Defrag is useless?

[Caius]

The problem was with the defrag in Win98SE.
Every time you ran it, every time some files were lost.

[TosaInu]

When your FPS crawls, denying you to make your normal frags: defrag.

[TosaInu]

I don't use Windows defrag tool.

[Caius]

When your FPS crawls, denying you to make your normal frags: defrag.

[TosaInu]

A frag in FPS is when you shoot the opposing collection of polygons. You need a smooth working system when the opposing polygons duck and shoot back. A fragmented HD can affect performance so that you can't do anymore what you normally do and you lose the match.

[Quietus]

Caius, run CCleaner. See how much space you can clear.

[Caius]

I have it,Quietus.Tnx anyway

[Quietus]

I have it,Quietus.Tnx anyway

Aye. The only other way I know to clear space temporarily is to let Windows manage virtual memory. My Computer>properties>performance>virtual memory. If you search for the largest files, the computer sets aside space equal to the virtual memory. At least that's it looks like.

However, I don't know what will happen if you set it very low temporarily. Maybe the others know for sure.

[caravel]

Defragmenting an HDD is pretty vital. If you let it it get as bad as the example above, your system will crawl. You should do it about once per month, not continuously, nor with those crapware tools that defrag on the fly. Using the HDD wears it out slightly, so defragging does the same. But not defragging means alot more "thrashing" as the drive accesses the fragmented data, so not defragging is the worst option. It's also annoying to listen to a constantly active HDD.

The windows XP/2K disk defragmentation tools tends not to compact files too well. In fact you may have to run it about 10 times to get a half decent result. It's still worth doing though.

The best way to start is to uninstall as much rubbish as possible and delete as many old files as you don't need. Next thing to do is disable the windows pagefile. To do this you need to go into the performance tab from the system properties and disable the paging file altogether. Then restart the computer in safe mode (hit F8 repeatedly before windows boots, not at your BIOS screen as you'll probably end up at the boot menu), then when the startup menu appears select safe mode. Once in safe mode, run the defrag (keep rerunning it until it gets to the stage where it finishes after a few seconds) and then re-enable the page file. Reboot.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

What is the best 3rd party defrag tool (preferably for free) out there?

[R'as al Ghul]

You need a smooth working system when the opposing polygons duck and shoot back.

Priceless.

With defragging it's like with your house keys.
Make it a ritual to place them always at the same place, otherwise you've to search them all over the place before you can leave the house.

The more your disk is fragmented the longer it takes to load files/ applications.
It's also a good idea to manually restrict the swap file to a certain size, 1024 MB for example. If you don't Windows will mess up the drive in no time.

[AntiochusIII]

When your FPS crawls, denying you to make your normal frags: defrag.

Oh, and thanks for the reminder. I haven't really defragged in months. I didn't really need to, though; my HD is more than 60% free all the time. Probably even more.

And, like Alexander the Pretty Good, I need recommendations for a nice third-party free defragger.

[Riedquat]

I recall, from a years back article, that a low level format is damaging for HD performance by removing 'markers'. It was required for some sort of rescue, forgot what, but also removed 'markers' (?) on the HD which were there for normal smooth operation.

Low level format, was a must for healthy HD's in those days, but low level formats is not comparable with what the todays format is. Low level format was a phisical reconstruction of the disk surface and was applied "ONLY" to ESDI disks, in the beginning an assembler function was called from DOS to start the process, later manufacturers included the function in the CMOS for easy usage for the average user. That function was still there, in earlier 486's and some 586's, but the process call was the low level format only by name, the format used was a simply and common one; a format/u command was far more effective.

[AussieGiant]

Gentlemen,

What Caravel said is the absolute top notch defrag process.

If you really want to do it properly then go here:

http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

Down load the Tweak guide companion and go to page 60 of the 175 page document. There you will find all your answers and a comprehensive set of tasks to follow.

Happy Defragging Gentlemen.

PS Do it once a week or once a month. Do it in safe mode for the page files every 3 to 4 months.

Saying it damages your HDD is like saying driving a car damaging your engine.

What are you going to do?? Not drive it!!

Drive it, and look after it at the same time.