Never defrag?

[abe]

I think I'm missing something here please correct me if I’m wrong, what is the difference between defragging daily which takes 10 seconds or weekly which takes a minute; I don’t notice any difference waiting a week or even a month to defrag.

I don't think the comparison to resident antivirus is true, waiting to defrag doesn’t affect the computer significantly whereas a virus does.

p.s. please correct me if I’m wrong I’m here to learn.

 

[gunslinger]

Thats what I don't understand. In my experience waiting to defrag for over a month makes a difference in my system speed. Also every badly fragmented computer I have ever worked on was faster after a defrag.

With the antivirus example I think it would depend on what your system resources were to begin with and how much RAM the program actually uses. I have see some AV programs that use over 200 mb of RAM. On a computer that only has maybe a gig or less its going to be hard to do much else.

As for defragging , I think the amount of system speed you would gain would depend on how much you were adding and removing on a regular basis.

 

[Blues]

I do notice a difference in XP with defrag but can't speak for Vista. I do not think you need to run it more then once every so often if it is badly fragmented or you are experience preformance degredation.

Someone explain to me what defrag does I looked into it a long time ago and thought it moved the location on the physical disk which shortens read times for the disk and would benifit any system regardless of OS. it also places them in order based on use which is more dependant on the defrag app and os as to what is prioritized.

 

[electrohermit]

The only issue with defrag is that it's pretty hard on the drive. If the system is old or you think the drive is dodgy then defragging it may very well kill it.

 

[seedubya]

If defragging is going to kill it it's already fu**ed anyway.

 

[gunslinger]

If defragging is going to kill it it's already fu**ed anyway.

Agreed. Plus if the poor drive will stand up to Vista indexing it 24-7 it will stand up to anything.

 

[abe]

gunslinger

how do I turn off the vista indexing.

(yea I know I could go with xp or mac but vista is the best)

 

[acs]

The easiest way to to disable the service which runs in the back ground.
1. Click on Start button, then select Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools, and double click on Services applet. Alternatively, simply type “Services” (without quotes) in Start Search box.
2. If User Account Control asks for permission, click Continue.
3. Locate an service named Windows Search. Right click on Windows Search, and then select Properties on contextual menu.
4. Click on Stop button to stop the indexing service immediately.
5. On the Startup Type dropdown box, select Disabled.
6. Click on OK button.


" at your own risk""

 

[abe]

Thanks acs!

 

[desert_gold_hound]

As long as drives are machanical I will always run defrag. I don't do it all the time though. I do a lot of installing/uninstalling, moving files around, programming (some I end up deleating), and other things that cause excess fragment.

I do a once a month computer check up this includes total virus scan, basic blow out of fan (laptop), checking for installs I won't use again in a long time and removing them, checking for dll's that don't point anywhere, cleaning out history, cockies, and much much more. After all of this is done it gets defraged whether it needs it or not.

I have never had problems with this computer or my past ones (knock on wood) and I atribute it to this monthly service. I built my first computer years ago (oh how I rember the 80-286's) and have never had a hard drive crash, PSU go bad, over heating problems, or major problem for that mater.

I am not saying its becouse I defrag I am saying its becouse I service my machines. Defraging is just one of the things that HELPS.

 

[gunslinger]

I am not saying its becouse I defrag I am saying its becouse I service my machines. Defraging is just one of the things that HELPS.

Same here. I have a 7 year old Gateway thats still running great, mostly because I service it regularly. My kids use it now but in 7 years I have only had to reinstall 3 times.

 

[TimeCode]

(yea I know I could go with xp or mac but vista is the best)

Are you kidding? Vista is a resource hog that makes finding normal processes take much longer than before. I run all 3 of the OS'es you mentioned and I think Vista is hands down my least favorite.

 

[gunslinger]

No question about it. Vista is my least favorite OS of all time. To even compare it to XP is hard enough, but to compare it to OS X is just being stupid. My guess is abe has more sense than that and his comment was meant to elicit a reaction out of me.

 

[desert_gold_hound]

I have been happy so far with Vista. I think my least favorite was ME. Vista is a very big memory hog but there is a simple fix add more ram and now it works well. Running vista with 512m what a joke it is slow and unstable. Running it with 1gig and Ok now were talking a decent OS. Run it with 2gig and were talking a wonderful OS. I only have 1.73 GHz and its works good so it’s not a CPU hog.

I do have some problems with Vista but not major ones. I have never used anything other than OEM home so don't know how bad the others are.

EDIT: just reread my poste and thought wow that could start something. I am not TRYING to argue with you, I am just giving my veiw point.

 

[gunslinger]

I'll be the first to admit that Vista has gotten better sense SP1, but its still no XP in terms of speed, stibility, or program and driver compatibility.

I to have worked with Windows ME and I tend to think of Vista as ME with glass.

You are right, the more RAM you fee Vista the better. Its still slow for me on 4 gigs. Always has been. But I am used to very fast XP machines. I think if you compare a Vista system running 4 gigs of RAM to an XP system running 512 they run about the same.

 

[abe]

"My guess is abe has more sense than that and his comment was meant to elicit a reaction out of me"

Good guess.

 

[coleman]

yeah, similar situation happen to my computer a while back. Do you have an anti-virus and anti-spyware on your computer? I had a bogus one from Norton then I installed avg's free anti-virus software, and spyware terminator. (I installed these after some research on best free antivirus/antispyware software)

It turned out that I had a torjan on my computer which was what was slowing it down. Apparently, Norton didn't pick it up. Once I deleted it, my computer is back to normal.

 

[jaharris72]

Correct me if I am wrong is there not a way in the XP registry that you can defrag if the system is idle. I am not sure if this can be done in Vista. Not sure if defrag just does files or the whole disk.

 

[Skyhooker]

I'm not sure, but you could use JKDefrag Screensaver , which would accomplish the same thing.

 

[jaharris72]

I have to correct myself it is not defrag but optimize hard disk when idle. It rearrange files on the hard drive when the computer is idle thus improving the performance of the system. You can read about at http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1309/. It can also be set through Tweak UI under the general section by checking optimize Hard Disk when idle.