Disk Defrag

martiansky · #1 February 19th, 2004, 12:07 AM

Does anyone defrag their mac hd on a regular basis?? I am a PC guy with a new pb 1g/1.25gb coming and defrag my PC daily...

whats the best way to go about defragin my new powerbook??

michaelsanford · #2 February 19th, 2004, 12:29 AM

On Mac OS X there is no need to defragment since the OS takes care of file fragmentation for you.

Search the forum, there are lots of threads on this subject with loads of info.

PS Welcome to the greener side of the fence

Natobasso · #3 February 19th, 2004, 01:58 AM

What you need to do now, every so often, is "repair permissions" or at least "verify permissions". When you use your "Disk Utility" in "Applications" you can choose these options and watch as your computer analyzes itself and its important files. Defragging is definitely a dying need since OS X takes care of these stray bits so well. OS X even handles RAM allocation automatically! (something you used to have to set yourself on a mac, which for dyed-in-the-wool macfanatics wasn't such a bad thing...)

**fryke** · #4 February 19th, 2004, 05:14 AM

RAM allocation and harddisk fragmentation haven't much to do with each other, though. But since Panther, Mac OS X is really defragmenting files on open and save if they're bigger than 20 MB. So your harddisk should not need defragmentation. Ever. (Or better: It _does_ need defragmentation and _has got_ it already.)

ora · #5 February 19th, 2004, 05:30 AM

Its been said in lost of other posts- but just in case you're still enthusiastic on the defrag thing DO NOT USE NORTON, it will mess up your drive.

Mike Adams · #6 February 19th, 2004, 07:37 AM

I routinely run verify/repair disk permissions and notice that there is usually a considerable amount of repair needed. Why do these permissions get corrupted at such a high rate? What part of the OS is supposed to set them in the first place and why does it get it wrong so often?

Just curious

Natobasso · #7 February 19th, 2004, 09:57 AM

fryke

I merely stated horribly that OS X has had some great advancements in the areas of RAM allocation and data storage optimization. Not having a ton of technical expertise in that area, I certainly leave any links between the two to other, more knowledgeable posters…

Just as long as it works, I love it! I can't believe I ever poo-pooed X in the past, being a staunch 9 "I like controlling everything" kind of graphic designer. Though I do miss coloring my folders. Yes, I know Panther has that, but it comes with tons of printing problems as well that I want resolved before I move up to it.

Randman · #8 February 19th, 2004, 10:34 AM

OSX provides Mac users with the old foundation of Unix. One of the benefits of Unix is its multi-user capablity. To manage the users of a system, Unix uses file ownership and permissions.
Think of Repair Disk Permissions as rebuilding the desktop in OS9 since there are tines with OSX that key file ownership and permissions are changed reason by applications, and more frequently, program installers.
When ownership and permissions get changed, things don't always work as they should. Symptoms range from programs quitting unexpectedly, preferences not being remembered, programs not launching, other kernel panics, etc.