"Why remove programs to run?"

[TexasLurker]

I would like to ask a little indepth question, some might call this a technical question.  Not being a programmer or any other creator of programs to be used on one of these creatures.  Just a very curious home user and with an inquiring mind.  I also learned to annalize problems and maybe come up with a solution or work around.

To begin with, why are the programs taken from the H/D to be used when you execute one?  Why not leave it on the H/D, made "read only," and just use a copy in RAM, so the system will not become fragmented.  The only part that would become fragmented would be records/database because that is continuously being added to and taken from for various reasons, depleted stock, new purchases, etc.  The only time a program would need to be removed is when there is an update or amendment to solve problems.  Plus there could be a 20% blank space between the programs that are on the H/D for growth.  Would this method extend the life of a H/D and create a system that would be built more toward how it is used by the person responsible for it's operation?

Would not this reduce the amount of defragmentation requirement?  Optimization would be done after say a short period of use, maybe four or five months of use to establish what programs would need to be placed at the beining of a drive.  Yes the "read only" would need to be removed while doing this operation and re-established to protect the new setup.

Just curious,

[jeroen]

Why not leave it on the H/D, made "read only," and just use a copy in RAM, so the system will not become fragmented.

That is exactly what happens, except that programs are not made "read only", there is no need for that. Only new files can become fragmented.

[TexasLurker]

JK,

Surprise!  Did not feel that was important enough to elicit a response from you.  Thank you for taking the time to post to my inquiry.

I have read in other places, maybe even Microsoft dot Com, that what occurs is a program is removed and executed and used.  When it is closed the system returns it to the H/D and that is where things get fragmented.  Because in the space where the program was taken new information is recorded and the space is not available any longer and is placed in any empty areas it can find which places things in a different order as well as being fragmented.

If what you have stated is true then why is there a need to defragment daily?  From what I see even 'MyDefrag' is doing just that from the start of my H/D.

One question about "MyDefrag" if I may?  No that is not it, could you make the GUI remain up in background so we may make additional selections after one is completed?  See I am not a creator of scripts nor any programs, just a very curious user.

[jeroen]

I have read in other places, maybe even Microsoft dot Com, that what occurs is a program is removed and executed and used.

Perhaps you misinterpreted what you read, or perhaps the text was simply wrong. It is not what happens. When a text says that the computer reads something from the harddisk into memory, what they actually mean is that the computer is making a copy. Just like when you are reading a book, you are copying the information to your head. Fragmentation only occurs on new files, such as temporary files, or when a file changes, such as when you are adding text to an existing document.

why is there a need to defragment daily?

My best answer is to turn the question around: there is no need NOT to defragment daily. It's just easy to have the program run automatically once every day, it will keep your computer in optimum condition. If there is little or none fragmentation then the program will finish very quickly.

could you make the GUI remain up in background so we may make additional selections after one is completed?

Thanks for sharing your idea, I appreciate it. It has been suggested before and is already on my wishlist.

[Kasuha]

why is there a need to defragment daily?

There is no need to defragment daily. I run "daily optimization" once every week or two and I'm completely happy with the result.

Daily, weekly, and monthly optimization scripts are just what Jeroen considers the best use of the program, based on his experience, computer usage and opinion.

[TexasLurker]

jeroen,

This has been a pleasure to communicate with you on my mis-understanding of what is done and how.  As I have told you, just a very curious user and want to learn as much as possible about my system.  You have enlightened me very much and I THANK YOU.

Kasuha,

This information you and Jeroen have provided has made my job of maintaining my computers here, at home, much easier along with less of a task.  Have not set up any thing to run in full automatic on my systems as my trust in security of these systems is very unstable.  I have learned all that I know from the school-of-hard-knocks without any formal training.  I started using computers extensively about 1984 by managing a closed system, not accessible from the web.  Using the Boroughs Task Operating System (BTOS) which is very different from DOS which I later transferred myself to and learned about Win3.1 and progressed from there to today.  I do things that most, or vast majority, will not do or told to stay away from.

Started using JKDefrag about a year ago and like it so much I am keeping a copy to use on occasion because of the full automatic operation without a need of any input from me, that way I cannot make any errors as I have done before.  That is one of the reasons I do not attempt to create any scrips for MyDefrag.  If there are any errors in my creating it could really break my system.  In all of the time I have had computers and worked with different versions of Windows, there has only been once that I could not recover from a BSOD that required a reinstall of Windows from original CD.  I have also worked in Linux, Mandrake, SUSE, with several other O/Ss by them as while Unix surfing the web before WWW was created.

Enough of my useless ramblings.  Thank you both for your input,

[Kasuha]

That is one of the reasons I do not attempt to create any scrips for MyDefrag.  If there are any errors in my creating it could really break my system.

MyDefrag won't let you break your system. The worst case is that you place your files very inconveniently making your system slow. And absolute majority of errors and typos in the script lead just to an error message even before the first file was moved.

[TexasLurker]

Kasuha,

Thank you for this information, you may have just released a dummy that is building confidence and just may try to do some of that creating.  Will study some of the samples provided and just see what I can and cannot do.  If there are any successes I will be back, if there are any problems, I will work on them myself and when successful will report here.  If . . .