Can't defrag System drive, Windows 10

Question

Can't defrag System drive, Windows 10

Anonymous

My PC is running slowly and buffering very frequently during videos, so I did disk clean, made sure all extraneous programs were removed etc. (It hardly made any difference to the available memory etc.) My defrag is set to weekly but I tried to run a defrag/Optimize and was told:

OS Drive (C:) OK 0% fragmented

HP Recovery Drive (D:) OK 0% fragmented

System Needs optimization (85% defragmented)

Clicking on 'Analyze' for SYSTEM just gave me the same answer. Clicking on 'Optimize', nothing happened (tried many times having closed down etc in between).

I looked for help online and came across your message to jaybobMT : Windows 10 won't defrag - Microsoft Community

I tried the advice given - i.e. - doing a defrag using command line and then defrag C: /H /U /V /X && defrag C: /H /U /V && defrag C: /H /U /V /BThe PC worked for a long time but the only change was that the C drive went from 0% to 1% fragmented.

I then did the next advice: Run onlydefrag C: /H /U /V /Xagain and then copy & paste the before/after statistics here please, that should give some details as to what's happening.

My PC OS(C:) has 163 GB free of 285 GB and RECOVERY drive (D:) has 1.38 GB free of 11.4 GB. I have two programs which appear on the Apps & Features settings which when I try to uninstall them say they cannot be found. I have done a full search for them and still cannot find them. They are both programs I bought from *STEAM.*I searched for Steam to uninstal that but could not find it anywhere (some time ago I (thought I had) uninstalled everything to do with Steam and their progams too).

Here are stats from the second defrag run -

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.985]

C:\WINDOWS\system32>DEFRAG C: /H /U /V /X

Invoking free space consolidation on OS (C:)...

Analysis: 100% complete.

Pre-Optimization Report:

Volume Information:

Volume size = 285.74 GB

Cluster size = 4 KB

Used space = 121.61 GB

Free space = 164.12 GB

Fragmentation:

Total fragmented space = 1%

Average fragments per file = 1.01

Movable files and folders = 371980

Unmovable files and folders = 12

Files:

Fragmented files = 1024

Total file fragments = 5197

Folders:

Total folders = 18373

Fragmented folders = 341

Total folder fragments = 1007

Free space:

Free space count = 13663

Average free space size = 12.29 MB

Largest free space size = 46.47 GB

Master File Table (MFT):

MFT size = 692.25 MB

MFT record count = 708863

MFT usage = 100%

Total MFT fragments = 2

Note: File fragments larger than 64MB are not included in the fragmentation statistics.

Performing pass 1:

Free Space Consolidation: 100% complete.

Performing pass 2:

Free Space Consolidation: 100% complete.

Performing pass 3:

Free Space Consolidation: 100% complete.

Performing pass 4:

Free Space Consolidation: 100% complete.

The operation completed successfully.

Post Defragmentation Report:

Volume Information:

Volume size = 285.74 GB

Cluster size = 4 KB

Used space = 121.61 GB

Free space = 164.12 GB

Fragmentation:

Total fragmented space = 1%

Average fragments per file = 1.01

Movable files and folders = 371978

Unmovable files and folders = 12

Files:

Fragmented files = 1026

Total file fragments = 5203

Folders:

Total folders = 18373

Fragmented folders = 341

Total folder fragments = 1007

Free space:

Free space count = 13684

Average free space size = 134.90 MB

Largest free space size = 46.47 GB

Master File Table (MFT):

MFT size = 692.25 MB

MFT record count = 708863

MFT usage = 100%

Total MFT fragments = 2

Note: File fragments larger than 64MB are not included in the fragmentation statistics.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Thank you for any help...!!! (Apologies if I've posted this to the wrong topic)

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6 answers

Answer 1

tl;dr

Buffering while watching online video is related to your internet connection; has nothing to do with your computer.

Extraneous programs have nothing to do with your PC's performance.

A mechanical hard drive doesn't need defragmentation beyond what Windows does on its own, and a SSD should never be defragmented.

A PC runs slowly because it has too many programs running for the resources available. Reduce the number of running programs and your PC will work faster.

Frequently, one or more of the programs running in the background are malware, which will gobble up as much of your system's resources as it can. So your first step is to check for malware. Next, reduce the number of programs that start with Windows and run in the background.

Answer 2

Years ago, mechanical hard drive performance could be improved, by an amount measured in seconds, with defragmentation. Today's hard drives are more sophisticated and simply do not benefit from defragmentation. An SSD should never be defragmented.

There are way too many different types of malware for one program to be able to catch them all, which is why you should get a second opinion every now and then from a second antivirus scan.

What I refer to are programs that run 'in the background.' That means they are doing work on their own, without showing you a window. You can get a good idea of what starts with Windows and continues to run in the background by going to Start menu > Settings > Apps > Startup. To see a more complete list of what's running the background, open Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) and look at the Processes tab.

Many thanks again.

I understand about the SSD now and so won't worry about it!

I looked at Start Up programs yonks ago and clicked off all but 3 (eg virus software) but after your advice, I relooked and, bingo, there were 5 new ones ticked on...all MS ones!! I clicked them off, checked they were no longer running - and they weren't - and so tried running my online drumming lesson video and it's now working just as it used to. So, a big thank you !!

This PC is quite old and I only use it for Zoom and my drumming videos so I've not bothered checking things like background programs but it's also reminded me about our other, newer , PC so I'm off to check that now..! Thanks!

Answer 3

Years ago, mechanical hard drive performance could be improved, by an amount measured in seconds, with defragmentation. Today's hard drives are more sophisticated and simply do not benefit from defragmentation. An SSD should never be defragmented.

There are way too many different types of malware for one program to be able to catch them all, which is why you should get a second opinion every now and then from a second antivirus scan.

What I refer to are programs that run 'in the background.' That means they are doing work on their own, without showing you a window. You can get a good idea of what starts with Windows and continues to run in the background by going to Start menu > Settings > Apps > Startup. To see a more complete list of what's running the background, open Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) and look at the Processes tab.

Answer 4

Anonymous

My son was greatly helped by drumming videos. He said you can pick up a lot of technique by watching really good drummers play. I hope that one day many people will come to hear you play.

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Answer 5

Thanks for your reply and advice.

I've read that a system drive with much less % fragmentation needs a defrag, not so then?

I have malware software permanently running and no reports or weird happenings so I hope all clear there. I have one program at a time runnning when I'm working, never more, because of the problems - we have another, newer PC, which never buffers, on the same Internet connection (we never have the two PCs connected or used simultaneously) so assume it's computer based problem rather than connection? I have only those progs I can't turn off upon start-up, running in the background, but I'll certainly look at that again, thanks.

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Can't defrag System drive, Windows 10

6 answers