|
|||||||
 |
|
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Rate Thread | Display Modes |
01-24-2009, 05:21 PM
|
#1 |
|
Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: From NJ, In South Carolina
Posts: 431
|
Defragging free space?
I know some or most of you have heard of the program Defraggler, by the makers of CCleaner. It has an advanced option to defrag free space. Is that even possible and if so, what advantages or disadvantages might it have?
__________________
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego, Asus A8N-SLI Premium, PCP&C Silencer 600W PSU, Corsair ValueSelect 2x1gb ram DDR 400, WD Black Sata 500GB 7200RPM 32MB, Sapphire Radeon HD 3870, Razor Diamondback Optical Mouse, 17" Samsung Syncmaster 740B |
|
|
|
01-24-2009, 05:31 PM
|
#2 |
|
Member (12 bit)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,557
|
Yes it is possible and that option is offered by most disc defragmenting softwares.
Does it help? I don't know but i do it. 
|
|
|
|
|
01-25-2009, 01:21 AM
|
#3 |
|
Forum Administrator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 37,785
|
What it does is consolidate all the free space it can, putting all the files it can in one contiguous block on the drive.
|
|
|
|
|
01-25-2009, 06:12 AM
|
#4 |
|
Folding at home.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Posts: 2,126
|
Having the free space consolidated helps reduce file fragmentation, as the data doesnt have to be split up to fill the free space.
__________________
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+@3.0GHz - nVIDIA GeForce GTX260@626/1620/2060MHz - 4GB DDR2 800MHz - 320GB WD Caviar Blue + 500GB WD Caviar Blue |
|
|
|
|
01-25-2009, 09:09 AM
|
#5 |
|
Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: From NJ, In South Carolina
Posts: 431
|
I was thinking along those lines but just wanted to make sure. I recommended it to someone else and they raised an eyebrow at it. I just wanted to be sure I knew what I was talking about.
|
|
|
|
|
01-26-2009, 01:09 AM
|
#6 |
|
Member (6 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 45
|
Consolidating free space has it's pros and cons.
Pros -faster file read because files are near each other -faster file writes for new files So, it's good for volumes where the files are relatively static. Cons -any file within the consolidated block will fragment if it is modified because it has no space to grow contiguously -deletion of files from the block will lead to free space fragmentation again .-there's quite a bit of disk labor involved in moving all the files to one end of the disk esepcially for large volumes. So, it's not good for volumes where the files are frequently changing. Some of the more advanced defragmenters have file sequencing algorithms (eg i-faast in Diskeeper 09 pro) that rearrange/consolidate files based on usage frequency. This leads to a block of consolidated frequently used files followed by a chunk of consolidated free space, with the block of least modified files at the very end. |
|
|
|
|
01-26-2009, 11:16 AM
|
#7 |
|
Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: From NJ, In South Carolina
Posts: 431
|
Ionicbond,
Thank you for your detailed explanation. I actually read about some of this today on Piriform's Documentation website for Defraggler and in their forums. I didn't know the doc site existed until today. But thanks and I feel much more informed! |
|
|
|
|
| Bookmarks |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
| Display Modes | Rate This Thread |
|
|
Linear Mode
