Defrag Tools

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Mike

There is no benefit to a defrag graphic.

There is a benefit. Seeing something happening reassures the user and
counters problems resulting from user frustration. The user is less
tempted to interupt the process.


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agreed in principle. I think that the Diskeeper guys got it right. By
default, numbers are all you see. If you want a graphic, you can select the
option, but when large files have to be moved, the numbers come back until
the end, and is if by magic, the graphic re-appears..

Wahhhhhhhhh.. there are big gaps between everything. It hasn't worked..

Central Point has a lot to answer for, don't you think. Mind you, in the
days of DOS defraggers, it was nice to see a graphic, I guess..

 

[Twayne]

Twayne said this on 3/26/2009 2:51 PM:
Actually the O&O defrag tool lets you click on any of the boxes in its
graphical display and it will list the files in that cluster. I
find it quite nice.

O&O? What's its branded name? I might like to look at that but can't
find anything similar to O&O.
Thanks,
Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Yes, but displaying that graphic puts even more load on the system.
Defragging can take enough out without having the visual sitting on
the pile too..

True enough; besides, there are more intersting/productive things to do
that stare at a screen full of little blocks disappearing/appearing and
changing colors<g>. That's like watching water boil!

Twayne

 

[ColTom2]

Sorta strange that no one has mentioned PowerDefragger Version: 3.0, Very
simple, fast and best of all, free file/folder/drive defragmentation tool.
Core engine is powered by Sysinternals/Microsoft Contig
(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897428.aspx).

Download:
http://cid-94a12102e5094675.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/eXcessive Software/PowerDefragmenter.zip

Try it...you might like it.

ColTom2

Hi,

Which is the best defrag tool (free/paid)?
Whats the advantage of using a third-party defrag tool over Windows
built-in tool?

regards
Leo

 

[Big_Al]

Twayne said this on 3/26/2009 7:27 PM:

O&O? What's its branded name? I might like to look at that but can't
find anything similar to O&O.
Thanks,
Twayne

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/O-and-O-Defrag-Professional-Edition.shtml
This is version 11, and I have a much older copy. But I'm sure this is
it. That's Oh and Oh, not zero & zero by the way.

 

[ColTom2]

The correct name of the application is Power Defragmenter and not Power
Defragger. Sorry my error.

ColTom2


Sorta strange that no one has mentioned PowerDefragger Version: 3.0, Very
simple, fast and best of all, free file/folder/drive defragmentation tool.
Core engine is powered by Sysinternals/Microsoft Contig
(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897428.aspx).

Download:
http://cid-94a12102e5094675.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/eXcessive Software/PowerDefragmenter.zip

Try it...you might like it.

ColTom2

Hi,

Which is the best defrag tool (free/paid)?
Whats the advantage of using a third-party defrag tool over Windows
built-in tool?

regards
Leo

 

[deerslayer]

...oh yeah, after running whatever gets run to defragment, that after
picture sure looks good - not so much red stuff as in the before
picture, so this tells me that the defragment really did the job and.
I told you! Look how fast it is now! (they say).

But after a short while... Wait - my computer is slow again or even
worse and I only recovered .01% free space. Therefore I must need a
better defragment tool.

Why would you expect defragging to give you more disk space? Where would
that space come from? You don't seem to understand the concept of
defragging. The process doesn't magically give you more room on your hard
drive.

 

[THE C. [MS MVP]]

O & O defrag is the best on the market. You can defrag in stealth, space,
name, and file type or file name. I use 11 profesional. Nothing compares to
it. If you want free then Diskeeper is the best choice.
--
Computer/Software Tech.


Charles Richmond

 

[Olórin]

O & O defrag is the best on the market. You can defrag in stealth,
space, name, and file type or file name. I use 11 profesional.
Nothing compares to it. If you want free then Diskeeper is the best
choice.

<snip>

Nonsense! Plenty of other defrag tools compare to it. In the same way as you
compare to a real MS MVP.

That's not to say that the comparison is necessarily favourable, mind...

 

[Leythos]

O & O defrag is the best on the market. You can defrag in stealth, space,
name, and file type or file name. I use 11 profesional. Nothing compares to
it. If you want free then Diskeeper is the best choice.

I'll stick with JKDefrag and not have to pay for a third-party tool that
does things that are unneeded.

A batch file that launches the defrag on a weekly basis, that can pack
large files and leave gaps to improve performance is all that you need.

 

[......]

"I want to uninstall all unnecessary software form my system to boost its
speed" - that's not going to help, unless:

1) the software is set to run at Windows' start-up and consumes resources
or
2) you're REALLY down to close-to-zero free space and getting warnings from
Windows about that

Or, circuitously, if you're low on free space and XP's defragmenter can't
start/complete properly, then removing enough unnecessary software might
free up enough space to let it run and thereby improve performance - but I
don't think that's really what you're after.

There are far more worthwhile things to look into to improve speed - check
through this group for previous posts with guidance on that.

Nothing like 1 or 2 but I do a lot of numerical computing using
MATLAB. So I want my PC to be at its best. Last time I installed
webshots and system slowed down a little. Office 2007 also slowed down
the system. So I try to minimize the use of fancy software.

 

[Twayne]

Why would you expect defragging to give you more disk space? Where
would that space come from? You don't seem to understand the concept
of defragging. The process doesn't magically give you more room on
your hard drive.

And why would you be so ignorant as to think everyone else in the world
knows not only what you know, or would even know the basics of
fragmentation, etc.. That he hasn't misinterpreted something read,been
given false information elsewhere, and so on?? Or are you just on a
trolling mission looking for an arguement about 0.01% recovery in the
free space?

You're right in that fragmentation won't make any measurable difference
is space occupied when measured with the system's own tools, but are you
positive there are not things at work which DO end up with very small
and negligible space recovery? I am.

When you have nothing to say, that's exactly what you should say.
I've no intention of responding further to any of your foolishness here,
either.

 

[Twayne]

Thanks!

O & O defrag is the best on the market. You can defrag in stealth,
space, name, and file type or file name. I use 11 profesional.
Nothing compares to it. If you want free then Diskeeper is the best
choice.

 

[Twayne]

I'll stick with JKDefrag and not have to pay for a third-party tool
that does things that are unneeded.

A batch file that launches the defrag on a weekly basis, that can pack
large files and leave gaps to improve performance is all that you
need.

It does make a noticeable difference, I agree. Once you get past the
first defrag it's a smoother operation from then on and faster to
perform on the same schedules as before.
I have one drive dedicated to nothing but video work, especially
rendering, so it needs to be defragged after every session unless you
enjoy waiting between operations; speed matters for defrag when you want
to move on to the next project and unless the last render went over a
couple hours the defrag now happens in the time it takes to get a cup of
coffee and take a pee break. Nothing's worse than waiting for water to
boil!

Cheers,

Twayne

 

[Leythos]

I have one drive dedicated to nothing but video work, especially
rendering, so it needs to be defragged after every session unless you
enjoy waiting between operations; speed matters for defrag when you want
to move on to the next project and unless the last render went over a
couple hours the defrag now happens in the time it takes to get a cup of
coffee and take a pee break. Nothing's worse than waiting for water to
boil!

You should consider RAID-0 for your video drive and RAID-1 for your OS
if this is a work/money computer.

You also want to make sure that you defrag and leave space, gap, between
fixed files and editable files - JKDefrag is the best tool I've seen for
this method, it will make a difference in your case.

 

[deerslayer]

And why would you be so ignorant as to think everyone else in the
world knows not only what you know, or would even know the basics of
fragmentation, etc.. That he hasn't misinterpreted something
read,been given false information elsewhere, and so on?? Or are you
just on a trolling mission looking for an arguement about 0.01%
recovery in the free space?

You're right in that fragmentation won't make any measurable
difference is space occupied when measured with the system's own
tools, but are you positive there are not things at work which DO end
up with very small and negligible space recovery? I am.

When you have nothing to say, that's exactly what you should say.
I've no intention of responding further to any of your foolishness
here, either.

Thanks Twit....

 

[Twayne]

Actually, that's not bad advice; thanks for you time.

You should consider RAID-0 for your video drive and RAID-1 for your OS
if this is a work/money computer.

It's more accurately described as a "pocket money" computer<g>. I'm
retired for health reasons so some of the niceties get skipped until the
"pocket" can afford more toys. I'm after another external drive next,
but there should be a little left over, so maybe that'll go toward
another drive for a RAID Config.

I'm not sure though how RAID-0 would help that much? I must still be
more ignorant of the subject than I though; care to clarify a bit
please?

You also want to make sure that you defrag and leave space, gap,
between fixed files and editable files - JKDefrag is the best tool
I've seen for this method, it will make a difference in your case.

Done. And yes, it does make a difference.
As for the video drive, it starts out as a blank slate after each time
a project completes. Data gets archived, sent to DVDs for shipment, and
then formatted prior to starting each project. A copy of the Master
lives on another, separate drive along with transitions, scene changes,
things like that, and scratches/renders/interim edits and final output
live on the video drive. When I have to do an interim or intermediate
defrag, which as I said is often, the defragger gives me three areas on
the disks; Gaps are set between each of the three sets, resulting in two
largish gaps depending. That way I can send the mostly unused, but
kept, interim renders on the outside of the disk. Visually at least<g>.

Are you also a serious video editor?

Cheers,

Twayne

 

[THE C. [MS MVP]]

If you want free then DiskKeeper is good. But O & O defrag is the best. Tests
prove this over and over... nothing compares to it! Google O & O 11 defrag
and you will see Olorin. Make it a great day.
--
Computer/Software Tech.


Charles Richmond

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

If you want free then DiskKeeper is good. But O & O defrag is the best.
Tests
prove this over and over... nothing compares to it! Google O & O 11 defrag
and you will see Olorin. Make it a great day.
--
Computer/Software Tech.


Charles Richmond

Diskeeper isn't free..

 

[Leythos]

If you want free then DiskKeeper is good. But O & O defrag is the best. Tests
prove this over and over... nothing compares to it! Google O & O 11 defrag
and you will see Olorin. Make it a great day.

If you want PAID Defrag, then O&O would not be my first choice -
DiskKeeper PAID would be my first choice.

I've moved to JKDefrag for all our clients servers and busy
workstations, since JK is free, and since it has options that give a
better drive layout than the PAID ones.