Defrag after each program installation?

In a word, yes.
It is good parctice to run defrag often when setting up a PC.
After loading Windows, and installing the device drivers, I usually defrag before installing applications.
I don't go as far as defragging after each install.
But, I alsways defrag before delivering the PC to the user.

There are a number of reasons for the problem.

First, when installing programs, they really don't spread the files all over the drive.
Most installs do create temorary files that get deleted after the install is complete, and that is where the gaps between files come from when you install software.
They also often add files to the Windows folders, and add data to the registry files.
So files change in size, and may not be located in the "optimum" location.

To further complicate matters, is Windows "virtual" memory. Also referred to as the "swap" or "paging" file.
This file changes size all the time.
It is one of the reasons that most software wants you to exit all running programs before installing, so that the swap file is at a minimum size.
I place my swap file on a seperate drive partition to avoid this issue.
Other people use Norton "speed Disk" to create a fixed swap file on the fastest section of the hard drive.

Either method will reduce fragmentation.

Hope this helps.

Chas

The truth probably lies somewhere in a middle ground taking into account the size/complexity of the program installed, how often programs are installed and uninstalled, and how well the overall installation routine is written. Also, "all over the hard drive" would be a bit of an excessive statement.

Running a good defragment program after the install of the OS, and then after each program install is, in my opinion, just a good maintenance practice and one that can prevent a lot of frustration later on. There is a lot of reading and writing file action occuring during any install and "cleaning up" afterwards just seems logical. And defraging is just that, cleaning up and putting things in nice order, getting ready for the next usage.

Probably the biggest drawback to doing defrags is the often lengthy time it takes, particularly on large drives. However, this usually is the result of never having done it regularly, restricting defrag to the Windows included utility, which leaves a lot to be desired, or maintaining all information in one single drive partition.

Users who do defrag regulary, and especially after program installs, experience better system performance and fewer problems.

An additional side benefit isbecoming aware of hard disk problems at an earlier date. A drive going bad or segment problems are generally going to start showing in defrags and often can be corrected or dealt with in a pro active manner.

Lastly, the Windows defrags are improving with each OS release, Windows ME better than 98, XP better than prior Win OS's, but my favorite is still Diskeeper by Executive Software. There are others, Vopt is one, and several either part of maintenance suites or stand alone. The investment in a specialized attention third party program is money well spent.

Hope this helps.

Ritually defrag your computer every month, after every install is a bit much. If the files are scattered it will slow down the whole system. The defrag will also recover lost clusters or space taken up by deleted files, so you may find more speed and space.

Yes hard drives do scatter around info. This is because the hard drive lays the info in the first available sector it passes. It is a good idea to run defrag but after every installation of a program is a bit much. Also to maintain your system, setup a maintenance schedule, once a month is good. Include in your maintenance removal of .tmp files and your temp internet files, as well as clear your internet history, after this is completed run defrag. This will keep your system running optimum. I also recommend downloading and running regclean in your maintenance. This cleans all dead links in your registry. It was developed by microsoft and can be found at download.com, just do a search on reclean there. All of this will keep your system running smooth.

Sure there is some truth to it.
But you need not after every install or deleation though you should set your scandisk and defrag to run atleast once a month or more often if you do alot of installing or deleating.
I have mine run during the early morning hours once a week and haven't had and fragmented HD problems ever.

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