Auslogics Disk Defrag vs Windows Defrag vs others

I have Auslogics Disk Defrag, but shall I install it? I just formatted and install Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit, so I'm wondering if there are any benefits of auslogics over the default Windows defragger?

Also, how does it compare to the likes of PerfectDisk and O&O Disk Defragmenter?

 

The default Windows defragger really isn't that great at all.

I suggest you look up JKDefrag which works very well and is freeware

 

Ive used a few and i think I came across Auslogics while trying to move MFT entries in vista.

Theres a couple out there that give you real options. A modern defrag (provided default in most and same as vista) does not move all the data to one end of the drive. It actually spaces files out so they have room to grow without fragmenting. But there are other methods offered in other programs as well.

My biggest complaint about vista's is no progress like before.

 

according to some benchmarks I ran across... the vista defrag tool is much better than any other tools that were tested (including Auslogics and even Diskeeper!). For XP however, if you can afford it get Diskeeper, or if you want to go free use Auslogics.

 

Auslogics is very fast, however, the defrag is not very thorough.

 

Vista built in defrag tool can defragment MFT fragments whereas the others (most) don't.

 

mcgrady which do u recommend.................

 

Vista however does nothing to their location I could have a nearly empty 1TB drive and even after a defrag it not allow me to resize the partition due to MFT entries at the end of the partition.

 

I'm confused now, so what shall I use?

 

That's what GParted is for.

It does stink that Vista doesn't have a more complete partitioner.

A defragger that can move locked files is a partial solution IMO. I have yet to see any benchmarks that show significant access time gains from moving these locked files to a more "optimized" solution.

 

I use JKDefrag but the default windows one is fine and gets the job done.

 

Use the default Windows defragger (unless you're on XP as that one is pretty lame), Maximum PC did a comparison (I posted the results sometime ago in a thread similar to this one) and the Windows defragger performed better than the 3rd party solutions.

 

Unless someone can present some benchmarks, I would recommend just using the built-in utility. Saying things like "program X is more 'thorough' or 'better' than program Y" is meaningless.

 

Windows Disk Defragmenter is fine. I've experienced no noticeable gains using JkDefrag over the Windows one. I didn't do any benchmarks, but it didn't "feel" any faster.

 

Right, conclusion of all your posts, I will stick to the Vista Built in Defragmenter, thank you all for your replies.

 

I think by the time you need a defrag, you have reinstalled another os anyways

I personally use www.defraggler.com sometimes (irregularly).

 

Windows 98 one

I use auslogics to be honest, its very fast and in my oppinion works quite well

 

I just got a defragment of my hardisk just now using Windows Defragmenter.
What I gain is losing of XXGB(basically 10-40GB) of space. Not gaining!
I wonder why the hell this happen. It always like that. I need to defrag it a few days later, then it only give me back the XXGB(see luck 1).

Anyone know how to fix this problem?

 

Turn system restore OFF, click "apply", and then turn it back ON to delete all the previous restore points.

 

I give it a try. OMG!
Like a miracle. LOL! It works!
Thanks a lot!

 

That probably isn't the reason why disk space was lost during a defrag, but yes, that is a way to gain a lot of space back if you have system restore enabled. Better way is to go to My Computer>Right click C drive>properties>disk cleanup>more options>clean up system restore and shadow copies.

coolguys way deletes ALL system restore points(I believe) where as my method deletes all but the last restore pt made, so in case something happens you have at least 1 restore point to fall back on.

 

I know what you are talking about. But sometimes just one system restore point takes up enormous amount of disk space. Disk defragmenter creates one restore point if it's scheduled to run.

 

I got your idea.
But my case is different you see.
I have cleaned my restore points using tune-up utilities or the Disk-Clean up.
Yet, the "dissappeared" spaces didn't revive.
After enable and disable the restore points, I got back my "disappeared" spaces.
I think this is not sometime unusual, it is just some bugs for those defragmenter in vista.(basically, vista think itself have the restore points actually nothing can be restore because I already clean/destroy all restore points)

 

While I can't tell you anything about the different defragmentation software available, I wanted to point you to Contig, which can be used to (regularly) defragment particular files as much as possible:

It is Sysinternals Software, and now distributed by Microsoft for free.

I haven't tried this, but it should be possible to run it for example on an installation folder of a particular software (a game, for example) and thereby optimize allocation and degree of fragmentation of that particular software. It works a bit different than other defragmentation software, the more unfragmented free space you have before using Contig, the better - from what I read, Contig uses that unfragmented free space to move the files you specify over there while assuring each of them can be read in one single chunk afterwards:

• Prior to using Contig, defragment your disk to make sure there's enough unfragmented free space.

As I said, I have not been using Contig myself yet, so I'd be interested to hear about the results you got by using it.

 

SysInternals gets my vote every time - Russinovich seems to know the guts of Win-OSes better than anyone else (who's willing to talk about it in public ).

 

Does the Windows Vista defrag work behind the scenes to defrag the disk? Or is it something I have to do manually on my own from time to time?

 

Windows Vista Defragmenter is better than XP Defragmenter. Everyone know this.
But I don't like 1 thing in Vista Defragmenter, it does not show the fragments sectors/units. So, in order to see it, I downloaded Piriform Defraggler.
Nowaday, many Defragmenters work much better than before. It is just user preference now.
Personally, I use 3-5 defragmenters(see my mood use which 1).

 

I agree with you 100% about the lack of a visual for the _Vista defragmenter. I realize that any visual is really nothing more than a pretty security blanket that doesn't do anything other than make me feel better, but it does give a basic sense of where in the process you are at any given time, and also gives you the ability to second-guess whether or not your files are really as defragmented as you'd like them to be.

In terms of using multiple defragmenters on the same drive - I've read (tho' I don't know if what I read was reliable or not) that mixing defragmenters can cause problems with the file system, and that one should generally stick to one defragmenter - I guess that what I read was off the mark if you're using 3-5 with no problems.

 

Overall each defragmenter I used function about the same I guess(arrangement of files using same method).
So, I don't have any problems with it.

 

In Windows 7, the built in defragger shows what it's doing (atleast in numbers).

 

Vistas own defrag works well for me..
But, I also love using JK defrag', awesome application!


Cin

 

Maybe he doesn't know it better than anyone else, but he definitely has to know a lot about them.

By default, Vista defragments your disc once a week. To manually start a defragmentation using Vista's built-in defragmentation software or to change the scheduled defragmentation plan, open "Computer", right-click the desired drive, click properties. In the window that opens choose "Tools" and click "Defragment now".

 

Thanks for the link to that interview - all I can say is, I wish I was half so smart.

 

PerfectDisk is the best defrag tool on the market IMO. All others don't come close.

 

Mind explain in details and provides some links?

 

I personally prefer Diskeeper Professional '09. Best defragger I've tried.
BTW, whatever you choose, just use one...otherwise your files might get shuffled around for no good reason.

 

I have used most of the main stream defrag software on the market at some time and perfectdisk is the best of all of them. I used to be a big Diskeeper fan until I discovered Perfectdisk a few years ago.

Just google perfectdisk and you will find out why I say it is the best. I use it at work exclusively as it is certified by Microsoft to defragment all NTFS based windows systems.

 

Thanks for the information.
Will try it sooner or later.

 

Smart Defrag 1.11 is what I use.

 

Personally, TuneUp Utilities 2009's Disk Defragmenter is what I use, but Defraggler is a really good alternative, too.

 

After experiment, I found that Piriform Defraggler is better and faster than Windows Defragmenter.
Piriform Defraggler, free-up more disk space and defrag faster with progress bar shown.
Windows Defragmenter, free-up lesser disk space compared to Piriform's and defrag slower with no progress bar shown.

 

I use defraggler and Auslogics regularly, and JKDefrag ~ once a month

Great thread got some good info and alternatives to the programs I use

Thanks guys (too many too rep )

 

Thank you, I thought of creating this thread since I didn't see any topics about defragmentation

 

How is Piriform defraggler better than Windows Defragger?
Can you give some results to prove?

 

Overall, Defraggler is faster than Windows' Integrated Defragmenting Tool, and the defragmentation lasts for longer, or so I have noticed.

 

I forgot to screenshoot it.
Anyway, as Aeris said, it is Piriform's is faster than Windows's.
Moreover, Piriform's free-up 100MB more space during the experiment compared to Windows's.

 

Defraggler is a defragmentation program developed by Piriform Ltd. Defraggler allows users to defragment individual files on their computer system. Defraggler is offered free of charge to anyone, though Piriform accepts donations for the program.

Defraggler can defragment individual files, groups of files, or free space on any FAT32 or NTFS partition. It also displays the location of these files on the specified partition. Defraggler is also a portable program that can be used from a USB flash drive. More recent versions allow Defraggler to run on computers with less memory. Defraggler runs on Microsoft Windows, it has support for all versions since Windows 2000. It includes support for both 32- and 64-bit versions of these operating systems.



Disk Defragmenter is a computer program included in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique commonly known as defragmenting. The purpose is to optimize the time it takes to read and write files to/from the disk by minimizing head travel time and maximizing the transfer rate. As of Windows XP, Disk Defragmenter is also used to improve system startup times.

In Windows Vista, Disk Defragmenter includes an option to automatically run at scheduled times using Task Scheduler and uses low CPU priority and the newly introduced low priority I/O algorithm so that it can continue to defrag using reduced resources (less CPU and disk read/write activity) when the computer is in use. The user interface has been simplified, with the color graph and progress indicator being removed entirely. It was also not possible to select which drives to defragment, though Windows Vista Service Pack 1 adds this feature.

If the fragments of a file are over 64 MB in size, the file is not defragmented if using the GUI; Microsoft has stated that this is because there is no discernible performance benefit since the time seeking such large chunks of data is negligible compared to the time required to read them. The result, however, is that Disk Defragmenter does not require a certain amount of free space in order to successfully defrag a volume, unlike performing a full defragmentation which requires at least 15% of free space on the volume. The command line utility, Defrag.exe, offers more control over the defragmentation process, such as performing a full defragmentation by consolidating all file fragments regardless of size. This utility can be used to defragment specific volumes or to just analyze volumes as the defragmenter would in Windows XP.

Disk Defragmenter is maintained by Microsoft's Core File Services (CFS) team. The Windows Vista version has been updated to include the improvements made in Windows Server 2008 in Windows Vista SP1. The most notable of these improvements is that the ability to select which volumes are to be defragged has been added back.



JkDefrag is a free open source disk defragmenting utility for Windows. It is the first free software defragmenting project of its kind. This computer program was developed by Jeroen Kessels beginning in 2004 and is released under the GNU General Public License.

JkDefrag has a wide range of options. If it is run without options it optimizes speed by classifying files into 3 zones:

* Directories and system files (zone 1)
* Regular files (zone 2)
* Large files referred to as "space hogs" in the documentation (zone 3)

Files outside their zone are moved to their zone. Directories are perhaps the most accessed data on disk, so zone 1 is placed at the beginning of the drive. After the directories comes a free space area, then zone 2 with regular files, another free area, and then zone 3 with "space hogs", which are large files, archives, recycle bin contents, service pack files, and other infrequently accessed data.

JkDefrag has several excellent characteristics:

* Low overhead: it does not place an undue burden on the system
* Fully automated operation: there are no interactive buttons or menus
* Options aren't necessary, but a wide range can be selected using the Command line interface, allowing full control for scheduled defragmentation and with administrator scripts:
* No need for installation; runs with default options by merely opening JkDefrag.exe:
* Screensaver defragmentation, with the option to run another screen saver when done:
* Complete source code (Microsoft Visual C++ 2005) available for download:
* A DLL library (for use in programming) licensed using the LGPL
* Support for 64 bit versions of Windows XP and Vista with native x64 binaries:
* Excellent documentation available on the website
* Two versions: Both the GUI version and the character-oriented version have numerous command line options.

JkDefrag runs on the Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista Operating Systems, and defragments both FAT and NTFS filesystems. It uses the standard Windows defragmentation API exclusively, it is entirely safe. User support is provided through web-based forums.

 

Now that is a huge information sheet, thanks for posting this, DarkSilver, it will be easier for everyone to know the Pro's, Con's, Features, etc... of each program now!

 

Diskeeper, often abbreviated DK, is a disk defragmenter originally for the VAX series of mainframe computers and later released for Microsoft Windows. It is the flagship product of Diskeeper Corporation (formerly Executive Software) of Burbank, California, founded on July 22, 1981.

The defragmenter program included with the Windows 2000, 2003, and XP operating systems is based on a basic version of a previous Diskeeper version. Lenovo has also shipped versions of Diskeeper with ThinkPad laptops.

A new feature in Diskeeper 2007 is automatic defragmentation, an improvement over the previous scheduling functionality. Automatic defragmentation defragments files on-the-fly, using only idle system resource as needed. Because of this, schedules no longer need to be setup and disk performance is kept at a higher and more constant level.

Another feature in Diskeeper is "Intelligent File Access Acceleration Sequencing Technology" (I-FAAST). When enabled, I-FAAST determines the frequency of file usage and the most frequently used files are then moved to the most optimal portion of the disc. According to Diskeeper, this results in faster file access and also helps prevent future fragmentation of those files. The I-FAAST feature is available in Pro Premier and Server editions.

There are six versions available: Home, Professional, Pro Premier, HomeServer, Server, and EnterpriseServer. Diskeeper Administrator is also available to manage Diskeeper options as well as perform advanced installations. Version 10 was the last version available for Windows 9x. After version 10, Diskeeper versions follow the year based naming convention, that is, 2007, 2008 and so on.

Diskeeper 2008 introduced a proprietary technology called InvisiTasking that aims to defragment drives without causing impact on disk performance similar to the low priority I/O feature introduced in Windows Vista. Also, version 2008 onwards, Diskeeper is Shadow Copy-aware so shadow copies which are required for Windows Vista features such as System Restore and Previous Versions are not deleted upon defragmenting the volume.



Contig is a command line defragmentation utility for Windows currently owned by Microsoft subsidiary SysInternals.

Contig is designed to defragment individual files and does not attempt to move files to the beginning of the partition. Contig is especially useful for individual files that are often changed and become fragmented quickly because it can be targeted at these individual files without defragmenting the entire partition or drive.

Contig does not move any data except that belonging to the file in the question, so the amount it can defrag a file is limited to the largest contiguous block of free space on a system. Use of contig exchanges decreased file fragmentation for increased free space fragmentation.

Combined usage of the -s parameter and the wildcard symbol * allows whole directories and drives to be defragmented: for example,

contig -s C:\*

will defrag all the files on hard drive C. A small change to the Windows registry allows entire folders to be defragmented from Windows Explorer. New unfragmented files with specified name and length can be created.

Derivative programs that use Contig include Power Defragmenter GUI and Multiple Applicator 6.8. A related freeware product by the same author is PageDefrag.



PerfectDisk is a Windows defragmentation utility published by Raxco Software. It has won several awards from computer magazines, and is certified by Microsoft for all its current NTFS-based operating systems. The current version is PerfectDisk 10.

PerfectDisk has editions designed for most user categories, from home PCs to large servers. In addition to defragmenting files, it also optimizes disk drives with an optimization strategy called SMARTPlacement. It defragments data and system files and places a high priority on free space consolidation.

PerfectDisk attempts to defragment drives in a single pass of a drive, as opposed to a common approach of running continuously and gradually defragmenting the file system.

PerfectDisk has the capability of a scheduled defrag managed by an internal task scheduler. It also offers the option to defrag during screen saver activity, or when the PC is idle.

In 2007 it was the first utility to support defragmentation of terabyte-sized drives. Enterprise features include integration with Active Directory, enterprise-wide defrag management and reporting. More recently the product has added support for defragmentation of virtual environment files and images.

The Boot-time defrag facility is capable of defragmenting Windows metadata, Master File Table, hibernation file and page file. It was the first utility to offer Free Space defragmentation, and the SMARTPlacement algorithm places older (program) files near start of the drive, and newer (data) files near the end of the drive, closer to free space in order to minimise refragmentation. This optimization strategy aims to organize files by usage, resulting in a slower rate of refragmentation and also fewer resources being consumed.

 

There are still plenty of them.
Some of them are illegal, some of them are legal, some of them are paid version and some of them are FREE!