Is it possible to schedule Defrag to stop at a certain time?

[cpjust]

Hi,
I'd like to schedule defrag.exe to run on a weekly basis over the weekend, but I'd also like to be sure that it stops before work begins on Monday.

Is there a way to automatically stop defrag if it's still running on Monday?

 

[Dublin73]

I'm not sure about stopping a defrag... but starting a defrag can be automated if this is Windows Server 2003 that we're talking about.

You can use the "AT" command to call a VBScript which will do this. Let me know if you want the details of this.

 

[mrdenny]

I don't think that you can schedule it to stop. If you start it though a scheduled task you can tell it to stop after running for X hours however. That may be good enough.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[cpjust]

you can tell it to stop after running for X hours however.

Yeah, that's the option I was thinking of... but how does it stop the defrag? Does it just kill the task, or can it shut down the defrag gracefully?

 

[cpjust]

I just tried a test on my XP machine at home by scheduling Media Player to start, and I told it to "Stop the task if it runs for 0 hours & 1 minute".
It started Media Player at the specified time, but after a minute, it didn't close Media Player.

Does the program you're scheduling have to be written to specifically accept messages from Scheduled Tasks that tell it when to stop?

 

[mrdenny]

I'm not sure if it does or not. I believe that it will just kill it. The media player probably isn't a good example. I think it shells it self out. Try it with notepad and see how that respondes.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[cpjust]

If it just kills the process, that would probably be dangerous to do when defragmenting a hard drive. :-(
I guess I'll have to find a better way to defrag the drives then.

 

[cpjust]

I found this VBS script which looks like it might work (albeit in a clumsy sort of way). The only thing I need to do is figure out how to modify it to accept a parameter for the drive to defrag (instead of defragging all the drives) as well as a timer that clicks the Stop button when the time expires... Is anyone here good with VBScript? ;-)

'This script launches defrag and sends keys to the UI in
'order to automate the defrag process.
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")


'Launch Defrag from the command line and wait for a second.
WshShell.Run "dfrg.msc"
WScript.Sleep 1000


'Wait until the application has loaded - Check every second.
While WshShell.AppActivate("Disk Defragmenter") = False
    WScript.Sleep 1000
Wend


'Modifications by Alfonsom, fixed/updated by Josh West.
Dim oFSO, oDrives, oDrive, firstjump
Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set oDrives = oFSO.Drives
firstjump = 0


'We use this variable to check if we have jumped first in
'the drive list.
'It is necessary because the key sequence is a bit
'difference in the first jump.
For Each oDrive In oDrives
    If oDrive.DriveType = 2 Then

    'Bring the application to the foreground.
    WshShell.AppActivate "Disk Defragmenter"
    WScript.Sleep 200

    'Send an ALT-A key to bring down the degrag menu.
    WshShell.SendKeys "%A"
    WScript.Sleep 200

    'Send a D to start the defrag.
    WshShell.SendKeys "D"

    'Wait until the defrag is completed - Check for window
    'every 5 seconds.
    While WshShell.AppActivate("Defragmentation Complete") = False
        If WshShell.AppActivate("Disk Defragmenter") = False Then
            Exit For
        End If
        WScript.Sleep 5000
    Wend

    'Bring the msgbox to the foreground.
    WshShell.AppActivate "Defragmentation Complete"
    WScript.Sleep 200

    'Send a tab key to move the focus from View Report button
    'to the Close Button.
    WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
    WScript.Sleep 500

    'Send key to Close the Defragmentation Complete window.
    WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}"
    WScript.Sleep 500

    'Bring the application to the foreground.
    WshShell.AppActivate "Disk Defragmenter"
    WScript.Sleep 200

    'Move down to next drive
    If firstjump = 0 Then WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}{DOWN}"
        firstjump = 1
    Else: WshShell.SendKeys "{DOWN}"
    End If
Next

'Send and ALT-F4 to Close the Defrag program.
If WshShell.AppActivate("Disk Defragmenter") = True Then
    WshShell.AppActivate "Disk Defragmenter"
    WshShell.SendKeys "%{F4}"
End If

'Send and ALT-F4 to Close the Defrag program.
If WshShell.AppActivate("Disk Defragmenter") = True Then
    WshShell.AppActivate "Disk Defragmenter"
    WshShell.SendKeys "%{F4}"
End If

 

[itsp1965]

As a test, if you try running a scheduled task to run the defrag tool you will be able to stop the task, but if you check the task manager I think you will see that it is still running
I concur with a previous post, it is never advisable to stop a defrag process since I find an incomplete defrag fragments your files even worse than before in most cases