[SOLVED] Defragging 260GB+ 44% Fragmentation

Aug 17, 2019
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Hey guys, so, I thought Windows was automatically defragging my HDD, but, I downloaded a Defraggler and it says it's 44% fragmented. So uh, I defragged 10 hours straight while I went to school, and came home to it only being 3% complete. What am I supposed to do? I do not know much about defragging, and could really use some help. Thank you. :)

I should also note, it's really effecting my PC's performance. My Disk in task manager hits 100% very, VERY easily, and slows everything to an extremely annoying level.
 
Solution
I agree on getting the Evo over the Qvo drive. 2 more yrs of warranty is worth way more then $10!
The Mx500 is also an excellent performer. I was rather surprised at how responsive it was the first time I used it.

The current value leader for quality 2TB ssd's, imo, is the Sandisk Ultra 3d, which is identical to the WD Blue 3d (WD owns SanDisk), for $200 and comes with a 5yr warranty.
https://www.newegg.com/sandisk-ultra-3d-2-tb/p/N82E16820173355?Item=N82E16820173355
A 260GB hard drive? In this day and age? You sure that's not a solid state drive? Because if it is, you shouldn't be "defragmenting" it anyhow. You should be running Trim on it. What Windows version are you running?

What is the model of the drive? How old is the drive?
 
Aug 17, 2019
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A 260GB hard drive? In this day and age? You sure that's not a solid state drive? Because if it is, you shouldn't be "defragmenting" it anyhow. You should be running Trim on it. What Windows version are you running?

What is the model of the drive? How old is the drive?
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I have a 1TB HDD but it has 260GB+ of files to defrag as it says in Defraggler. I'm running Windows 10, the drive is approximately 4 years old.
 
Ok, so, stop the defragmentation process.

Then, restart the system.

After the restart, do the following:

  1. Boot into Windows 10
  2. Double-click on Computer (My Computer) to open it
  3. Select the drive you want to run a check on, e.g. C:\
  4. Right-click on the drive
  5. Click Properties
  6. Go to the Tools tab
  7. Select Check, at the Error checking section
  8. If you receive the following message, click Scan drive to begin the scan: You don't need to scan this drive

    We haven't found any errors on this drive. You can still scan the drive for errors if you want.

    Scan Drive

  9. You can keep using the drive during the scan. If errors are found,
    you can decide if you want to fix them. Depending on the results of this
    scan, the utility will report the results:

    • If no errors were found, you’ll see this message:
      Your drive was successfully scanned
      Windows successfully scanned the drive. No errors were found.

    • If errors were found, you’ll see this message instead:
      Restart your computer to repair file system. You can restart right away or schedule the error fixing on next restart.

After running the error check, do the following:


Download Seatools for Windows, install it and run the Short drive self test (DST). Report back with the results. If it passed, then do the following.


Find the command prompt shortcut in your start menu options. Right click it and select "Run as administrator" OR click into the run box on the start menu and type “cmd” into the box and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Once the command prompt is open, click into the command prompt to the right of the last visible letter and type or paste the following DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and then hit Enter. Let it run. When complete, close the command prompt and restart the computer.
 
If disk performance is hurting you, it is time to buy a ssd.
A 500gb Samsung evo is $75. $130 for 1tb.
Use the Samsung ssd migration app to move windows to the new SSD.
You should verify that your HDD is sound before attempting the move.
The app will not move a defective installation.

Then repurpose your HDD for bulk storage or for backups.

You will be amazed at the difference a ssd makes in your everyday work.
 
That's good advice, but it doesn't address the fact of a HDD that cannot complete or even move past 3% completion when defragmenter is run.

I think moving to an SSD is advisable as well, in every case, but it doesn't answer what is going on with THIS hard drive.
 
Aug 17, 2019
9
0
10
Ok, so, stop the defragmentation process.

Then, restart the system.

After the restart, do the following:

  1. Boot into Windows 10
  2. Double-click on Computer (My Computer) to open it
  3. Select the drive you want to run a check on, e.g. C:\
  4. Right-click on the drive
  5. Click Properties
  6. Go to the Tools tab
  7. Select Check, at the Error checking section
  8. If you receive the following message, click Scan drive to begin the scan: You don't need to scan this drive

    We haven't found any errors on this drive. You can still scan the drive for errors if you want.

    Scan Drive

  9. You can keep using the drive during the scan. If errors are found,
    you can decide if you want to fix them. Depending on the results of this
    scan, the utility will report the results:

    • If no errors were found, you’ll see this message:
      Your drive was successfully scanned
      Windows successfully scanned the drive. No errors were found.

    • If errors were found, you’ll see this message instead:
      Restart your computer to repair file system. You can restart right away or schedule the error fixing on next restart.
After running the error check, do the following:


Download Seatools for Windows, install it and run the Short drive self test (DST). Report back with the results. If it passed, then do the following.


Find the command prompt shortcut in your start menu options. Right click it and select "Run as administrator" OR click into the run box on the start menu and type “cmd” into the box and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Once the command prompt is open, click into the command prompt to the right of the last visible letter and type or paste the following DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and then hit Enter. Let it run. When complete, close the command prompt and restart the computer.
Just did all of this successfully. Do I try defragging now?
 
Aug 17, 2019
9
0
10
If disk performance is hurting you, it is time to buy a ssd.
A 500gb Samsung evo is $75. $130 for 1tb.
Use the Samsung ssd migration app to move windows to the new SSD.
You should verify that your HDD is sound before attempting the move.
The app will not move a defective installation.

Then repurpose your HDD for bulk storage or for backups.

You will be amazed at the difference a ssd makes in your everyday work.
I don't know much about SSDs. Is there anything important I should know before buying one? Like, is everything compatible with each other? Does it matter which SSD I buy?
 
Let's address both questions.

Yes, you should be able to try defragmenting now if you did not see any errors when you ran checkdisk that were not corrected AND if you ran the short drive self test in Seatools and no problems were found. Were there ANY errors noted? Any problems with short DST?

Might be a good idea to also run the Long generic test in Seatools first. That will take some time to complete, but should at least show progress as time goes on. If it freezes or stops for a LONG time, more than an hour for example, with no progress, then there is likely a problem. Test could take several hours to complete depending on the drive.


As far as the SSD is concerned, what are your hardware specifications? CPU, motherboard, memory, etc.?
 
I don't know much about SSDs. Is there anything important I should know before buying one? Like, is everything compatible with each other? Does it matter which SSD I buy?
A ssd is a solid state device.
It is a sata device and looks just like your hard drive, but in a 2.5" format.
It attaches the same way with a sata power and data cable.
There are m.2 ssd devices which attach via a slot in newer motherboards.
You probably can not use one of those.
A ssd will be perhaps 3x faster in sequential operations and 40x faster in random I/O.
Random I/O is what windows does most of the time.

Some ssd devices are better than others.
The Samsung EVO units are considered one of the best from a performance and reliability point of view.
There are some other good ones.
An ultra cheap price should be looked at with suspicion.
 
Aug 17, 2019
9
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Let's address both questions.

Yes, you should be able to try defragmenting now if you did not see any errors when you ran checkdisk that were not corrected AND if you ran the short drive self test in Seatools and no problems were found. Were there ANY errors noted? Any problems with short DST?

Might be a good idea to also run the Long generic test in Seatools first. That will take some time to complete, but should at least show progress as time goes on. If it freezes or stops for a LONG time, more than an hour for example, with no progress, then there is likely a problem. Test could take several hours to complete depending on the drive.


As far as the SSD is concerned, what are your hardware specifications? CPU, motherboard, memory, etc.?

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 6700 @ 3.40GHz 35 °C
Skylake 14nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1065MHz (15-15-15-36)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. H110M-S2H-CF (U3E1) 39 °C
Graphics
VG248 (1920x1080@144Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (MSI) 47 °C
Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0 (SATA ) 29 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSC0

^from Speccy
 
This would be an excellent choice. After installing Windows on the SSD and transferring any important files off the current HDD, we can then see about wiping out all the data on the HDD and then setting it up as secondary storage for personal, media or game files so those are not taking up space on the new SSD.

If you decide to get the SSD, let me know when it arrives and I will be glad to help guide you through the process.


PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: Crucial MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $64.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-15 04:51 EDT-0400
 
Aug 17, 2019
9
0
10
This would be an excellent choice. After installing Windows on the SSD and transferring any important files off the current HDD, we can then see about wiping out all the data on the HDD and then setting it up as secondary storage for personal, media or game files so those are not taking up space on the new SSD.

If you decide to get the SSD, let me know when it arrives and I will be glad to help guide you through the process.


PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: Crucial MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $64.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-15 04:51 EDT-0400
Would it be a better idea to get an SSD with around 1.5 TB so I can have everything on it? But keep the HDD for any random bulk storage that doesn't really need high speeds? Or would that even make much of a difference? Or is that extemely expensive?

Also, I left my Defraggler on all night, and it went from 44% to 20%! I'll leave it on all night again tonight and it will probably be completely finished. :)
 
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That drive sucks. It uses QLC NAND which does not have as good of longevity as TLC NAND. Which means, it's endurance rating is poor compared to many other SSDs because it uses cheap but inferior flash memory.

If you want the least expensive 1TB SSD that I'd recommend, it would be this one.

PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($107.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $107.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-15 16:32 EDT-0400
 

popatim

Titan
Moderator
I agree on getting the Evo over the Qvo drive. 2 more yrs of warranty is worth way more then $10!
The Mx500 is also an excellent performer. I was rather surprised at how responsive it was the first time I used it.

The current value leader for quality 2TB ssd's, imo, is the Sandisk Ultra 3d, which is identical to the WD Blue 3d (WD owns SanDisk), for $200 and comes with a 5yr warranty.
https://www.newegg.com/sandisk-ultra-3d-2-tb/p/N82E16820173355?Item=N82E16820173355
 
Solution