Can't Defrag

Both my Norton and Win8.1 Defrag utilities say 11% need of Defraging but both stop soon after starting and revert to "11% need to defrag ". Whats up?

 

What Norton product do you have installed. If it is Norton 360 or 360 Premier Edition and you performed the recommended installation. Whenever you run a full system scan Norton will automatically perform a Disk Optimization(Default). If you try to run a windows defragmentation you will get an information dialog box telling you that another program is set to optimize the disk. Then it should gives you the option to change the default program.

 

Thanks,
I used the AUSLOGICS defrag tool. It worked perfectly. Then I used the Win defrag followed by the Norton 360. Everythings back to normal. ..Still I don't know why it hung up.

 

Like Win 7, it does it automatically when you have it scheduled to defrag. Set it and forget it. 11% ain't nothing to even worry about. You won't notice any difference in the speed of your PC.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/improve-performance-optimizing-hard-drive

 

Glad you got it resolved.

 

I know this has been resolved but...

You really should discard Norton and Auslogics defrag tools. It is not that they are bad, just totally unneeded for several reasons:

1. Windows basic defragger is fully capable,
2. Only Windows defragger in W7, and especially W8 works with the Windows "fetch" features to improve system and application load times of the programs you, the user, use most,
3. Defraggers thrash hard drives - multiple defraggers thrash the hard drives unnecessarily, and needlessly increase wear and tear,
4. Each program uses its own algorithms - this means Norton defrags (organizes files on the disk) one way, Auslogics re-thrashes and re-organizes their way, then Windows defragger re-thrashes and re-organizes again (that is, the "efficiency" of the defragging does NOT improve with each subsequent defragging with a different defragger),
5. Any advantage provided by a 3rd party defragger is quickly negated within seconds of using the computer after defragging. This is because fragmentation starts all over again as files are opened, modified, and saved again, and as temporary files take up space. This means a "basic" defragger (such as Windows defragger) is all we need.

It should be noted one of the best ways to minimize or even eliminate performance issues due to fragmented drives is to ensure there is LOTS of free disk space on the drive. If free disk space is at a premium, having extra 3rd party defraggers on the drive is counter-productive any way.

You don't defrag to free up disk space. If that is a reason, it should be understood that is a temporary measure and you need to uninstall some programs, move some files to another drive/partition, or buy more disk space.

Again, 3rd party defraggers like those mentioned, or JKDefrag or Defraggler (from the makers of CCleaner) are excellent - even better at defragging than Windows own. But sometimes better is not better and this is one of those times.

 

Just to clarify. I noticed the Norton 360 had a warning notice to FIX due to the need to defrag. It's been years since I had the need to do a manual defrag. I don't even ever look at the pecentage of defrag since my computers don't ever seem to have any issues which might be related to the need for defragging. So when I clicked FIX IT on Norton it would start and shortly after hang with an error message. When I used the built in Win defrag it also hung and stopped at the same exact point. The Auslogics worked just fine and now both the Win and Norton defrags no longer hang. It seems to have cleared whatever was causing both the notice to defrag and the defraging itself. No further issues. Thanks

 

It could have been a glitch but I suspect what happened is related to what I said above about the different programs using different algorithms to determine fragmentation and different algorithms to defrag. What looked in need of defragging to one was still okay to another.

However, since Windows defrag also froze at what "appeared" to be the same spot, if me, I would run Disk Error Checking on the drive, just to be sure you don't have a bad sector. You can run it through the drive's Properties > Tools menu (make sure both options are checked) or through an elevated command prompt and running chkdsk /r on the drive. In either case, you will likely be prompted to let the program run during the next boot. Answer to allow that, then reboot and walk away. It could take hours and appear to be locked - but just let it run until done.

 

The Norton tools red flag to Fix by defragging drew my attention to the problem to begin with. Both Norton and Win stopped at 11%. However I will do a chkdsk later today and let you know.

 

I didn't defrag my system for about 6 months mine hung at 20% so I walked away and let it run. A few hours later it was at 90%. It finished about 20 minutes later. I let Norton do it all and even set up Norton to shut down the machine after it finished what it had to do.

 

Yeah, some times, especially on a crowded disk, defragging can take a long time, and appear to be hung.

Both Norton and Windows defrag stopping at 11% does not really tell us anything because we don't know where, physically on the disk defragging has halted.

 

I wonder how many temp files are on the computer.

 

That will slow things down and should not stop defragging. That said, you should ALWAYS run Disk Cleanup before defragging to rid the system of potentially 1000s of tiny temp files. This is why I really don't like full-time background, or scheduled defragging - because they don't clean out the clutter first and I feel it is counterproductive to defrag with 1000s of temp files on the disk.

 

Well, chkdsk found no errors. However I did have a load of temp files (256 mb) and the Auslogics took care of them. I'll stick with the Auslogics... Anyway no further issues.
Thanks

 

I have a routine Delete Browsing history, Windows\Termp folder contents, local temp folder contents, run CCLeaner, and then Disk cleanup.

 

That's a fairly new and welcomed feature then. In the past you had to use Task Scheduler to clean out temp files first, then run the defragger. So that is good news.

If I already owned Auslogics, I might keep it, but if I didn't, I see no reason to get it.

And I remind all that only Windows own built-in defragger works with the Windows 7 and 8 prefetch features to make boot and application load times quicker. So again, since the purpose of defragging is to make the most efficient use of disk space, I question the use of 3rd party programs that take up more disk space while providing only minimal advantages that quickly level out once the user begins to use the computer again.