Favorite De-fraggers? And 2 Recycle Bin Questions Too.

What are Wilders members' favorite de-fraggers? Also, how many members leave the default Windows recycle bin set to 'apply to all drives', with the default 10% of disk space allocated? And do members here think that the allocation of the space for the recycle bin actually 'reserves/removes from use' that space, or does it just sort of reserve that space until something that needs it comes along?

sk

 

Hi sk

Since I beta tested for Executive Software, I am partial to Diskeeper.
Windows XP uses their cut-rate version.

I use Eraser to erase the recycle bin if anything get to it to begin with.
I always just right click and select erase with Eraser.
Of course Norton Utilities uses a protected recycle bin if interested.

 

I use Eraser too, Controller. But when I checked out the "Properties" for recycle bin and saw how much space got allocated for it - especially with two hard drives, one 80GB and the other 120 - I reconfigured it. I actually did that a while back, and it led to a very interesting thread at another forum concerning the whole issue of space allocation for the recycle bin. Apparently, it's not exactly clear-cut just WHAT happens with that space. That's why I posted that part here too, to see what people knew, or think they know, about the whole space-allocation for the recycle bin.

As far as de-fraggers, I am currently using O&O's Defrag on a W2K system. I tried Executive's product but didn't like the fact that it doesn't offer an optimization option. O&O's, on the other hand, offers 5 different options for optimization. 1. Space only; 2. Stealth; 3. Complete/Name;
4. Complete/Date 5. Complete/Access. I also use a neat freeware defragger called Contig, which is run from the dos prompt and can be d/l'd at Sysinternals: http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/utilities.shtml

Regards,

sk

 

Right now I'm using Raxco Perfect Disk. I also like Vopt, because it is really fast. It still does a good job too.
Never mess with the recycle bin settings as I have plenty of space and its not causing any problem.

 

I tried Raxco also; it was a toss up between O&O and Raxco. The bottom line was that sometimes Raxco just would not completely defrag the disk. OK, it was 99%, but then I'd run O&O and it completed it. I think any of them are better than the bargain basement version of Diskkeeper that comes with XP. (Just like GetBack is a much more robust version of its own giveaway program that becomes "System Restore" in XP.)

And thanks for the feedback on the recycle bin too.

sk

 

I have used Vopt from Win98 thru to 2000 and XP. Very fast and efficient and also has a number of very useful tools within the program. These include erasing all Internet cookies, history etc; optimising the swap file and various tuneup facilities for your system. I have tried most of them; O&O Defrag, Diskeeper and PerfectDisc and found Vopt to be the best .

 

Well, it definitely looks interesting. They don't actually specify, however, what - if any - optimization routines they offer. And actually, the site itself dpes seem kind of 'thin' as far as any real technical details, aside from the screenshots. Do you know if their product has ever been reviewed anywhere? I'd be interested if anyone knows about that. Or if any of the others have been compared also. Thanks for your input, blackcat; it's always great to have more choices and options. And it sounds as if after trying the main ones we're talking about here, you found Vopt to be the best. So that's a pretty good endorsement right there.

sk

 

And that may be the case, LWM. But just as you stated, the leap from my 10GB Quantum Fireball in my Compaq to just about 200GB combined in my current system puts the recycle bin tally, unaltered, at 20GB!!! (It defaults to 10%). Then, factor in about another 1.5 GB for the default pagefile, and who knows what else. That's why I like the defragger utilities - they break it down in nice neat colors. And I got tired of seeing a bunch of 'locked' files, which turned out to be the recycle bin. Now granted, I don't know what color they would have turned had the disk gotten more filled up, but to me, I think the recycle bin is a potential security hole to begin with; so I sure wasn't thrilled about allocating any 20GB! But again, that's just my take; your individual mileage may vary.

 

i'm currently using the XP defragger, but when i used win2k i tried PerfectDisk 2000 5.0 and OO Defrag and they were really slow, so i got back to the windows defragger. Maybe i'll install Diskeeper later when i get it

For the recycle bin i normally use shift+delete, because i only delete when i'm sure i won't need that files anymore

 

Yes, sometimes either OO or Perfect Disk could be painfully slow. With OO, it's normally just the first time; but it still goes slower than the regular defragger in XP. But the fastest and most effective and free is still Contig, I believe. Contig could get some of the ones the others couldn't. Though it remains open whether or not the additional time it takes to defrag the drives ends up paying off down the road because it's optimizing them, whereas the XP defragger has no optimization routine; nor does Diskeeper 7, if I'm not mistaken. And when space does get tight, one of the big plusses of OO is that it can run with a minimal amount of free space - at least according to its copy - whereas the other programs need more 'swapping' space.

sk

 

So far I have not found a defrag as fast and through as Diskeeper.
Lightning-fast boot-time defragmentation of critical system files.
This is accomplished with Frag guard.
Boot Time defragmentation is the only Microsoft recommended way to defragment the Paging File and certain system files. Without it, system performance degrades.
I am a compulsive recycle bin eraser
I can never leave any files in that bin. For some reason the site of those papers hanging out bug s me soooo bad.
Other than leaving files laying around in your recycle bin, I see no security issues at all with the recycle bin.

 

Well, not to argue, but for anyone NOT using something like Eraser (which I use also and I use the option to erase, not just empty, the recycle bin regularly. I also hate to see the darn thing overflow, even if it IS only one file. lol. Maybe it should have degrees of filled, although I doubt it would make any difference to me.) I think it creates a sort of 'weak link' so to speak. Meaning, whereas I almost always choose the context menu/right click option of "Erase" vs. Delete, some situations only allow for a delete. In those instances, anything going into the recycle bin via delete vs. erase, that then ends up just being emptied and not erased presents, I think, the possibility for whatever space is allocated for the recycle bin to end up with a re-trievable source that would not have existed had not the recycle bin been employed. It all depends on how that recycle bin space is allocated/protected by Windows. I do know that the author of Eraser wrote a lot about his concerns over how the swap file was protected, and how there should be specific stategies involving the defrag utility and how to really know you'd overwritten the swap file completely, etc. But I don't know about the recycle bin; but my concern ran along similar lines. Fortunately, the option to erase the recycle bin does take care of that, but only for people using Eraser or a similar program. If I don't have the proper understanding of how it works, I apologize.

sk