fred3 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I've just started using Defraggler. I notice that if I run it twice in succession then there's an improvement. I've seen the same thing with other defrag programs. So, I wonder if the algorithm has a "blind spot" or if there's an attempt to limit the time taken to "defrag". Might there be a setting like "do what you can in a hurry" vs. "do the best you can no matter how long it takes" ... which might be as simple as going to a "start over" loop until no further improvment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroozer Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I've just started using Defraggler. I notice that if I run it twice in succession then there's an improvement. Some members have reported best results running Defraggler three consecutive times! I've not tried that, because I do file-only defrag. It's very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Some members have reported best results running Defraggler three consecutive times! I've not tried that, because I do file-only defrag. It's very fast. You are right. That is very fast. But sometimes you do need to do a complete defrag. Example: You are looking at a computer that a user never cleaned out & has 45,000 + fragments. After you clean out the PC, they have 30% in use instead of 95%. The files are spread all over the drive, however. The files need to be consolidated so the free space is contiguous, because with most of the free space blocks having some kind of data in it, the computer speed will suffer. I realize perhaps you do not suffer from this, but there are those that do, so while that does work to mostly do file defrag, keep in mind that when free space is badly fragged, that is something a file defrag cannot fix! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Defraggle Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 The files are spread all over the drive, however. The files need to be consolidated so the free space is contiguous, because with most of the free space blocks having some kind of data in it, the computer speed will suffer Is this really significant? The most popular UNIX style filesystems, have traditionally actually deliberately spread files around as a deliberate strategy, so that large files can be stored in contiguous chunks, and small files stored near their containing directories (folders) unless the disk is very full. By doing this they reduce greatly the need to run defragmentation programs. Whilst some speed up in benchmarks would be obtained for sustained sequential read speed by compaction, I'm not at all convinced any really perceivable difference would be noticed by the end user in daily desktop use, once the small fragments are removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Is this really significant? The most popular UNIX style filesystems, have traditionally actually deliberately spread files around as a deliberate strategy, so that large files can be stored in contiguous chunks, and small files stored near their containing directories (folders) unless the disk is very full. By doing this they reduce greatly the need to run defragmentation programs. Whilst some speed up in benchmarks would be obtained for sustained sequential read speed by compaction, I'm not at all convinced any really perceivable difference would be noticed by the end user in daily desktop use, once the small fragments are removed. Oh, trust me. You WOULD see a difference in the before & after on this system. The before was painstakingly crawling! Consolidation definitely made this one faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhawk Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 To be honest you won't see much difference from a machine that's slightly fragmented to one that's been fully defragged. If you haven't defragged a drive in years then I would agree defragging would certainly help speed things up. Richard S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 To be honest you won't see much difference from a machine that's slightly fragmented to one that's been fully defragged. If you haven't defragged a drive in years then I would agree defragging would certainly help speed things up. Richard S. You are right. Causual user won't notice. It just so happened on this one machine, however, that the user: - Never cleared internet trash - Never defragged - Used almost all the free space Which resulted in: - Nearly every space on the drive having some form of file, even if nothing but a cookie (something like over 23,000 files!) - Free space being severely fragmented - Unusually long write/seek times due to the data being spread out so far apart into so many fragments on the drive Complete defrag definitely helped after cleaning up! Before? You couldn't even use the thing because everything took a minute or two to load! PC had a good amount of ram & a decent processor spec, but user simply allowed things to get out of control! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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