How do you defrag your Mac?

Question

Level 3

780 points

How do you defrag your Mac?

Hi,

I read about defragmenting not being needed on the Mac platform and I have also read about how this can be beneficial.

Well, I am willing to try defragmenting in an attempt to speed up and optimize the system. I am using also Parallels with XP Pro to run software for work.

Can you please suggest what would be the best way to accomplish that?

I would prefer quality software that has a good record track and is reliable. Automation is a bonus as I intend to let it do the job during the night.

My normal routine is to run Yasu every now and then and also clone the hard disk to an external LaCie HD (regularly) and then clone it back (about twice a year).

I am open for suggestions, thank you.

PS: I read good reviews about a software "iDefrag" capable to defragment even the files within the Virtual Machine, do you think that I should consider it?

15Alu PB G4; 1.5 GHz; 80GB@5400; 128VRAM, SD, Panther (10.3.9), Mac OS X (10.4.8), MacBook 2 GHz, 120 GB HD, 1GB RAM, Boot Camp + XP Pro, iPod 4G 40GB , iPod Nano

Posted on Jan 24, 2007 12:03 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 24, 2007 1:08 PM in response to D.M.

Well, here is the official word:
About disk optimization

iDefrag allows a you to view the disk and judge fragmentation in it's demo mode so you can see the potential benefit to purchasing it.

If you have access to an external HD, the easiest method-mentioned in the article-is to copy everything off, erase, then copy back.

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Answer 2

D.M. Author

Level 3

780 points

Jan 24, 2007 1:57 PM in response to Mike-N-nahyunil

Thank you Mike!

The article confirms (in my view) that the procedure that I use, to clone the start up disk to an external HD then erase it and finaly clone it back from the external HD, is useful. Recently I started playing more with editing video and that is why I was considering defragmenting.

I use SuperDuper! to clone the system and then to have the computer start from the external HD. At this point however, I need to manually erase the original startup disk and set SuperDuper! to clone back to the computer and quit when ready. In practice this works well over the weekend but I rather not do it during the night.

For the reasons above mentioned I was considering some software alternatives if good and reliable solutions are available.

Any suggestions in addition to iDefrag?
Thanks

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Answer 3

Joel C.

Level 6

15,919 points

Jan 24, 2007 3:31 PM in response to D.M.

DM that's exactly what I do on my drives I use for video. I'll just end up erasing them and reformatting them instead of worrying about defragging. Well it's sorta the same but you get the idea.

If I was worrying about fragmentation I'd do just as you say. Clone it over and copy it back.

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Answer 4

Jan 24, 2007 7:12 PM in response to D.M.

You really shouldn't have to defrag your hard drive unless you constantly are filling it to near capacity. HFS+ does a pretty good job of keeping things defragmented - nowhere near as bad as NTFS or FAT on Windows, in any case. In most cases, defragmenting will only provide a minor performance boost - probably not worth the trouble, IMHO.

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Answer 5

D.M. Author

Level 3

780 points

Jan 25, 2007 2:29 PM in response to Steven Davidson

Hi again!

For now I decided to continue using the "clone bootup disk + erase + copy back" method.

Many thanks to everyone.

D.M.

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Answer 6

MleB

Level 1

80 points

Jan 25, 2007 5:35 PM in response to D.M.

Not exactly Defrag - more of 'Crap Cleaner' (if you're used to PCs) but I use the freeware MainMenu -

www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25902

- and set up in its Preferences a full tidy via its batch file.

This 'forces' the Mac to do maintenance that it will do on its own (providing you leave your computer running 24/7 - and who does?), or you can pick and choose what you want to do.

It seems to help in keeping my MacBook perky...

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Answer 7

SuperJ

Level 1

42 points

Jan 25, 2007 9:37 PM in response to D.M.

I use iDefrag.

http://coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php

The also have a program called iPartition that does non-destructive partitioning very well. Coriolis Systems seems to do an excellent job writing their software in a way that respects OS X. Check out their website for a demo and a list of features.

I use the online defrag (it's quick and easy) once a week or so, and every three weeks or month I run a full defrag. To do a full defrag you need to either start up from another drive with iDefrag on it (I use my external Firewire drive) or burn a CD using the included utility to start up from.

I've been very impressed with this software and have found it invaluable for installing BootCamp on some laptops that had fairly full HDs where otherwise Boot Camp would say it couldn't partition.

iDefrag also optimizes the order of files on the disk and places metadata at the start of the drive for quick access. You can specify or create custom optimization algorithims if you have particular needs that vary from the norm.

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