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
Defragmenter
I agree with the other people. I want to see what the progress is on the defragmenter. It has been there since windows 95!! Simple is if there is information, frustration and lack of control when you don't know what is going on. Can they put a patch in so those who want to see the progress can do so?
b.
Choose which drives to defrag
The tutorial doesn't mention that you can choose which drives to defrag. With Vista Home Premium, in the Defrag window I have 3 options: Modify schedule, Select volumes, Defrag now. Perhaps not all Vista versions have the option to choose which drives to defrag.
I really like the new defrag options where I can set the computer to defrag weekly and not worry about it. I do miss seeing the colored status bars and especially the report at the end. Windows Help says, "Advanced users can use the command line tool Defrag.exe to generate detailed reports and perform other advanced tasks." I'm not an advanced user and I'd like to see step-by-step details how to generate a report. The subject of reports (detailed analysis) is mentioned here: http://www.vista4beginners.com/Defragment-your-hard-drive-from-the-Comma...
Windows Help says, "Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process." Defraging took me about 6 hours when I manually ran it. Since you can continue working on the computer while it's defragging, it doesn't much matter how long it takes and I don't really need to know how much time it has left.
Great tutorial!
Option available in SP1
You choose which drives to defrag only if you have SP1 installed. We are working on an article about this as we speak.
Will be published in the next few days.
Disk Defragmenter
I agree with most of the above, having no idera when my disk defragmenter will finish it work is absolutely rubbish. It will simply stop me from defragmenting unless I absolutely have to. As it doesn't give any information at all I guess I'll never know if I have to use it or not.
As for buying an aftermarket disk defragmenter why should I have to. Vista cost me so much it should improve upon previous versions not become more primitive and user unfriendly.
I would also like to throw
I would also like to throw in my two cents and say I hate, hate, HATE anything that doesn't give me feedback. At the very least, you need to indicate that _something_ is being done. This is an inconvenience when the defragger is working properly, and infuriating when it doesn't. For the record, mine has never worked. No matter how I approach it, I just can't get it to do the job it was designed for. I've had the window disappear on me, the DOS command return having accomplished nothing, and the program start up successfully and attempt to defrag only to come back 30 seconds later with the same message that, "[my] file system performance can be improved." Fantastic. When the Vista team figures out exactly how the XP team accomplished that, roll out a patch. In the mean time, I'll keep trying to debug the problem blind.
defrag dont work
my husband has windows vista on a brand new laptop, had a few problems so did a defrag, once started dont no how far it got but the laptop shut down and gave an error message and then booted into safe mode. anybody got any ideas why it does that its done it twice now.
Better options than the built-in tool
The best freeware defrag program IMHO is JkDefrag. It even has a screen saver mode. If you combine this with the boot time defrag capability of UltraDefrag, you have a complete open-source solution.
The best professional defrag product is the relatively new Puran Defrag 5.1 product, which offers boot time defrag, automatic defrag, or manual defrag. It isn't bloatware, and is unobtrusive but highly effective.
even 14 hours...
I started my disk defragment from 11pm,
I left my laptop for the defragment.... it is still defragmenting when I came back from work after 1pm...
what the hell is that?
Is it possible to defragment for even a day to complete ?
defrag... another MS disaster
Wow, just when i thought windows couldn't get any worse. No status during defrag. It's been 5+ hours and who knows how much longer... days? weeks? months? Is it even doing anything? What I wouldn't give for a mac right now. Microsoft is a horrible company. I want my money back.
Use Defrag.exe until Microsoft fixes Vista defragger
Hi Folks,
Microsoft hosed Disk Defrag with its new Vista operating system. It does not work and merely loops back to the beginning when executed from Windows, as far as I can tell.
For those itching to defrag their volumes and don’t want to wait until the Redmond geeks get this one fixed, I recommend using the command line alternative. Here is a link to a page on TechNet that explains the syntax necessary to run it from Command Prompt:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731650.aspx
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