The Graduates

So old computer went poof, was old too. Bought a new cheap one which fits my needs. Still need more RAM for it and a new graphics card. Vista Home Basic was preinstalled (yeah vista sucks).

Question is: When you run defrag it runs in the background, it's not the same as the defrag in XP. Now time to defrag, I start it and it runs..... runs..... 1 hour later it still runs..... 2 hours later it still runs 3 hours it is still running.
Out of the 144GB I am using around 90GB. So how much time does it take to defrag in vista? Searched bit around but couldn't really get an answer. 3+ hours to defrag and HD that is 144GB which of 90GB is used. 320GB which is split up in 2 HD partions

Am I missing something?

forever - 90Gig and your first defrag will take a long time - if you have just dumped the files on there from the previous machine too it will add to the fragmentation. I suggest you let it run over an extended period. (8 hours) if it still hasn't completed, then I would want to look at possible causes.

Didn't dump any files on the new computer from the old one. It's still running. I did a defrag a couple of days after I got the computer and it took 1½-2 hours only. But will let it run for a couple more hours.

Could it be better to use a defrag program instead of windows defrag?

Super scary fast defrag:
http://www.vopt.com/nuvopt8.htm

Super loaded with amazing options defrag:
http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodefrag/

I usually don't buy software, but I own both of these. They are very very worth it.

One of the things that will limit the amount of defrag you have to do on a machine is making the page file or swap file a static size. Windows does not do a good job of keeping files contiguous. Meaning a 4 meg file starts in sector 1 and ends in sector 4 of the same track (for explanation purposes only). Windows current pagefile or swap file setup it expands and contracts in size as the day goes on. So your files may not be able to write in sequential order and file fragmentation occurs.


The old rule of 2x your ram does not always apply to the individual. Your one of these folks who have 2 sessions of EVE running and 50 processes in the task manager then you would want to probably double that.

One should note, there is a ton of write up on File frag/defrag and swap/pagefile size on the net. Be an informed person before messing with your machine and how if functions.

For super duper swap file performance, find an old hard drive, like a 10 or 20gig and stick it in your machine, then change the swap file settings to use that drive.

Kal, thats true until that drive fails. Then you will not be able to boot up, You'll end up with a reinstall.

Windows will auto-recreate the swap file on the main windows drive if it's on a 2nd drive that fails.