Best Defragmenting program?

This is for a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 laptop with Win XP Prof SP3 and a 160 GB SATA Hard Disk that is NTFS formatted.
Would like to know (your exp with) best general-purpose defragmenting tool, that will help to speed up system performance & keep hd's in good shape. I use the laptop for general work with docs, web, email, etc. No high-end multimedia activities.

Have tried in-built Windows defragmenter (=Diskeeper Lite 5, 2001, old version), Diskeeper Prof ver 8.0.049 Retail and O&O Defrag Prof ver 8. These don't help much. Current file fragmentatn on C: is about 33%.

 

i prefer perfectdisk 8

 

Check out these threads:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=256874
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=243284

 

I use AusLogics on Vista. It's free and fairly fast.

 

How full is your disk? If it's almost full it may be hard for the programs to move files around.

I have 0% file fragmentation, and all I've used is Vista's built-in defrag program.

 

O&O defrag will sort by most used programs, rotation speed, or file name

 

I agree, just so you know i vote for JKDefrag GUI.

 

How can you tell when Vista doesn't give any feedback or report regarding it's defrag program?

Whenever I use O&O it tells me my drive was roughly 3% fragmented when using the built-in Vista defrag program.

Note to the OP. I ran into a scenario where O&O reported a 33% fragmentation. What happened was I added another 2GB of ram for 4GB in total. What happened was Vista added to the page file and created a 2GB extension on the drive. So basically I had 2X2GB page file on the drive. The defrag program flagged it has very high fragmentation.

 

Here is how with the Vista defrag program. I use PerfectDisk 2008.

 

Yup... To find out the fragmentation percentage with Vista's built-in defrag program, you have to open a command prompt (as admin) and run "defrag c: -a -v".

I do consider it a bummer that Vista doesn't have a way to see this info within its defrag GUI.

EDIT: You can run "defrag /?" to see all the options.

 

JKDefrag. Portable and has lots of defragmentation options.

 

I checked and my fragmentation is at 2% which isn't too bad. I also used the -w switch which causes a full defragmentation of drive c: and it still came back as 2%.

I too wished MS included a GUI in defrag so not only could you see the visual layout of the drive but at least you could see the progress as it was happening.

 

JKDefrag can also be single step defrag. Just don't accidentally open it twice..

 

what do you guys know about vista defragging itself while the system is idle?

 

It's similar to Windows XP. If left alone the system would defrag itself. I think it was called or referred to as dynamic defragmentation.

The Vista version appears to be similar to OSX as that OS monitors usuage and will arrange files according to Hot Zones i.e. frequently accessed files. That's why defrag programs for OSX are pretty useless and can actually hurt performance. Vista's version pretty much does the same thing and rearranges files according to access. So in theory over a period of time the OS should become more responsive because files that are frequently accessed are placed into the same area.

 

in that case, why are the majority of us still using third party applications for defragging?

 

Because it takes time for dynamic defragmentation to kick in and some don't want to wait and the other group feels like the more you defrag the better. I just use the built in defrag program. I've tried other programs and I honestly can't tell a difference.

 

Yeah, the 3rd party defrag programs will defrag faster and have a cooler UI, but the end result should be similar. Once your files aren't fragmented anymore, they're not fragmented, no matter which program you ran to defragment them.

Personally, I don't care how fast or slow it is or if the UI is cool... I just click the Defrag button and then go to bed.

btw Rodknee, I'm surprised you're still 2% fragged after running defrag... how full is your disk?

 

8%

 

I use Diskeeper Pro 2008, and it keeps the 4 drives on my XP desktop, and the lone spinner on my Vista laptop in excellent shape. It's been flawless for me and I really like it's background defrag mode. It's the one I would always pick over others.

 

I use JKDefrag. I like it and it seems to be much faster than the built-in defrag program. I usually defrag three times a week. I think that may be a little overkill, though.

 

+1 for vista derfragmenter

 

Hi.
the only thing i dont like about JKDefrag GUI is that when you just want to check a drives fragmentation level, it does not give you any information at all.

you select analyse only and you see it checking the drive, but when it finishes it just does nothing, no info at all.

Is there any way to get more fragmentation information?

Regards

John.

 

I've used JKDefrag and IOBitSmart Defrag - Both Vista Compliant - and I would have to say that the one i prefer is JkDefrag. Smart Defrag is good and has a better appearance, but results and options-wise, JkDefrag wins hands down in my opinion.

You can find them at: www.iobit.com
and www.kessels.com/jkdefrag/

 

JKdefrag and Diskeeper