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When reinstalling drivers....(please post your detailed reinstallation methods)

post #1 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:10pm
Thread Starter 
Do you guys know if there is ANY advantage to defragging between driver installs? I have searched and cannot find an answer. The process would go:

1. Install OS
2. Defrag
3. Install NSS or Chipset (I install NSS)
4. Defrag
5. Install Chipset (if installed NSS first)
6. Defrag
7. Install Video driver
8. Defrag
9. etc, etc defragging between all driver installs

Any advantage to doing this? Also, does it matter at which point you turn off services in Administartive Services that you don't need and other stuff such as System Restore, File Indexing, Remote Desktop Assistance, etc.? (Meaning can you do this before, during, or after driver installs without consequence)
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post #2 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:13pm
I'd say, defragging that much is not going to make any difference.
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post #3 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:19pm
what is nss, I might have missed something
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post #4 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shoman24v
I'd say, defragging that much is not going to make any difference.
I agree. That much defragging only wastes time. Freshly installed software on a blank drive should not be fragmented. Fragmentation takes place when data is deleted and those erased sectors are reused.

Edit: Turn off the services you don't want to use after the OS install, then reboot and defrag.
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post #5 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
Masic, are you saying to do that prior to installing drivers?
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post #6 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ac2334
Masic, are you saying to do that prior to installing drivers?
Yes.
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post #7 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:35pm
Thread Starter 
Any justification for why this would be best? (I believe you btw)
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post #8 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:40pm
When you turn off services its just like deleting files. The OS frees the reserved space on the hard drive for those services. If you install your software first, then free the space, the next software you install will be fragmented if it is too big to fit in the free spaces.
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post #9 of 18
8/28/05 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
Works for me!!
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post #10 of 18
8/29/05 at 4:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Masic
Freshly installed software on a blank drive should not be fragmented. Fragmentation takes place when data is deleted and those erased sectors are reused.
Untrue. Anytime you install software you typically get some fragmentation on the target hard drive - - the larger amount of software the more fragmentation is likely.

Your statement might be true if #1 the hard drive was 100% defragged before starting the new installation and #2 the first area of free space on the hard drive had enough free clusters to contain 100% of the software that is being installed on your system. This will almost never be the case.

Install a large multi-CD game like FarCry or Half-life 2 and look at the before and after defragmentation analysis - there will be MUCH more fragmentation on your hard drive after the installation. And as you add the required patches to get the game to the most current level it gets even worse.

Now I am not saying one must run a defrag after each and every software install. However running a defrag after a signficantly large software installation will almost certainly result in reduction of fragmentation on the hard drive.
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post #11 of 18
8/29/05 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Masic
When you turn off services its just like deleting files. The OS frees the reserved space on the hard drive for those services. If you install your software first, then free the space, the next software you install will be fragmented if it is too big to fit in the free spaces.
Where in the heck did you hear that rubbish from?

When you disable a service in Windows XP, it is not like deleting files stored on your hard drive. Those service extensions are still there and are not deleted when disabled, just "disabled".

The only thing that you will achieve when disabling services is just freeing up system memory. Which would be a good thing, but you're definitely not freeing up any hard-drive space.

Fragmentation happens all the time, when you clear your internet cache and go online, fragmention will occur. If you delete files off your recycle bin or delete MPEG's or MP3's, fragmentation occurs. I've only seen fragmentation to its bare minimal is in operating systems based on *Unix or Linux, they handle disk fragmentation better.

It is not necessary to defrag whenever you update a driver. I do find it crucial to defrag after installing the operating system. Just my opinon.
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post #12 of 18
8/29/05 at 5:35pm
Anyway what would the gain be by doing this 0,1-1%? I dont think I would go trough all this hassle just for that.
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post #13 of 18
8/29/05 at 6:26pm
Make sure you run through windows update before installing drivers, more detailed instructions in the guide in my sig. But yes, defragging inbetween is a waste. Wait until you have installed everything, then defrag.
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post #14 of 18
8/29/05 at 6:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by arkenzo
Where in the heck did you hear that rubbish from?

When you disable a service in Windows XP, it is not like deleting files stored on your hard drive. Those service extensions are still there and are not deleted when disabled, just "disabled".

The only thing that you will achieve when disabling services is just freeing up system memory. Which would be a good thing, but you're definitely not freeing up any hard-drive space.
OS services such as hibernation reserves space on the hard drive so there is somewhere to dump the memory contents to. If you disable hibernation, the OS will release that reserved space which allows other data to be placed there.

Fragmentation can occur while installing programs because of temp files being added and deleted when no longer needed. But for the most part, on a freshly formatted drive with nothing on it, there is plenty of room for even the largest files to be contiguous.
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post #15 of 18
8/29/05 at 6:49pm
You shouldn't need to degragment more then once a week. Some people go weeks or a couple of months at a time between defragmenting. Defragmenting all the time isn't going to improve your performance because the hard drive just simply hasn't even had time to become fragmented to the point of actually slowing anything down. I would get a good defragmenter and set it to automatically defrag once a week and be done with it. You definitely dont need to worry about defrag'ing right after doing a clean OS install. When you defragment you should also make sure you defrag the page file on the hard drive if you have one.
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post #16 of 18
8/29/05 at 6:58pm
Masic: hibernation is a big exception though and is not a general rule for services.

Anyway, to answer your question just defrag on a regular basis, i.e. once a week or after doing lots of disk operations, i.e. a big installation or un-installation. Even better would be to get Diskeeper or something along those lines and set it and forget it...
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post #17 of 18
8/29/05 at 6:58pm
I am not sure I would go along with not defragging after a clean install. There is a siginficant amount of fragmentation of both files and free space after installing the O/S, drivers, utilities, and applications.

As far as how often to defrag - everyone has their own comfort level. While you could certainly get by once a week or perhaps even once a month it is quite simple to automate the built-in defrag process (or 3rd party defrag if you want to spend extra $$$) via Windows Scheduler to fire off each night while you are sleeping. This way your know that your HD is in good shape when you start off in the morning.
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post #18 of 18
8/29/05 at 7:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by K9387
Masic: hibernation is a big exception though and is not a general rule for services.

Anyway, to answer your question just defrag on a regular basis, i.e. once a week or after doing lots of disk operations, i.e. a big installation or un-installation. Even better would be to get Diskeeper or something along those lines and set it and forget it...
I did not say it was a general rule, but I don't know all of the services that reserve hard drive space, but I know that some do (i.e. file indexing). So if you want to choose a time to defrag after a fresh os install, I think that would be the best time. I also agree that it is not necessary, I'm just trying to answer the original question.
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