[DoyceJ]

Not sure if this has been posted before but I thought it sounded cool.

If you are having problems with too many programs running when you defrag, try this. On your Win98 CD, there is a folder called <cd>:\tools\mtsutil. In this folder is a file called defrag.inf. Right click on it, and choose Install. Now, the next time you reboot, defrag will run before *anything* else is loaded - even Windows itself. This is great for when you have programs in the background that keep resetting defrag by writing to the disk. Another way to gain a little hard drive performance is to delete your swap file (c:\windows\win386.swp) and then run defrag. You can't hurt anything by deleting this file - it always gets recreated on startup. Sometimes the swap file gets scattered on the drive, and even when you defrag, since it is so spread out (uhh... :-), your drive is still, in essence, fragmented. The ideal scenario would be to run defrag.inf, boot to DOS, delete win386.swp, then boot back into Windows and let defrag do it's thing... I have seen very real performance gains in games from defragging regularly, so it is well worth the attention...

[Dark Star]

Doyce,

"The ideal scenario would be to run defrag.inf, boot to DOS, delete win386.swp, then boot back into Windows and let defrag do it's thing..."

Indeed, thanx for the reminder it seems like sometimes I get so dang much going on here I just forget to do any system maintenance an the weeks tend to roll by and then when I see a post like your's the little light bulb goes on and .........

......Time to Defrag! nice tip thanks again.

DS

[LadyLisa]

Doyce

thanks for the tip, I have a question though.... after you install defrag.inf, you say the next time you boot up it will automatically run defrag...... will this happen everytime?

[TonyKlein]

No, you have to repeat it every time.

Some people are very happy about <A HREF="http://www.powerdefrag.com/">PowerDefrag</A>
It enhances the Windows 9X Disk Defragmenter by
rebooting your computer and running the defragmenter at a point during reboot when nothing but Windows itself has kicked in -- instantly solving most problems with interference; and defragmentation goes very quickly in this mode as well.

And what you should do anyway is install http://www.wilders.org/HTMLobj-732/newdefrag.zip
This is originally the WinME defrag, and it goes much, much faster.

First rename your own C:\Windows\defrag.exe to defrag.old.

Good luck,

[LadyLisa]

Tony

thanks, I'll try that.

[DoyceJ]

Actually Tony, I was just about to pm you and ask if the new defrag was going to work with this. Thanks.

[TonyKlein]

I can truthfully say I've heard only good things said about it.

I use Norton Utilities' Speed Disk myself, and I defrag on a weekly basis, so it goes really fast.

But if you normally use the standard Win95 or 98 defrag this is a huge improvement.

Greetz,

[DoyceJ]

What about the microsoft recommendation that once a month is all you should do as it is hard on the system?

[TonyKlein]

But where does it say its 'hard on the system'.
I can't believe that, really.

It isn't as if we were sandpapering the drive...

[SavvyLady]

I thought you was supposed to do a complete maintenance workover every 500 hrs online.
So if thats the case it would vary per user.

Savvy

[TonyKlein]

It does depend on the amount of software you install and remove, and amount of work you do, creating files, etcetera.

And all defrag does is rearrange the data on your hard disk. It doesn't wear it down.

Once every 3 or 4 weeks is probably enough in most cases.

I'm just a stickler for order and cleanliness...

Grtz

[DoyceJ]

I will see if I can find the article.

G'nite all.

[hewee]

TonyKlein,

I use Norton Utilities Speed Disk also and it from Systemworks 2.0. Man on my new PC with the 40 GB drive it's hard to see all the blocks. Have they changed it on the newer version so you can see it better.

If you make a drive for your swap file you will not frag up your C: drive as much.

http://members.aol.com/mbs1058/swapdrive.html

http://www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk/swapfile.htm#T1

http://onlinehelp.bc.ca/tips.htm

http://www.rojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz.htm

[littlemar]

At work, all our pc's are NT 4.0 and we use Diskeeper from Executive and it can be scheduled. Works for Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000. Haven't checked if the newer version can be used on XP since we don't have any here. It's easy to use and it is amazing how the performance of any pc is improved after any defrag.

[Dark Star]

Mary,

That littlemar person is a pretty cool lady........

http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/diskeeper.asp

DS