Defrag

In an ongoing effort to provide common administrative practices to the every-day user, we present the process of defragmentation.  We will offer a brief description, look at reasons for using this system utility, and put forth recommendations and tips.  The information provided here is not in depth but it is sufficient for understanding disk fragmentation and in making the first steps in correcting for it.

What the Frag?

What is fragmentation and can it be avoided?  Fragmentation occurs to all Microsoft computers when performing simple daily activities.  This condition occurs when files are downloaded, deleted, and modified.  After regular daily use, your hard drive becomes less contiguous.  In other words, portions of a file are no longer in close proximity to one another.  Instead they are disjointed or fragmented. This is because as files are physically written to the hard disk, they are likely to be recorded to more than one unit of space in a “non-contiguous” fashion; in more than one place, not in the same proximity.  Files can be expanded, erased, and copied and the space on the disk becomes more fragmented and files are stored like pieces of a puzzle.  Your computer has to work harder to locate all the scattered pieces of a single file.  The computer has to seek all the individual sections of a file in order to open, modify, and close it.  The greater the seek time the greater the effect on system performance.

Defragmentation involves a system process of taking the pieces of stored files and re-arranging them.  The hard disk is reorganized so that these pieces are stored closer together.  It is also known as “defragging” the computer.  In order to do this the computer needs to use free disk space which means enough disk space must be available.  This is an important point which will be discussed further in this report. 

Regular defragmentation of your hard drive should occur once you begin day-to-day computing activities.  This includes browsing the Internet, downloading files, installing, uninstalling, creating and deleting items, and more.  The Disk Defragmenter works to rearrange stored items on your computer so as to speed up system responsiveness.  With Windows Vista, defragmentation is handled automatically so that the user does not have to take any steps in doing this manually.

How to Defragment

For those who are running a Microsoft system other than Vista, you will need to manually run the defrag tool.  The steps to defragmentation are straightforward.  If you have not done this before and you have had your computer for some time, or if you can’t remember how long it was since you last did it, you can expect it to take up to an hour or more.  Microsoft states that the defrag tool runs best when there is sufficient free space on the hard disk drive.  If you do not have sufficient space we recommend removing temporary files such as Internet files, emptying the Recycle bin, deleting any unused applications, and storing large media files on a back-up storage device.

Erasing unwanted files and creating more free space beforehand is advisable as the free space can be better organized using the defrag utility.  The process of creating free space can be challenging and time consuming.  We recommend using a tool that scans your system quickly and efficiently and gives you the option of permanently erasing files rather than moving them to the Recycle bin.  The program is called ParetoLogic Privacy Controls and it has numerous features for secure deletion and, optionally, shredding files.  The program also utilizes a variety of safeguards to ensure you do not remove required system files and confirmations about removing the unwanted files.  To try this handy product download: Privacy Controls

Once you have cleaned up some unwanted and unnecessary files you can begin the defragmentation process.  While you can have it running in the background as you perform other computer tasks, we recommend allocating some free time to letting it run (up to an hour or more in some cases).  There may be some differences in the steps and information presented below.  The following steps are based on a Windows XP system.

To defragment your computer, do the following:

1. Begin by saving any files you are working on and closing all applications.
2. Open Windows Explorer and right-click the drive you want to defragment.  For example: “Local Disk (C:)”.
3. Click Properties and select the Tools tab.
4. Click the Defragment Now button. 
5. Click the Analyze button to see if your disk needs to be defragmented.  You will see the following:

6. If it is recommended by the Defragmenter, press the Defragment button. 
7. You have the option of pausing or stopping the defragmentation.  After the process is complete the Disk Defragmenter will look like the following:

You can view the report before the process and afterwards.

Scheduling Defragmentation

The defrag utility does not have a menu option that enables you to quickly and easily set up automatic scheduling of this task.  However, you can set the Schedule Tasks tool, provided in Windows Control Panel, so that it can run on a regular basis.  Microsoft has provided a 13 step instruction tutorial to show you how to do this.  They recommend that you set it so that it runs every week.  To view these steps follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/defrag.mspx.

Defrag Tips

The best advice we can impart is related to disk space: free up disk space, or add more disk space and then defragment your system.  While you can run a computer with less than 10% free disk space this is not an optimal situation and loss of performance will result.  When you delete unnecessary files, or move large media files to an external storage device, or upgrade your system by adding a new hard drive, it is best to perform a defragmentation immediately afterwards.

If you are reinstalling a system after wiping out a hard drive (what is known as rebuilding your system), by using backed up files, it is best that you defragment your system immediately afterwards.  This will enable your system to utilize the free space and create a contiguous ordering of files.

Also, choose a time to defragment your computer when you can leave it to run on its own.  There is no reason to run it excessively and if you decide to have it as a scheduled task, take your own situation into consideration: if you have a fair amount of free space and are performing only moderate file downloading, installation, editing and modifying, then you can set it to run every second week.

The Defrag Debate

There are those that feel that fragmentation has a greater performance impact on computer systems of the early 1990’s and less so today.  The argument is based on the fact that today’s computers are better equipped to handle this condition.  There have been improvements in RAM capacity, disk platter speeds, and the density of information stored in files.

On one side of the debate there are those that say that certain technological advances may increase fragmentation and will have a resulting negative impact.  For example, today’s hard disks are larger in terms of storage capacity.  By some estimates, each time disk space is doubled performance degradation is squared.  Another factor is that, despite how dense files are with respect to data, there are typically more files of greater size on computers today due to advances in media files and the ease at acquiring these files.  

On the other side of the argument, file systems with today’s operating systems are designed to work with fragmentation and non-contiguous files.  A file system is the methodology that a computer employs to organize files.  Prior to Windows 2000, the file system was even more prone to fragmentation and errors.  The two most well-known Microsoft file systems are FAT (File Allocation table) and NTFS (the NT File System, named after Windows NT).  The NTFS system utilizes a Master File Table (MTF) which works to reduce fragmentation.  Although fragmentation still occurs, it lessens this condition significantly.

Arguments go back-and-forth.  For example, a larger disk size may mean some performance slow down and yet, having more free space on a disk drive means less fragmentation to begin with.  There is truth to both these claims.  As more and more files are added to your hard disk and it gets full, the disk will encounter greater fragmentation.  The effectiveness of defragmentation is dependent on the amount of free disk space that is available on your system.  Free space is also a key factor in fragmentation prevention.  The more disk space there is the better off the file system can utilize this space so that fragmentation does not become an issue in the first place.

Other Defrag Observations

When comparing the defrag reports from before and after defragmenting your system, you can see some key details.  Here are a few that we have drawn from:

-   The percent and amount of free space is the same; no hard disk space is gained.

-   File fragmentation is reduced to zero percent and there are zero or near zero fragmented files after the process is complete.

-   Folder fragmentation is reduced to zero or near zero.

-   There is no effect on the MFT (Master File Table) or the pagefile fragmentation (see the pagefile article to find out about its part in system memory.

-   The percent of free space is shown.  This is a good indication of whether you need to free up space on your system (which, once again, should be done before the defrag process).

Despite the advances in computing and contrary to expert opinion, Microsoft lists fragmentation as one of the biggest factors to system slow down and they suggest having Windows XP defragment take place every week.  Keep in mind that if you have sufficient free space on a computer that is running well, your ability to detect a performance gain after defragment is likely negligible.

Third-party Defragmentation

The onboard system defragmentation tool offered by Microsoft has some shortcomings.  You cannot customize it, there is no option to schedule it (with the exception of using the Scheduled Tasks utility), and, worst of all, it takes a long time to complete the process which means freeing up time for it to run.

We recommend checking out Diskeeper.  This tool runs in real-time; it will correct for files as they are fragmented.  You can set it so that it runs automatically and then you do not have to worry about defragmentation at all.  Rather than having your system become fragmented it deals with it on an ongoing basis.  There are several other features that you can check out: http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/home/features.asp.

Performance Gains and Other More Serious Concerns

Despite the fact that Microsoft recommends ongoing frequent defragmentation, the notion that there is significant performance gain, as stated previously, is a contentious one.  One has to be suspicious when Microsoft offers an online maintenance tool that is a free tune-up but includes purchase options to their anti-virus application.  The Windows Live OneCare system is a step-by-step process that includes a service agreement, installation of a scanner, a scan of your hard disk, and then the defragmentation procedure which is, quite simply, the same defragment utility that comes with your operating system and can be run manually quite easily as described above.  Downloading and installing the Live OneCare system can be problematic depending on your system security and browser settings.  Microsoft offers the option of purchasing their anti-virus application along with this procedure.

If you are experiencing issues related to application errors or system crashes, defragmentation will not prevent these errors from arising.  You will need to determine the causes of the issues you are facing.  One recommendation we frequently make relates to detecting the occurrence of malicious items that could be downloaded to your system without your knowledge or approval.  There are likely many readers of this article that feel their computer would not be affected by this situation.  Surprisingly, most systems have numerous malicious files (by some studies an average of 93 items per computer).  These items are frequently referred to as malware.  These files take up space and in most instances take away system control.  Even worse, some are capable of acquiring your personal information or performing other unethical or even unlawful acts.  In many instances, a more significant gain in system performance can be realized when removing these items in comparison to defragmentation.

We suggest using XoftSpySE to detect and remove these items on your system.  XoftSpySE is fast and thorough and offers features including backups and scheduling.  For more information, see: XoftSpySE Anti-Spyware