How to get your PC to automatically defrag with freeware software Main Index        Tips and Tweaks For a offline solution see bottom of page. Schedule a defragmenter and never have to remember to do it again. Scheduling the inbuilt XP defragmenter. You will need to download the necessary Defrag bats here, these will only work on WinXP. For Win2K see how to schedule Dirms further down. The DefragC bat file use's the -b option to optimise your boot files for optimum performance To get a schedule to run you will need to create an admin account with a password otherwise this won’t work. Start Control panel User accounts Create a new account Add a password Download and extract the defrag bat files. You can place them anywhere but I suggest putting them in the program files folder under defrag. Now log in to your admin account you’ve just created that will run the task Now you need to schedule the task scheduler.  If you've customised XP the task scheduler may be located in a different location. Start Control panel Performance and maintenance Scheduled tasks Add Scheduled task Next Browse for the location of the defrag bats you’ve just download Once select press open Now select when you want the task to run daily, weekly, when my computer starts then press next (I’d recommend when my computer starts, once it’s completed it’s initial run, each subsequent run shouldn’t take up too many resources) If you’ve select daily, weekly etc… you’ll be given options at what time etc… to run the task, once you’ve configured this press next Enter in the password for the account in both boxes, press next Then click finish. Your PC will now defrag automatically from now on. One note of caution. I’ve found that this defrag software doesn’t like big files (ie over 400mb) you may find that your PC could become very sluggish whilst defragging. Once the initial pass is done it may not be a issue, but if you do notice a performance hit after setting this up, this is the likely cause. You may ask but I have Win2K, this won’t work for me. Well the good news is there is a alternative defrag software that’s free that you can schedule in the same way. Dirms from www.dirms.com This works on 2000 and XP Follow the same instructions as above to set it up. The only difference is instead of just clicking finish you need to tick the open advanced properties box The run box needs to look like the following C:\dirms.exe c –q C is the drive letter and can be changed to any relevant hdd, -q is the command for it to defrag the drive. If the above isn’t entered Dirms will not run. Once you have changed these settings you will be prompted to add your password again. Dirms also has a similar problem with large files which the author is aware off and says he will fix it in the next release. I’ve not tested but he says you will still be able to browse the web etc… while it runs without any problems but more cpu intensive tasks will have to wait. Once a large file has been defragmented then hopefully you shouldn’t see a performance hit. For Win2K there is also morphasys autodefrag If you want to defrag your NTFS volume offline with a freeware bootable defragment software solution check out datapols NTFS4Dos which will defrag your drive from a floppy disk.  Alternative build yourself the UltimateBoot CD 4 Windows which has several tools which will defrag your drive offline. Other freeware defrag tools can be found here: http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone3/cat407/40882.htm - Homepage http://www.kessels.com/defrag/index.html http://www.whitneyfamily.org/Hacks/?item=Defrag How to use the Whitney Defrag: defrag -? to bring up the following list of commands: Usage: -d drivespec [drivespec ...] defragment Drive(s). -f filespec [filespec ...] defragment/relocate File(s). -F filespec [filespec ...] defragment only fragmented File(s) -v filespec [filespec ...] View statistics of file(s). -b filespec [filespec ...] Blast file(s) all over the disk. -l number diagnostic Logging level. -s recurse into Subdirectories. -B Execute at next system reboot. -i Install defrag service. -u Uninstall defrag service. Precisely one of the b, d, f, F, or v switches may be present. Logging levels range from 0 to 3. Filespecs may include wildcards. Multiple file/drive specs will execute sequentially. However, multiple instances may be started at once. Do not start multiple defrags on the same disk at the same time - it will defeat the purpose. Whole-disk defragmentation takes a LONG time. Be patient. The process may be safely interrupted at any time. The suggested command of defrag -B doesn't appear to get the program to defrag at boot time. The only way to do it is manually enter the data. To do a boot time defrag you need to do the following: Navigate to: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager] There you will see the following key BootExecute Right Click Modify In the value data box add: bootdfrg -d C Click OK and at the next reboot the boot time defrag will run. If you want to defrag another drive alter C accordingly. In my own experience I’ve found Perfect Disk http://www.raxco.com/products/perfectdisk2k/ and O&O http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodefrag/pro.html to be good at handling large files, but you need to buy the software. Diskeeper I’ve had problems with (which is what the inbuilt defragger in 2000, XP is based on) others claim they haven’t had a problem with it.