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Other => General Topics => Topic started by: jujubee08 on December 12, 2008, 04:43:27 AM
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Hi, how can I get the Defragmenter utility on Windows Vista to show me what it is doing?
Right now, when I click Defragment Now button, all that happens is that the button turns into Cancel Defragment
I want to see what sectors the Defragmenter is working on. No, not because I want to see it for the sake of seeing it. But just to know how far the process is going along
Is there an advanced mode for the Defragmenter utility that lets you do this?
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Vista defragmenter is a very light defragmenter that runs in the background.I do not know of a way to see it running.You can set it to run now but it will not show you anything.You cannot choose wich files to defrag,it defrags everything.I have vista and downloaded another defragger for when I want instant results. :).
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The Vista-supplied defragger is triggered every Wednesday at1:00 AM and runs silently in the background when the computer is not active. MS has decided what 'not-active' means. One can research to see the exact definition. Yes, it is not visual. If you want something visual, there are free and not-free alternatives. The consensus is that it works.
I use Perfect Disk . However that is because I had it before Vista on my old XP computer. If I did not have a registered copy, I would not need it in Vista and use the supplied one. The less GUI, the better.
Also one could always check the task scheduler for the results of the Vista-supplied defragger.
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There isn't an advanced mode for it.
You can try the much much better Iobit Smart Defrag than Vista one, for free: http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html?Str=download
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Actually the defrag in Vista is quite a decent one. Vista defrag DOES have an "advanced mode" if you want to call it that. You'll need to run it in the command prompt though. Start command prompt and type defrag ? to see what options it provides(btw the -b switch isn't listed there but trust me it works). By default it doesn't attempt to move files larger than 64 MB but you can get around this by entering the -w switch(eg. defrag -w). If you want it to do the best job possible then boot into safe mode start command prompt and type defrag -w -f c:(can take a long time to complete) and afterwards defrag -b c: (this will defrag the boot files of your system according to the layout.ini (http://windowstipsandfixes.blogspot.com/2007/09/smart-defragging-by-layoutini.html) file which will speed up the start up of your system). BTW i am assuming c: is your windows partition ...
The biggest problem with almost all freeware defrag programs is that they don't take the layout.ini file into account which means they move those boot files to a different location and that means that your system startup is actually slower after you've run one of those programs. The most powerful freeware defrag i know of is called JkDefrag (http://kessels.nl/JkDefrag/index.html) but that one also doesn't take the layout.ini file into account so it's a good idea to run defrag -b after you've run JkDefrag.
Here is a good comparison of Defrag programs if nothing else at least you will get a few good links from here. http://donnedwards.openaccess.co.za/2007/06/great-defrag-shootout-all.html
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Good hints... Thanks.
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No problem Tech. ;)
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I just find it odd that Windows Vista Defragmenter has no visual display of how far it is into defragmenting the drive
On Windows XP, the Defragmenter actually had a visual display of what sectors of the hard drive it was working on
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A bit more info ... http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2007/01/26/don-t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-why-windows-vista-defrag-is-cool.aspx
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There is only one defragger/optimizer, and it's free!
http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/ (http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/)
Enjoy.
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There is only one defragger/optimizer, and it's free!
http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/ (http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/)
Enjoy.
What exactly are you trying to say here ?
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I really do not know why some of us are hung up at the lack of visual interface. It runs in the background quietly and that is the way it should have been all along.
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I really do not know why some of us are hung up at the lack of visual interface. It runs in the background quietly and that is the way it should have been all along.
How do you know when it's done defragging? I started a defrag on my Son's computer and as has been said here, you can't tell how it's progressing.
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Firstly, since the task runs automatically every Wed. at 1:00 AM, there really is no need to run it manually as there was in XP or earlier. But to answer your question directly, one only has to check the task scheduler for the results. Having said that, remember that it is a background job now (as opposed previously in XP or earlier).
There is a way to run it manually with additional options. Google it if you want.
Maybe because of my background with large mainframes, I can appreciate background versus foreground jobs. Background jobs were always checked by referring to logs since none of them have any real GUI interface.
An example is Vista of another background job is Shadow Copy. I do not need a GUI when it runs.
The link above by Darth_mikey gives excellent background why this change was made. One of the reasons given is that most users were not running a defrag on a regular basis and hence it was decided that make it a background job. I agree with that change.
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One only needs to re-read this thread and the links i provided to answer his/her questions.
Look for a DfrgNtfs.exe process in task manager, if it's not there then it's done, if it is then it's still doing it's job. A look at the HDD light can also give you a hint ...
EDIT: If you started it manually then it will look like this:
Defrag doing it's job:
(http://www.shrani.si/f/3b/dQ/2eFeSXfX/1.jpg)
After it's done it will re-analyze the partitions and show this:
(http://www.shrani.si/f/7/pp/1WNr4Ezu/2.jpg)
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There is only one defragger/optimizer
Indeed there are others...
You can try the much much better Iobit Smart Defrag than Vista one, for free: http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html?Str=download
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Firstly, since the task runs automatically every Wed. at 1:00 AM, there really is no need to run it manually as there was in XP or earlier.
If a computer is not running at 1:00AM Wednesday, how is this to take place? ???
Not everyone leaves their computers on 24 hours a day. That is why manual scheduling is needed.
Does Vista run so poorly that it needs defragging once a week? ???
For the general user, that really is not a good thing to need defragging that often.
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Tasks are usually defined to run at a specific time or as soon as possible afterwards. Hence if your computer is not on at Wednesday @1:00AM, it will run as soon as you next boot up. Background tasks do not impede a user from working.
WRT the running of it weekly, you obviously did not read the articles linked above. On the other hand, nothing prevents you from changing the schedule to what you want. The times I mentioned earlier are the default times.
However if you are stuck in thinking of the defrag methodology prior to Vista, there are additional papers on the PerfectDisk site. These papers do not only relate to defragging using PerfectDisk but defragging in general.
When I first started in computers over 40 years ago (yes before PCs existed) every job/task was a batch job. In the 40 years, I have seen jobs when I used to run a datacenter move from batch to foreground to background. I do miss the days when I would re-sequence a disk/defrag, shutting down all users, and reading a newspaper while it ran. Today I am able to post in this forum, defrag my drive and drink tea at the same time.
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Firstly, since the task runs automatically every Wed. at 1:00 AM, there really is no need to run it manually as there was in XP or earlier.
If a computer is not running at 1:00AM Wednesday, how is this to take place? ???
Not everyone leaves their computers on 24 hours a day. That is why manual scheduling is needed.
Does Vista run so poorly that it needs defragging once a week? ???
For the general user, that really is not a good thing to need defragging that often.
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Trying to start a flame again like in that other FF thread ? I'm not even going to reply to that comment about Vista running poorly.
Naturally there are ways to edit the default defrag tasks, just fire up Task Scheduler and play with it as much as you like. Set it to run at a different time or when the computer boots up or change the default arguments to something that suits you etc etc. The Task Scheduler is a really cool thing and one can do alot in it. For example i set up a complete backup of my c: partition through there.
Why defragging is necessary ? On the JkDefrag page is a very simple explanation that everyone should understand. Here is a quote:
Defragmentation and optimizing will not only make a harddisk faster, but also lengthen it's life span. The disk will have less work to do and therefore have less wear and tear. Secondly, the sorting optimization strategies (see the "-a" option) will refresh all the magnetic data on your harddisk. However, defragmenting and optimizing is work, so excessive defragmenting and optimizing can actually cause more wear and tear than it prevents. JkDefrag is therefore set for "fast" optimization by default, intended to be used on a daily basis. The other optimizations should only be used occasionally.
Running a defrag once a week is definitely not excessive defragging and is actually for those of us that move alot of data on our partitions not enough.
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I remember in Win98, most could not run the supplied defrag unless in safe mode. Otherwise defrag would get to 7% and never complete. Weren't those little coloured squares pretty? :o
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If i am completely honest here, i have ALWAYS used 3rd party defrag programs on my machine. sunrisecc will no doubt remember speedisk.exe from the Norton Utilities for DOS programs and then later Speed Disk for Win, those were my first defrag programs ... ;)
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I paid $70Cdn for the program.
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Donn Edwards posted a new blog on Boot Time Defragmentation yesterday:
http://donnedwards.openaccess.co.za/2008/12/boot-time-defragmentation.html