To defrag or not to defrag? (non-SSD)

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  1. Posts : 114
    Windows 10 Pro 21H1 (19043) x64
       #1

    To defrag or not to defrag? (non-SSD)


    My secondary drive in my system is a 2TB standard hard drive. Windows 10 defrag (both UI and the command line) tells me that I do not need to defrag the disk, as it is "0% fragmented" but upon delving a little further (adding the /V switch) I notice that it doesn't include files above 64MB in size in the statistics. So I checked in Piriform's Defraggler app and after analysis on the disk says it is 80% fragmented (and shows a lot of red on the disk pattern graphic)

    I'm only really curious because that disk does chug away a lot and it also does include a backup (of sorts) of Windows 7 on there which I keep as a fail-safe option and whenever I boot into that it is incredibly slow to get going.

    So my questions are, should I actually defrag the drive or just leave it as is seeing as my main OS isn't running from it? Is there any benefit in defragging these days?
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 2,716
    Windows 10
       #2

    Defrag does not make any noticeable difference with modern disc filing systems. It is a background task in Windows 10. I just set it to once a month and that is it.

    Another Defrag application will of course claim some large %, it would use a different methodology, better/worse, who knows. Cynics would say it is just pandering to the auto MS is rubbish brigade.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,099
    Win 10 pro Upgraded from 8.1
       #3

    I have to agree with Helmut, I have my spinners set to defrag weekly and my SSD to Trim weekly this all happens in the background and I never noticed it. I quit using a separate disk management software years ago. I found that I was wasting my money on Diskkeeper when SSD happen for me. SSD have automatic garbage collection built into the firmware so trim usually takes 5 seconds on a 500GB SSD. DATA drive seldom need defragging since compare to an OS driver where data is constantly being read and written, Data drives have very little written to and rarely need defragging.
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  4. Posts : 1,961
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #4

    Dont ever ( !) defrag HDDs with OS-backups on it ( Acronis, Macrium,Aomei , etc )...............Your backups could not function anymore !!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,255
    Windows 10 Pro
       #5

    Over the years NTFS has shown itself to be quite resistant to fragmentation. Not resistant to being fragmented but resistant to the results of fragmentation. Fragmentation can impair performance but this is usually not serious except in extreme cases which are quite unusual.

    Different defrag utilities will show differing numbers for fragmentation for the same drive. There are no established standards as to what constitutes 0% or any other level of fragmentation. As a result these numbers are quite subjective and more than a little arbitrary.

    As it turns out it is doubtful if such a standard is even possible. The simplistic idea is that the blocks of a file should be arranged in a strict sequential order. And that was once true, several decades ago. The problem is that OS files are rarely accessed sequentially (in any modern OS) and data files often aren't either. The optimum order of blocks in a file depends on how they are accessed and that is application dependent. What is optimum in one application won't be in another, or even the same application performing a different operation.

    Large files, such as those larger than 64 MB, often aren't defragmented because of the time required to do so and the rather minimal benefits. This is complicated.

    If you feel that you must use a third party defrag utility be sure to stick to it alone. If you switch between utilities it will waste considerable time undoing the work of the last one used.

    I just set the built in defrag utility to run once once a week and leave it.
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  6. Posts : 16,784
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #6

    Alex,

    The MS engineering team responsible for Windows 7 defrag concluded that there was no benefit in defragging file fragments larger than 64MB. Their new scheme has been carried forward into Windows 10.

    You can read about their decision & the analysis that led to it in Engineering Windows 7 - Disk Defragmentation – Background and Engineering the Windows 7 Improvements

    You can use a third party defragging tool, such as Defraggler, if you want to but you are not going to reap any benefit. You might as well just let Windows 10 defragger do its job.

    Denis
    Last edited by Try3; 14 Sep 2018 at 03:35.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 2,935
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #7

    Agreed. Windows built-in defrag just does its job, without bells & whistles.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,191
    Windows 11 Pro x64
       #8

    pietcorus2 said:
    Dont ever ( !) defrag HDDs with OS-backups on it ( Acronis, Macrium,Aomei , etc )...............Your backups could not function anymore !!
    Where did you get that notion? It is not true.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 1,961
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #9

    My own experience...............
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 2,935
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #10

    Well. You could get into issues if something goes bad (corrupted image). Besides, you gain NOTHING by defragmenting huge backup files, unless they are terribly fragmented and you are running from a very slow hard disk.
      My Computer


 

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