Are We Supposed To Defrag The iPod?

Hi David,

Since the iPod doesn't come with any defragmentation software, there is no need to defragment it. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't, just that you don't have to. Having never defragmented my own iPod I cannot speak for the results of doing so. (Anyone ever defragmented their iPod?)

"I can actually feel the hard drive vibrations"

This is normal but if you think that the vibrations are getting too noticeable and could be abnormal you should take it into an Apple Store if possible.

Hope this helps

Sam

some vibrations are normal esp when loading videos?

Don't you ever defrag your iPod!!!
This will only lead into troubles, as it messes up the iPods firmware.

some vibrations are normal esp when loading videos?

Videos are large files, therefore the HD has to move a lot.
No need to bother about, as long as the vibrations don't appear continuously over a longer period and/or along with a stuttering, track skipping, behavior of the iPod.

Don't you ever defrag your iPod!!!
This will only lead into troubles, as it messes up
the iPods firmware.

Actually, it's always worked fine for me, with both my vPod and Shuffle

some vibrations are normal esp when
loading videos?

It's a hard drive, not flash.

How about using disk utility in the mac to verify/repair disk? Any side effects?

Here are two Mac utilities that defragment the iPod:

PodLock by Micromat

http://micromat.com/podlock/podlock_introduction.html


and TuneTech by ProSoft

http://prosofteng.com/products/tunetech_info.php?PHPSESSID=6fff8b8a82a718dcbebd0 af906405f52

(Both of these do other things as well.)

I did a search at Apple support for 'defragment iPod' and came up with this, which addresses a Windows-specific problem:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300554

It says that when you do a 'restore', it defragments the hard drive. So apparently there's nothing inherently damaging about defragmenting an iPod.

I have Micromat's Tech Tool Pro 4. It sees the iPod, and says it's available for testing and repair. (I just got my iPod a few days ago, so have no need to run the tests yet. If I encounter any problems down the road, I'll post them.)

So if you already have a 3d-party utility that does defragmentation and optimization, you might check and see.

Those other utilities have other functions (e.g., backup and restore), at least some of which are available elsewhere (like from shareware or freeware). They might still be convenient because they have all the functionality in one place, but for now I think I'll use Tech Tool.

Apple, how about a statement about maintaining the iPod?