Defragmenting hard disk(C:/)takes longer than 14 hours!!!

[vista64x]

Is this normal,to take that long time for defragmenting my hard disk? And I've got a strange show-up of my last run. Although it was set from a long time ago to run on a schedule,at 1:00 AM every Wednesday,it shows me that the Last Run was on 13th of January 2009,wich is more than a year now!!!! I don't understand how come although it's been set to defrag every week,it's so long since it did it. Or...every week is too often,and that's why it acts strange??? Please advise me how to fix this.

---------- Post added at 05:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------

Forgot to mention that I have no app or prog open,I just let the disk defrag run over night,non shuttin down my laptop. Maybe it helps...

[pip22]

Remember that some some appliactions run invisibly in the background. A good example is your antivirus program. That's a classic for causing defrag problems because while it's checking file access in real-time, Windows Defrag will keep re-starting over and over again.
Try temporarily disabling real-time av scanning before running defrag in future.

Other startup items which run in the background (these will vary according to what you've got installed) may also cause defrag to take a long time, but antivirus is usually the main culprit.

Additionally, a failing hard disk can also take a very long time to defrag, though in that case defrag will usually refuse to progress further than about 15% or refuse to run at all. But if you want to be sure about your disk's state of health you should run the disk manufacturer's own diagnostic utility, free from their website. Whilst it's true to say all hard disks have built-in 'smart' technology for reporting the disks health, it only reports during the post process at boot time, which most people hardly ever look at, much less take notice of.

[HappyAndyK]

Vista defrag works in the background when the system is idle. However defrag never really completes because the files are constantly edited / moved by the user.

The partial defrag algorithm in Windows Vista does not try to make the volume 100% defragmented because defragmenting to the point where there are no fragmented files has negligible benefits. "The performance benefit of coalescing two extents larger than 64 MB is minimal while the I/O load and free space requirements are significant".

Although it was set from a long time ago to run on a schedule,at 1:00 AM every Wednesday,it shows me that the Last Run was on 13th of January 2009,wich is more than a year now!!!!

However this is strange! It possibly means that Defrag is just not running it whole course.

Nevertheless, I suggest you use Disk Cleanup utility to clear junk files and then try freeware Auslogics or Power Defragmentor. Both do a pretty good job ... and they are fast too!

[rkonit]

Run Task Scheduler ( type "task" in Start Search and click on it)
Expand the categories as shown in picture...


Task Scheduler Library >> Microsoft >> Windows >> Defrag
and check the Status??

If it is disabled... Re-Enable it from Action Pane.

[vista64x]

Thank you,guys! I appreciate for the advices came from every one of you! That was really quick and helpful and I need to say that everything goes perfectly right now on my computer. About the running by a schedule,it was deffinetly not running it whole course. That's why the lust run it was showing to be one year ago,meaning last "complete" run. That I can understand,concerning the anti-virus software always allert. Ok. Now,what I do not understand is that none of you answered to my first question: "Is this normal,to take that long time for defragmenting my hard disk?-longer than 14 hrs". I mean,in your defragmenting experiences,did one of you meet the same situation concerning the long-waiting job? If not,how long did it take,or how long is the normal timing to defrag a hard-disk?

[LeeW]

Give it a few times to run completely and you should see a noticable difference in the time it takes to run. Quite possibly taking some time due to how long it has been since it was run completely.

[HappyAndyK]

"Is this normal,to take that long time for defragmenting my hard disk?-longer than 14 hrs". I mean,in your defragmenting experiences,did one of you meet the same situation concerning the long-waiting job?

After a fresh install of the OS and all the software, the first time one defragments; yes it can take a real long time. So if has taken 14 hrs the first time, I wouldn't worry.

Subsequently, of-course it should just be a question of an hour or two, generally speaking ...

[vista64x]

Thank you,HappyAndyK! You were really helpful! And the only one that understood my question! Fantastic! Your answer was exactly what I needed to know!! No offense for the others,sorry,I didn't mean to be rude!