Disk Defragmenter

[JakeS]

As we all know bigger HDD need less defrag, I've alway had 750GB hdd but I've removed those now due to being full, bigger the HDD less defragment is needed, I'm currently running one of the smallest HDD available: 300GB I drag it.. when their really is nothing else to do as I can't be bothered to defrag.

[simsim]

What people here mean by "zero the hard drive"? Do you mean formatting or something else?

[Wayne Luke]

What people here mean by "zero the hard drive"? Do you mean formatting or something else?

Formatting may or may not delete the contents. Normally, it just deletes the index files so the OS can't do lookups on the files it stores. deleting files works the same way. This is primarily how data recovery works. That software ignores the absence of the index files on the drive and builds its own, this allows you to recreate them and pull the information off. The OS just sees it as empty space though and overwrites it when you save something new.

However there are applications that go through and make sure every bit is set to 0 and the drive is completely empty. Hence, zero the drive.

[Gladius]

Got links to any such free apps? I'll need to zero a drive before I can sell it, so it'd come in handy.

[Wayne Luke]

Might be able to find something here:

http://www.tucows.com/Windows/IS-IT/FileManagement/DiskCleaners/

I use:

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/drivecleanser/

[Gladius]

Thanks.

[MRGTB]

I run a defrag about once a week, somtimes more after I do a backup

[Neal-UK]

This program looks okay to wipe your disc, but i've not used it:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/downloads/index.cfm?categoryID=1503&itemID=22920

Anyone else know of any free but good hard drive clean up applications? I've found this for defragmenting:

http://www.iobit.com/SmartDefrag/index.html

[Floris]

I use a professional defrag tool for my drives once every 6 months.

[briangumble]

What does defraging do? I do it a few times a year when I remember, but I forgot what it does.

[Jose Amaral Rego]

This program looks okay to wipe your disc, but i've not used it:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/downloads...3&itemID=22920

Do not trust stuff like that... The best way is to zero your Hard Drive and most Drive Makers will have this in DOS mode, then install OS to smallest space space, after you overwrite free space with video and zero it again.

That will stop any software on or not on the market from recovering any usable information. This is only good for if you are going to sell your Hard Drive and it takes 36hours to complete a 100gigbyte Hard Drive.

[Wayne Luke]

What does defraging do? I do it a few times a year when I remember, but I forgot what it does.

Makes sure that each files is a contiguous block of code instead of in various unconnected blocks around the drive. As drives get smaller and faster and file systems get better at indexing, the value is worth less and less. Used to be essential on MFM and RLL drives and file systems like Fat 8/16/32.

[jasonlitka]

I've been using PerfectDisk for the past 6 months or so. I run an offline defrag (system files, page file, MFT, etc.) on every reboot (adds ~5 seconds) and a file defrag every night at 3AM (which only takes about 60 seconds after the first run).

Contrary to what Wayne said, I noticed a substantial performance improvement, even on NTFS, from the original condition of my drives to the defragged condition. One thing worth mentioning though, is that once a program is running, there really isn't any difference. The improvement, for me, lies in startup times for large programs (and for the system itself).

[Wayne Luke]

I guess I don't notice it because I never reboot. If a Windows Update happens that requires a reboot, the system reboots at 3 a.m. when I am sleeping and automatically reloads all the applications that were running when it shut down.

[Floris]

What does defraging do? I do it a few times a year when I remember, but I forgot what it does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation