Diskeeper rant + opinions wanted on defraggers

Thanks and I may just give it a try. Does autodefrag run in the background or does it run manually. I want to operate manually. Thanks again.

Gary

 

One thing that bothers is, I see UltimateDefrag folks recommentd you don't partition your drive but I have several partitions on mine that need to stay that way for various reasons. Will this be a problem with this program - having several partitions on drive and thanks.

Gary

 

I don't know but I used UD on my C: and D: partitions without no problems...

Anyway, the auto option is manual, see screenshot:

 

I have tried a number of combinations - currently I have C: set so that any data used by Windows or programs duru=ing the last 30 days is set as High Performance and everything else including zips is archived. This means that the data used during the last 30 days is placed on the outer edge and perhaps just as importantly data that is no longer or rarely used does not move on the drive. This last point means that defrags are faster.

I also have a data drive D: which is set up in the same way 30 days for performance and more than 30 days archived. Also Shadow protect images are added as wild wards *.spf so that they sit in the archive and don't get defragged all the time.

It is recommended not to use partitions so that high performance data goes to the outer edge ( faster) BUT using partitions has advantages and If I only had one drive I would still use UD. Although performance might suffer using the performance/archive split on each partition will at least speed up each defrag because less data needs to be moved.

I only use manual defrag - but it is fairly easy to set up schedules to defrag in different ways at different times.

I still use PD for off line defrags but hopefully this problem will be sorted soon.

 

Thanks again for your input. Will consider this app and probably buy it and give it a shot.

@Long View,

Could you tell me exactly where in the GUi you go to set those options you mentioned and thanks.

Gary

 

clik on options (yellow)
just below high performance, next to automatic type 30 then change % most frequently to past days. For archive check include files by wild card and add things like *.zip so that zips or mp3 are archived rather than moved to the performance part of the drive. I tend to use folder/file name - remember to tick the options.

 

Absolutely!

I wound up choosing PD over UD primarily because Blue tipped me off to a special that ended on the 31st (thanks again, Blue!) - 3 licenses + maintenance = $66.

However, I did notice that UD, like DK, has an activation scheme. According to the User Guide, each license can be activated ten times after which you need to contact support via email. I found that to be rather off-putting given the fact that the main reason I was interested in an alternative was the result of an issue with activation.

 

Thanks much Long View. Will consider this but I also don't like activation schemes but I do use ShadowProtect and love the program.

Gary

 

UD 1.72 is freeware now and has no activation scheme.

 

What main features would you miss out on if you used the free version and thanks.

Gary

 

WSFuser posted that information in another thread (which was obtained from somewhere on the Disktrix web site):

"Faster Defrag Engine"
"High Performance File Placement In Just Minutes"
"More File Placement Options"
"More File Selection Options"
"Many More Under The Hood Improvements"

 

I use Ultimate Defrag once a week and run MST Defrag as a real-time defragger. That keeps things pretty neat and organized.

 

@Long View,

Could you please confirm if my options screen resembles your settings you suggested for UD? I basically use this setting for all my drives I want defragged but your confirmation and/or correction would be appreciated.

Gary

 

If i setup up this two service for PD
PD91Agent set to manual
PD91Engine set to manual
I need to enable this services again when i need to Defrag ??I always defrag my disk manually.

Any advice...sorry for asking help in another persons topics.........

 

hello,
why not use this
read about and download the runPD.exe

 

Yes i read about this but this i need to Run all the time when i defrag or i need to install only ony one time and thats it.....

 

I think you need to change past days not used to 31 but that is about it. On my machines I just use 2 drives C: for OS and Programs and D: for data

After installing a new operating system you have to be patient and wait 30 days because all OS and program files are new. I also found that using some backup programs for D: reset the clock as all files backed up were "used". Using imaging to backup does not cause this problem.

If you play around with % most frequently used data you can produce similar results - the idea being to have most freuently used data on the outer edge and data that is not used or rarely used in the archive. I'm not sure how much this speeds up machines in practice but it certainly speeds up defrags - once the system has settled with archived data tending not to move or to move very little.

 

I have both those services on manual.
When you execute PD automatically "calls" the PD91engine. There is no need to enable them manually.

Panagiotis

 

@Long View,

Thanks for that. I will change that to 31 and thanks again for all.

Gary

 

No- there is very little empirical improvement with any third-party program over what XP offers.

 

O&O is doing a fine job here for me. The system files in use can't be defragged while in windows so 3rd party apps like DK, PD and O&O defrag the system files offline before boot. My file access is snappy with my SATA 10K as well as 7K disks.

 

By setting UD2008 up so that files used within the last 30 days go to the outer edge (performance) and that the remainder are archived to the centre Defragmentation itself takes less time - usually about 10 seconds for me.

I appreciate that this does mean that performance has been improved but it is true that this is a real measurable advantage of UD2008 over the free Xp offering.

any performance gain comes from reducing the number of file "in play" and not from the actual defragmentation process itself