Vista defragmentation duration

George · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:44 am

Interested how can I get some kind of idea how long Windows Vista will do defragmentation.

There is no progress bar, only it says that defragmentation "will take from several minutes to few hours", bit vague if you ask me.

I want to do defragmentation at the end of day/evening and because I don't like to leave computer running overnight I would like if defragmentation will take 1 hour or 5 hours.

If I knew, I could leave myself enough time to do this task, then switch off computer and switch off power point at the wall.

Stu · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:38 pm

Defragging your hard drive everyday is superfluous, Vista also runs defrag automatically on a schedule.
It will depend on your HDD's "activity" as to how much it's fragmented and thus how long it takes.
I agree the feedback you get from the UI is very vague. I suppose you could run defrag from the command line and see from there just how fragmented it is and how long it takes to finish.

Also note that you can defrag whilst still using the system.

Jeet · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:53 pm

George wrote:

Interested how can I get some kind of idea how long Windows Vista will do defragmentation.

There is no progress bar, only it says that defragmentation "will take from several minutes to few hours", bit vague if you ask me.

I want to do defragmentation at the end of day/evening and because I don't like to leave computer running overnight I would like if defragmentation will take 1 hour or 5 hours.

If I knew, I could leave myself enough time to do this task, then switch off computer and switch off power point at the wall.

Stu is correct. Defragging everyday is completely unnecessary. You may want to defrag once a month. The time completely depends on the size of the HDD you have and the amount of data in it. For a better defragmenter that would show you enough information, try this: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler

George · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:18 pm

I don't do it every day, just at the end of day that I want to do it.

Quote:

I suppose you could run defrag from the command line

Could try this, but how do I do that?
(what is the command?)

Also I read that we should not be tempted to use separate defragmentation programs as Windows is as good as any external ones. Is this correct?
(Have defraggler on my XP computer, but not yet on Vista Laptop)

Stu · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:38 pm

Windows' built-in defragger works just fine. I'm in the camp that says you don't need a 3rd party application to do the job.

You can check how fragmented the drive is (assuming the drive is C:) by this command. I'm running W7 but i reckon the syntax/parameters are the same for Vista.

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defrag c: /a

will ouput something similar to this. It'll tell you if you need to defrag.

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Invoking analysis on (C:)...

The operation completed successfully.

Post Defragmentation Report:

   Volume Information:
      Volume size                 = 39.99 GB
      Free space                  = 12.54 GB
      Total fragmented space      = 3%
      Largest free space size     = 8.73 GB

   Note: File fragments larger than 64MB are not included in the fragmentation statistics.

   You do not need to defragment this volume.

To run defrag:

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defrag c: /u /v

This will give you a rough idea of how long it'll take depending on the level of fragmentation (with progress notification)

If those command are no good check

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defrag /?

I think even if your level of fragmentation is low, it'll still take quite some time to finish. Starting it up a few hours before you shutdown should leave enough time.
If you're using Windows' built-in defragger, why not stick it on a schedule and forget about it? I've never manually run defrag on this system and Windows reports it doesn't need it.....just goes to show it does it all by itself!

Jeet · Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:27 am

Nice method Stu ! However the software I provided has some small extras which might interest you as well. It can also read your hard drive's S.M.A.R.T. data and provide you with valuable information.

Quote:

Defragment exactly what you want
Most defrag tools only allow you to defrag an entire drive. Defraggler lets you specify one or more files, folders, or the whole drive to defragment
Safe and Secure
When Defraggler reads or writes a file, it uses the exact same techniques that Windows uses. Using Defraggler is just as safe for your files as using Windows.
Compact and portable
Defraggler's tough on your files – and light on your system.
Interactive drive map
At a glance, you can see how fragmented your hard drive is. Defraggler's drive map shows you blocks that are empty, not fragmented, or needing defragmentation.
Quick Defrag
Give your hard drive a quick touch-up with Quick Defrag.
Defragment free space
Organizes empty disk space to further prevent fragmentation.
Scheduled defragmentation
Defragment while you sleep - and wake up with a faster PC. Set Defraggler to run daily, weekly or monthly.
Multi-lingual support
No matter what your native tongue is, Defraggler speaks your language. It currently supports 37 languages.

UVAIS · Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:15 am

George wrote:

I don't do it every day, just at the end of day that I want to do it.

Quote:

I suppose you could run defrag from the command line

Could try this, but how do I do that?
(what is the command?)

hahhaha I want to Posted command before your post(this) and i created Screenshot and some detail ;;;;

here you go (Sorry for late understating-I was thinking you already know about this Command) :roll:

defrag

Code -:

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Options:
-A – Analyses the fragmentation of a disk drive
-F – Force defragmentation even if disk space is low
-V – Verbose output mode
-H – Defrag hidden files
Example of usage:
defrag c: -a -v

Hope you understand Completely :thumbup:

Stu · Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:41 am

UVAIS wrote:

Code: Select all

Options:
-A – Analyses the fragmentation of a disk drive
-F – Force defragmentation even if disk space is low
-V – Verbose output mode
-H – Defrag hidden files
Example of usage:
defrag c: -a -v

Is this taken from a Vista machine Uvais? It looks a little different to my Windows 7.

@ Jeet
Piriform's software is always good and if you're into that kind of thing, deffragler is great free software and a solid recommendation. I just don't like my system cluttered with unnecessary apps, especially when it does no more of a better job (ie. @ defragging) than the one installed by default.

UVAIS · Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:36 pm

Stu wrote:

UVAIS wrote:

Code: Select all

Options:
-A – Analyses the fragmentation of a disk drive
-F – Force defragmentation even if disk space is low
-V – Verbose output mode
-H – Defrag hidden files
Example of usage:
defrag c: -a -v

Is this taken from a Vista machine Uvais? It looks a little different to my Windows 7.

@ Jeet
Piriform's software is always good and if you're into that kind of thing, deffragler is great free software and a solid recommendation. I just don't like my system cluttered with unnecessary apps, especially when it does no more of a better job (ie. @ defragging) than the one installed by default.

Are You talking about Screenshot ?

Yeas from Windows 7

Stu · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:01 pm

UVAIS wrote:

Stu wrote:

UVAIS wrote:

Code: Select all

Options:
-A – Analyses the fragmentation of a disk drive
-F – Force defragmentation even if disk space is low
-V – Verbose output mode
-H – Defrag hidden files
Example of usage:
defrag c: -a -v

Is this taken from a Vista machine Uvais? It looks a little different to my Windows 7.

@ Jeet
Piriform's software is always good and if you're into that kind of thing, deffragler is great free software and a solid recommendation. I just don't like my system cluttered with unnecessary apps, especially when it does no more of a better job (ie. @ defragging) than the one installed by default.

Are You talking about Screenshot ?

Yeas from Windows 7

Odd. If i run defrag /? my options are prepended with "/" not "-" ???

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Vista defragmentation duration

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