Running Windows 2000 Disk Defragmenter Requires Administrator Privileges

ID: Q231176

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SUMMARY

Windows 2000 includes a Disk Defragmenter tool. Although any user can gain access to the Disk Defragmenter console, the ability to analyze or defragment a volume requires administrator privileges.

MORE INFORMATION

Disk Defragmenter was designed primarily for stand-alone workstations or servers whose users have the ability to log on locally with administrator privileges. Disk Defragmenter is not intended to be a tool for administrators to maintain networked workstations. This version is not designed to be run remotely and cannot be scheduled to automatically defragment a volume without interaction from a logged-on user. The only way a non-administrator can defragment a local volume is to run the Dfrg.msc console in the context of a user who has administrator privileges. You can accomplish this by running the following command:

runas /user:administrator@domain.company.com "mmc dfrg.msc"

The user is prompted for the administrator password. This command may be useful for an administrator who wants to run a defragmentation on a user's computer without forcing the user to log off.

You can also use the following procedure to schedule the Dfrg.msc console to run on a user's desktop in the context of the administrators account. This allows a normal user to manually defragment drives without performing any other unauthorized administrative tasks.

From another networked computer in the domain, log on as a user who has administrator privileges.

At a command prompt, type the following command
at \\machine_name 5:00pm /interactive /every:f c:\winnt\system32\dfrg.msc
where machine_name is the name of a normal user's computer.

You can adjust the command to fit your needs. The above example starts the defragmenter console on the user's computer with administrative rights every Friday at 5:00 P.M. so the user can manually select and start a defragmentation process.

Or, an administrator could build a batch file with separate lines for each workstation without using the /every switch, and then run the batch file manually whenever users should run a defragment operation.

Additional query words: defrag

Keywords : kbtool
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo