UltimateDefrag - is this the best defragger ever?

Thanks EASTER for posting your settings. I have a clarification questions :

You mention that .SNA files are on your HDD : are they on your C: partition ?

Also, regarding UD2008, there is something I am missing from this defragmenter, that is only present, AFAIK, in IOBit SmartDefrag and DefragExpress : the ability to exclude file that are bigger than a given size.

 

I have one disk with 2 partitions both housing a single folder with DriveSnapshot images in both. If one partition fails, it's so easy to switch to the other and let DS simply overwrite the affected (for whatever reason) partition with a "clean" copy of the saved DS image, and DS restores that complete image in record time and not only that, everything is perfect afterwards.

This is been a great time & system saver for me for many months because restoring across partitions is as easy as allowing DS to do the job, even while you multi-task on the same system that's restoring over the affected one.

No exaggeration whatsoever either. I have still yet to experience a single problem doing this across partitions and everything boots up like nothing was ever wrong with the other one.

Thats another reason i am truly satisfied with DS. It borders on 100% fool-proof IMHO, at least using it in this manner which i have done so many time before.

EASTER

 

What happens when your disk fails?

 

Isso, dismissing your 'round view' disk display, your statement which I embolded (above) really confuses me. If you can't determine that information how do you truly consolidate and archive files to the outer and inner tracks respectively (on each platter)? ...and how is that not important?

 

Guess?

I keep backups of all my disks with DS on an OFF-LINE storage HD. Simple really and with DS takes no time at all to perform backups.

Enjoy

EASTER

 

EASTER,

You have a very nice defragging method, although the percentage of High performance files is a bit higher than usual value. It's recommended to use 20..30% for High Performance. Also I'll recommend to make sure you use Fast or Very fast methods for both Archive and High performance, unless you have a reason to get them sorted.

 

Aaron,

I was talking about real (physical) positions of the files on the disk platter. The defragmenter does not need to know those locations in order to do its work. It only needs to know logical position, i.e. the offset of each file from the beginning of the disk. It doesn't care what angle they are located on, because it's an internal hardware information.

But for the round display (please note - only for the display) of UD to be perfectly correct it needs to know the real sizes of the platters. Since it's impossible to determine those values, the files may be displayed at incorrect angular positions compared to real positions. I.e. if you have say pagefile.sys starting say at 30 grad offset on the physical plate, you may have it 60 on the display. Again - this has nothing to do with defragmentation, and actually means nothing to the users - I only mentioned this so people know that if a file on UD display is starting say at 30 grad offset that doesn't always mean that if they disassemble their HDD the'll find that file to be positioned at 30 grad offset too.

I hope this makes sense. If not - please, please forget what I was saying about incorrect positions and assume that UD has everything perfectly correct It just woudn't work if it hadn't.

 

Well, it makes sense to me. After all, the following appears on one page of the DiskTrix web site:

"The First True Graphical “Disk” Metaphor!
For the first time in a defragger, you can see the defrag process happening live using a true round disk metaphor!..."

Note the words, "Disk Metaphor" (with the word "disk" in quotes). Nowhere is it stated that the graphics represent ACTUAL positions of the files on the disk platters. You wouldn't need to put "disk" in quotes for that, nor use the words, "disk metaphor". Rather, you could state, "The First Exact Representation of Disk Platters in Graphical Form". It's clearly not, hence no such claim is made.

Let's face it, the thing is really nothing more than eye candy - sure is 'purty and all' but it serves absolutely no purpose from a functional point of view. I mean, I can tell if my files are close to the "outer edge" using Windows' built-in defragmenter.

Also, if I want "FUN and EXCITEMENT", I think I'll first try base jumping, kite surfing, or the like. For some strange and confounding reason, I haven't been able to get much of an adrenaline rush out of defragging my HDDs (with or without UD).

 

That's because you should expect something more like an endorphin trickle.

Point taken, though, as I can think of many more interesting things that crank up my hypothalamus.

 

i tried defrag express
it's great
but i like more ultimate defrag
i would love to have this feature
in the archive -> a new feature ( file bigger then ... for example 400mb) and maybe with a wildcard exclusion outlook incoming email *.dbx

thanks

 

mantra,

Thank you for feedback and suggestions! I'll see if we can implement them - the only problem is that the program is already a bit too complex to use, and adding more and more features may make it too cluttered.

 

I just installed and downloaded (or the other way round) the latest version, 1.49. Thanks for adding removable media !

Just a one more suggestion : to have a special colour for excluded files based on size (optional).

 

MerleOne - you welcome! I agree it's a good idea to mark excluded files - will add to the to-do list. However I'm not sure when we'll release next DefragExpress update. Currently next UltimateDefrag version is priority.

 

So, are we to assume that fixing the bugs in the current UltimateDefrag version isn't?

Either that or I sincerely hope DiskTrix is planning to offer free upgrades to UD2009 to those of us who have (as of yet unresolved) issues with UD2008.

Thanks!

 

prius04,

I'm not sure about the upgrade policy, sorry. I hope it'll be free. From the development point of view supporting two versions is a pain and doesn't make much sense. We fix bugs and release a new version (major or minor) - that's the usual process.

 

may i ask a question ?
enabled the option layout.ini
ultimatedefrag puts mp3 ,jpg and other files in the more fast zone,it's bloddy boring

but how does windows xp make the layout.ini ?
i mean where grab the info to make layout.ini , registry ,some files??


thanks!

 

mantra,

Yes, Windows often adds files to layout.ini that are completely irrelevant to the system speed. I don't know the algorithm it uses to create that file, but it looks like a mix of: files that are loaded on system bootup, and most recently (and probably most often) accessed files.

To have a fresh Layout.ini file you can delete the entire contents of C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch directory and force the system to re-create Layout.ini file by running following command line (from cmd.exe) - Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks.
This will create much smaller Layout.ini file that contains only the files used at Windows bootup. If layout.ini file is missing after a couple of minutes you may need to reboot.

Note: please be extremely careful when modifying Windows system directory contents. I assume you have good system knowledge.

 

thanks for the anwer
why don't add the feature move the folder close to the mft in the Fragmented files only , it's useful for full big hard disk

 

Gee, you Windows guys have all the fun. I really miss having to defrag my hard drive.

 

Actually there is little, if any, tangible benefit from frequent defragging of a Windows drive. Once every 6 months, say, is more than enough for most people. There are a small number of people (like some of those posting to this thread) who feel shortening the life of their hard disks is more important than using their computer for every day tasks.

 

I dont

Once I get all my programs installed,I defrag.Then I let'er run! No problems ever or performance slow-down.

 

Mantra,

I'll add your feature request to the list - if approved, you'll see it in the next version. If not - you can always start any other defrag mode with "Move directories close to MFT" checked, wait until moving dirs is finished (it'll take less than a couple of minutes in most cases) and stop. This operation doesn't need to be performed often, so you can do that once and then only use "Fragmented files only".

 

spm, Boost,

I agree with both of you, and that's why in DefragExpress we've developed new algorithms that minimize the re-fragmentation rate. This leads to very fast subsequent defrags, thus minimizing the wear of HDD.
For example one of our test machines that is running a mail server is scheduled for daily defrags. That may look too often, but the defragmentation procedure takes only about one minute each day. And I think it's obvious that one minute of HDD work will not cause significant wear on it. But it keeps the server running at top performance.

 

but will you add more feature in the new version
for example i tried defragexpress and it move mp3 and movies in the more fast zone of the hard disk,and i can't avoid

so i like more use ultimate defrag , by the way defragexpress is an awesome defrag

 

Mantra,

Yes of course we'll add new features to UltimateDefrag. We are just trying to not make it more complex as lot of users are complaining about it being too complex.

Yes, DefragExpress doesn't have advanced features of UltimateDefrag, but there are lot of people who need a simple defragger, and who don't like spending time on tweaking their HDDs. So it's developed for them.