like
it was doing something.

steve

"D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week really
> improves performance.
>
> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
> backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends
> in speed.
>
> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>
> DSH
>

Vista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default schedule is 1am
every wednesday.

Jeff


"watercress_soup" <someone@mydomain.com> wrote in message
news:uH9fqpNYHHA.4264@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid use...
>
> is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along? rather than
> having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so to complete in one go?
>
> I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp. although my vista
> laptop only runs at, unfortunately, 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was
> 7200rpm.
>
> and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it actually looked
> like it was doing something.
>
> steve
>
> "D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week really
>> improves performance.
>>
>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD, which I use for
>> backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per month really pays dividends
>> in speed.
>>
>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>
>> DSH
>>
>

Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...

> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
> really improves performance.
>
> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once per
> month really pays dividends in speed.
>
> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>
As the saying goes, all things being equal but they seldom are,
having a fully defragged HD MAY increase performance of things that
read/write to your HD. In my case, I have two extended partitions,
one for graphics-only data, and the other for every other kind of
data. The only data on my C:\ is that which Windows and my apps
store there and I cannot conveniently change it.

So, when I do a full balls out backup of my system periodically,
which starts with an agressive malware scan, I do defrag C:\ but
I've never seen a performance increase because there are too many
"can't move" huge blocks that prevent what is needed. And, my
extended partitions don't get enough churning to be seriously
defragged. Once in a great while, though, I'll double back up my
extends to two different externals, and simply reformat the
partition and start over.

So, my opinion, and YMMMV, is that I don't find a need nor a
benefit for anything at all like a weekly defrag, plus I feel it
unnecessarily invites a visit from Murphy. The latter is why I have
APC UPS boxes on both systems. The LAST thing you want is to have a
power hit in your house during a defrag.

--
HP, aka Jerry

Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...

> Vista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default
> schedule is 1am every wednesday.
>
When, not if, I "upgrade" to Vista, the very first thing I will
do is turn off ALL the automatic stuff, both scheduling and
updating. I simply will not let software do that stuff without my
knowledge. I've been down that road and no longer have the energy
to recover. I can't tell you how many friends go to sleep at
night with a 100% functional system on 98, ME, 2000, or XP and
get up in the morning to a system that either won't start at all
or is majorly wounded. The two biggest culprits are a rennegade
MS critical update patch which itself is flawed and an auto
update of their video driver, and then, 99 44/100% of the time
they have nVidia, which is why I have ATI.

Now, everybody must take responsibility for their lives, their
actions, and their computers, it ain't up to me to tell them what
to do or not do, I just provide a perspective if asked.
>
>
> "watercress_soup" <someone@mydomain.com> wrote in message
> news:uH9fqpNYHHA.4264@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid
>> use...
>>
>> is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along?
>> rather than having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so
>> to complete in one go?
>>
>> I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp.
>> although my vista laptop only runs at, unfortunately,
>> 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.
>>
>> and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it
>> actually looked like it was doing something.
>>
>> steve
>>
>> "D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
>>> really improves performance.
>>>
>>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
>>> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once
>>> per month really pays dividends in speed.
>>>
>>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>>
>>> DSH
>>>
>>
>
>



--
HP, aka Jerry

I left all the automatic stuff on and haven't had any problems. I would say
the nice thing about updates though is that before Vista does an update it
creates a system restore point. That way should you have a problem (lets
say a bad driver update) you can just load the restore point right before
the update and bingo, back in action. I like not having to mess with
updating anything but to each their own....

Jeff


"HEMI-Powered" <none@none.sn> wrote in message
news:Xns98EC7F89ADBD9ReplyScoreID@216.168.3.30...
> Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...
>
>> Vista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default
>> schedule is 1am every wednesday.
>>
> When, not if, I "upgrade" to Vista, the very first thing I will
> do is turn off ALL the automatic stuff, both scheduling and
> updating. I simply will not let software do that stuff without my
> knowledge. I've been down that road and no longer have the energy
> to recover. I can't tell you how many friends go to sleep at
> night with a 100% functional system on 98, ME, 2000, or XP and
> get up in the morning to a system that either won't start at all
> or is majorly wounded. The two biggest culprits are a rennegade
> MS critical update patch which itself is flawed and an auto
> update of their video driver, and then, 99 44/100% of the time
> they have nVidia, which is why I have ATI.
>
> Now, everybody must take responsibility for their lives, their
> actions, and their computers, it ain't up to me to tell them what
> to do or not do, I just provide a perspective if asked.
>>
>>
>> "watercress_soup" <someone@mydomain.com> wrote in message
>> news:uH9fqpNYHHA.4264@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid
>>> use...
>>>
>>> is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes along?
>>> rather than having to leave your pc alone for an hour or so
>>> to complete in one go?
>>>
>>> I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp.
>>> although my vista laptop only runs at, unfortunately,
>>> 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.
>>>
>>> and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it
>>> actually looked like it was doing something.
>>>
>>> steve
>>>
>>> "D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
>>>> really improves performance.
>>>>
>>>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
>>>> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once
>>>> per month really pays dividends in speed.
>>>>
>>>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>>>
>>>> DSH
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> HP, aka Jerry

Today, Couldn't Say made these interesting comments ...

> When the drive starts audibly chattering or twice a year,
> whichever comes first.

well, I have heard strange noises from my HD but not any cured by
defragging! <grin>
>
> (Go ahead, flame me. But it's true).

why any flames, you saw and heard what you saw and heard, none of
the rest of us have, nor can anyone here speak with certainty
over the millions and millions of PCs with and without defragging
under multiple O/S's, even before Windows.
>
> "HEMI-Powered" <none@none.sn> wrote in message
> news:Xns98EC7EF319883ReplyScoreID@216.168.3.30...
>> Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
>>
>>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per week
>>> really improves performance.
>>>
>>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
>>> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once
>>> per month really pays dividends in speed.
>>>
>>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>>
>> As the saying goes, all things being equal but they seldom
>> are, having a fully defragged HD MAY increase performance of
>> things that read/write to your HD. In my case, I have two
>> extended partitions, one for graphics-only data, and the
>> other for every other kind of data. The only data on my C:\
>> is that which Windows and my apps store there and I cannot
>> conveniently change it.
>>
>> So, when I do a full balls out backup of my system
>> periodically, which starts with an agressive malware scan, I
>> do defrag C:\ but I've never seen a performance increase
>> because there are too many "can't move" huge blocks that
>> prevent what is needed. And, my extended partitions don't get
>> enough churning to be seriously defragged. Once in a great
>> while, though, I'll double back up my extends to two
>> different externals, and simply reformat the partition and
>> start over.
>>
>> So, my opinion, and YMMMV, is that I don't find a need nor a
>> benefit for anything at all like a weekly defrag, plus I feel
>> it unnecessarily invites a visit from Murphy. The latter is
>> why I have APC UPS boxes on both systems. The LAST thing you
>> want is to have a power hit in your house during a defrag.
>>
>> --
>> HP, aka Jerry
>
>



--
HP, aka Jerry

Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...

> I left all the automatic stuff on and haven't had any
> problems. I would say the nice thing about updates though is
> that before Vista does an update it creates a system restore
> point. That way should you have a problem (lets say a bad
> driver update) you can just load the restore point right
> before the update and bingo, back in action. I like not
> having to mess with updating anything but to each their
> own....
>
Jeff, I don't believe in fixing things that aren't broken and I
also do not believe in giving Murphy an even break, so if your
experience is positive, there's no reason for you to change, but
also no reason for me to change either. XP is supposed to create
a RP, and usually does, but I've seen - or think I have - where
updates do not create one. So, I do my own. And, I always look to
see what MS is proposing to download and uncheck anything I don't
think I want at all or at that moment. If I do delay, I lurk
hereabouts and often hear horror stories for some updates from
time-to-time, hence reinforcing my extreme caution.

But, as to getting control back from a previous RP, plenty of
people can describe situations where that didn't work, starting
with strange messages about prior RPs being invalid/corrupt to
plain complete inability to even start XP in order to do a
restore, even from Safe Mode. Common? No. Possible? Definitely.

Good luck with your system. You sound knowledgeable and
undoubtedly also have a well-defined and rigid backup regiment to
avoid other forms of disasters.
>
>
> "HEMI-Powered" <none@none.sn> wrote in message
> news:Xns98EC7F89ADBD9ReplyScoreID@216.168.3.30...
>> Today, Jeffrey S. Sparks made these interesting comments ...
>>
>>> Vista is set to defrag once per week. I believe the default
>>> schedule is 1am every wednesday.
>>>
>> When, not if, I "upgrade" to Vista, the very first thing I
>> will do is turn off ALL the automatic stuff, both scheduling
>> and updating. I simply will not let software do that stuff
>> without my knowledge. I've been down that road and no longer
>> have the energy to recover. I can't tell you how many friends
>> go to sleep at night with a 100% functional system on 98, ME,
>> 2000, or XP and get up in the morning to a system that either
>> won't start at all or is majorly wounded. The two biggest
>> culprits are a rennegade MS critical update patch which
>> itself is flawed and an auto update of their video driver,
>> and then, 99 44/100% of the time they have nVidia, which is
>> why I have ATI.
>>
>> Now, everybody must take responsibility for their lives,
>> their actions, and their computers, it ain't up to me to tell
>> them what to do or not do, I just provide a perspective if
>> asked.
>>>
>>>
>>> "watercress_soup" <someone@mydomain.com> wrote in message
>>> news:uH9fqpNYHHA.4264@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> nothing beats a good old defrag after a few weeks of solid
>>>> use...
>>>>
>>>> is it true that vista is supposed to defrag as it goes
>>>> along? rather than having to leave your pc alone for an
>>>> hour or so to complete in one go?
>>>>
>>>> I have found it rather similar in speed compared to xp.
>>>> although my vista laptop only runs at, unfortunately,
>>>> 5400rpm, when my xp desktop was 7200rpm.
>>>>
>>>> and I miss the pretty display of the fragmentation. it
>>>> actually looked like it was doing something.
>>>>
>>>> steve
>>>>
>>>> "D. Spencer Hines" <poguemidden@hotmail.com> wrote in
>>>> message news:OiEnojNYHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>>> I've found that defragmenting my internal HDD once per
>>>>> week really improves performance.
>>>>>
>>>>> Similarly, I've found that defragmenting my External HDD,
>>>>> which I use for backups with Acronis TrueImage 10.0, once
>>>>> per month really pays dividends in speed.
>>>>>
>>>>> What have other folks experienced, with both XP and Vista?
>>>>>
>>>>> DSH
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> HP, aka Jerry
>
>



--
HP, aka Jerry