Hello~

I have searched the forum being I remember this being discussed before, but for some reason I have been coming up short-handed with no results... :(

I am currently looking into getting a new defragmenting program being I heard there is much more that can be done than using the out of the box Disk Defragmenter that comes with Windows. I've been hearing a lot about Diskeeper, PerfectDisk, and O&O Defrag.

Originally, I was going to go for O&O, but saw a review stating that it was CPU intensive... But then again, I've been hearing mixed reviews on just about all of the programs mentioned...

That is why I turn to my fellow brothers and sisters here at B1 for guidance... It is always nice to get the real deal recommendation from those who actually are using the software - C'mon Bads - I know you have probably used them all... :lol: LOL

I am sure that there are probably other programs out there that can very well be better than the three I mentioned above, which I would be more than happy to be informed about...

So, how about some recommendations... Please? :)

Thanks in advance!
-SlickVic78

Hi there SlickVic78,

I use O&O Defrag V6, the best and at the same time the most user-friendly defragmentation software for Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.

I like it because I can "install and forget" about defragmentation. Once the automatic defragmentation is turn on, it detect when the CPU is running idle and start defraging the hard disks. Doesn't take much time to defrag 120GB. I was never tempted to go to Task Manager and see how much it is CPU intensive - so I will have a look at it next time. It is running smoothly over here and haven't given any problems yet. :)

Cheers,
McoreD

i use VoptXP for a longtime and i am satisfied with it

Info: http://www.vopt.com/VoptXP.htm

Download: ftp://vopt.com/pub/VXP_v722.exe

have a nice day
kernel

Diskeeper all the way. :)

None of them.

How often do you need to defrag your ntfs partition? (Honestly, how many around here has ever noticed a substantial slowdown of the system related to fragmented files only?) For a normal user I think two to four times a year will suffice.
There are some options to do this; either buy a third-party defragger as discussed above, use the inbuilt defrag.exe or erase the partition and bring the files back from a back-up.

I use to boot into safe mode (command window only) and from there run defrag. This way a few files normally locked by the OS also gets defragged. (Not very important, I do it mostly for "fun".) Like cleaning the house in the spring, after the summer and before christmas.

Pros: Free, pretty safe, no processes that can slow your machine down, a good feeling of doing something when you finally decide to defrag for some reason.

Cons: The MFT doesn't get defragged by defrag.exe. (But the same goes for some of those utils you pay money for.) An extra boot into safe mode a couple of times a year.

That was for the normal user. What about the hard core abuser and OS maniac then? Well, the same I should say. Probably you often enough rebuild your partitions and move your precious files around anyway.

my 2 cents - as always you decide for yourself

Personally, I have read in a few magazines and online sources that say the defragger that comes with XP is plenty. I think people tend not to use it because it's "basic" and does'nt have all the flash of the others. Just a thought to save ya some money B)

unicorn is technically very correct. Although I use a automatic defragmentor just for the sake of it and psychological satisfaction, I too join with unicorn to tell you the performance difference I see is: Close to NONE. :)

I do DVD Backups and create/move/delete 20 Gigs of files almost everyday. So the Hard Disk is fragmenting very frequently.

Although I previously suggested you a defragmentor, (just because, "Not using a defragmentor" was not one of your requirements) not using a defragment is also one of your options. ;)

Cheers,
McoreD

P.S: Attached a Poll.

That's true, I have test them all :D

O&O was a good defrag but not really fast for me.

PerfectDisk is the one I was using for about one year now. But I receive many error message with it :(

This is why since two days, I'm using the latest version of Diskeeper Pro ;)

This is really new for me so I can't give it a really good opinion for the moment. But Diskeeper takes more CPU usage than perfectdisk

Maybe it is doing a more good job ? I will see in the next few days :lol:

Hey Bads,

Please keep us updated with your results! :)

Thanks,
-SlickVic78

We use perfect disk right now. It was the newest program out when we got it. I do like it, but when it tells me that I still need to defrag after running the program I have to do an off line defrag. That seems to fix the problem for me.