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Want
to automate Disk Defragmenter like you can ScanDisk? Easily
done. Right-click the Start button and choose Open or
Explore. Locate the Defrag Shortcut, which is in your Start
Menu / Programs / Accessories / System Tools folder.
(To
make a shortcut for your desktop, right-click the Defrag
icon, drag it to the desktop, and choose either "Copy Here"
or "Create Shortcut(s) Here.") Press Alt+Enter to open the
Properties screen, click the Shortcut tab, then click at the
end of the command line in the Target box. Then add the
appropriate command switches (separated by spaces) to make
Defrag perform as you like. Switches are as follows: For
scanning a particular drive, type its letter followed by a
colon (A:, C:,. etc.). For scanning all (non-networked)
drives, don't type any drive letters, just type /ALL. To
have Defrag only defragment files without consolidating free
space on your hard drive, type /U. To consolidate free space
without file defragmentation, type /Q. To do both, type /F.
(You can't use more than one of these three switches at a
time.) For Defrag to start and stop without your input, type
/NOPROMPT. To have Defrag display the disk map that
symbolizes the defragging process, type /DETAILED. Otherwise
you'll get the small Defrag window. (Like the small window?
Use the /CONCISE switch.) Your command line might look
something like this: C:\WINDOWS\DEFRAG.EXE /ALL /F /NOPROMPT
, to make Defrag defrag and consolidate free space on all
local hard drives, and automatically exit when finished.
In
Windows 98 and Windows Me, the Task Monitor tracks which
programs are launched and how they load from disk, and it
records the info in the Applog folder. The Defrag utility
then uses this info to provide special optimization for the
program files you use most often. Rather than rearranging
the clusters of these files in sequential order, Defrag
rearranges them in the order they're loaded when the program
launches. This specialized processing reduces the time
required to launch certain programs, but you may prefer to
trade that speed for disk space. You're perfectly free to
delete the entire contents of this folder, but Task Monitor
will start refilling the folder right away. To prevent this,
you need to tweak a Registry setting. Launch Regedit from
the Start menu's Run dialog and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \
CurrentVersion \ Applets \ Defrag \ AppStartParams . In the
right-hand pane, find or create a DWORD value named
UseProfile, and set its value to 0. For more information,
see the Microsoft TechNet article at www.microsoft.com/technet/Win98/Reskit/Part2/wrkc10.asp.
If
you've reused a floppy disk numerous times, it probably
wouldn't hurt to run it through Defrag.
Defrag
isn't the be-all end-all of repair and "anti-crash"
utilities. Several commercial programs are available to
prevent crashes, or to rescue your system from a crash. Like
anything else, they vary in usefulness. Norton Utilities'
CrashGuard didn't fare well in one test run (the testers
claimed it caused as many crashes as it saved) but did well
in another; neither did Nuts&Bolts' BombShelter, though both
outperformed RealHelp in another 'zine's test run.
Quarterdeck's RealHelp Extra Strength utility managed to
keep the test GPF at bay long enough for the testers to
rescue their data, but still did not allow a normal
shutdown. First Aid 98, which is one 'zine's Best Buy, also
helped to an extent, but did not entirely circumvent a crash
(First Aid's proprietary Windows Guardian did score very
highly on another magazine's crash test). The old Crash
Defender 1.0 was not very effective, but Version 2.0, still
in beta as I write this, seems to be better. VT Rescue 95
did little but take up disk space. The new Safe & Sound
utility pack, although chock full of goodies like McAfee
antivirus software and the PC Retake backup program, is
buggy and could do more damage than the problems it purports
to repair. Upshot: None of the "anti-crash" programs
currently available do the job as advertised. The best bet
might be to go with Win 98/ME and let its included crash
avoidance software do its job. Note that the information in
this paragraph is a bit outdated, and some of the above
utilities may no longer be available.
Give
yourself a little light entertainment by having Disk Defrag
"Show Details" while it's doing its thing. It will show you
a graphical representation of how it's rearranging and
repositioning data bits. Cool.
Microsoft
has released a new KB article for Defrag XP users:
Description of the New Command Line Defrag.exe Included with
Windows XP at support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q283080.
This article outlines and explains all of the command line
parameters for the DEFRAG.EXE utility included with
Microsoft Windows XP. Keep in mind that you need to have at
least fifteen percent free space on your hard drive for
Defrag to run properly, otherwise it will only partially
defragment your hard drive.
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