[iChelle]

now that i've had my PB12" for a year, i'm wondering if i should run a disk defragmenter on it? i know pc's have it built in (c: > properties > tools) but what program do macs use to defragment? and how often should i run it?

[icruise]

From what I understand, OS X works in such a way as to make defragging a disk unnecessary.

[iChelle]

ohhh really?? wow, if that's true then . can anyone else confirm?

[LORL]

Don't need it. OS X does it by itself.

[iChelle]

great news. sorry for sounding dumb i used to defragment many moons ago in OS 9

[Voch]

Here's an Apple article on Mac OS X disk optimization.

Voch

[iChelle]

awesome, that's very helpful. thank you!

[Leo the 3rd]

Here's another good article on maintenance.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/ma...intenance.html

[Phat Bastard]

Originally posted by Icruise:
From what I understand, OS X works in such a way as to make defragging a disk unnecessary.

I keep reading that OS X doesn't need defragmentation. That could be true, but how does one explain why every computer I've used Diskwarrior disk optimization on becomes much snappier? It seems to me like OS X doesn't need defragmentation, but certainly benefits from it.

[manero]

Originally posted by Phat Bastard:
I keep reading that OS X doesn't need defragmentation. That could be true, but how does one explain why every computer I've used Diskwarrior disk optimization on becomes much snappier? It seems to me like OS X doesn't need defragmentation, but certainly benefits from it.

I think you just answered your own question there.

I guess the answer is that it runs 'just fine" without it, so it's not neccesary.

[urrl78]

I am a believer in defragging if you are moving large video files all the time as I do. I just finished defragging my 17". As much advice you can post that there is no need there are other posts and website advice that says though it may not be absolutely necessary, it helps speed up things and keeps your machine at peak performance. I always like my laptop in tip top shape, that's why Diskwarrior, ONYX, Techtool Pro (for defragging) are all part of my Powerbooks diet. Not to mention Superduper for cloning the hard drive. I keep away from Norton though, and hear they are not supporting the Mac anymore. Lost a hard drive while using their Disk Doctor.

[tooki]

Originally posted by Phat Bastard:
I keep reading that OS X doesn't need defragmentation. That could be true, but how does one explain why every computer I've used Diskwarrior disk optimization on becomes much snappier? It seems to me like OS X doesn't need defragmentation, but certainly benefits from it.

DiskWarrior does NOT defragment files. DiskWarrior only works on the directory of the disk, and directory fragmentation decidedly can slow things down. But do not confuse directory fragmentation with file fragmentation. It's the latter that OS X attempts to prevent and to some extent repairs on its own, and it's also this that PCs are always plagued by.

tooki

[Phat Bastard]

Originally posted by tooki:
DiskWarrior does NOT defragment files. DiskWarrior only works on the directory of the disk, and directory fragmentation decidedly can slow things down. But do not confuse directory fragmentation with file fragmentation. It's the latter that OS X attempts to prevent and to some extent repairs on its own, and it's also this that PCs are always plagued by.

tooki

AH! Thanks for clearing this up! But do you agree that DiskWarrior does indeed help a hard drive operate more smoothly, which is what all of us really want out of defragmentation anyway?

[tooki]

I don't think DiskWarrior makes a huge difference in performance, but it does help prevent disk corruption, so I do it for data integrity's sake, and of course DiskWarrior is my absolute front-line offense against already-corrupted drives. I think every Mac owner should own it and run it maybe every other month (and after any kernel panics or hard crashes).

tooki

[danny_gasperini]

Originally posted by tooki:
I don't think DiskWarrior makes a huge difference in performance, but it does help prevent disk corruption, so I do it for data integrity's sake, and of course DiskWarrior is my absolute front-line offense against already-corrupted drives. I think every Mac owner should own it and run it maybe every other month (and after any kernel panics or hard crashes).

tooki

Yep, DiskWarrior is probably the only disk maintenance tool that Mac OSX 10.3 users need to run. Panther intorduced Journaling on hard drives which effectively eliminates the need to run disk-defgragmenting programs.

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by danny_gasperini:
Yep, DiskWarrior is probably the only disk maintenance tool that Mac OSX 10.3 users need to run. Panther intorduced Journaling on hard drives which effectively eliminates the need to run disk-defgragmenting programs.

how important is DiskWarrior? Is it worth springing cash for? If so, Why.

[MM-o4]

Diskwarrior saved a HD in my G5 at work. Had back up tapes of the files but letting DW do it's thing, which took 24hrs was a big time saver incoparsion of getting 160GB of data of god knows how many tapes. The drive has been sweet since. It wasn't a physical problem with the disc just alot of overlapping files.

DW is a good purchase even for preventive maintence. But is can save ur ass.

Hope that helps.

MM-o4

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by MM-o4:
Diskwarrior saved a HD in my G5 at work. Had back up tapes of the files but letting DW do it's thing, which took 24hrs was a big time saver incoparsion of getting 160GB of data of god knows how many tapes. The drive has been sweet since. It wasn't a physical problem with the disc just alot of overlapping files.

DW is a good purchase even for preventive maintence. But is can save ur ass.

Hope that helps.

MM-o4

Wow .. pushing me in the direction of purchase. I use MacJanitor infrequently at the moment ( I figure since i have it on at night time often, it would do it's thing without Mac Janitor right?)

Would applecare cover the problems DW prevents/fixes? If so, besides convenience, would there be a reason to purchase it? Also, is there a easy way to connect a pc desktop running xp with my rev c powerbook 12 so i can transfer files quickly to my pc as storage? that would free up a lot of hdd space on my mac (i'd hate to transfer by burning a lot of cd-r's.

Thanks in advance