Disc Defragmenting

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I use Vista HP and have the Vista Disc Defrag set to run once a month on a schedule.
I have been assuming that it does as I ask. Today however, I clicked onto the Disc Defrag to find that it stated that it had run the schedule today … but the whole run must have only taken seconds, given the time between switching my pc on and when I took a look at the Defrag window! So it did (does) not do as it says? I then ran the Defrag manually and it indeed took ‘time’ to complete as I would have expected.

No faults are shown that I can find. Does anyone else have this ‘problem’ or know of a way to correct it for correct operation against a schedule?
Ron

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Disk defragmentation is probably working just fine. See these articles for more information about how the defrag process works with Vista.

Features of the Windows Vista hard disk defragmentation utility
The Storage Team at Microsoft – File Cabinet Blog : Don’t judge a book by its cover – why Windows Vista Defrag is cool
The Storage Team at Microsoft – File Cabinet Blog : Disk Defragmenter FAQ

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks Joe for info. I’m still not convinced that ‘scheduled run’ is occurring as it should though. I will keep a check on the reports to see if I can find out more. Where is the best place to ‘look’?
Ron

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Start Computer Management by right clicking on “Computer” and selecting “Manage”.

Then look at the Task Scheduler entries for defrag – see picture.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks Joe. had a looksee and from what I can tell it only did the defrag when I forced it on manual. I will have a look at the settings for defrag ‘conditions’ once I have had a bit of a read about them.

Ron

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had a looksee and from what I can tell it only did the defrag when I forced it on manual. I will have a look at the settings for defrag ‘conditions’ once I have had a bit of a read about them.

Do you have a scheduled defrag task listed?
have you changed any of the task properties?

Joe

--Joe

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Yes I do have it scheduled Joe and no (to the best of my knowledge) I have never changed any of the defrag task properties. Is there a simple ‘restore defaults’ facility for sheduled routines like defrag … maybe ‘something’ screwed up?
Ron

This link is interesting
http://www.pcworld.com/article/162955/turn…luggish_pc.html

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Is there a simple ‘restore defaults’ facility for sheduled routines like defrag … maybe ‘something’ screwed up?

It do not know of any ‘restore default’ for a scheduled task. What shows in the History for defrag?

Joe

--Joe

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Snip attached Joe. It does show as the last entry that Defrag did occur but I did a manual Defrag start so I think that this entry is due to that. Ron

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Joe. It does show as the last entry that Defrag did occur but I did a manual Defrag start so I think that this entry is due to that.

What do the details of the errors and warnings tell you?

Joe

--Joe

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Hei Joe,

These are the two latest on the snip that I gave you last … a bit confusing to me since the ‘Warning’ suggested that the task was already running?

Error 08/04/2009 08:24:22 101 Task Start Failed Launch Failure
Task Scheduler failed to start “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” task for user “NT AUTHORITYSystem”. Additional Data: Error Value: 2147750687.

Warning 08/04/2009 08:24:22 322 Launch request ignored, instance already running Info 6c1bf0c3-e839-4587-8672-6313a1880103
Task Scheduler did not launch task “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” because instance “{6c1bf0c3-e839-4587-8672-6313a1880103}” of the same task is already running.

Perhaps I should wait until the schedule comes up again next month and check again?
But maybe (based on the magazine comment) it might be best to action Defrag manually only!
Thanks for your help and interest
Ron

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Perhaps I should wait until the schedule comes up again next month and check again?

You should check the “Conditions” and “Settings” tabs. On the settings tab you tell the scheduler how long a job can run. Post screen shots if need to.

Joe

--Joe

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Ron,
This is a stab in the dark, but do you log on to your machine with a UserID and NON BLANK password? This article suggests that scheduled tasks will not run with a blank password. The article refers to XP, but I’m sure the same holds true for Vista.

A workaround has been posted here. It involves a small registry hack. I checked on my Vista system, and Vista does have that key.

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Interesting one, John.
Since I am the only pc (on my 1 pc home net) I do not use a password. My pc has a ‘name’ and when I turn it on it all ‘happens’ without me having to enter passwords etc. I guess that I am working as the ‘Administrator’ though if any programme management stuff needs doing the pc always asks me if I wish to proceed. Maybe this is not the best way to operate from the security aspects but its the way it set itself up when I first switched it on … except that I cancelled a password need.
Should I re-establish a password??
Ron
ps Had a look at the Vista Help and I think it suggests that programmed tasks should work without ‘special passwords’. However you can’t change the settings or create new tasks without accepting Admin prompt.
Also … Help states: Windows requires at least one administrator account on a computer. If you have only one account on your computer, you can’t change it to a standard account.

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Should I re-establish a password??

I’d be tempted to try the registry hack first. If this doesn’t work, you can always change the value of that key back to its original value, and then try again by establishing a password for your account.

NOTE – to be able to make any changes to the registry, click on the Start button, and in the search box type “regedit.exe” (without the quotes). When regedit.exe appears in the list of programs, RIGHT click on it and select “Run as administrator”.

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Had a look at the Vista Help and I think it suggests that programmed tasks should work without ‘special passwords’. However you can’t change the settings or create new tasks without accepting Admin prompt.

The need for a password on a scheduled task was removed with Vista. Unless you changed the account on the defrag task, you should not have to worry about the user/password for it.

Your account may be a memeber of the administrators group but it is NOT “The Adminsitrator”. There is a builtin account named “Administrator” that you should not logon with unless you are doing serious system maintenance. User accounts that are members of the admin group have higher privilges than standard users but not as high as “The Administrator” account.

In the History tab for the defrag job are there any entries for the time the job was scheduled to run (April 4th)?

Joe

--Joe

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Joe, ref your ‘There is a builtin account named “Administrator” that you should not logon with unless you are doing serious system maintenance.’ … This must be what comes up in the ‘window’ Run as Administrator’?

And regarding your ‘In the History tab for the defrag job are there any entries for the time the job was scheduled to run (April 4th)?’
On 4,5,6 April pc was not switched on and the messages were:
Task Scheduler could not launch task “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” as scheduled. Instance “{99b9521c-f109-4b7b-bddf-99cf656525e0}” is started now as required by the configuration option to start the task when available, if schedule is missed.

Then on 8 April:
Task Engine “S-1-5-18:NT AUTHORITYSystem:Service:” received a message from Task Scheduler service requesting to launch task “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” .
Task Scheduler launched action “%windir%system32defrag.exe” in instance “{6c1bf0c3-e839-4587-8672-6313a1880103}” of task “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag”.
Task Scheduler started “{6c1bf0c3-e839-4587-8672-6313a1880103}” instance of the “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” task for user “WORKGROUPRON-PC$”.
Task Scheduler did not launch task “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” because instance “{6c1bf0c3-e839-4587-8672-6313a1880103}” of the same task is already running.
Task Scheduler failed to start “MicrosoftWindowsDefragScheduledDefrag” task for user “NT AUTHORITYSystem”. Additional Data: Error Value: 2147750687.

Hope that that makes sense.
Ron

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Joe, ref your ‘There is a builtin account named “Administrator” that you should not logon with unless you are doing serious system maintenance.’ … This must be what comes up in the ‘window’ Run as Administrator’?

When you use “run as administrator” you are not actually logged in as THE Administrator you are temporarily using those credentials (the builtin administrator).

If you look at the “Settings” for the defrag job “run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed” is checked. That is why the task started when you next booted the PC. See the “Idle” section on the “Conditions” tab for how the Defrag job behaves. Defrag will run at a low priority and only when your PC is idle. Therefore, it will take a long time to complete if it only runs when you start the PC and use it.
Ideally, you want some “free time” available for it to run so it can finish in a reasonable amount of time.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks Joe for guiding me around this maze … all in all it seems to me that doing a ‘manual’ defrag is the way to go! Set aside time for a ‘session’ … as long as one remembers to do it!
All the best
Ron

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I have found that the XP and Vista machines do in fact require a passworded account to be logged in for the scheduler to work.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I have found that the XP and Vista machines do in fact require a passworded account to be logged in for the scheduler to work.

I am getting a bit out of my depth on this one!
Had a look at this Scheduled Task again under ‘General’ and it seems to suggest that it should run under SYSTEM account whatever this is … see below. Also other tasks seem to be operating OK as far as I know.
Ron

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I have found that the XP and Vista machines do in fact require a passworded account to be logged in for the scheduler to work.

Perhaps that’s true for Windows XP Pro, but the task scheduler runs happily on a Windows XP Home machine without a log-in password.

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