Windows 7 When should I defrag?

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compiler

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I have W-7. When I run the analyze portion of the disk defrag program, it says my fragmentation is 7%. But it does not advise whether or not I should defrag. Is there some rule of thumb?

Mel
 
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compiler said:
I have W-7. When I run the analyze portion of the disk defrag program, it says my fragmentation is 7%. But it does not advise whether or not I should defrag. Is there some rule of thumb?

Mel
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7% is not too bad, really.

As far as how often, it depends on your usage level.

I always recommend that users get an automatic third party defrag program that can defrag whenever it is needed (even if you're using the computer), as that way they don't have to worry about it (and their system is always at its peak).

There are many options available nowadays.

Here is a Top 10 Reviews side-by-side comparison of the best defrag programs available:

Link Removed

Most of the top placers have free trials so you can see...
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There is no hard and fast rule - I tend to defrag once a week or so but it depends on how frequently there are changes to the drive. On the one hand a seriously fragmented dis can affect performance but at the same time the degradation can be over-rated. If you'd like to see a bit more informatio and analysis you might like to try Auslogics defrag, free from here:

Do take care to deselect installation of the ask.com options on the install (unless you rally happen to want them of course).

Auslogics Disk Defrag - Reviews and free Auslogics Disk Defrag downloads at Download.com
 
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I leave mine on a weekly schedule. The first defrag, with the built in facility, can take a while. After that the scheduled defrag runs on low priority and will not interfere with any work you are engaged in. You won't even notice it.
 
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Hi

I use Defraggler.

Download Defraggler 2.04.297 - FileHippo.com

It has two modes of defragmentation.
First you run a full defrag or the whole hard drive a process that takes a while.

After that you can choose just to defragment the fragmented files, this only takes a few minutes.

I defragment the files everyday, and after every installation of new software or even after creating new large files, like videos etc.

As I said this takes only a couple of minutes.

About once every 6 months I run the full defrag again.

Defraggler is from the same people who give up CCleaner and it works really well, I have it installed on every computer that I have anything to do with.

Mike
 
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I haven't run manual defrags for a very long time now; I use a (paid) automatic defragger that runs in the background and quietly does its job preventing fragmentation and defragging when necessary. Works great- when I do a defrag analysis as part of weekly maintenance (virus scans etc), fragmentation is nearly zero.
 
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compiler said:
I have W-7. When I run the analyze portion of the disk defrag program, it says my fragmentation is 7%. But it does not advise whether or not I should defrag. Is there some rule of thumb?

Mel
Click to expand...

7% is not too bad, really.

As far as how often, it depends on your usage level.

I always recommend that users get an automatic third party defrag program that can defrag whenever it is needed (even if you're using the computer), as that way they don't have to worry about it (and their system is always at its peak).

There are many options available nowadays.

Here is a Top 10 Reviews side-by-side comparison of the best defrag programs available:

Link Removed

Most of the top placers have free trials so you can see what they do for your system before you buy.

Check it out and see what you think.
 
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Hi

I'm still cheap so I use Defraggler which is free.
It does make a difference when you defrag your hard drive.

Today I was rendering a 4,000 frame video from Poser (which is a 3D animation program) and it kept failing before it finished.
Which was a pain since it takes a long time to process 4,000 frames, or basically one file that is almost 5 gigabytes.

Finally I opened defraggler and ran Analyze.
There were only a few fragmented files on my D:\ drive and one of them was the Poser file I was writing.
I defragmented it and the next try it completed easily.

I've run into this before so I normally defragment before I start making the video files.

I don't mind doing the defrag manually since I pretty much know when I'm going to need it anyway.

Mike
 
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That's cool man! Nowadays, "you gots to do what you gots to do!"

Yep, defrags will work wonders for sure!!

Wow, a single file that is almost 5 GB!

It must take forever to work on a project like that.... do you do those kinds of projects often?

And was this one for fun or is video production what you do?

Do you find Poser to be exactly what you'd want or is there some other software on your wish list?

If possible, you have GOT to post a link to the finished product so we can see it!!
 
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Hi

I just do these for the fun of it.
But I'm a retired Graphic Designer, and Illustrator.
I'm just learning how to do the video stuff.

Here's a link, if it works right it should take you to my first 3 Lucy videos.

Just click on the black box.

Link Removed due to 404 Error

Make sure your sound is turned up!!!

Mike
 
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Hi, Mike. I d.lded defraggler from your link, ran it today on 2 drives. Think I like it! First time I have tried 3rd party defraggr. THANX!!
 
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