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Thread: Windows XP Partial Defrag

  1. #1
    Super Moderator Super Moderator Big Booger's Avatar
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    Windows XP Partial Defrag

    Not sure if this is a tip or OS related post.. so I'll just stick it in here for now..


    5) Quick Partial Defrag In XP

    Hi Fred, I am a relatively new subscriber to the Langalist
    newsletter and must say I enjoy it thoroughly.

    I was searching for a way to speed the execution of some of my
    programs and also the overall speed of my interface (WindowXP
    professional), the problem with the defragmenter is it takes
    ages to do its job especially when I leave it for a few weeks.

    Uninstalling and installing programs seems to take its toll on
    the old hard drive and consequently major fragmentation
    occurs, I was unaware of the command line version of
    defragmenter until I read an article on a website I just
    happen to drop on.

    Apparently to improve the speed of your starting applications,
    WindowsXP continually monitors files that are used when the
    computer starts and when you start applications. It then
    creates an index that lists segments of frequently used
    programs and the order they are loaded in. This pre-fetching
    process improves performance by allowing the operating system
    to quickly grab program files. [More on PreFetch:
    http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-09-22.htm#7 ]

    WindowsXP runs this about every 3 days but if you need to
    optimize manually all you need to do is run a Command window
    and type defrag c: -b

    This will do a very fast defrag of your starting applications
    and put them on the outer part of your hard drive making it
    feel as though you have just completed a full re-installation
    of WindowsXP!--- Dave Leversidge

    Thanks, Dave! The "-b" switch was news to me--- I'd never heard of it.
    I
    let my system do a full automated defrag every night (via Task
    Scheduler), and that places my most-used software towards the front of
    the disk anyway, so I'd never sought out a separate option for doing
    that.

    But for cases where you can't run a full defrag--- it can indeed be
    slow, especially if it hasn't been done in a while--- just being able
    to
    move the most-critical apps around is very handy. Nice!

    From the langalist newsletter:

    http://www.langa.com


  2. #2
    Friendly Neighborhood Super Moderator phishhead's Avatar
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    saw that too was gonna post it but you beat me to it...never heard of that /b switch.



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