Defrag

[High]

If I shut down my computer while it's defragging will it continue from where I left off, or will I have to start from the beginning? I'm on vista and there is no pause tab only a cancel tab.

[Mobius1]

It will most likely start from the beginning. To be honest, I probably wouldn't bother defragging - you're not likely to notice any appreciable difference, especially not one relative to the amount of time you're going to need to leave the thing alone and turned on while it does it.

[VHG]

Make sure you stop the defrag properly with the cancel button. Dont just turn the machine off in the middle of it running as your machine may not work afterwards.

Defrag moves files around on the disk to "tidy" them up, so it will have already done some. If you start it again then it will just continue where it left off.

As mobious says, you wont notice much difference afterwards.

[Old_Geezer]

If you simply shut down a computer in the middle of a defragmentation you can be thankful the modern defrag programme is unlikely to leave your disk uncorrupted. You are moving about bits of file, maybe in the middle of a vital system file, that need to remain valid at all points. You don't need a power down mid move.

I think the answer depends on the software but IMO most will start again as it has no idea how long it has been off in the interim, and what changes to the disk have occurred. It would need to rescan/reanalyse and then decide what needs doing from the current state of the disk.

I like to tidy my drive but rarely do these days. In any case when modern ones have finished and show the state they have left the disk it looks still in need of management to me. Not like "the old days" when the drive would not just be defragmented but space consolidated and even some thought paid to the order files are sited.