defragging??

[chewie420]

here's another question i've been wondering about: it's been quite awhile since i defraged or ran scandisk. i currently have a shitload of audio shows and dvd shows that i haven't gotten to process and remove yet (prob around 100 audio shn & flac & 10 dvd). is it ok to defrag, etc while they are on there, or should i try to get them all off before i do it? i was always paranoid i would lose files or mess them up somehow. i've been trying to clear it off, but something new always comes along....

[U2Lynne]

Damn, nice size harddrive you must have. I'm jealous!

I've got an 80 GB, and when I decide to defrag, I take most of my shows off the drive so I have lots of 'empty' room to help the defrag along. I like to have about 40% free when I defrag (just a number I like, I have no idea if there is some official number).

[chewie420]

when i bought my new comp about 2 years ago, i maxed it out for trading, 1 GB ram, and 400GB hard drive. after downloading the new big cypress torrent, along with everything else, i have almost 40 gigs free. do you think that's enough to defrag? and it won't hurt any files (music / dvds mostly)?

[U2Lynne]

Well, first off, I'm a mac user. I let my unix 'cron' jobs do their thing, so I rarely defrag anyway.

But, from what I recall when I was working at a place with sysadmins, they liked us to always leave 15% of our drive free. You may want to do a test.... Back up your stuff and don't delete it. Then do a defrag. Then run your md5/fingerprints on the shows you have. If you don't have errors, then I would say everything is fine and you can degrag without worries.

[thisistoto]

you should defrag now, it will help with the speed/quality of the burn when you finally get those off your drive.

And most importantly, defrag once you get those files off the drive.

[TheMamba]

As long as it will let you defrag, you'll be OK. I think XP requires at least 15% free space before it will allow you to defrag.

[chewie420]

cool, thanks!

[scoutthedoggie]

you should defrag now, it will help with the speed/quality of the burn when you finally get those off your drive.

And most importantly, defrag once you get those files off the drive.

Yep totally right and remember to close all running programs, empty the temp internet folders and trash then defrag.
I defrag every week and it keeps my PCs running fast.
I also use "Tracks Eraser" daily to keep the PCs clutter free and I run this right before I defrag, all this has never affected any DVDs I author or that are stored on my hard drives.
Leave the PC alone while is defrags, I even disconnect it from the internet while it does this, dunno if it affects it though.

[jadg2]

The defragger in windows is not working on my pc, and I don't have the windows disc to repair. Is there a tool I can get to derag?
Will probably get new windows disc and do clean install, but need something to tide me over.