Tag: defrag

Disable Cisco NAC Agent logging

I recently had to use a Windows computer with Cisco NAC installed, and found that there was a lot of disk activity for logging.

These files would grow to approximately 5MB before rotation.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Cisco\Cisco NAC Agent\logs\NACAgentLogCurrent.log
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Cisco\Cisco NAC Agent\logs\NACAgentLogOld.log

To reduce this overhead (when no problems exist), the config file is exposed in XML.

  1. Open C:\Program Files\Cisco\Cisco NAC Agent\NACAgentCFG.xml
  2. Add/modify the LogFileSize attribute to 0 (zero) as shown below:

    <?xml version="1.0" ?>
    <cfg>
    <DiscoveryHost></DiscoveryHost>
    <LogFileSize>0</LogFileSize><!-- default 5 -->
    </cfg>
  3. Reboot
  4. Remove the old .log files

NOTE: if you ever have networking issues and require support, you will need to restore the default value to ‘5’.

REFERENCES:

Free Windows Defragmentation Software

Windows, due to it’s MS-DOS heritage has a lot of problems due to disk fragmentation.  To maintain optimal disk read speed, it is advised to “defrag” on a regular basis.   Whether or not LINUX has similar problems remains a subject of debate.

I’ve used many different defrag utilities over the years,  my current choices are Diskkeeper Lite and Defraggler.

Most of these vendors are free or provide free trials of their software, I’ve noted the versions I’m familiar with.

Here’s the run-down:

  • Windows Defrag – installed with Windows.
    •  this is provided with (I believe) all versions since Windows 98.
  • Diskeeper – retail
    • – this is the commercial version that was licenced to Microsoft for use with Windows.
    • Search for the older free “Diskeeper Lite 7.0.418”
  • Pirisoft Defraggler – free
  • O&O Defrag – retail, search for older version 4 which was free.
  • Norton Speed Disk – retail

I have not used the following, but they appear to be worth a look:

WARNING – if you use hard-drive encryption, defragging may cause your drive to become unreadable.  Defrag with caution.

Happy Defragging!