Avast WEBforum
Other => General Topics => Topic started by: Bellzemos on September 02, 2009, 12:59:13 PM
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I'm sorry, I know this is not related to Avast, but since you folks are really nice and helpfull on this board, I hope you will help me.
I'm thinking of getting some Defragmentation software. Do you think I need it? I was using the built-in Windows XP Defrag for now, but I read on the web about better Defragment tools. I'm looking for an effective one, but also one which will not eat on my system resources (I have an older PC: P4 3GHz, 3GB RAM, Windows XP). I've heard that Diskeeper and O&O Defrag are thr good ones... I will appreciate any suggestion or information! Thank you! :)
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I like this bc it is automatic http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html
Smart Defrag works automatically and quietly in the background, so it continually and constantly keeps your computer fragment-free.
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And what about Diskeeper and O&O Defrag? I'm thinking about O&O Defrag, it seems good. When it runs in the background, does it eat a lot of system resources?
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And what about Diskeeper and O&O Defrag? I'm thinking about O&O Defrag, it seems good. When it runs in the background, does it eat a lot of system resources?
No it doesn't. It's a fantastic defrag tool, actually they both are. Another one is PerfectDisk which is my personal favourite. These 3 are generally regarded to be the best defrag tools out there. That is out of the paid ones. The free defraggers out there are usually decent enough, but if you want features such as strong boot-time defrag, mft defragging, scheduling, layout.ini boot optimization, pagefile defragging, directory placement etc. etc. you need to go with one of the paid ones. Select the one which fits your needs best. There is no best one for everyone, just as there is no best looking girl or best looking car or best av or best fw etc. . It depends on the persons needs/views ... :)
free defrag tools:
PageDefrag *
Contig
Auslogics Disk Defrag *
Defraggler *
IOBit SmartDefrag *
DiskTune
DefragMentor Lite CL
fragdown
HDiskDefrag
JkDefrag **
MyDefrag *** (write your own scripts and do whataver you want with the defrag engine, it also defrags the mft and has wicked boot optimization based on layout.ini)
Multiple Applicator
Partition Logic
Power Defragmenter GUI *
Quicksys DiskDefrag
Rapid File Defragmentor Lite
SpeeDefrag
SpeedItUp FREE
Ultimate Defrag 1.72 *
UltraDefrag * (has a boot-time defrag but was pretty buggy with the first version though i hear it's quite stable now)
UnityPro Disk Idle Optimiser
WinContig
Windows PowerTools
Maybe i left some out but that should be enough for you to play with. ;D The ones that i put an * next to are my personal favourites.
Paid ones:
Too many to list i'll just list the good ones !
Puran Defrag *
PerfectDisk *** (Defrags metadata files aswell which is something that i haven't seen with others)
UltimateDefrag *
Diskeeper *
O&O Defrag **
Paragon Total Defrag * (Only defrag i know that actually defrags the ENTIRE partition and everything on it but you have to run it off the cd and it takes years to finish)
Vopt *
Have fun !
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Windows also has a built in Disk defrag tool. ;D
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I use defraggler-after install you can copy the exe to another folder and then uninstall defraggler and run the exe from a usb drive or other removeable media.
I just love portable software!
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
Defragler can defrag Multi-volumes and can be set to defrag with its scheduling function.
It has individual file defrag and Quick defrag that can be customized by number of fragments and file size plus move large files to end of volume to keep from having to defrag large files often.
http://www.defraggler.com/download
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
Defragler can defrag Multi-volumes and can be set to defrag with its scheduling function.
It has individual file defrag and Quick defrag that can be customized by number of fragments and file size plus move large files to end of volume to keep from having to defrag large files often.
http://www.defraggler.com/download
I think smart defrag also does that
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
Defragler can defrag Multi-volumes and can be set to defrag with its scheduling function.
It has individual file defrag and Quick defrag that can be customized by number of fragments and file size plus move large files to end of volume to keep from having to defrag large files often.
http://www.defraggler.com/download
I think smart defrag also does that
Your pic indicates that Defragler does not do that:
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
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Optimize Disk Performance
Smart Defrag doesn’t just use simple defragmentation. It also streamlines your file system, places the frequently used files and directories into the fastest area of the disk, enabling your computer to run at top speed with the most stability.
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
Defragler can defrag Multi-volumes and can be set to defrag with its scheduling function.
It has individual file defrag and Quick defrag that can be customized by number of fragments and file size plus move large files to end of volume to keep from having to defrag large files often.
http://www.defraggler.com/download
I think smart defrag also does that
Your pic indicates that Defragler does not do that:
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
They haven't updated their comparison chart for a long time I think.
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Windows also has a built in Disk defrag tool. ;D
Yes, I've been using it for a long time. I don't really know if I need an other defragmentation tool. Is Defragler easy to use? What about O&O Defrag, is it easy to use? Is O&O Defrag (commercial software) that much better than Defragler (free software)? Thank you all! :)
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I'll go with smart defrag.Its free and its light weight.Iobit also made a comparison between their product and other popular disk defrag software.
http://www.iobit.com/Images/isdcompare.gif
No offense but that comparison is BS. They don't say what methods they used for testing and how they came to those results. Just some numbers that naturally show how good their OWN software is. Marketing BS. What when how why where ? Different file placement strategies have different advantages(eg. some are more appropriate for faster access, some for faster copying and so on) Understand what i am saying ?
The questions you should be asking when looking at defrag software:
Can it do MFT defragging ?
Can it do directory placement ?
Can it do a boot-time defrag ? (very important feature which none of the free defraggers have except for UltraDefrag and PageDefrag but it's very basic)
Can it read the layout.ini file for placement of boot files in term making the boot faster ?
Does it have a scheduler ?
Does it offer a good file AND directory placement ? (and possibly different strategies for this)
Does it have free space consolidation ?
Can it defrag when space is very low ?
etc.
etc.
You see what is required depends from user to user like i said in my first post so you cannot go around claiming this one is the best and that one sucks guys. What works for you may not work for someone else. Best is to review the features each one has and then decide for yourself on which one is the most appropriate for you.
I can tell you that for me personally NONE of the free ones is good enough. Not even MyDefrag which has BY FAR the most features from all the free ones. Like i said it is scriptable and you can control the file and directory placement anyway you like but it is for advanced users obviously. Can even defrag the MFT and has support for layout.ini. The only thing it's missing is continuous background defragging but for me that is a totally unnecessary feature and i never liked the idea of it. It increases the wear and tear on the hdd with constantly defragging the shit out of it. Since there is alot of copying on my hdd all the time i wouldn't want that enabled but this is just my opinion. A weekly defrag is enough for me personally.
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Windows also has a built in Disk defrag tool. ;D
Yes, I've been using it for a long time. I don't really know if I need an other defragmentation tool. Is Defragler easy to use? What about O&O Defrag, is it easy to use? Is O&O Defrag (commercial software) that much better than Defragler (free software)? Thank you all! :)
Don't even think about changing if you are on O&O ! It is far superior to SmartDefrag, Defraggler, Windows Defrag and all the rest of those freebies !
EDIT: Sorry i read your post too fast, YES it is superior to those !
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Thank you a lot, I've sent you a PM.
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Answered ! ;)
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Thanx! :) So people, should I get O&O Defrag or Raxco's PerfectDisk? I'm deciding among those two.
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Try both of them and then see which one suits you best. They both have trial versions available. :)
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( ... ) MyDefrag which has BY FAR the most features from all the free ones.
I agree. Their "FastOptimize.MyD" default script is excellent for common user.
The file and directory placement and the support for layout.ini allows a very good performance.
I like the screensaver option in MyDefrag, instead background defragging that some defrag software have.
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OK, thank you all for the help! :)
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Well, I think I've decided for PerfectDisk. :) I will download the trial first. And some more questions, please help me again. :)
Do you recommend me to let it run in the background and defragment all the time? Or is it better for the hard disk to defragment it once or twice a month?
Does PerfectDisk have to install any other Windows tool or program or anything external at all? Any problems with Windows XP firewall? Do I have to update PerfectDisk later on? Are updates free?
Thank you! :)
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Well, I think I've decided for PerfectDisk. :) I will download the trial first. And some more questions, please help me again. :)
Do you recommend me to let it run in the background and defragment all the time? Or is it better for the hard disk to defragment it once or twice a month?
Does PerfectDisk have to install any other Windows tool or program or anything external at all? Any problems with Windows XP firewall? Do I have to update PerfectDisk later on? Are updates free?
Thank you! :)
Nope no conflicts, nothing extra required for installing(at least that i am aware) and yes you can update it for free for the minor builds(say v10 build 44 to v10 build 61). It will let you know when a new version is out. When a major update is released though like from v10 to v11 you'll need to buy another license to upgrade but you'll get a discount. But it's not like an AV software so you don't have to upgrade every year when a major new version comes out.
I recommend you set it up to defrag every week or if that is too much for you then twice or once a month should do it. Why i don't like the contionous background defragmenting i already explained to you.
lp
Miha
EDIT: I also suggest you to check out the PerfectDisk blog, some nice info there. http://blog.perfectdisk.com/
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OK, thanx, and one last question (hopefully ;D): is PerfectDisk 100% a safe program to use? Check this out please: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=245448
Again - thank you! :)
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Well since you don't have a RAID array i don't see how this could affect you. And no i never had this problem with the boot defrag, this is the first i hear of it.
But maybe you should read that whole thread, it appears it was some problem with build 110.
with the newest 114 update the problem no longer exists
BTW the newest build is 119 and brings better Win 7 support...
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Mikey,
Doesn't windows 7 clean up (defrag) the HD automatically as part of it's maintenance ???
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Not sure what you mean Bob. Disk Cleanup doesn't defrag but by default windows defrag IS scheduled to run on a weekly basis in both Vista and 7. Is that what you meant ?
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Not sure what you mean Bob. Disk Cleanup doesn't defrag but by default windows defrag IS scheduled to run on a weekly basis in both Vista and 7. Is that what you meant ?
Correct. :)
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Perhaps we should also give a little bit more info about windows 7 defrag which has been improved over the one in Vista. It's actually pretty darn good if you ask me ! If you want to learn more, i found a nice blog on msdn that explains more about it. Quite an informative read. :)
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/01/25/disk-defragmentation-background-and-engineering-the-windows-7-improvements.aspx
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I say that Io Bit Smart defrag is better than windows defragment tool
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Perhaps we should also give a little bit more info about windows 7 defrag which has been improved over the one in Vista. It's actually pretty darn good if you ask me ! If you want to learn more, i found a nice blog on msdn that explains more about it. Quite an informative read. :)
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/01/25/disk-defragmentation-background-and-engineering-the-windows-7-improvements.aspx
Its a good read with a final observation Best practices for using defragmentation in Windows 7 are simple – you do not need to do anything! Defragmentation is scheduled to automatically run periodically and in the background with minimal impact to foreground activity. This ensures that data on your hard disk drives is efficiently placed so the system can provide optimal responsiveness and I can continue to enjoy glitch free listening to the Eagles :-).
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Hm, another thing about PerfectDisk: I would like to use it as I did the built-in Defrag in Windows XP, meaning I don't want to use background defrag, scheduler, screen-saver etc. I just want to manually defrag - start the program and run it for the time needed to get the job done. Once a month or so. Is that OK or it maybe isn't good for my hard-disk to do so? Thank you again. :)
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Yeah it's ok.
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I found something weird:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=188680&hl=perfectdisk (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=188680&hl=perfectdisk)
What do you think, is PerfectDisk safe for a newbie user like me? I really don't want to damage my hard-disk and lose data.
And another thing I read: "While defragmenting you should not use the pc, you should disable screensavers, disconnect from net and siable firewall/antivirus."
Is that true?
Thank you for help! :)
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I'm sorry to say this to you but you are massively overdoing it with the paranoia buddy. I have no idea what that user was doing with his partitions but clearly he was experimenting a bit too much with something he doesn't understand hence his strange problems(his partition is way too small btw which would explain alot). His biggest problem is himself and his lack of knowledge.
PD is very stable(especially on XP) and shouldn't cause any problems so yes i would call it safe. And no you don't need to disable any of that stuff or disconnect from the internet, if some files are in use they'll just be locked by the os and therefore ignored by the defrag(it won't move them).
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"While defragmenting you should not use the pc, you should disable screensavers, disconnect from net and siable firewall/antivirus."
Is that true?
Paranoid...
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Yeah, I admit that I'm a little paranoid, but I don't want to lose any data. So the stuff about no work, no screensaver, being offline etc. while defraging is not true? OK. :)
So, I guess I should use PerfectDisk with the default options then? If I mess up with more advanced stuff I can damage my HD?
Sorry, but I'm curious. Thank you! :)
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Rejzor's power dragmentor with contig does a great job!
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Yeah, I admit that I'm a little paranoid, but I don't want to lose any data. So the stuff about no work, no screensaver, being offline etc. while defraging is not true? OK. :)
So, I guess I should use PerfectDisk with the default options then? If I mess up with more advanced stuff I can damage my HD?
Sorry, but I'm curious. Thank you! :)
Yes the defaults are fine. Don't play with your partitions and you'll be fine. PD doesn't change your partitions cause it's not a partition manager, it's a defrag program, that guy used something else to do that and mess up his partitions. PD was not his problem there it was something else.
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Allright, thank you for so much help, I really appreciate it. Thanx! :)
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You're welcome.
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Hi :)
What do you think about Ultimate Defrag?
Thx and have a nice day. ;)
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And another thing I read: "While defragmenting you should not use the pc, you should disable screensavers, disconnect from net and siable firewall/antivirus."
Is that true?
This used to be true back in the Win98 days and FAT32 partitions. But ever since Win2000, you can defragment anytime you want, even while using computer.
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I see, thank you. Windows XP built-in Defrag needs quite a lot of free space on HD to perform a defragmentation, how's PerfectDisk about this, how much free space (in %) does it need?
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I see, thank you. Windows XP built-in Defrag needs quite a lot of free space on HD to perform a defragmentation, how's PerfectDisk about this, how much free space (in %) does it need?
If you'd head on down to their web site you would find this.
Exclusive Single-pass Defrag
Unlike typical defraggers, PerfectDisk 10 Home Edition completely defrags your drives (all files and metadata) and consolidates free space in just one pass – no matter how large or fragmented the system. With revolutionary minimal-free-space requirement, you can defrag an entire drive with less than 1% free space.
http://www.perfectdisk.com/products/home-perfectdisk10-home-edition/key-features
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Nice, thanx! :)
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What do you think about Ultimate Defrag?
Ultimate Defrag is a good defrag. It isn't free though.
They have an old free version that is handy and good: UltimateDefrag Freeware Edition 1.72 (http://www.freewaregeeks.com/index.php?page=detail&get_id=176&category=53#).
Since I use JkDefrag / MyDefrag I don't use it anymore.
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Is anyone here using RunPD.exe script for manual startup of PerfectDisk? I'm thinking about using it and would like to know if PD works as it should that way too. Thank you! :)
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Interesting. I didn't know about this script which is not suprising since i don't need it. No in your case i don't see any disadvantages in using it infact it is exactly what you wanted in the first place imo. No reason why PD wouldn't work like it should. Disable PD's startup entries and set the services to manual and use this script to start PD.
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I think that RunPD.exe takes care of everything, so I don't have to manualy change anything. At least I think so...
Here's why I asked if it will work properly with that method:
"The PerfectDisk Services - PDAgent and PDEngine need to be configured to the default startup mode (PDAgent - Automatic, PDEngine, Manual) in order for all features of PerfectDisk 10 to run correctly. Disabling these services will result in PerfectDisk 10 not running. Changing the startup mode from Automatic to Manual may result in certain PerfectDisk 10 features not working correctly."
Anyway, some minutes age I analyzed my C partition and then defragmented it with SMARTPlacement method for the first time. Now I'm doing the same with my D partition (this will take more time it seems). I don't know yet how to properly defrag system files and how the Space management function works. Any suggestions, maybe what I should be careful about too? Thanx a lot! :)
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The features that won't be working are the scheduling part and StealthPatrol which are the ones that you won't be using anyway right ? So no big deal.
Yes the SMARTPlacement will take a long time to finish the first time you run it, it will get faster with time don't worry. For the boot defrag you need to tick the little box from my screenshot and restart the pc. It will do the defraging just before the pc enters windows. The boot time defrag takes care of those files that have been locked by the OS and cannot be defraged while in windows(like pagefile, hibernation file, ntfs metadata etc.). So yes i would advise you to do this aswell, it shouldn't take that long though.
(http://www.shrani.si/t/T/Rp/1faw3xHN/boot-time.jpg) (http://www.shrani.si/?T/Rp/1faw3xHN/boot-time.png)
-- click on the pic to make it bigger --
Space management has more than one feature and i would advise you to read the documentation for more info on how to use it. Infact PD's documentation is very well written and quite an informative read. Their blog is also a great source of info. If you have any more questions about the product please read the documentation first before asking here, everything is very well explained and with the risk of sounding rude, everything you are asking here you could learn from PD's documentation. If you can't find the info that you want then you can also ask their customer service since you are now their customer aren't you ? So use the support that you payed for. Good luck with using PD, i have a feeling you are going to like the product. ;)
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I'm not a customer, I'm using the trial version for now... And yes, the manuals are well written, but I was looking for a short explanation, that's why I asked here. Well, thank you for all the help! :)
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Note to anyone using Returnil:
Please do not defrag disk while in Returnil Virtualization!
This can screw up the virtual partition.
It is fine to Defrag with Returnil present,just not in
protected mode.
thanks.