which defrag to use

[shegeek72]

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's
defrag isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag
programs are recommended? How good is Auslogics?

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

Depending on what you do, the XP defrag - ran periodically - will do you as
much good as DisKeeper or PerfectDisk or the other products.
Get rid of everything Norton and don't install any of the 'all-in-one'
protection suites - they will just eat up system resources...

 

[Ron Martell]

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

You have heard wrong. The defrag utility in Windows XP works quite
well. Some people have a real hangup because it won't defrag
protected operating system files such as the paging file, but the
performance impact of such fragmentation is usually infinitesimal.

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

Hopefully not. North Witch Doctor is one of the worst pieces of crap
that Symantec ever put out. And given the clossal quantity of crap
products that Symantec produces that takes some doing.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[philo]

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

Although for the most part Norton has changed from a good company
to a bloatware company...Their defrag has always been quite good.

I've got diskeeper installed on one machine and have it set to
run when the machine is not being used...and like that feature...
but other than that XP's defrag is just fine

 

[mikeyhsd]

nothing wrong with XP defrag.
I find it best if you clean up the system first.
including clearing Event files within Event Viewer.

and using MSCONFIG, disable all programs from Startup and reboot then run defrag.

when it is done, MSCONFIG startup tab, enable all and reboot again.

I always follow it up with Auslogics Disk Defrag.



(e-mail address removed)



I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

 

[haphzrd]

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

IMHO, the best defrag utility for Windows is JkDefrag.

http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/

Portable, GNU GPL, etc etc. This also has a screensaver version you can
set up for some automated defragging while you are afk.

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

CCleaner may do this...

 

[Sycho]

Here ye! Here ye! Today haphzrd <[email protected]> stormed in
alt.hacker on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:31:46 GMT and shouted for all to
hear..

IMHO, the best defrag utility for Windows is JkDefrag.

http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/

Portable, GNU GPL, etc etc. This also has a screensaver version you can
set up for some automated defragging while you are afk.


CCleaner may do this...

System Mechanic (http://www.iolo.com) can do that and a lot more.
Don't get the Pro version though if you can help it. It comes bundled
with Panda anti virus (shareware) and some lame assed firewall
(garbage, if you ask me).

 

[ThePsyko]

On 31 Dec 2006 I stormed the castle called alt.hacker and heard shegeek72
cry out in

I'm going to be dumping Norton utilities and am looking for
utilities--preferably free--to replace it. I've heard win XP's defrag
isn't that great. Is this true and, if so, what defrag programs are
recommended? How good is Auslogics?

Also, are there similar programs like Norton WinDoctor that look for
dead shortcuts, etc? Thx.

IIRC XP defrag is bascially built upon Diskeeper v6.. It does a pretty good
job at keeping the fragmentation down and can be easily scripted -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179306/en-us

 

[shegeek72]

Thanks for the replies.

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in the
background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Thanks for the replies.

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in
the background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

Depends on what you do.. again.
If you generally surf the web, etc - there is no real advantage to daily
defrags that a once a month or less defrag wouldn't give you.
You can schedule the Windows Defrag in Scheduled tasks for once a month or
something.. See how it suits you.

 

[Leythos]

Thanks for the replies.

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in the
background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

Some people really use the computer for more than browsing and email.
Some of us run MS SQL on it, run development systems, run image editors,
run Video parsing software, etc... In the case of those disk intensive
applications, having a fully (often) defragged drive can make a real
difference. For most people, running a defrag after major updates, after
installations/deinstallations and major moving of data gives benefit,
but, once a month or once every six months or even once a year - it just
depends on how much you fragment your files.

 

[ThePsyko]

On 02 Jan 2007 I stormed the castle called alt.hacker and heard shegeek72
cry out in

Thanks for the replies.

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in the
background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

On my work system, I have Diskeeper 10 Pro, which runs in the background
and defrags the system anytime it notices a lag in activity.. at home I run
the Windows 2k defrag utility as needed. There is definitely something to
be said for not having to worry about it, and I don't have to deal with the
eventual slowdowns at work like I do at home before I run the defrag.

That being said, I think the fact that I haven't run out to buy a license
to run the auto-defrag at home even though I like it at work says a lot too

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in the
background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

As always, the answer depends on how fragmented the drive gets, and that in
turn depends on how you use your computer.

But I feel safe in saying that for the enormous majority of users,
defragging daily is *way* overkill.

Here's my standard blurb on how often to defrag:

There's no answer that's right for everyone. It depends on how you use your
computer and it depends on how much you use your computer.

You should defragment your drive when doing so results in a speed up. Here's
what I recommend. Pick some arbitrary interval--for example once a month.
Defragment on that interval a few times, and assess whether the computer
generally feels faster after doing so. If the answer is yes, defrag more
frequently. If the answer is no, defrag less frequently.

Repeat a few times, and you'll soon settle into a frequency that works well
for you.

 

[mmaterie]

Hi, I'm the Product Manager for a third party defragmenter and would
like to share a different viewpoint.

Why wait until your system slows down before defragging. You wouldn't
wait to run a virus removal until your PC was infected would you? You
probably run proactive anti-malware detection to avoid getting a really
nasty trojan or worm in the first place. You'd likely run anti-spyware
to even avoid the little nuisance malware. The trade-off is resources.
In the name of "security" almost everyone is going to put up with some
resource impact.

That tolerance is not the case with defragmentation, and that's
understandable. But, if defragmentation could run proactively and not
interfere with system resources, then running it more frequently will
prevent a slow down in the first place (even if it is only minimal
performance gain over that small period of time). How fast before a you
notice a slow down of the system due to fragmentation is obviously
dependant on the user. For some it can take long, maybe a month.
However, the user who does nothing but surf the web for 3 weeks may
decide to do so massive video editing one weekend. They'd be better off
if they had a "clean slate" to begin with, without them having to clean
it manually.

Third party software does provide the lesser resource usage, no-impact
approach that makes regular defragmenting plausible and beneficial.
While I can't speak for all defrag programs, most only defragment what
is necesarry, they do not move every file around. And, of course, the
XP defragmenter can be scheduled to run nightly, provided you don't
plan to use the system at that time and keep the machine powered on.

 

[Sycho]

Here ye! Here ye! Today "shegeek72" <[email protected]> stormed
in alt.hacker on 2 Jan 2007 13:39:47 -0800 and shouted for all to
hear..

Thanks for the replies.

Got another question: some people have defrag programs that run in the
background and defrag the HD(s) on a daily basis. Is there any
advantage to daily defrags or is it overkill?

Overkill by a mile unless you delete a lot of files every other day.
You really only need to run defrag at least once a month. That's what
I recommend to my clients.

 

[shegeek72]

Sycho wrote:
X-No-archive: yes

System Mechanic (http://www.iolo.com) can do that and a lot more.
Don't get the Pro version though if you can help it. It comes bundled
with Panda anti virus (shareware) and some lame assed firewall
(garbage, if you ask me).

Hmm, 50 bucks is a little more than I'd like to spend, though it looks
like a good product. Does it run in the background (like Norton)? Also,
does memory defrag refer to ram or virtual (HD) memory?

 

[HiEv]

Why wait until your system slows down before defragging. You wouldn't
wait to run a virus removal until your PC was infected would you?

You're comparing apples and oranges. With a virus you're either
infected or not, and when you are it can cause problems immediately, so
preventing it from ever happening is important. On the other hand,
fragmentation is a slow thing that may take months before it is
noticeable, if it ever is. So with viruses it's a black and white
good/bad situation, while with fragmentation there is a lot of tolerable
gray area. Also, considering that defragmentation itself takes time and
system resources, it may not be worth it for some people where the time
they spend defragmenting doesn't make up for the time they gain by
having a defragmented drive. This is even the case if the
defragmentation only causes brief spikes in hard drive use, because that
can still delay other software that may also need the hard drive at that
time.

[snip]

Third party software does provide the lesser resource usage, no-impact
approach that makes regular defragmenting plausible and beneficial.

[snip]

I don't see how you can have a "no-impact" approach if it uses any
system resources at all, which it must. Even if you have it run while
the machine is idle, it may affect other resources that also run when
the machine is idle or the user may return while the defrag is still in
process. I know some people who have very little free memory on their
computer, so having anything extra running slows them down. "Low
impact" may be possible, but not "no-impact."

The reason to wait until the system slows down is so that, if you are
one of those people where the impact is negligible for long periods and
the delays caused by a defragmenter would be worse than the
fragmentation, then it makes sense to schedule it when it becomes
noticeable and you will not be using the computer at the time. This
strategy is especially useful for people who don't like to keep their
computer on all the time.

Obviously that is not true for all people, but it is true for some
people.

 

[Sycho]

Here ye! Here ye! Today "shegeek72" <[email protected]> stormed
in alt.hacker on 2 Jan 2007 21:15:06 -0800 and shouted for all to
hear..

Sycho wrote:
X-No-archive: yes


Hmm, 50 bucks is a little more than I'd like to spend, though it looks
like a good product. Does it run in the background (like Norton)? Also,
does memory defrag refer to ram or virtual (HD) memory?

No, you have to start the program manually. Only because the options
have to be selected one at a time. I'm not sure about the memory
defrag. I use a program called "TweakRAM". All it does is frees up
memory used by other programs. It's not a bad program.

 

[ThePsyko]

On 02 Jan 2007 I stormed the castle called alt.hacker and heard Sycho cry
out in

Here ye! Here ye! Today "shegeek72" <[email protected]> stormed
in alt.hacker on 2 Jan 2007 13:39:47 -0800 and shouted for all to
hear..


Overkill by a mile unless you delete a lot of files every other day.
You really only need to run defrag at least once a month. That's what
I recommend to my clients.

I run it weekly at home

 

[Sycho]

Here ye! Here ye! Today ThePsyko <[email protected]> stormed
in alt.hacker on 03 Jan 2007 16:09:53 GMT and shouted for all to
hear..

On 02 Jan 2007 I stormed the castle called alt.hacker and heard Sycho cry
out in

I run it weekly at home

You must be one delete happy hombre, bro!