- HDD Defragmentation Question -

[foreverFLASH]

This is a serious question guys, and I need help from anyone who is able.
---> Here's the problem:
I use DISKEEPER to defrag my HDD's. It is a FABULOUS program. One of the best I've ever bought. For the past 5 months or so, I haven't been having any problems with my PC, so I've gotten kind of LAX in my scanning/defragging habits. So, in DISKEEPER, there is a Volume Map section, which is color coded. It shows you the HDD in sections of Horizontal bars stacked on top of each other. The colors are as follows:

-BLUE: high performing files & folders
-PINK: low performing system files
-WHITE w/GREEN STRIPES: reserved system space
-RED: low performing files & folders
-PLAIN WHITE: unused space

So, my problem is with the system files (PINK). Those are XP files, and all other related system files in XP. Because I've been so lax, these files have become significantly FRAGMENTED...and I mean BAD.
I don't want to reinstall XP, that is last resort right now (cause I got lots of valuable data store on my HDD that I can't burn off or transfer atm).

Now, there is an option in DISKEEPER, to do a BOOT-TIME defrag. This is the only known way of defragging the system files -- before XP boots. But its very risky, and you can lose files or have to reinstall XP if it makes a mistake, which RARELY happens, so I'm not worried 'bout it.

My question: How can I get all these system files defragmented, when DISKEEPER isn't doing it right?
I know there is built in Windows Defrag, but that is not even near as comprehensive as DISKEEPER, nor as efficient.

So what do I do? I'm at a loss here, because I've run the BOOT-TIME defrag like 10 times in a row, and it just won't defrag all the system files. I mean it might move a few, but there's still thousands that need to be moved, and it's not doing it. It just flies through a few defrag steps, and then starts XP again. :

Please, if anyone knowledgable 'bout PC's or HDD's has ANY suggestions or help, post a reply.

Thanks, FLASH.

 

[tuskenraider]

Well if the program is not doing what you want, or what it advertises, ditch the program or call the company for an explanation. PerfectDisk or O&O Defrag have both worked great for me and will defrag everything with your standard and boot-time defrag.

 

[bing]

I used diskeeper in the past, it seems like it can't compete with current new defragger like PerfectDisk or O&O in customizing how it defrag the drive.

Example from my PerfectDisk here

 

[foreverFLASH]

Good to hear this guys. Thanks for the feedback on DISKEEPER. I'm still going to keep using it, because I paid 100$ for it back a year ago...and well ya' know, I just can't waste my $$ like that. It's a good program and all, just might be that I've been lazy in keeping up with using it right.

Oh, and get this: To my amazement and confusion...
I turn my PC on last night, after a days rest, and miraculously all those PINK system files that were fragmented REALLY bad were nearly GONE! I don't know how to explain it, but somehow, while my PC was idle and the DISKEEPER was set to automatically defrag the drives yesterday ( I have it set on automatic & using a special file-sorting method called I-FAAST) IT JUST fixed itself. I don't know how, but those PINK files went from thousands to hundreds without me seeing it.
I think, it might have something to do w/ this enormous folder I moved from my C drive to my extra D drive. I think it gave the C drive a breath of fresh air.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

I used diskeeper in the past, it seems like it can't compete with current new defragger like PerfectDisk or O&O in customizing how it defrag the drive.

Example from my PerfectDisk here

I just used that Perfect Disk program... MY GOSH that is one amazing program... it defraged so good and aligned the boot files at the begging. and my god my comp runs so nice now, it boots up so dang fast... and i had done a windows defrag and tunexp a week prior...

Perfect Disk gets my vote this is one awsome program.


EDIT : Bing what is your configuration in Perfect disk.... just use the defaults?

 

[bing]

EDIT : Bing what is your configuration in Perfect disk.... just use the defaults?

For my C: os/boot/apps/page file, I just used the defaults cause it seems it has the best layout there.

But for my Raid 1 big D: drive, I use O&O with heavy customization since I got lots of big files there like DriveXML C: images collections, lot of VMWare saved virtualizations .vmdk files and finally lot of dual layered DVD ISOs used by Daemontools for optical drive emulation, these are huge files.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

For my C: os/boot/apps/page file, I just used the defaults cause it seems it has the best layout there.

But for my Raid 1 big D: drive, I use O&O with heavy customization since I got lots of big files there like DriveXML C: images collections, lot of VMWare saved virtualizations .vmdk files and finally lot of dual layered DVD ISOs used by Daemontools for optical drive emulation, these are huge files.

sweet thnx.

 

[foreverFLASH]

Jeesh, now you guys got me interested in this PERFECTDISK program.

 

[JigPu]

I think, it might have something to do w/ this enormous folder I moved from my C drive to my extra D drive. I think it gave the C drive a breath of fresh air.

The amount of free space you have on your drive can significantly impact a defragger's ability. Generally you'll want at least 20% free for defragmentation to work well. Once you dip down to 10% of 5%, defragmentation gets really difficult for any program, since there is less room for it to shuffle whole files around in while doing its job.

Additionally, Diskeeper is a multi-pass defragger (PerfectDisk and O&O IIRC are single-pass). It requires several runs to completely defragment a system, so you shouldn't expect everything to get cleaned up on the first run. I noticed you tried the boot defrag several times, so while this wasn't the issue, its something to keep in mind.

JigPu

 

[nd4spdbh2]

Jeesh, now you guys got me interested in this PERFECTDISK program.

he he i have fallen in love with it.

 

[foreverFLASH]

The amount of free space you have on your drive can significantly impact a defragger's ability. Generally you'll want at least 20% free for defragmentation to work well. Once you dip down to 10% of 5%, defragmentation gets really difficult for any program, since there is less room for it to shuffle whole files around in while doing its job.

Additionally, Diskeeper is a multi-pass defragger (PerfectDisk and O&O IIRC are single-pass). It requires several runs to completely defragment a system, so you shouldn't expect everything to get cleaned up on the first run. I noticed you tried the boot defrag several times, so while this wasn't the issue, its something to keep in mind.

JigPu

Ok, thanks for the info. bro. Why is DK multi-pass and those others single? That's not fair...
Well, thanks again for the explanation.