- How safe is it?
- JkDefrag is based on the standard defragmentation API by Microsoft,
a system library that is included in Windows 2000, 2003, XP, and Vista.
Most defragmenters are based on this API, including commercial defragmenters.
JkDefrag is therefore very solid and there is no risk of losing data.
You can stop the program at any time, it will finish the
current file in the background. If your disks use NTFS then you're even safe
when the computer crashes in the middle of defragging.
Nevertheless, it's still a good idea to backup before defragmenting,
just like with other defragmenters, because the heavy use of the
harddisk may trigger a hardware fault.
Defragmentation and optimizing will not only make a harddisk faster, but also
lengthen it's lifespan. The disk will have less work to do and therefore have
less wear and tear.
Secondly, the sorting optimization strategies (see the "-a" option) will
refresh all the magnetic data on your harddisk.
However, defragmenting and optimizing is work, so
excessive defragmenting and optimizing can actually cause more wear and tear
than it prevents.
JkDefrag is therefore set for "fast" optimization by default, intended to be
used on a daily basis. The other optimizations should only be used occasionally.
- How do I specify an option, or select a single disk (or folder or file)?
- Take a look at the GUI wrappers, see the "Contributed by other people"
chapter. Personally I find the commandline the easiest way to specify options.
Another way is to create a shortcut to "JkDefrag.exe", open the properties
of the shortcut, and add the desired commandline options (for example "-a 7")
or the name(s) of the disk/folder/file (for example "C:") to the end of the
"target" line. For example:
"C:\JkDefrag\JkDefrag.exe" -a 7 |
"C:\JkDefrag\JkDefrag.exe" D: |
Tip: In the same properties window you can select "minimized".
Tip: See the "-q" option to exit automatically when finished.
- Where is the Stop button?
-
All versions of JkDefrag can be stopped safely at any time, there is no
risk of losing data or corrupting your disk.
You can use all the usual ways to stop a Windows program, such as pressing ALT-F4,
clicking the 'x' in the top-right corner, via the pull-down menu in the
taskbar, or by killing the program via the task manager or another utility.
The commandline program can be stopped the same way, plus by pressing
CTRL-C, or BREAK. It may take a bit of time for the program to actually stop,
JkDefrag will finish the current file in the background.
- How can I run JkDefrag automatically every day?
- It's a great idea to run JkDefrag automatically every day by
adding it to the Windows scheduler, like this:
- Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks -> Add Scheduled Task
- The wizard starts, click 'Next'.
- Use the 'browse' button to select the 'JkDefragCmd.exe' program.
- Select 'daily', next, select a time, next.
- Enter a userid/password with administrator privileges, click 'Finish'.
Tip: see the "Settings" of the scheduled task to run only when the computer
is idle.
- How do I use the screensaver?
- See the instructions in the "Install" chapter.
- How to run JkDefrag at boot-time?
- It's very easy to run JkDefrag automatically in the background when the
computer starts via the Windows Task Scheduler:
- Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks -> Add Scheduled Task
- The wizard starts, click 'Next'.
- Use the 'browse' button to select the 'JkDefragCmd.exe' program.
- Select 'When my computer starts', click next.
- Enter a userid/password with administrator privileges, click 'Finish'.
Note: This will not defrag system files such as the pagefile. To do that
see the "see also" chapter for a link to Pagedefrag, a free utility by
Microsoft Technet (formerly SysInternals).
- How to start minimized, or maximized?
-
Make a shortcut to the "JkDefrag.exe" program, open the properties of
the shortcut, find the "run" setting, and select "minimized" or "maximized".
- Why is my disk not perfectly optimized?
-
- There are many files that cannot be moved while Windows is running,
because they are in use by an application, or by a service, or by Windows
itself. See the "-d" commandline options and the logfile for more information.
They can be anywhere on disk and are usually fragmented into microscopically
small segments.
In other words, the harddisk is not a big block of
space where files can be moved at will, but thousands of
little blocks bounded by unmovable data.
A typical harddisk can easily contain tens of thousands of files,
all with different sizes. What is the optimum way to organize the files
into the blocks? The
number of permutations is astronomical, it boggles the mind.
JkDefrag doesn't even try to calculate them all.
It concerns itself with only one block at a time, trying to fit only
files from above the block, and limits itself to 0.5 seconds of
calculating time.
So it's very unlikely, if not impossible, for JkDefrag to perfectly
optimize your disk, more's the pity.
- Gaps are only filled with files from above the gap (fast optimization).
If there are
no files that fit the gap (all files are bigger) then the gap cannot
be filled.
- Files can only be fully defragged if there is a gap large enough to
hold the entire file. If no such gap is available then JkDefrag will
try to reduce the number of fragments by moving the file to the largest
gaps available.
- JkDefrag maintains a "free space" area between the directories
and the regular files, and between the regular files and the space hogs.
This is by design. See the "-f" commandline option to control the size
of these free spaces.
- Why do the sorting optimizations create fragments?
- The sorting optimizations will move all the data to the beginning of the
harddisk. But there may be some unmovable files in the way. Instead of leaving
gaps (if a file doesn't fit between the last file and the unmovable file),
the program will "wrap around" the unmovable files by splitting regular files
into fragments. This may seem strange for a
defragmenter, but the fragments are aligned and therefore have a very
small impact on performance. Gaps however would make all the files above the
gaps slower, because they would then be placed at a slightly slower part of
the harddisk than they need to be.
The fragments look terrible on the screen and in the statistics, but
are there to make your harddisk faster!
- What are SpaceHogs?
- SpaceHogs are less important files that take up a lot of space.
JkDefrag moves them behind the directories and the regular files, to make
those faster. The internal list of SpaceHogs is (you can add more with the
"-u" commandline option):
- Files bigger than 50 megabytes
- Files not accessed in the last month
- ?:\Program Files\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Archivos de programa\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Arquivos de programas\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Ohjelmatiedostot\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Program\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Programas\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\ProgramFiler\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Programme\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Programmer\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Programmes\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\Programmi\Installshield Installation Information\*
- ?:\RECYCLER\*
- ?:\RECYCLED\*
- ?:\$RECYCLE.BIN\*
- ?:\System Volume Information\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\$*
- ?:\WINDOWS\I386\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\ie7updates\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Installer\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Ehome\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Fonts\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Help\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\IME\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Speech\*
- ?:\WINDOWS\Symbols\*
- ?:\WINNT\$*
- ?:\WINNT\I386\*
- ?:\WINNT\ie7updates\*
- ?:\WINNT\Installer\*
- ?:\WINNT\ServicePackFiles\*
- ?:\WINNT\SoftwareDistribution\*
- ?:\WINNT\Downloaded Installations\*
- *.7z
- *.arj
- *.bz2
- *.cab
- *.gz
- *.lzh
- *.rar
- *.rpm
- *.tar
- *.z
- *.zip
- *.msi
- *.chm
- *.mp3
- *.pdf
- *.bup
- *.ifo
- *.vob
- *.avi
- *.log
- Can I run JkDefrag outside Windows?
- JkDefrag is based on the Windows defragmentation library, so Windows
must be started. JkDefrag can be run from a bootable Windows CD-rom
(such as BartPE, see http://www.bootcd.us/),
but cannot be run from a DOS bootable floppy.
- Can JkDefrag do continuous background defragging?
- In my opinion continuous background defragging and optimization is marketing
hype and a bad idea. There is considerable overhead (CPU, memory, disk) that may
actually make your computer slower instead of faster, and it will wear out and
shorten the lifespan of your harddisk. I advise defragging once a day (via the
Windows Task Scheduler) at the most.
- Can I "hide" the program from users?
- Create a special userid (for example "jkdefrag") with administrator permissions,
then add a schedule to the Windows Task Scheduler (see above) and specify that
userid when asked for. The task will then run on that userid and not show anything
on the user's screen. But I advise against it, I think it will needlessly worry the
user when he sees a lot of mysterious disk activity.
- How do I disable Vista's build-in defragger?
-
- Open the Windows Control Panel
- In the left menu select "Control Panel Home"
- Click "System and Maintenance"
- Under the "Administrative Tools" section at the bottom, click "Defragment
your hard drive"
- You may need to grant permission to open the disk fragmenter
- Click or unclick "Run on a schedule (recommended)" depending if you want
this feature enabled or disabled.
- Click OK
- How do I defragment "C:\hiberfil.sys"?
-
This huge file is used by the hibernation facility and cannot be defragged on
a running system. But there is a trick:
- Windows Vista:
-
- Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories, right click on "Command Prompt",
and then click "Run as Administrator". If User Account Control (UAC) asks you
for permission, permit the Command Prompt to run.
- Enter "powercfg -h off" (without the quotes).
- Reboot. The "hiberfil.sys" file will be automatically deleted.
- Repeat point 1
- Enter "powercfg -h on" (without the quotes).
- Reboot.
- Windows XP:
-
- Open the Windows Control Panel
- Double-click Power Options
- Click the Hibernate tab, de-select the 'Enable hibernate support' check box,
and then click Apply.
- Reboot. The "hiberfil.sys" file will be automatically deleted.
- Go to the Windows Help & Support Center and search for 'enable hibernation'.
It should be the first result. The instructions detail some other steps you
may need to follow to reactivate the hibernation.
- Why use this defragger instead of the standard Windows defragger?
-
- Much faster.
- Totally automatic, extremely easy to use.
- Optimized for daily use.
- Data optimization, several strategies.
- Directories are moved to the beginning of the disk.
- Reclaims MFT reserved space after disk-full.
- Maintains free spaces for temporary files.
- Can defrag very full harddisks.
- Can defrag very large files.
- Can defrag individual directories and files.
- Can be run automatically with the Windows Scheduler.
- Can be used from the commandline.
- Can be used as a screen saver.
- Sources available, can be customized.
- Why use this defragger instead of a commercial or shareware defragger?
-
- It's free.
- Totally automatic, extremely easy to use.
- Optimized for daily use.
- Several optimization strategies.
- Directories are moved to the beginning of the disk.
- Reclaims MFT reserved space after disk-full.
- Maintains free spaces for temporary files.
- Can defrag individual directories and files.
- Can be used from the commandline.
- Can be used as a screen saver.
- Sources available, guaranteed to be free of spyware, malware, nagware, and such.
Tip: Package unused files with a packager such as
7-zip
.
The packagefile not only takes less harddisk space, but will also
defragment/optimize much faster than the individual files.
Tip: The first partition on a harddisk is significantly faster than
other partitions. Try to use other partitions only for "SpaceHog" data (see above
"What are SpaceHogs?").
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