[matt88]

Hello,
I have had and imac G4 for almost 4 years now and it is severley fragmented. I only have a 40G hard drive. I know it is severley fragmented because I have done tests, but when I try to defrag using "iDefrag", I get an error. My mac is much, much slower than it used to be.
My question is, is there a way to Defrag my mac? Or does deleting all my files and re installing OSX do the same thing? Should I do this instead and should it speed up my mac?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

[macnuke]

OS X defrags anything under 20MB on the fly.
have you DiskWarrior? or Drive Genius? or Tech Tool pro?
be the way, defraging X is tough enough as it is. I am not familiar with your product.

[matt88]

Would any of those programs be helpful to me?
I know OSX defrags on the fly, but my hard disk has beem 95% full for a very long time ansd I know it is very fragmented. If I re-installed my OSX would this fix my problem?

[macnuke]

you really need to chop some stuff and lose it.
yes, those programs will help.. they all basically rebuild the directory.
if you only have 5% empty, odds are you don't have the scratch space to defrag anyway.
recommendations...
1) run a good disk utilities..
2) lose some stuff so ~10% is free.
3) buy a good external hard drive and feel free to load of on all your "shtuff" and keep your primary boot drive free.
a bootable FW drive will also give you the option to install say.. DiskWarrior" on it which is bootable, and run repairs on your primary in a much shorter time than a CD boot.

[d00d]

Just to pile on, running a computer regularly with less than 5% free is really asking for problems. Even if you manage to defrag, it will frag back up and you risk data loss. Look into a long term storage solution now rather than spend a lot of time on bandaids.

[GCG]

Hi-
You might want to checkout: http://www.macupdate...fo.php/id/16819
iDefrag works, but you have to read the instructions before using it. Be careful, if you use it. Good luck.

[jdb8167]

In reply to:

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My mac is much, much slower than it used to be.

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It is much more likely that your Mac is slower because your drive is nearly full. This is a bad situation for OS X. I would invest in a new HD that meets your current needs.

[nnager]

TechTool Pro 4.1.1 has a reliable sub-program for optimizing. Before using, suggest run Repair Permissions followed by DiskWarrior 3.0.3's Directory Rebuild and/or TechTool Pro's Volume Structure Test and Performance Maintenance. Never de-frag from the CD; instead do it from another hard drive or from the "eDrive" software equivalent of a 2nd hard drive you can create with TTP 4.1.1
In the event of uneven electrical current or a blackout (our local transformer went down for 6 hours!, it's a good idea to provide a battery backup system, such as APC's UPS with voltage regulation as well as battery backup.
I've optimized drives a number of times in my donated beta testing of TTP 4.x.x. The only time I encountered a bug was in an early-phase beta several versions back. That said, I still would not optimize without cloning my volumes to another hard drive or backing up to DVD media.
Lastly, would advise exercise a lot of patience. Depending upon the size of your drive's volumes and such factors as the number of fragments, it can take a long, long time.
Experts who have earned my trust recommend keeping at least 15% free contiguos disk space.
If I were pushing beyond that, I'd seriously consider investing in a larger drive.
Respectfully, Norm

[moose_n_squirrel]

I just looked at hard drive prices. Did you know that you can quadruple your hard drive space for the same $$ it would cost to get TechTool Pro? If your current drive is slower than 7200 RPM, a new drive would speed you up more than a defrag, too.

[nnager]

In reply to:

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moosensquirrel: Did you know that you can quadruple your hard drive space for the same $$ it would cost to get TechTool Pro?

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In my earlier response, I suggested that if one is pushing the capacity of a hard drive, it's time to consider buying a larger one.
Sorry for allowing the inference that I recommended TechTool Pro 4.1.1 only for its optimization feature. TTP 4.1.1 provides so much more, such as:
--a number of hardware diagnostic operations
--volume and file diagnostics and repairs
--the software equivalent of a 2nd hard drive
--automated, scheduled running of SMART and volume structure tests with an email alert of any problems
--a protection setup option for saving directory structure info automatically should a volume get damaged
--etc.
From what I've read, the biggest problems with TechTool Pro 4.x.x are:
1. Using older versions with newer operating systems.
2. Running operations from the CD that should only be done from another hard drive or from an eDrive
Respectfully, Norm

[macnuke]

please note #3 in my second post of this thread.
I actually feel if you hit 50% of your drive space, it's time to start looking into more drive space.. cause while you are looking, your drive is still filling up.
thanks for pointing out costs tho.. it was a very valid point many people overlook.

[moose_n_squirrel]

Ok guys. I wasn't implying no one had brought up the option of a new drive or not to get Techtool, I was focusing on the price insight as macnuke pointed out. What I meant was that of the two options at about the same price, a new hard drive would solve a lot more problems long-term and open up a lot more breathing room than the narrowly focused goal of defragging. Granting that TechTool does more than that, but I still haven't gotten around to getting it since OS X can mostly be maintained with freeware and shareware utilities.

[macnuke]

wasn't berating you moose.
just thanking you for pointing cost per gig on going to another HD.
people need to "think outside the box" to coin a well used phrase.
this day and age i wouldn't dream of having only one HD in the house.
if you own a computer, odds are, you either need one now or will in the future an external drive. ( or internal with a powermac.)
I recommend using one of 3 DU's before I recommend apple's du.
but just out of curiosity.. what freeware does what Drive Genius, DiskWarrior, or TTP does?

[moose_n_squirrel]

I didn't say you were berating, I was acknowledging your thanks /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In reply to:

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what freeware does what Drive Genius, DiskWarrior, or TTP does?

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It's getting a little off-topic, but...it depends on how you define necessary maintenance/recovery. In the recent very reliable versions of OS X, I have not seen a need to have all the tests and tricks that TechTool has, and I don't need what Drive Genius does. DiskWarrior is the one commercial utility I have. The ones I really rely on are Carbon Copy Cloner ($5) Macaroni ($9), MenuMeters (free), and TinkerTool (free). People who want what TT and DG do should buy them, but I am not one of them. I don't partition, for instance. I think I'm fine with this team and DiskWarrior. I let OS X defrag itself due to the general lack of need to.
Yes, someday everybody will have a disk problem. That's why I got DiskWarrior long ago when OS 9's crashfest let more disk corruption happen. But OS X has more self-healing properties for disks, like journaling, and DiskWarrior rarely finds problems now since OS X takes care of them generally. I would consider buying the other apps in addition to DW, but they don't do what I want, and the freeware/shareware utilities do.
If I lose some files, I'll probably just restore them from yesterday's bootable backup. If I lose files because the disk hardware is going bad, no disk utility is going to fix the hardware, and you still have to get a new disk and restore from backup. In short, really, the best disk recovery is a very recent backup with something like DiskWarrior for lost work between backups. Then, if you want to partition or test your USB ports you can get DG or TT.