De-Frag

[scrubed]

Does de-fragment actually do anything?

Why doesn't my PC run any faster after an hour spent de-fragging?

Is my PC designed to run slower and slower until I just buy a new one?

Is de-frag just a way of making myself feel better while actually pi$$ing in the wind?



:rolleyes:

[timmcat]

Get rid of all yer porn, that'll sort it.

[Jelly Baby Freak]

Defragging can speed up your pc, but if - and you obviously do - have internet connection your pc gets full of crap!
Namely, cookies, history etc.
Your pc will let you 'delete' this rubbish, but often it just moves it some place else on your hard drive!
Invest in a cleaner program. You can download one from the net.
I use Evidence Eliminator as it will do a quick clean up, but it will also do a deep clean and get rid of duplicate files, temp files and all of that internet crap! Takes it about 20 minutes and your pc will run faster!

:ok:

[scrubed]

So the "free" stuff that MS provides as part of the package, namely disk clean-up and defragmenter are not worth a pinch of **** (as my dad used to say) ??

[Biggles Flies Undone]

I use crap cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) - freeware and works a treat :ok:

[Jerricho]

Scrubby - unfortunately as you mention, the MS stuff like de-frag and and the clean up don't really do much more that basic diagnostic stuff for your PC. All manner of things from spyware to a registry that needs a good hose taken to it can affect your performance (just as the girlfriend, right ;) )

That software Biggles has linked is very good at removing loads of garbage, as well as fixing issues with the registry.

I personally use TuneUp utilities, which has all manner of good gear. Have a hunt around on download.com as well.

[419]

In theory, defragging your PC, will make most programs faster to open and run. This was the case a few years ago, when computers were very slow compared to todays machines. My first laptop (375mhz) always improved after a defrag, but on my present machine (3Ghz) it's impossible to notice the difference, as it is already running so fast.

[tony draper]

Use Mozilla Firefox to surf, its stops the cacky downloading or asks you if you want to allow a cookie.

[BOFH]

419, inter alia, is right.

With modern high-speed disks, a big cache and newer file management schema, the old thrashing has gone and the bottleneck is occurring elsewhere.

You were not specific about where your machine is running slowly. Other posters have pointed out that you need to destroy any nasties which will encumber your Internet connexion - mainly spyware - and that's a sine qua non.

If your apps are slow, examine where the bottleneck is - is it i/o, RAM or cpu? Could it be that you are running bloatware?

I assume you are running a version of Windows. The defrag freebie is a placebo and will not even defrag your swap file (the most important part, if you haven't given it its own playground, prefereable on a separate disk altogether.)

The PC is not designed to run more slowly. Your bloatware is. Try doing a find under Windows Exploder on XP and you get a yapping dog to help you. A wonderful use of CPU cycles.

Just ask if you want to know more, giving your system's specifications and specifics about your slow programs.

BOFH

[scrubed]

Huh.........??????????



I DL-ed Mozilla and it is running icely. Should I now uninstall Explorer??

[Mac the Knife]

My other computer is your Windows box....:}

[Synthetic]

Defrag does work, but it may not make your complicator run faster. Depends where the bottleneck is. (Anorak off)

[willby]

Hi Scrubed,
I have both IE and Mozilla/Firefox installed and I would not recommend removing IE. Even though I mainly use Mozilla for surfing, I am repeatedly finding that I have to revert to IE when trying to access certain sites or specific secure areas within sites. I believe this is because some sites are developed to only work fully with IE.
Regards
Willby

[F4Fan]

My understanding of Defrag is that when you save a file to your PC it puts it where it can, this may entail splitting the file into bits to save it. It then creates an EOF (end of file) command telling it where to go to get the next bit..this is why sometimes computers are slow. Defrag uses that EOF to find and move the associated file bit next to each other thus making you machine faster.

Also because it is moving and over writing files it is basically removing them althogther.

I also use Crap Cleaner - www.ccleaner.com

And as stated, machines these days have such a super seek time that defrag may not have any effect, but Its nice to do every so often

F4Fan

[Saab Dastard]

Probably the most useful effect of defrag is to increase the contiguous free space on the disk.

Regarding the swap file, the only (and best) way to defrag that is to use the system configuration to set it to zero, then restart and set it back to whatever it was.

SD

[goates]

Unless you use nlite or something similar, you won't be able to remove IE very easily, if at all. And if you do, quite a few things in WindowsXP may not work properly. Many programs use the IE rendering engine to display things on the screen and without it, they won't work. You should keep IE for checking the Windows Update site regularily anyways.

Defragging will speed up your computer only if the files on your hard drive were fragmented. As has been noted, with modern drives this isn't as big of a deal any more. If you also have plenty of RAM, more than 512MB, the pagefile won't get too fragmented either.

PC companies love selling people new computers to replace the old "slow" one they have at home. In reality, unless you are running a new program that needs more power, your computer should run just as fast as the day you bought it. If it is slower, it probably just needs to be cleaned out as everyone else has suggested.

goates

[scrubed]

Okay. Thanks folks.

I did as Hair Drapes suggested as well as a few others and downloaded Mozilla Firefox. It is ****e, I've decided.

I like the concept of an alternative however it has bugs.

Is Mozilla generally held as a beacon of hope for the anti-MS movement? Should I give it more of a go? Am I over-looking some serious benefits or what???

[goates]

What issues are you having with it? It might just be a case of getting used to something new. There are some sites that are designed around IE and the way it renders web pages. I haven't come across many though.

goates

[sky330]

Also, if you use Firefox, go have a check on 'extension'.

It would permit to configure Firefox, the way YOU like it for YOUR way of browsing.

A real plus IMHO.

[Phoenix09]

I have been using Avant Browser for a couple of years now and am very pleased with it. It is based on the IE code so no problem with viewing some websites. It has tabbed browsing which I wouldn't be without now, a host of other features including pop up blocker and it is fast... and free!

Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com/)

[F4Fan]

I am a great fan of Opera.

Easy and great Tab windows

[Conan the Librarian]

After years - no - well over a decade and nearer two - of defragging anything that didn't move and seeing no great improvement, yesterday I got a 30 day trial package from Iolo and the defrag amongst other utils has made a very big and surprising difference. My machine is running a lot faster and it was certainly no slouch beforehand.

I did try the "Clear all junk off my machine" wizard though and am left with a C:/ prompt which is why I am now typing this on the other machine. Seriously I am pleasantly surprised. Nope... I don't work for them, hold shares etc. etc. and am not making any endorsement, but the old girl flies as quickly as when new.

Conan

[scrubed]

Okay i will try that configuration theory.

I find it does things like highlights some words when I click over them but doesn't UN-highlight them when I highlight other words. Seems like a bug to me.

I will think of the other complaints later.

I switched back to IE.

[SilentlyScreaming]

Back to defragging for a moment, Microsoft's tool does little beyond create large contiguous space, I believe.
Try O&O (http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodefrag/pro.html)'s defragger - different options for different uses of PC, be it sorting by alphabetical or most modified etc. Could be wrong, but I think they have a time restricted demo you can download.
On modern PCs, I would agree that over-regularly defragging will do nothing but use up the hours on your hard drive (don't forget the hours without failiure rates the manufacturrs quote are for any use, be it data retrieval/writing for application use, or tweaking the layout of the hard drive with defraggers.), but if you use your PC for work, internet , alittle gaming etc, after a years, you WILL find slow downs with an unordered hard drive...