I just got NIS 2010. Most everything seems to be working fine. I tried to optimize, but it was still running after over 2 hours & 15 minutes. I cancelled it. Should it take this long? How long should it take? How often should you optimize & will it run automatically when my computer is idle?
I have Vista Home Premium 64 bit.
mab57 wrote:I just got NIS 2010. Most everything seems to be working fine. I tried to optimize, but it was still running after over 2 hours & 15 minutes. I cancelled it. Should it take this long? How long should it take? How often should you optimize & will it run automatically when my computer is idle?
I have Vista Home Premium 64 bit.
How long it takes is dependant on how quick your PC plus how big your drive is and how fragemented it is.
It will not run automatically you have to kick it off manually as often as you feel necessary..
mdturner wrote:How long it takes is dependant on how quick your PC plus how big your drive is and how fragemented it is.
It will not run automatically you have to kick it off manually as often as you feel necessary..
Actually by default it will run automatically, unless you turn off the "Idle time optimizer" setting in the MISC settings.
I'm not even really sure why it was even really added. With XP it makes some sense, but Vista already periodically runs the defragmentation program (which is what NIS 2010 does).
For people with 3rd parry defragmentation programs it is actually harmful since different programs don't place files in exactly the same way so if a 3rd party defragmentation program defrags the hard drive and the Norton "optimizes" it, the 3rd party program will then have to defrag it again and you end up in a vicious circle.
I don’t use a third party defragmenter. About once a month, I run the Vista defragmenter that came on my computer. It always says that my computer is running well & there is no need to defragment. Are you saying that Vista automatically runs the defragmenter weekly. Is it then recommended that you disable the Norton idle time optimizer?
I'm not sure what is recommended. I just thought it was odd that both Vista and Norton are scheduling the defragmentation program. This won't cause problems, but it's kind of unnecessary. Norton supposedly runs the defragmentation program any time new software is installed, to "optimize" your PC. I've read that the Vista defragmentation program isn't particularly that good since it doesn't optimize free space. If that's the case, defragmenting too often could actually decrease performance.
Personally I disabled it since I have PerfectDisk defragger. Even if I didn't I'd probably disable it since I don't want Norton deciding when my PC needs defragging.
it took more then 2 hours on my pc
Well, for what it's worth, I did turn Idle Time Optimizer OFF, but I see that it has run and 'Optimized' my system anyway!
I'm using Diskeeper with I-FAAST turned ON and I'd certainly prefer that NIS not optimize my system when I've set it not to. 
killyourtv wrote:Well, for what it's worth, I did turn Idle Time Optimizer OFF, but I see that it has run and 'Optimized' my system anyway!
I'm using Diskeeper with I-FAAST turned ON and I'd certainly prefer that NIS not optimize my system when I've set it not to.
Did you reboot your system after you have turned off "Idle Time Optimizer" ?
Yes, I’m fairly certain that I did. As I recall it was among the settings I changed right after doing a fresh install of 2010, and I’ve done a cold boot since then. I’ll restart again now, just to be certain, though. 
Guess I’ll go install something afterwards and see if it happens again.
I decided to turn Idle Time Optimizer off. I did that yesterday & have restarted my computer twice. This morning, my computer was idle. When I checked the Norton Tasks, it said that the idle time optimizer ran again, after I had turned it off & rebooted several times. It doesn’t appear there is any way to turn it off.
I wasn’t even sure what this optimizer was, since the “?” doesn’t lead to a description of it.
Why would one have to reboot after disabling it?
mab57 wrote:
When I checked the Norton Tasks, it said that the idle time optimizer ran again, after I had turned it off & rebooted several times. It doesn't appear there is any way to turn it off.
That is not good news for those of us who do incremental disk image backups. After a defragmenting session, disk imaging software will note that files have been moved and will backup those changed file locations, resulting in incremental backups that can be almost as large as a full backup. For this reason I only defragment the drive when I am ready to do a new full image backup. In my case, automatic defragmenting whenever the computer is idle would not be helpful.
Hello,
I have disabled "idle time optimizer" and have rebooted the system. The optimizer function does not start automatically anymore.
Before that optimizer started even if the computer was not in an idle period.
SendOfJive wrote:
That is not good news for those of us who do incremental disk image backups. After a defragmenting session, disk imaging software will note that files have been moved and will backup those changed file locations, resulting in incremental backups that can be almost as large as a full backup. For this reason I only defragment the drive when I am ready to do a new full image backup. In my case, automatic defragmenting whenever the computer is idle would not be helpful.
Message Edited by SendOfJive on 09-11-2009 11:44 PM
This was a concern of mine during beta testing however the functionality was not deployed in the beta. I have just tested the post installation defrag with Idle Time Optimizer set to OFF.
Procedure:
Idle Time Optimizer set to OFF;
Idle Time set to 2 Minutes;
Reboot;
Installed CCleaner;
Monitored Norton Tasks & Process Explorer;
Only activity was an Idle Quick Scan which is unfortunate since Idle Time Scans is set to OFF - but I guess that's a topic of a new thread.
pugsley16 wrote:(...)
Only activity was an Idle Quick Scan which is unfortunate since Idle Time Scans is set to OFF - but I guess that's a topic of a new thread.
Same constation, Idle Quick Scan starts although Idle Time Scans is set to off.
Well I gave this a try on the manual optimize. I am now at 4 hours and counting as I am typing. This is the faster of my two computers, there is no way I am going to run this on my slow laptop. Stats: Vista 64bit, 2.5 mhz quad processor, 8g memory, 500 meg hard drive,
I will be turning off this option in the misalaineous setting. Hope it does not want to start again as in previous post.
I vote to remove this optimize program from NIS. I want a good Security Program, not an optimizer program.
sOulbAit
5 hours and counting. Enough of this, I am closing down this optimizing. 
sOulbAit wrote:
I will be turning off this option in the misalaineous setting. Hope it does not want to start again as in previous post.
I vote to remove this optimize program from NIS. I want a good Security Program, not an optimizer program.
sOulbAit
Message Edited by sOulbAit on 09-12-2009 01:33 PMMessage Edited by sOulbAit on 09-12-2009 02:18 PM
I agree. I'm not a computer expert, but I can't believe this constant optimizing is good for the hard drive. The worst thing is you can't turn if off. It runs every time my computer is idle, even though I turned it off in the settings.
I like pretty much everything about NIS 2010, but I'd like to be able to turn the optimizer off when my computer is idle.
Idle Time Optimizer is in NAV too.
sOulbAit wrote:
I will be turning off this option in the miscellaneous setting. Hope it does not want to start again as in previous post.
I vote to remove this optimize program from NIS. I want a good Security Program, not an optimizer program.
sOulbAit
I agree. I'm not a computer expert, but I can't believe this constant optimizing is good for the hard drive. The worst thing is you can't turn if off. It runs every time my computer is idle, even though I turned it off in the settings.
I like pretty much everything about NIS 2010, but I'd like to be able to turn the optimizer off when my computer is idle.
Message Edited by mab57 on 09-12-2009 04:15 PM
As far as I can determine, NIS2010 uses the native MS defrag engine (defrag.exe). So if you haven't defragged your system for a long time it is quite possible it will take several hours on a 500Gb drive. As a test, you may wish to manually launch the MS defragger to determine how long that will take. (Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter).
Also, don't confuse Idle Time Optimizer with Idle Time Quick Scan.