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equalsign

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 19, 2007
10
0
I'm trying to create a windows partition through boot camp but cannot because "some files cannot be moved." My disk (80 gb) has been filled many times before so files are spread pretty badly across it. I've tried deleting larger files to allow for defraggers to do their thing and freed up 25 gb, but have had no success. I've been told that I need to create a different boot disk with disk warrior or idefrag on it to have any hope, but don't know how. I don't have a portable drive and my mini will not burn dvds. Any tips?

PS: Please do not reply if it's just going to be some "Macs awesom and not need no defrags!!!11!" crap. I can see my disk's fragmentation. I may not be losing space because of it, but it is preventing me from creating a partition.
 

m1ss1ontomars

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2006
273
2
There are several utilities on the market to perform this task. DiskWarrior and Tech Tool Pro are the top two.

DiskWarrior doesn't defrag the entire disk, only the something-or-other-that-I-forgot-the-name-of. Basically, it defrags the index of files on the disk.

You can buy a boot CD from Coriolis Systems, if I'm not mistaken. That'll cost you, though. Your best bet really is to get an external hard drive. You have Leopard, which means you have Time Machine, so there's no real excuse to NOT start backing up your data anyway. Remember, it's never too early or too late to start backing up.

What you should do is either use Time Machine to create a backup, then reformat and restore, or use SuperDuper! to create a bootable backup that you can use to run iDefrag or TTP or Disk Genius on your main drive. (Backing up and restoring always places all the files in one chunk at the beginning of the disk, btw.)

NOTE: I'm actually not familiar with TTP; I just assumed it does defragmentation. I don't know much about Disk Genius' defragmentation either; I just know it can.
 

jerryrock

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2007
429
0
Amsterdam, NY
DiskWarrior doesn't defrag the entire disk, only the something-or-other-that-I-forgot-the-name-of.
NOTE: I'm actually not familiar with TTP; I just assumed it does defragmentation. I don't know much about Disk Genius' defragmentation either; I just know it can.

You are very critical of programs you have no knowledge of!
"something-or-other-that-I-forgot-the-name-of"
"I'm actually not familiar with TTP"
"I don't know much...."

I think your last statement sums it up pretty well. DiskWarrior is probably the best solution for the OP because it does repair directory structure which should be done before any other type of disk repair.

http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/details4.html

If you still have a need to totally defragment your volume, then TechTool Pro is the utility to use.

http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=83

I use both of these programs on my Macs to keep them running smoothly.
 

m1ss1ontomars

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2006
273
2
You are very critical of programs you have no knowledge of!
"something-or-other-that-I-forgot-the-name-of"
"I'm actually not familiar with TTP"
"I don't know much...."

I think your last statement sums it up pretty well. DiskWarrior is probably the best solution for the OP because it does repair directory structure which should be done before any other type of disk repair.

http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/details4.html

If you still have a need to totally defragment your volume, then TechTool Pro is the utility to use.

http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=83

I use both of these programs on my Macs to keep them running smoothly.

Actually, I knew exactly what I was talking about; I've just forgotten a lot because I haven't done tech support for quite some time. DiskWarrior doesn't defragment your disk, which is the point I was trying to make. The problem here is NOT that the disk has errors, it's that the disk is fragmented.

I used DiskWarrior exclusively for hard drive repair when I did tech support (this was a while before DiskWarrior 4 came out), so actually, I'm only being "critical" of a program I know the most about. Also, I never said it was a bad program; I simply pointed out that DiskWarrior is not what will solve the OP's original problem. Here's a graphic I made a long while back which will clear things up for everyone:

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71513&d=1175572995
 

ryan9939

macrumors newbie
Jul 11, 2008
8
0
It's too bad apple couldn't make an easy to use, free, defrag utility similar to one found in windows :D. Does anyone know of any free utilities to defrag? It shouldn't be this difficult.
 

macRUSHnick

macrumors newbie
Jul 15, 2008
2
0
there aren't any options (as far as i'm aware) to defrag using onyx

there is no need to use any options, just do "auto" mode and OnyX will defrag your disk in three steps, using following scripts: daily, weekly, monthly - that's all :)
 

ryan9939

macrumors newbie
Jul 11, 2008
8
0
there is no need to use any options, just do "auto" mode and OnyX will defrag your disk in three steps, using following scripts: daily, weekly, monthly - that's all :)

Onyx will run those cron jobs as you have specified, but it does not have any sort of disk defrag in it....file defrag maybe....but not disk defrag....

If bootcamp is complaining about not having enough contiguous free space, onyx is not going to fix that.
 
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