Slow defrag on 200GB disk

[Nax]

I have tried to defrag my 200GB WD disk that has only one partition and it takes forever - 8 hours, 25 % done.

Using Norton SpeedDisk.

Is this at all normal?

And yes, I will partition the drive....

 

[Rick]

Well, if that 200GB is anywhere near being full.. I can undestand a long wait.

Otherwise, you should probably make sure that open programs are closed and that you are not using your computer while defragmenting. Things like virus scanners, P2P applications, backup programs etc.. Can cause some SERIOUS lag when defragmenting.

 

[young&wild]

Have you tried defragging in "safe-mode"?
This might be a good way to stop unnecessary background programs to run.

 

[Nodsu]

What program are you using? It may as well be a flaw in the defragger itself. Try an alternative product and see if it goes better.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Throw Norton Speedisk away and buy yourself a decent defragger (for NT, W2K, XP and W2K3)
There is only one contender really, which is Diskeeper from http://www.execsw.co.uk/

 

[Nax]

Thanks you guys, I'll give you're advice a go and then we'll see

 

[Nax]

Diskeeper - got it and have tried it.

Still defragmentation is painfully slow - result after approx. 5 hours:
Record exams: 354
Defrag file exams: 11
Fragm eliminated: 752
Contiguous file exams: 0
Files that could not get prosessed: 1

6% Complete, CPU load: 94-97% constantly

Running in Server Enterprise mode, manually with settings to low priority with normal defrag. Using TVE (Terrabyte Volume Engine) specially for large disks - mine i 200GB.

25% free space, heavily fragmented disk.

Maybe I should just move parts of the content to my 40GB disk and the run it when having then approx. 50% free disk space?

Do you have any other suggestions? Anyone with Diskeeper experiance got any hints?

Thanks and have a great Easter!

 

[RealBlackStuff]

In Diskeeper, go to Change Your Settings:
Set defrag Priority: Manual to Highest
Set defrag Method: Manual to Quick Defrag (afterwards to Max Disk Perf)
Set Performance data options: do NOT Allow (for first, quick defrag), afterwards, click it.

Switch off your AntiVirus software, isolate that Disk (or the whole PC) from network-access.
If you can, temporarily export some data to another disk to free up space.

Diskeeper is rather slow when it runs for the very first time, because it needs to (very thoroughly) analyze your HD. Afterwards its speed improves tremendously, and once it is trained and running in the background, there is no noticeable load on your PC.

Run the first defrag manually at top priority, as I suggested above. It may take all night perhaps. My disks are 80GB each and Diskeeper (I have V8 for Workstation) always runs in the background. Don't even notice them.

Next time you buy (and fill) such a big disk, start defragging from Day One!

 

[Rick]

6% Complete, CPU load: 94-97% constantly

Interesting. This is an IDE drive probably, so have you checked to see if PIO or DMA is enabled?

Here are instructions to do this:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

Only your focus will probably be on the Primary Channel rather than the SEcondary channel. In a modern system, EVERYTHING should be DMA.

 

[Nodsu]

This problem looks like if you are defragging an active filsystem. When you are defragging something, make sure you use that partition as little as possible.

What is the cluster size on that partition? For something this big I'd suggest 32K or 64K clusters.

If you actually have the space then you can move everything away from the partition and then move everything back - Fragmentation problem solved. And now start running defragger more ofen.

 

[Nax]

Ahhhh - didn't check my BIOS settings - asumed they were fine.

I did the fatal mistake, yes I am asamed , to first ignore this. And after X hours went there and of course... wrong config in the BIOS.

Check them before anything else, and if you have - just check again .

Case closed, defrag is with Diskeeper works like a charm and speeds are where they should be and some.

Basics, basics, basics - can't repeat it to often .