Defrag Or something like that ?

[rm2092]

Just wondering if there is a defrag program like windows that cleans up your computer after months of useing diffirent programs ? Not sure I said that right but I hope you know what I mean just to keep things running smooth, thanks.... I did look around but did not see anything.

 

[flopticalcube]

iDefrag. OSX will do most of the defragging itself, however.

 

[Luigi239]

If I recall correctly, OS X will automatically defrag files <20 on the fly. Generally, defragging will slow your computer down more than speed it up, so I would recommend not doing it. Most Mac users have never done a defrag on their machines and they run as fast as the day they got them 🙂

 

[MisterMe]

Just wondering if there is a defrag program like windows that cleans up your computer after months of useing diffirent programs ? ...

Apple urges you not to use a utility to defrag your hard drive. As Luigi239 said, it can do more harm than good. Save your money for something more worthwhile.

 

[Amdahl]

Defrag your 10.5 Safari cache

If you don't get a disk defragger, then manually defragging your Safari cache is a good idea. OS X won't do it, because it is 180MB.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5053757/

Backing and fully restoring your drive is also a way to defrag, although, ironically, it won't defrag your Safari cache if you use Time Machine, because Time Machine doesn't back up caches, thus they start growing (and fragmenting anew)

 

[trainguy77]

If you don't get a disk defragger, then manually defragging your Safari cache is a good idea. OS X won't do it, because it is 180MB.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5053757/

Backing and fully restoring your drive is also a way to defrag, although, ironically, it won't defrag your Safari cache if you use Time Machine, because Time Machine doesn't back up caches, thus they start growing (and fragmenting anew)

or you just just delete your cache.....

 

[Amdahl]

or you just just delete your cache.....

And while you're at it, just format your hard disk.

 

[trainguy77]

And while you're at it, just format your hard disk.

This is totally different. A cache will be fragmented in a matter of hours anyway. Besides when is the whole cache accessed at one time?

 

[Amdahl]

This is totally different. A cache will be fragmented in a matter of hours anyway. Besides when is the whole cache accessed at one time?

If that is true, then why delete the cache?

No, once the cache reaches 180MB, it doesn't significantly change size. So once you defrag it, it stays that way. The whole cache is never accessed at one time, but that doesn't change the fact that having it fragmented results in more seeks than a non-fragmented file. If most of the file is in a single track, a drive can read it in a single revolution (on big cache hard drives), even if only one part was initially requested.

 

[CWallace]

I'm a big fan of the tools in Drive Genius 2, however most (including the defrag) require the machine you want to work on be in Target Disk Mode so you need two Macs (which I no longer have).

 

[trainguy77]

If that is true, then why delete the cache?

No, once the cache reaches 180MB, it doesn't significantly change size. So once you defrag it, it stays that way. The whole cache is never accessed at one time, but that doesn't change the fact that having it fragmented results in more seeks than a non-fragmented file. If most of the file is in a single track, a drive can read it in a single revolution (on big cache hard drives), even if only one part was initially requested.

If you delete it when its rebuilt you have a higher chance of it being put into one section. It may not change size but its contents change everytime you visit a website. So it really depends on your browsing habits. If you visit the same sites day in and day out. Then yes defrag would be usefull. If your like me and visit many many different sites on a daily basis then defraging it wouldn't help a whole lot.

 

[Amdahl]

If you delete it when its rebuilt you have a higher chance of it being put into one section. It may not change size but its contents change everytime you visit a website. So it really depends on your browsing habits. If you visit the same sites day in and day out. Then yes defrag would be usefull. If your like me and visit many many different sites on a daily basis then defraging it wouldn't help a whole lot.

That chance is always zero, because when you delete it, it simply grows each time you access something new, and each time it grows, it adds a new fragment. The problem is fundamental to the SQLite library.

Firefox 3 has the problem in spades, but at least on OS X, most Firefox files are less than 20MB, therefore OS X defragments them automatically.