How to show advanced display view for Windows Vista Disk Defragmentation

With Vista's new disk defragmenter, we apparently cannot see the 'detailed
view' of the disks status as far as disk fragmentation goes.

Is there a way for us to show this view that once existed in Windows XP?

No. Not without purchasing a 3rd party product.

The issue has come up in these groups *countless* times, and Microsoft have
their own very good reasons for doing this, which you may or may not end up
agreeing with. In either case, rather than repeating the same old stuff
again and dragging the thread out for ages while everyone chips in with
their favourate bit of defrag folklore or suggestions for 3rd party
software, or complaints that Bill Gates himself should have consulted them
personally before Microsoft did this, I'm going to go ahead and suggest you
use google to search the archives of the Microsoft.Public.Windows.Vista
newsgroups for defrag.

You might want to take a look at the following FAQ from the Microsoft
product team that designed the defragmenter in Vista. It explains in depth
why certain decisions on how the defragmenter works in Vista were made.

The Filing Cabinet : Disk Defragmenter FAQ:
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/pag...enter-faq.aspx

Thanks for posting that article. Now the trick is to get everyone to read it.

I too think Vista Defrag sucks too, it's just stupid to have a process
without at least a status bar showing percent of process complete. Every
install package, tool, utility, etc. all show a status bar of process
complete.
You MVP's may be geeks but your own arrogance about what you think users
need is regrettable. Obviously the overwhelming opinion of knolwageable
users indicate they want a more descritive "defrag" process.
I managed system engineers most of my career at Boeing (BCS) and understood
the customers (users) requirements. You just ignor them. Wonder if Balmer
knows about this issue and your inability to satisfy your customers ?????

A defrag status bar would be meaningless since it's an ongoing process. Ever
interrupt the defrag process in Win98 by moving the mouse or touching the
space bar? The status bar would jump back and start over at an earlier point
and begin to progress again, never ending if the user attempted to actually
do some work with their machine. This is essentially what you would get, an
endless pattern of stopping and restarting at different points.

By design in Vista, it works in the background during lulls in system
activity. It's not meant to be watched any more than the old TV test pattern
was in the 1950's when a station went off the air. I fail to see why any
user would want to sit there and watch blocks being moved around a screen
rather than actually using their system. Historically, Windows has only
supplied users with basic versions of system utilities. They are basic tools
to do a basic job. For added functionality and silly graphics, there are
plenty of third party software designers who will be happy to provide you
with such for a price.

By the by, MVP's are not representatives of Microsoft, just other users like
yourself. To my knowledge, none of us has ever participated in any of
Microsoft's usability studies. They actually prefer non-geeks for that, and
what you get in an OS for a UI is based on the results of those studies. So,
if you don't like what you're seeing, blame the consumer studies

Welp... one thing for sure: it's not running slow because of disk
fragmentation.

[ionnes]

I'd just like something so I can see how fragmented my disk is. I don't need to watch a progress bar or anything like that, just a tool to see what the drive's like. I'm using a laptop so it's rarely on when disk defrag is scheduled to run. I'd like to be able to check and see how bad the disk is before I decide why the laptop's running slow.

A defragmented disk is almost NEVER the main reason for a slow-running
machine..

well i never paid it any attention as to the ststus bar i just do it and
let it do its thing .


--
13th_Panther
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com

[Freazy]

I came across this thread by accident and I figured I would drop a suggestion even though I'm fairly certain no one will be reading.

I remember when I first defrag my disk on a new vista system, wow was I annoyed.

[chipingdale1]

I must agree I like knowing the status of defragmenting also, and as far as the earlier versions I never had a problem with it starting over unless I intended for it to. I like the idea of knowing when something is close to finishing. I am so glad for the earlier post suggesting a free download. I have just finished the download, and love the response and speed it is providing.

[Professor Larry]

I have been in this field for close to 30 years. After reading the previous posts I am amazed at the ignorance of those supporting the new thoughtless way of running defrag. I, too, like to see the display of HOW MUCH fragmentation exists on the hard drive, especially when giving instruction on defragmentation. Perhaps we should all just return to XP?

[chipingdale1]

Thank you Professor Larry! I ended up downloading a free program called Auslogics Disk Defrag, and now I am able to defragment and watch the progress. Anyone else wanting to watch the progression of defragmentation should download the free software since no one from Microsoft felt a need to provide it for us. This free software download is a sure plus for me despite those of you who want us to believe that if we don't agree with your logic then we must be stupid. Stupid or not I think there have been enough responses that agree with me. Thanks again Professor Larry!!!

[gannon.chris]

i am so glad i read this im no tekkie but i have to see how fragmented my computer is before i waste my time defragmenting. i cant leave my computer on at all hours for it to run on a schedule as i am just a random user whenever i feel like getting online. im the kind of person that should have been in some of those microsoft studies but they end up picking housewives who care nothing about whether something actually needs to be done or not and dont even know it doesnt run if your computer isnt on. i am gonna look up that auslogics disk defrag and hopefully know whats going on and when on a computer i paid good money for.

[JAMES_911]

Originally Posted by gannon.chris

i am so glad i read this im no tekkie but i have to see how fragmented my computer is before i waste my time defragmenting. i cant leave my computer on at all hours for it to run on a schedule as i am just a random user whenever i feel like getting online. im the kind of person that should have been in some of those microsoft studies but they end up picking housewives who care nothing about whether something actually needs to be done or not and dont even know it doesnt run if your computer isnt on. i am gonna look up that auslogics disk defrag and hopefully know whats going on and when on a computer i paid good money for.

I dont understand, if you are asking questions or having some queries or blaming microsoft for what-so-ever reasons? But instead of using Auslogics Disk Defrag I would recommend you to go with Defraggler's, its most advanced features is the ability to move large files to the end of the hard drive. Your computer accesses files faster if they're at the start of the drive. Defraggler can put the large files you probably don't use that often (videos and archives, for example) at the end of the drive so that Windows can find the smaller files faster.

[chipingdale1]

Didn't mean to confuse anyone, but the main thing is to let people who want to see degragmentation know that there are free programs out there. I appreciate knowing that you are suggesting another program to use; however, Auslogics Disk Defrag is working fine for me. Thanks for your suggestion though.