PC FAQ's - Defragmenting

Defragmenting the hard drive is a 'housekeeping' task that keeps the drive running smoothly and efficiently. It's something you do at least monthly, in order to keep the PC up to speed. If you don't do this, then data becomes scattered across the disk: a file might be broken up into several parts, and end up located in different areas of the disk. This results in data access becoming slower and slower, and the HD having to work harder to retrieve it and rewrite it. It's just another of those factors that slow your PC down – there are few that speed it up, but many things that contribute to slowing it down.

Windows' own housekeeping is poor, on a general level. It does just enough to keep the machine working, but not enough to really keep it sharp and fast. For instance:

1. The registry (the place where file locations are stored, and master instructions on operating procedures) gradually becomes full of sludge: dead links, wrong links, and badly fragmented into the bargain. You will find upward of a thousand dead links if cleaning the registry for the first time, on a heavily-used drive. This is a totally unacceptable state of affairs; but completely normal.
2. The disk defragmenter built into Windows is not very efficient – and in fact it presents an extremely optimistic view of the disk state, which can be seen to be incorrect by using a 3rd-party tool.
3. Windows does not offer a boot-time defrag as an option; and this is the only way to really sharpen the disk up.
4. No choice of optimising the disk is offered: this means optimum placement of regularly-accessed files.
5. There is no way to optimise the pagefile: to place optimally, to increase the size of, to defrag, to compact, or to monitor the virtual memory.
6. Whatever else it may be good at, Windows XP often becomes appallingly fragmented in a very short time – and has no onboard way of solving this problem except daily defragging. This is one reason why XP is often so desperately slow.

...and so it goes on. Therefore, you must turn to 3rd-party apps to solve your problems (for a full explanation of this, see Technobabble, and elsewhere in this section).

Defrag Apps

There are a good selection of these utilities to choose from. They all offer different options, different ways of going about the basic task, different speeds, and a different skin from the Windows utility. Their advantages are almost always that:

1. They are much faster than the Windows tool.
2. They are much more efficient.
3. They have many more options.
4. They usually include options not present in the Windows version, that allow a much better job to be done in any case.
5. They are far more honest than the Windows app, which when finished gives a very rosy picture of the disk state that is often revealed to be an untruth by a 3rd-party app.

Extra Options

The options these tools usually have are:

1. Boot-time defrag: this means that the PC, when booting-up, will defrag in DOS before booting to Windows. All the Windows files are offline and can be defragged readily. This is not the case when Windows is running. The only way to defrag the system in its entirety is when it isn't on. This is also called an offline defrag by some suppliers. The disadvantage is that it is very slow, and essentially an overnight job. However, it is only necessary perhaps once every three months.
2. Clean reboot defrag. This is an intermediate stage between a standard defrag, and the boot-time defrag. The PC reboots and defrags when Windows starts, but before most (in theory all, but this doesn't work out in practice) of the other programs start up. Therefore, most of the applications and data can be defragmented. This defrag run is much faster than the boot-time defrag. It can also be called an offline defrag by some suppliers.
3. Pagefile optimiser: the pagefile or virtual memory – the section of the disk that is used as memory, if / when the RAM chips overflow, can be optimised. This means to increase its size, place it in the disk position preferred, defrag it, and compact / homogenise it, to make it one continuous data block. Windows cannot do this.
4. Disk data position optimiser: regularly-accessed files can be placed optimally, rather than scattered around the disk as is normal.
5. Background defrag: the defragger may choose to operate in background mode. This means it is often (or always) on, but works silently in the background in a low-priority mode. Applications have priority on CPU time, but when inactive, the defragger cleans the disk. One advantage is that it is not necessary to schedule a disk defrag: it's always on. The disadvantage may be that the app cannot do a full offline or even online defrag.
6. Terabyte disk defrag: the utility may be able to handle huge disks or combinations of disks.
7. Multiple partition defrag: the app can defrag more than one partition on the drive, often simultaneously.

A good 3rd-party defragger deserves to be called more than just a defragmentation app; in effect it is a disk manager, since it oversees so many important disk functions.

Optimal placement means different things to different defrag apps. One may consider optimal placement to mean locating important files at the start of the disk; another might place them all together in a central position. This may vary according to the size of the disk, since data access characteristics are bound to vary between discs of different sizes. Also, of course, a hard drive consists of several platters or discs, not just the one (unless it is very small). Therefore the defrag app must choose the data layout according to the physical position on the platters, and not just treat the disk as one contiguous single disk.

The tasks faced by a disk defrag app can be considerable, as we have seen. There is a good range to choose from, which all have their good and bad points. In my experience there is no such thing as the perfect app; but some are better than others at certain tasks.

Drive Types

In Windows, the drives are usually formatted as FAT32 or NTFS drives. This refers to the way the data is organised and laid out. You can have partitions with different types on the same disk. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

A FAT32 drive can be compacted harder, for less final disk fragmentation. It will also maintain itself in a reasonably-usable state, without frequent defragging. There are less security-based features in this format.

An NTFS-formatted drive has more security features: you can encrypt a file or folder (though this is not straightforward and sometimes very tricky indeed). It is the preferred format in Windows 2K (unless you tell it to use FAT32) and XP, which automatically use this file system. It is more suited to large disks, and not small disks, as it runs in a far less homogenous state than FAT32. The disk is not compacted, and is naturally fairly fragmented most of the time. XP can be a
real sinner here.

Defrag App Choices

You can have more than one defrag app installed – just don't run them at the same time! Some 3rd-party apps are free, but most of those listed here must be purchased. They are included because they work and are reliable, and have some feature or features that make them notable. In effect, there is no such thing as the 'best' defragger, since that is a function of what you want it to do; this may vary between users.

Here are some of those currently available, with a few of their strengths and weaknesses:

VoptXP
Advantages: the fastest of all the defraggers – like greased lightning compared to the Windows onboard defragger, and even other defraggers. Even a quick defrag of a slightly-used disk might take the Windows tool 20 minutes at a minimum; Vopt would do the same disk in 2 minutes or less.

It also has a big feature set, including the best pagefile optimiser available, which allows you to make it any size you want, place it at the start of the disc, and compact it (keep it in one continuous block). As far as I am aware, no other disk defragger can do this.

It will perform a clean-reboot offline defrag, but not a boot-time (in DOS) defrag.

It gives you the fullest and most accurate picture of the disk state available from any disk manager: it reveals the Windows picture to be a complete sham, for instance. You can click on any single data block on the disk, to get a full list of the contents and permissions for those files.

It has the best real-time defrag display of any app: it shows, all the time, exactly what it is moving, from where, to where.

Disadvantages: its big vulnerability is its delicacy: it can easily be hamstrung by what it calls 'registry errors', although these are invisible to any other application (including regedit, 3rd-party registry cleaners, registry error fixers, and any other defrag app). This generally only affects the pagefile optimiser, not the main defragger; but on occasion the whole thing will crash because of this sensitivity to factors invisible to other defraggers. A good way to get it to crash is by installing multiple partitions on a disk – this eventually causes it to get a major headache, and even give up the ghost. It will refuse to open, due to 'errors accessing the registry', or 'the system needs to be rebooted'. This is a shame, since without this vulnerability, there is no doubt whatsoever that it would take the number one slot, even against very strong opposition like Raxco.

Optimising the pagefile in XP can be problematic, though there is a workaround. It's worth trying since this is one of Vopt's best features. The procedure sometimes halts midway with an error message 'The operation was halted', as if you had stopped it – but XP has done it. The remedy is to do a clean restart defrag (but not a batch defrag); when the defrag finishes, do not reboot, but optimise the pagefile instead, then finally reboot. Whichever process within XP that is crashing the operation is not running at this time. Trying to find the offending process or thread and kill it with HiApp Killer or SysInt's ProcessExplorer is generally a waste of time, it's quicker to do it this way.

Raxco PerfectDisk
Advantages: very capable and very efficient. Nowhere near as fast as Vopt, or with such a range of features, but much more stable. Will handle disk arrays of terabyte size. A popular commercial choice because of its stability and capability. Has a full feature-set.

Can perform a boot-time defrag – a vital tool for ultimate disk speed. To keep an eye on what's happening, a scheduler / file checker runs in the background, and pops up now and then to see what files are being used frequently; a good way of going about that task.

Disadvantages: slow compared to Vopt, though it speeds up a little with 'training'. Not everyone likes the XP-style skin.

O&O Defrag
Advantages: It's OK and average. Reasonable feature set, but nothing to make it outstanding.

Ashampoo
Advantages: an unusual defragger as it runs in background mode. Some users may prefer this. It's always on, therefore no defrag has to be scheduled; this is how Macs run. Just like a Mac, though, the machine will eventually require a proper defrag. Poor feature set, otherwise.

OnTrack JetDefrag
This app comes as part of the fine utility package Online Fixit Utilities, which is one of the best disk manager utility packs around.

Advantages: it's quick (after training), and has a good feature set. It has an unusual method of optimal file placement: frequent files are placed centrally on the disk, which is probably a good policy because things tend to be a little crowded at the front of the disk otherwise. This way, Ontrack keeps the frequently-accessed files in an easily-managed band. It requires 'training' to do this: a period of familiarisation with disk use patterns. This system of optimisation is certainly appropriate for large disks.

The other utilities in the pack include one of the best registry cleaners and error fixers around; and a good disk error fixer.

Disadvantages: the defragger is probably the most fragile after Vopt. It will stop and ask for disk errors to be fixed that no other defragger can see (and that cannot be fixed by the Ontrack disk fixer or by Scandisk). Although this may be an advantage in some cases, in means that it will sometimes not run due to 'disk errors' invisible even to Scandisk / Checkdisk. The package is not cheap. The optimisation method may not be suitable for smaller disks (less than 30 GB).

IODefrag
Advantages: it's free; it's good; it has both a standard manual defrag option, and a backgound 'always-on' defrag mode.

Disadvantages: it is a simpler and more basic utility than some of the others, though this may be an advantage in some circumstances.

This app uses a similar defrag window view to the standard Windows utility, though since it is a 3rd-party app it is more efficient. It has the big advantage of a background defrag setting, which makes it ideal for installing on a PC belonging to youngsters or others who cannot see the point of maintenance tasks. Such people may complain about a computer's lack of speed after a while, when it becomes choked, but don't seem to connect that with the fact they never maintain it. Like a car, they never check the oil, then complain when the engine causes problems...

A computer isn't like fridge, in that you buy it then forget it – it's exactly like a car, and needs regular maintenance. However, the majority don't seem to realise this, and so an app like IODefrag is right up their street. It may not be the best defragger around, but it's ideal for those who think a PC shouldn't need any maintenance.

Where They All Fail

Modern PC Internet games sometimes involve huge downloads. An example is World of Warcraft, which apparently has seven million online players. This has a total downloaded filesize of 3.66GB, a large app by any measure. Recently someone with this game installed asked me to sort out their PC, which would no longer defrag. All the apps mentioned here failed at about 50% through the defrag run, locking up into a perpetual defrag loop after taking hours to get to that point anyway. Ontrack and Scandisk reported no errors, so there was nothing that could be done to fix the disk.

The only solution would be to uninstall the game and either get hold of a good hard copy, or try to DL a good copy. This will not be welcome advice as the DL takes many hours (if not days) even on a 2MB DSL connnection, as it is locked-in to the slow speed of the central server, which cannot cope with the huge traffic volume. The only good thing about the WoW server is that it supports Resume, so that if you want to switch off halfway through a download and continue later, you can.

The Final Choice

You will install what you can afford, no doubt. Given a free hand, my preference would be:

1. VoptXP as the number one. Eventually, it may expire due to its delicacy and vulnerability to (otherwise invisible) 'registry errors'. At least you should have been able to optimise the page file first, in a manner that has no equal among other utilities. Vopt is so amazingly fast you can forgive it most things anyway. For a single-partition disc, it's probably the ultimate.

2. Raxco PD is the one that steps into the breach when Vopt expires. It does everything well, and has that vital boot-time defrag. Because of this, it can achieve the hardest compaction, which may be what you need.

3. Ontrack is the one if you are buying a turnkey disk management solution; it does almost everything, and very well too. Its 'training' or running-in period shows that it isn't an out-of-the-box solution, but in fact something better.

4. IODefrag is the one for a 'fit and forget' solution. It's quite similar to the Windows utility but better, and the background or online defrag choice makes it a winner.

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