Defragging large hard disks mid session

[PapillonIrl]

Is this a good/bad idea if I think HD performance is slowing ?

I remember reading both pros and cons to this... maybe someone with some technical knowledge could advise ?

Cheers,

Nathan

 

[thajeremy]

your computer might like it...clients probably will not...

 

[PapillonIrl]

Ah, I should have been clearer. By 'mid-session' I mean that the intial rhythm section tracking has been done, but the band are not coming back in for a couple of days.

Basically what I want to know is if anyone has had an experience where defragging made audio performance worse, or even had files corrupted or disappear...

Nathan

 

[Bulls Hit]

Defragging is pretty low risk. As long as you have a reliable backup of the recorded tracks, which you have of course don't you, you'll be fine.
I've never encountered data loss or corruption from a defrag

 

[Havoc]

As long as you have a reliable backup of the recorded tracks

And this says it all. I don't consider something as intensive as defragging low risk.

Performancewise, it will depend on the software you use. Most multi-track sessions hammer your disk pretty hard with random r/w, so it won't matter much. Initial loading might improve for a while.

 

[JazzMang]

I have defragged midsession a few times. Never got any corruption or anything. Just faster r/w for the most part. Only defrag when you start to notice sluggishness (if recording to the system HDD) , or when file fragmentation on that particular drive exceeds 10%.
I wouldnt worry for the most part, but if it is a paying gig, you'd better make sure you got a backup... mostly for peace of mind.

 

[intense]

I defrag my box once a week (probably too often) and I've never had any problems from doing it, but this is a good question though because I never even considered that there could be consequences.