Scan/Defrag Question

New to this OS. Having fun learning, though.

Been checking out web pages and bulletin boards for an answer to this question and can't find it. Must be looking in the wrong places. That's why I'm back here again.

How often should I scan and defrag this baby? With my win98 I did it at least once a month, as I did a lot of surfing and creating and printing. I know that this one doesn't actually have a scandisk and I know where to go to do what needs to be done. Just don't know how often to do it. I want to keep up on things with this one.

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

 

Panda,

As with Win98, I scandisk/defrag once a week. Just got in the habit of doing it every Sunday. I do like the speed of XP's process though. Much quicker then 98 or Norton's.

Mike

 

XP is not prone to fragmentation so you need not worry much about it. I would recommend Defragging it ever 6 months. It will tell you it isn't necessary but do it anyway.

As for scanning for errors, I recommend doing that every week even though it may be overkill. It only takes a few seconds so no big waste. When running chkdsk in Windows, if you don't check the "Fix Errors" or "Surface Scan" it'll complete without a report.

If you run it from the command line (chkdsk /C: ), you can see the customary report but it really isn't necessary. If it detects any errors either way, it will ask that you reboot so it can run before the GUI loads.

 

Thanks for the quick replies!

Once a week. Hmmmm. I know I probably should have done that with the old one, but once a month was a good time for me.

So you are saying that I really don't need to defrag that often? How odd. Kinda like those new cars coming out on the market now. You used to have to change the oil every 6 months or 6,000 miles. Now you don't have to do it but every 7,500 miles or more. We still do ours every 6....just cuz. Guess I'll do the same with this one.

Should I let it 'fix errors' and 'surface scan'? I had it do that on the old one and I also told it to give me a report when done. I liked checking it out.

Thanks for the input.

 

No, don't automatically select to fix anything. Just run the program from Windows and it'll tell you if it needs to reboot to fix any problems. If it does, back up your treasures prior to letting it "fix" anything.

My point was, if you don't check those boxes, it won't ask to reboot unless it finds a problem. If you check one of them, it'll assume you know more than it does and will immediately ask for you to reboot. You reallly don't want that most times. Wait until it finds a problem in the unchecked mode first.

As for Defragging, unlike chkdsk, it is very disk write active and has a higher degree of risk associated with it. You shouldn't do it any more than necessary. Check it once in a while. XP lets you analyze the drive and will advise you if it needs Defragging. Follow that advice until 6 months expires, then do it anyway.

 

_
This will be a matter of opinion.

I personally made a shortcut to chkdsk.exe and included the /f switch so that I could schedule a check on reboot easily. There have been times, strangely, when a problem with an app starting correctly has been cured by chkdsk even though no errors were found. Generally speaking, checking the disk with a journaling file system like NTFS is no where near so important as it is with FAT32.

NTFS is also less prone to fragmentation than FAT32. I'd say once a month is a good choice. If you install any large apps, maybe defrag afterward (like SP1, for example).

An analysis by a defragmenter will give an estimate of fragmentation. Some give a numerical estimate. Since nearly all defragmenters use a different algorithm, and there is no generally accepted measure of degree, you will get different amounts with different apps. Set an amount for yourself, like 5% fragmented, if that is easier.

DrvCareXP is an easy way to start maintenance tasks, especailly if you have multiple drives:
http://home.carolina.rr.com/lexunfreeware/DrvCareXP/DrvCareXP.htm

 

Thanks again, you two. You have given me food for thought. Now it's time to digest it.

Intersting about the 'asking you to reboot' thing. My old one never asked to reboot when it found errors. I just automatically rebooted anyway since I had to disable so many things and I already knew that rebooting after a cleanup was good for it.

THANKS!!!!

 

XP repairs the errors on reboot since so many files are in use when it is running. A lot faster and more efficient than Scandisk restarting umpteen times.

 

I forgot to mention an important factor regarding Defrag in XP. It matter much whether you have your files installed on a FAT32 formatted partition as versus a NTFS format. We just automatically assumed NTFS format, but you may not have that. If you have FAT32, it is recommended to defrag much more often, perhaps monthly then.

 

Hmmmm. I forget where to look to see if I have FAT32. My XP is Home Edition 2002 SP1. I do remember my win98 had FAT32.

 

Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer management > Disk Managment. You'll see all active disks listed there and their file system types.

 

Found it. Thanks. It's an NTFS. Guess I give it 6 months before defragging. I think I'll still do it this once for a first time and then just wait to do it again. May have to put it on my wall calendar or I'll forget. LOL.

 

That's cool. Just check it whenever you have nothing better to do. Click to let XP analyze the drive and it'll give you a report and advise whether or not Defrag is needed. If it doesn't recommend it, let it ride until 6 months, then do it regardless.

Frankly, it never makes any detectable difference anyway unless you're really fragmented (25% or more).

Cheers.

 

I guess I learned something today!

 

Panda,
Unlike Zephyr and Abraxax, my experience with XP is that it (with NTFS) is still VERY prone to fragmentation this has been observed on various systems and hard drive sizes, so I defragment usually around once a week as does Mike.
I've never had a system problem caused by defragging, so you can do it every day if you wish.

 

To some degree I agree with you, Paul.
Whenever I check my drive, there is always fragmentation to be found, of course.
I think that more important than how much fragmentation is what it is that is fragmented. If the fragmentation is in files that are rarely used, then it makes little difference. But if it is in files that are used frequently, then the effect is greater, as is the wear and tear on the hard drive. That is why I don't wait until Windows recommends it. And sometimes, I do it just for good measure, needed or not. And always after installing a large app, like Office or CorelDRAW.

Having tried nearly every defragmenter I have found, some seem to actually slow the system after a defrag. Raxco's Perfect Disk is a case in point. It arranges the files according to the sensible: boot files first, then arranged by frequency of access. But it seems to slow my system.

I don't know what algorithm Diskeeper uses, but I notice a speed increase after defragmenting---the only one I have used that really appears to make a noticable difference (unless fragmentation is high, as Zephyr mentioned).

Defragmentation is a topic about which everyone has an opinion. Yet, I have known people who never did it. Overall, I think some defragmentation is better than none, and no defragmentation software is significantly better than any other. Your drive is fragmented again as soon as you turn it off .