Disk Defragmenter
Tue, 09/11/2007 - 19:38 — Ciprian
Disk Defragmenter is another application that has been changed in Windows Vista compared to Windows XP. Unlike other applications that were modified, Disk Defragmenter was simplified to a bare minimum. You no longer have menus or the colored graphs showing you how the data is arranged on your hard drive. The application offers only two options: "Defragment now" and "Modify schedule". Even though some people will miss the old interface and the configuration features, others will welcome the change. One thing is for sure - working with the Disk Defragmenter is easier than ever.
In this article I will go through the new interface and the available options and you will see for yourselves how easy it is to use the new Disk Defragmenter.
To find Disk Defragmenter, go to Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools.
As mentioned earlier, the application offers only two options: "Modify Schedule" and "Defragment now".
If you press the Defragment now button, the defragmentation process will start. Unfortunately you won't see a progress bar nor an estimation about the time left until the end of the process. You just have to wait until it finishes. This is why I recommend you to do this during the night or when you go to work and the computer is not being used.
If you want to cancel the process, just press the Cancel defragmentation button.
If you want to schedule automatic defragmentations, first click on Modify schedule.
In the scheduling window choose the frequency, the day and the time when the automatic defragmentation should start. For most people, it should be enough to run the defragmentation once per month.
Related articles:
What is new in the Disk Defragmenter from Windows Vista SP1
Defragment your hard drive from the Command Prompt
Benchmarking the Disk Defragmenter
Disk Cleanup
Recommended articles:
Add Defragment to the Right-Click Menu for a Drive
Disk Defragmenter FAQ
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Comments
I think its the least used
I think its the least used system utility. Most users arent even aware that such a utility exists and what it can do to improve performance. Perhaps 'light' users may not find a difference, but anyone who uses the PC substantially will notice a good improvement in keeping the drives free from fragmentation. I recently helped a friend cleanout a drive that was choked and entirely red with fragments, he hasnt run the utility for months (after all the music movie downloads) and complains that it behaves as if its afflicted with some psychomotor disease.
Automatic defrag is good
Automatic defrag is theroretically excellent; it's just that Microsoft did a lousy job of writing this defragger which doesn't defrag properly. I mean, why would you want to waste time and go through the trouble of running a defrag manually or scheduling one for a period where the PC may or may not be in use. Instead, a properly designed smart automatic defragmenter such as seen on enterprise networks, reduces the workload of IT personnel, yet provides excellent results even on busy servers. No reason why this shouldn't be applicable for home systems either, since desktop computing power is cheap and plentiful these days.
Well M$ and Diskeeper do
Well M$ and Diskeeper do have an agreement between themselves and the engine for vista defrag is from diskeeper. If you wish better control then buy Diskeeper 2008, it was just realesed and it is much improved. I have DK 2008 Pro Premier.
I really liked the previous
I really liked the previous interface, for I knew how much time was left until it finished. It took me more than 12 hours to defragment my vista PC.
needs to estimate when it will finish
yes, i agree , a simple interface is fine, but its un acceptable that it wont estimate when it will finish;seems to always take many hours and why change anyway?..
Thanks for the info...
I couldn't figure out why my defrag wouldn't finish, but I usually turn the machine off at night, so I suppose it never DID finish... I'll just leave it on for a couple of days and hope something results. ;)
No Status for time remaining
Windows XP allowed you to view the status of the Disk Defragmenter. I never took the time it does on Vista, and Vista does not have the status capabilities. This needs to be corected. I have been Defragmenting now for 4 hous, with no idea if its working, hung up or how much longer for completetion.
disk defragmenter vista
I echo some of above. Sceduling is no good as most of us switch off our computers a lot of the time. XP was informative, simple and user friendly re disk defrag. I am now having to leave laptop computer ( with vista) on after having clicked defrag as there is no way of me knowing if the disk needs it and no way of knowing how much progres the process has made. Would love to ditch vista for this and many other resaons but my new laptop came with it and thank god I have desktop with Xp so that I can use IE to troubleshoot Vista
Vista definately needs to
Vista definately needs to add a status of progress of defrag.. this is insane, i have been defragging for about three hours now and have no idea how much longer it will take. Vista SERIOUSLY needs to correct this issue
DEFRAGMENTING
I bought a new laptop a couple of months ago. As i now know it had Vista on it, god i miss my xp. I have left my defrag running all night for 2 nights running and its still running the next morning, is it ever going to get through the programme? I expect it will all get sorted out in the future, but what about now. I have tried downloading programmes to speed up defrag, but the downloads dont work, security reasons i gather.
Regards, Keith.
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