What is the difference between Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter?

Answer 1

disk clean up cleans all the unwanted files that have been left in your harddisk like the temp files , internet temprary files , the recycle bin contents, ... etc.
the disk difragment is the process by which the files are arranged on the harddisk to speed up the system ie when u work on your computer for hours the hard disk does not have time to arrange the files that u save coz it is working so fast so it save it on the nearest free space, with time these files will be spread all over your hard disk and need to be arranged and that where u use the difragementation. hope that will help

Answer 2

Disk Cleanup deletes or removes unwanted files that are no longer needed by the system or the user. The Defragmenter rearranges the stored files in contiguous space for faster access or retrieval instead of finding bits and pieces of a single file all across the hard drive space.

Answer 3

Disk Cleanup cleans the systems temps...etc

&

Disk Defragmenter re-arranges your computers files and empty spaces...

Answer 4

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310312
The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files. Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:
• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.


http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/snap_defrag.mspx?mfr=true
Disk Defragmenter consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk, so that each occupies a single, contiguous space on the volume As a result, your system can gain access to your files and folders and save new ones more efficiently. By consolidating your files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates the volume's free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented.

Answer 5

Disk Defragmentor ONLY moves around files so that your computer can access them faster. It DOES NOT delete any files.

Disk Cleanup does exactly as it's name suggests: It cleans up your disk! Disk Cleanup deletes unnecessary files that your computer temporarily uses. Disk cleanup will not delete anything you have created; it will only delete unnecessary files that the system created when preforming certain tasks.

Hope this helped explain!

Answer 6

Cleanup frees up your disk space removing unnecessary files (temporary files, internet cache, recycle bin, unnecessary program files etc. ) while defragmenter optimizes system performance by organizing & arranging data n free space in such a way that it's coalesced removing (minimizing) fragments of free space and program data

Answer 7

Disk cleaner just cleans the dead and unneccessary files, while defragmenter arranges files in order so the programs frequently used run faster.

Answer 8

Disk Defragmenter Utility
As advanced as hard drives have become, one item they are not very good at is housekeeping, or maybe that should be drive keeping. When files are created, deleted, or modified it's almost a certainty they will become fragmented. Fragmented simply means the file is not stored in one place in its entirety, or what computer folks like to call a contiguous location. Different parts of the file are scattered across the hard disk in noncontiguous pieces. The more fragmented files there are on a drive, the more performance and reliability suffer as the drive heads have to search for all the pieces in different locations. The Disk Defragmenter Utility is designed to reorganize noncontiguous files into contiguous files and optimize their placement on the hard drive for increased reliability and performance.

Accessing Disk Defragmenter
Disk Defragmenter can be opened a number of different ways. The most common methods are listed below.

Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter
Start | Run | and type dfrg.msc in the Open line. Click OK
Start | Administrative Tools | Computer Management. Expand Storage and select Disk Defragmenter
The first two methods take you to a standalone window containing Disk Defragmenter. The last method opens Microsoft Management Console and displays Disk Defragmenter as one of the snap-in modules.
Conclusion
If you're an average XP user the standard Disk Defragmenter utility will do a good job of keeping your drives defragmented and help to maintain peak system performance. If you are the type that wants to extract the best possible performance from a system, consider upgrading to one of the premium defragmenter products. Most o them have a free trial available that will showcase the best features each has to offer.

The important point is that whatever product you decide meets your level of need, it doesn't do a bit of good unless the drives are defragmented on a regular basis. Make it a part of your regular system maintenance



Disk Cleanup Utility
To keep a PC running smoothly, regular maintenance is critical. Many users shy away from maintenance tasks, thinking it is a long, drawn out manual affair, but the Disk Cleanup Utility can easily determine which files on a hard drive may no longer be needed and delete those files. In addition to freeing up potentially significant amounts of hard drive space, using Disk Cleanup on a regular basis can significantly improve system performance.

Starting Disk Cleanup
Disk Cleanup is available on both Home and Professional versions of XP. The utility can be accessed in any of the methods listed below.

Click Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Cleanup
Click Start | Run and in the Open box type cleanmgr and click OK
In Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click the disk in which you want to free up space, click Properties, click the General tab, and then click Disk Cleanup.

File Categories in Disk Cleanup Utility
There are a number of different types of file categories that Disk Cleanup targets when it performs the initial disk analysis. Depending on the individual system, you may or may not have all the categories listed below. An excellent example of this would be Backup Files from a Previous Operating System. If a clean install of XP was performed then this category will not exist. It pays to click on each of the categories and note that the [View Files] button can change depending on the category selected.

Downloaded Program Files
These are ActiveX controls and Java applets downloaded from Web sites that are temporarily stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder. It's not program files or zip files that you have downloaded from other locations.

Temporary Internet Files
This refers to Internet Explorer's cache of Web pages that are stored on the hard drive for quicker viewing. None of your personal web settings are affected by selecting this category, nor does it delete any cookie files.

Recycle Bin
The main thing to be aware of in this category is that it only refers to the Recycle Bin for the selected hard drive or partition. This is important since XP uses an individual Recycle Bin for each drive and partition, not just one as is the case in some Windows versions.

Temporary Remote Desktop Files
These files are the result of using the Remote Desktop utility. If you repeatedly use Remote Desktop with the same computer or group of computers, leaving these files intact will maintain the speed of future connections. Deleting them will necessitate downloading the remote systems icons and wallpaper the next time a connection is established.

Setup Log Files
These are really pretty useless unless you have a specific reason to go back and see what occurred during XP setup.

Backup Files For Previous Operating System
I mentioned this category earlier as one you may not have, but if you did upgrade from a previous Windows version and selected the option to be able to uninstall XP, it may well exist. It takes some major hard drive space to copy all the files necessary to back up a previous system's core files, drivers, etc. This entry can range anywhere from a few hundred megabytes up to a gigabyte, so unless you are still considering dumping XP this is a good category to select.

Offline Files
Users with slower dialup connections and those using laptops frequently make websites they use often available offline. Depending on how many levels deep you save the sites, they can eat up gigabytes of hard drive space very quickly. Worse than taking up space, the sites often contain outdated information. A good candidate for deletion.

Compress Old Files
Unlike the other categories, Compress Old Files doesn't delete any files from the drive. It compresses files that Windows hasn't accessed for a specified period of time. The files are still available, but there will be a slight increase in access times because the files will be decompressed the next time they are accessed. Note that when Compress Old Files is highlighted an Options button appears. Clicking it will allow you to set the number of days to wait before an unaccessed file is compressed.

There may be other categories that appear in your Disk Cleanup window, but in all cases, highlighting the item will display an explanation of the category in the Description area.

More Options Tab
In addition to the categories that appear on the Disk Cleanup tab, the More Options tab offers additional opportunities for freeing up hard drive real estate. There is nothing on this tab that isn't available elsewhere within XP in stand alone fashion, but having them grouped here does serve as a convenient reminder.



In Windows XP there are three choices available on the More Options tab: Windows Components, Installed Programs, and System Restore.

Windows Components
The Cleanup button in the Windows Components section launches the Windows Components Wizard. Select a general category of components and drill down using the Details button to locate the desired Windows component.

Installed Programs
The Cleanup button in the Installed Programs section opens the Add/Remove Programs dialog box. Any installed program can be removed by selecting the individual program and clicking the Change/Remove button. You cannot batch programs together to be removed. Each removal operation must be treated as a separate entity.

System Restore
Clicking the Cleanup button in the System Restore section opens a dialog box where it asks if you are sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point. The difference between using this option and going directly to System Restore is that you have no option to selectively delete restore points with this method. It's "all but most recent" or nothing when accessed via Disk Cleanup. Click Yes or No depending on your choice.

Post Disk Cleanup Procedures
Using Disk Cleanup will almost certainly rid your system of a substantial amount of unneeded files. You could stop here and not suffer any ill consequences, but there are a lot of gaps and empty spaces on the hard drive where the files were removed. This would be an excellent time to run Disk Defragmenter to organize the hard drive into contiguous sections. The hard drive heads will spend less time seeking all the pieces of a file.

Answer 9

Defrag puts all your harddisc files in neat stacked rows with no gaps, which makes it easier for the computer to find things. Cleanup removes unnecesarry files (temporary, recycle bin etc.) completely off your harddrive. It frees up space, which also helps your computer run better.

Answer 10

Everyone above is right, great job guys