Disk Defragmenter

How to Change the Schedule for Disk Defragmenter in Vista​

   Information

This will show you how to turn the Disk Defragmenter automatic Run on a schedule on or off, and how to change the schedule to run Disk Defragmenter when you want it to run.

   Note

The Disk Deframenter .exe file is located at C:\Windows\System32\dfrgui.exe .

   Tip

For a faster alternative that includes a progress graph, you can use the free Auslogics Disk Defrag.

   Warning

Solid State Drives (SSD) do not need to be defragmented. Doing so may lower the lifespan.

OPTION ONE

To Change the Disk Defragmenter Schedule

1. Open the Start Menu.​

A) In the white line (Start Search) area, type dfrgui and press Enter.​

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B) Go to step 3.​

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OR​

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2. Open the Start Menu.​

A) Click on All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then on Disk Defragmenter.​

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3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.​

NOTE: If will take a little bit while Disk Defragmenter analyzes the disks.​

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4. To Turn On the Disk Defragmenter Schedule​

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A) Check Run on a Schedule. (See screenshot above)​

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B) Go to step 6.​

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5. To Turn Off the Disk Defragmenter Schedule​

A) Uncheck Run on a Schedule. (See screenshot below step 2)​

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B) Go to step 9.​

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6. To Modify the Schedule Time​

A) Click on the Modify Schedule button. (See screenshot below step 3)​

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B) Make your time adjustments: (See screenshot below step 6C)​

• How Often: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
• What Day: Pick a day, Sunday to Saturday.
• What Time: Select a time from list.

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   Tip

Recommended Schedule of Times to Defrag

   Tip

NOTE: The more you save and delete items off your hard drive, the more often you should defrag. Adjust to your needs.​

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Schedule	Description
Once a Month	For a user that is only on the computer a few hours a week and does not do much file saving and deleting. You rarely install and uninstall programs.
Once a Week	For most average users that use the computer for a few hours on a daily basis and does a lot more file saving and deleting. You only do a few installing and uninstalling of programs.
Once a Day	For your power user that uses the computer for several hours a day and does an unbelievable amount of file saving and deleting. You do a lot of installing and uninstalling of programs.

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C) Click on OK.​

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7. To Select Volumes to Defragment​

NOTE: This option is only added when you install the Vista SP1.​

A) Click on the Select volumes button. (See screenshot below step 3)​

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B) Check the drives you want to be included in the defrag and uncheck the drives you do not want to be included. (See screenshot below)​

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C) Click on OK.​

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9. To Manually Run Disk Defragmenter Now​

A) Click on the Defragment now button. (See screenshot below step 3)​

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B) Do steps 7B and 7A.​

NOTE: If you need to stop Disk Defragmenter, click on the Cancel defragmentation button.​

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10. When done, click on OK, if it is not grayed out, or Close if it is. (See screenshot below step 3)​

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OPTION TWO

Set Defragmenter to Wake the Computer to Run

NOTE: By default Disk Defragmenter will only run when the computer is running and during low or idle usage in the background unless you run it manually, and not when the computer is in sleep mode or turned off. This will show you how to set Disk Defragmenter to wake the computer from sleep mode to run. This way you can schedule it to run when you are not using the computer in Option One above.

1. Open the Start Menu.​

A) In the white line (Start Search) area, type taskschd.msc and press Enter.​

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B) Go to step 3.​

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OR​

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2. Open the Control Panel (Classic view).​

A) Click on the Administrative Tools Icon.​

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B) Click on Task Scheduler.​

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3. In the left pane, click on the arrow next to Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, and Windows to expand the folders. (See screenshot below step 4)​

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4. Click on the Defrag folder.​

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5. In the middle pane right click on ScheduledDefrag and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)​

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6. Click on the General tab. (See screenshot below step 7)​

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7. Check the Run with highest privileges box.​

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8. Click on the Conditions tab. (See screenshot below step 9)​

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9. Check the Wake the computer to run this task box, and click on OK.​

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10. Close Task Scheduler.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Run Disk Defragmenter from the Command Prompt in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable Defrag of Boot Files at Startup in Vista
• How to Create a Defragment Boot Files Shortcut in Vista
• How to Have a Task Wake up the Computer to Run in Vista Task Scheduler
• How to Add Defragment to Context Menu in Windows 7 and Vista

 

[Brink]

Hello Kev, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Yeah, I hear you. That's why I use the free Auslogics Disk Defrag when I do a manual defrag. You might see how you like it.

Shawn

 

[kcurrie65]

Well I downloaded it - it was really quick to do its thing and says its increased my laptops speed by 2%

Many thanks and thanks for a great forum - keep up the good work

Kev

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Kev.

Shawn

 

[Moviefan]

New here, When i used DF it took over 5 hours (its was a new laptop) and it took some of my GB off (this was before i had to wipe out my whole laptop and reinstall everything). Is this meant to happen? I haven't used it since.

 

[Brink]

Hello Moviefan, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I do not see how Disk Defragmenter could delete anything. It just reorganizes the hard drive to get rid file fragmentation.

For a faster alternative that includes a progress graph, you can might try the free Auslogics Disk Defrag.

Shawn

 

[ncbeaglemom]

My disk defrag is not running as scheduled. I have changed my scheduled time, but when I went to Task Scheduler to fix it where it would wake the computer to defrag, my Task Scheduler Library is empty. I can't find any reference to an empty library anywhere in the forums.

 

[AndyTampa]

I can't get Disk Defragmenter to start. I've tried 4 times - once by typing dfrgui.exe into the Start Search box, twice by choosing Disk Defragmenter in Accessories>System Tools, and once by going to C:\Windows\System32\dfrgui.exe in Windows Explorer. In Task Manager, I can see that it starts for 1 second and disappears.

 

[Brink]

Hello Andy,

You might see if running a SFC /SCANNOW command may help if the file is corrupted.

 

[AndyTampa]

I had just run an SFC before attempting to run Defrag. I also rebooted since posting. It still doesn't work.

I don't want to run it, but I want to see if it's running on a schedule or if it's off. There are plenty of utilities that will defrag, but they sometimes conflict with Windows Defrag. I'd hate to be defragging back and forth.

 

[Brink]

You can use the tutorial below to see if you have Disk Defragmenter set to run on a schedule or not.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/72832-disk-defragmenter.html

 

[AndyTampa]

Sir, that is the link to page one of this discussion. This discussion is why I posted my "defragmenter won't open" post.

I tried reinstalling it by loading dfrg.inf, but it is not where it should be. I do have Auslogics Disk Defragmenter installed. Could that have removed the built-in defragmenter?

 

[Brink]

No, Auslogics wouldn't affect it. I'd say run the SFC scan a few times with a restart between each time to see if it may restore the file.

 

[wither 3]

Andy-

Based on other problems you have had, such as the "default programs won't load", I have a suspicion that either you have some malware/virus or your Vista installation is corrupt. Please don't get mad at me for making such a statement but you've had problems with so many other Windows functions, it just begs the question about those things. I certainly can't reproduce these problems on two different installations of Vista, SP2.

 

[AndyTampa]

Wither, I don't get mad at such statements. I just don't see how it helps me. I know that the system is not infected to a 99% certainty. Could I have had a previous infection that damaged Windows? Possibly. Have I run registry cleaners at times in the past 12 years? Yes, but I've also defragmented in that time using the built-in tool. I've also used third-party tools that I like better because they show graphically where I stand in the process. However, those tools also conflict with the built-in defragmenter. I could defrag with Windows then check with the third-party tool and be told that my disk got even more fragmented.

I was following along one of the tutorials for improving system performance and one of the steps was to defragment the drive. I was trying to follow the advice in this thread about defragmenting and getting it to run. It isn't working.

Internet searches found results that said third-party defragmenters could take over for the built-in. I also found that Task Scheduler had to be running for defrag to work. I went to Task Scheduler and it is running, but I got a persistent error. As soon as I open Task Scheduler, I get a dialog box that says:

"The task image is corrupt or has been tampered with.ManualDefrag"

When I click OK, I am let into Task Scheduler and it appears to work fine. Until I choose to look at the schedule for Windows Defrag and I get the error again. When I click OK, I am let into that schedule too. When I got into the schedule, it said it was last run November 2012. I selected to Run the task and it completed without telling me anything other than changing the last run to the current date. There was no dialog box at all to tell me it was running. Another search result said I can reinstall defrag using the dfrgui.inf file, but that is not on my INF folder. I have found a DfrgUI.exe.mui file, but I don't know if that will install Defrag or do something else.

Over the weekend, I ran a CHKDSK /r on each of my drives and several SFCs. No problems have been found except a non-writeable backup boot sector on a drive I don't boot from and will be removed shortly.

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EDIT: I GOT IT FIXED!! I followed the advice to repair Task Scheduler here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2305420

The Defrag User Interface now opens and it is defragmenting. I also happened to find that it is not automatically defragmenting because the trigger on the Scheduled Task is disabled even though the task itself is enabled.

 

[wither 3]

That's good news!