iDefrag

[SavageMac]

I came across iDefrag, http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag-2.php.

Is a defrag tool worth it for OSX?

iDefrag does not yet work on Leopard so I'd have to wait awhile but I was curious.

 

[WildPalms]

Reference: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25668

Generally, no. If you use up more than 80% of your available disk space, then defragmenting *may* help.

 

[iTim314]

OS X has a built in optimization utility that runs, for example, every time you install new software or updates.

It is also far better than trying to use every nook and cranny on the disk as seldom as possible.


Unless you work frequently with large files (such as HD Movie files) or your disk has less than 10% remaining space, you don't need a utility like iDefrag.

 

[xUKHCx]

Cue the long list of people who will claim that OS X doesn't need a defragment tool. But, unless they changed something with Leopard, it does.

I have never used iDefrag personally as I use Drive Genius for these purposes.

I have found that it is only really needed about once a year. But I suppose I tend to thrash through data on my drive (not as much as video pros though)

 

[WildPalms]

Cue the long list of people who will claim that OS X doesn't need a defragment tool. But, unless they changed something with Leopard, it does.

I have never used iDefrag personally as I use Drive Genius for these purposes.

I have found that it is only really needed about once a year. But I suppose I tend to thrash through data on my drive (not as much as video pros though)

Ahhh, Apple must be lying then, aye guv'nor?

 

[xUKHCx]

Ahhh, Apple must be lying then, aye guv'nor?

Case in point: Error dialog box when trying to install bootcamp

This error is due to fragementation on the drive. You can get around this by defraging the drive (and I have done)

 

[SC68Cal]

If defragging isn't done right, you'll hose your disk. Thanks to glorious HFS+. That's why they say to avoid it.

 

[kainjow]

I have found that cloning your hard drive, wiping the original and restoring it with with your clone is much faster than defragmenting.

 

[Sherman Homan]

The issue is confusing and full of conflicting opinions. But OS X does do a great job of defragging. The error message that xUKHCx points out is very real and it happens a lot with Windows partitions, but it really is an optimization problem. The files in OS X are defragged, but they aren't organized in any sort of order. Optimization is where all of your fonts, apps, libraries, etc are all nice and neat. When a drive has defragged files scattered around, that drive may need to be optimized in order to make a Boot Camp Windows partition.

 

[MisterMe]

If defragging isn't done right, you'll hose your disk. Thanks to glorious HFS+. That's why they say to avoid it.

No. Misunderstanding. No. Defragging will not hose your Mac and Apple doesn't say that it will. What Apple says is that MacOS X hard drive logical memory map is different from the physical memory map. For this reason, defragging can reduce your hard drive's performance, but that is not the same as hosing your drive. HFS+ has been around since MacOS 8.1. I have never found a measurable benefit to defragging either HFS or HFS+ drives. However, the reasons to avoid defragging MacOS X drives relate to MacOS X, not specifically to HFS+. That MacOS X drives generally do not need defragging is a good thing. With the advent of HFS+ Journaled, MacOS X hard drives require virtually no maintenance at all. That is a great thing.

 

[Bern]

I never owned a pc and have had Macs for the past 13 years and I have never defragged and not ever had any issues.

 

[yellow]

OS X has a built in optimization utility that runs, for example, every time you install new software or updates.

I feel the need to note that when you see "optimizing" during an install, it has nothing to do with defraging and everything to do with prebinding and the running of post-installation scripts by the installer.

This error is due to fragementation on the drive.

I think the more correct thing to say in this instance is that the error message is due to a lack of available contiguous space on the drive. Some of this may be attributed to fragmentation, but a disk's data could be well orgranized (meaning, the data's blocks are contiguous or neigh-contiguous) but spread over the disk in such a way that BC doesn't have enough contiguous space to works it's partitioning magic.

 

[SC68Cal]

Defragging will not hose your Mac and Apple doesn't say that it will. What Apple says is that MacOS X hard drive logical memory map is different from the physical memory map

Yes. CNIDs. If the data on the disk gets moved around and the CNIDs don't get updated, that's what I'm discussing when I say hosing your disk.

 

[AndyR]

Case in point: Error dialog box when trying to install bootcamp

This error is due to fragementation on the drive. You can get around this by defraging the drive (and I have done)

Anyone got a Leopard Defragmenter yet?? I'm getting this error and its bloody annoying and I am not re-installing the OS as thats a Windows thing which I want to get away from.

 

[yellow]

Use a cloner to clone a backup and then clone it back. Done. No reinstall necessary.