Disk Defragmenter in Vista

25 Comments

• I wish there was a more detailed UI too, especially since I the Vista systems I use have anywhere from 80 GB to 1.7 TB of disk space. It would be nice to have some idea when it is done since it does ALL the disks at the same time...
  

• Perfect Disk is an excellent alternative.
  

• i don't ever check the status of the disk defragmenter, i just have it scheduled as part of my "computer maintenance". set and forget baby.
  

• G'Day Jeff, I have experienced this too as one of the things IMO in Vista that has been given a redesign (perhaps for usability?)
  
  With the decreased complexity I we've clearly lost the feedback and configurability. Other commenters recommend 3rd-party defrags; I've used one from time to time and I've never found fragmentation over 3% or 4%. I think Vista works harder in the background to defragment when disks are idle.
  
  Cheers, Thomas
  

• I have also had problems on one computer with it never rescheduling after I missed a defrag, but this may have been fixed by now though updates...
  

• Diskeeper 2007 (the 'Pro' flavor) is a good defragger for Vista. It has more options than the Vista defragger, with a good GUI and progress indicator. But the real clincher is its excellent automatic mode. Merely set it and leave it to its devices. It will intelligently determine when the drive needs defragmentation and do the job, without bothering the user. (and, as far as I can tell, it doesnt interfere with running apps at all). In a very superficial sort of way, the automode is similar to Vistas, but works better. Much better.
  

• It's too simple.. I don't like window vista because of it
  

• I left it there for 2 hours and no change. I need to see some result. Is it possible to copy the XP defrag utility and use it on Vista?
  

• Kevin,
  
  I think (as other commenters agree) that a third party tool is really the best option.
  

• do anything work with this peace of rubbish
  

• my new vista system crashed and I removed some non compatable software and started defrag and its been running for 20 hrs with no idea if its going to stop ? should I just stop it ?
  

• I made the mistake of buying a laptop with Vista HP installed and, after installing Acronis (with no warnings), ran it an was greeted with BSOD's (three). Then tried to uninstall, but VISTA runs the failed program's uninstaller (more BSOD's and file system scrambled!). Managed to clean up the drive, now waiting an "undetermined" length of time for the MS defragger to finish so I can repartition the HD and install Kubuntu Linux - I have had it with this Vista rubbish (only need to keep some remnants on the drive in order to restore if necessary do obtain warranty from HP).
  

• Vista isn't at all rubbish it's simply earley stages of it's life cycle, the truth is that for the average user who wants to buy\download and deploy software without having the knowledge time or patience to contend with fixes should stay away from it until it's more supported. those of us who are either enthusiastic or like myself work in the industry will almost always find a solution of some sourt, or work around. to call it rubbish is nieve and aragant.
  

• Am waiting for Vista defragger to finish. Agree that it sucks that you can not see the status or level of defragmentation. But it seems to be the whole concept with vista - do as you are told and do not try to get control over your computer.
  

• Vista is just misunderstood...
  
  I say that thinking of the cat in shrek when it is about to rain.
  
  Anyway, this whole defrag thing is frustrating beyond sense.
  
  Have Diskeeper pro 2008. When i right click any of the drives and select any item it hangs its ass and then the cat askes me if i wish to search for resolutions online.
  
  Using the other buttons for the same functions retuns the same questions.
  
  The diskeeper support is not much help either.
  
  Anyway saw some ideas above which i will explore.
  
  Vista is not THAT bad.
  

• had the same problem with the defragger running forever. it just uses up 50% of cpu while not accessing the disk at all. What the f*ck is it doing?
  

• The same problem!!!!
  Defrag was running for 8 HOURS!!!! and I got to cancel-just got fed up!! never allowed me to set up schedule either!!
  HELLO??!!!
  Are you trying to improve comps or is that step backwards?
  It Is!! Very dissapoining with Vista.
  Pile of poo.
  

• I've used Vista since a few weeks after it came out and for the most part I like it with two major exceptions For me personally Defrag & Search are now broken and unusable features. I have a 75GB main drive & 750GB for Misc. storage. Not letting me choose only the main drive makes Defrag unusable
  
  And the fact that search by default searches ONLY the indexed part of the computer is to me useless. Every search has to be done in advanced mode.
  

• Have the smae problem with defrag but third partly aoftware only ever says 3-4% fragmented so vist seems to mnage its self for fragmentation. I've given up, grabbed a beer and hit any user to continue...
  
  BTW - glacia, you can add location to the inxed locations, add the folders you want on your other drive and this will solve your problem
  

• I checked out JKdefrag under GNU. WOrks well and is free! Don't pay an anual 50$ fee for 3rd party defragmenters, it just encourages them.
  

• Ive seen so much confusion about what people are trying to convey, and people giving standard replies that really didnt address the issue...for me the problem is I don't know if its doing *anything* at all.. I load the program, tell it to start, and 14 hours later, it hasn't said it has finished, or told me how far along, or why its taking several times more time than XP did on a drive the same size. The thing is, ive installed versions of windows so many times, ive gotten many installs (in XP specificly) where defrag refused to ever run. How do I know Vista isn't having the same problem, because it seems to be, and my constantly declining performance backs that up. I can use a third party defragmenter, but i shouldnt have to.
  

• The UI is not that great of an option to use anyway in vista as it will not defrag any file over 64mb.
  
  Use the Commandline.
  
  Run -> CMD
  defrag c: -wv
  

• Totally sucks, as it is ALL background and NO visual. I assume its effective, but I miss the visual representation of the 'progress'.
  

• With all the money Microsoft has by ripping users off for year you would think that thay could come up up something better then what they offer under Vista. Their Disk Defragmenter shows how little effort Microsoft spent on this program
  

• Thanks for the tip about JkDefrag. This is a great piece of free software.
  
  Just a heads-up for anyone running it the first time. If you run the Windows program (as opposed to the command-line) the screen looks like something has gone wrong with the video.
  But if you check the sample display in the documentation, you see it is working properly. It is more detailed than even the standard XP defragger, but does not need you to click anything - perfect!