G’day,
Could someone please recommend a defrag software for XP, and please explain why do you recommended this software better than any other brand.
The reason for this is MS XP defrag doesn’t seem to be doing a good job.
Thank you and have a great Christmas.
I’ve tested a lot of them.
The best commercial, in my opinion, is O&O defrag. Other good one is PerfectDisk, with less options than O&O.
On the freeware field, Auslogics Disk Defrag 1.4.10.248 and IObit SmartDefrag 4.02 Beta do a very good job. Others, JkDefrag 3.32 is frequently updated (there is a separated GUI for it), DefragNT 1.90 and Spee Defrag 5.2 also do a god job, with different features each one. If I need to choose one, I’ll install IObit. Even in beta, very stable and safe.
I use JkDefrag, its free and I am very happy with the work it does. You can grab a copy here: http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/
Regards
I also use the JkDefragGUI version, but I primarily use RejZoR’s Power Defragmenter - RejZoRs - eXcessive-software.eu.tt Site. This is a GUI for the contig.exe which is the fastest defragger I have used, whilst it doesn’t have the same configuration as JkDefrag it is more than good enough.
I use at the moment Diskeeper 2008 Professional under Vista
(updating with a nice discount from 2007 Home ;D)
There is a pay-version only available as fare as i know.
I am very satisfied with the performance and thoroughness of the product.
It runs permanently in the background without wasting too much resources.
More information here: http://www.diskeeper.com/defrag.asp
Once again thanks for your feedback I’ve heard O&O Defrag and I was thinking about cause a lot of IT professional used it, and it cost about $69.95 AUD it not bad I’ll check with a friend of mind who is an IT so I’ll stick with Auslogics Disk Defrag until I do more research on O&O Defrag.
Thanks again 
Hello SpeedyPC !
This link has been posted a few times on the forum but i’m not sure you read it, it’s a good review of commercial and free defrag programs.
http://donnedwards.openaccess.co.za/2007/06/great-defrag-shootout-all.html
I prefer PerfectDisk out of the commercial defrag programs and JkDefrag out of the free ones, i recently bought PerfectDisk and i am very satisfied. If you’re on XP i would recommend the combination of JkDefrag and PageDefrag, both free.
I found out Piriform (the creators of CCleaner) tool called “Defraggler”. It’s still in beta though but works absolutelly excellent.
You can grab it here: http://www.defraggler.com
It’s very small and fast, standalone tool (if you unpack the installer manually with 7-zip or WinRAR) that can also defragment single file, folder or drive. Highly recommended!
Yeah. Follow this suggestion.
I’ll have a look asap cause I’m getting broadband drop out, some knuckle head about 5 block away from my house crash into the broadband cable pole line >:( so it won’t be fix until after the new year eve :'(…I wish I could cut that person nuts off…yeah know it not very nice.
Here you go:
http://depositfiles.com/files/2813404
Probably the smallest defrag tool hehe (this package is only 250KB!).
Well contig.exe isn’t very big 68Kb if used in command mode rather than using your GUI ;D.
Nice looking little tool will give it a try later.
Just tried JkDefrag and it works great, Thanks for the tip Snowhite.
JkDefrag is ok but it uses optimization algorithm that moves loads of data. Most of others just defragment files and pack them together if possible (UltraDefrag for example).
Ha ha ha smartarse my broadband cable is slowing down just like a dia-up line >:(, RejZoR I better just down you down the farm and shave off all your wool while you are getting very cold for Christmas.
But that’s the whole point Rejzor, JkDefrag doesn’t just pack all your data together it also offers several optimization strategies depending on your needs, that’s what makes it stand out over the rest IMO. But if you want you can just use the defrag only strategy without file/directory optimization. Very versatile tool.
The command for defrag only without optimization would be JkDefrag.exe -a 2 or JkDefragcmd.exe -a 2 if you use the command line version.
Defraggler looks very promising though but i’ll skip it since it’s in beta and i’ll wait for the final release before i try it.
With modern drives I doubt you will see much difference with a defragged and optimised drive than one that simply defrags the files and packs them together.
The major slow down is fragmentation having to visit several areas on the disk to access the complete file, once the file is in one fragment it would make little difference to the actual location of that file as we are talking millisecond seek times.
Is it good? I mean, move that data?
Isn’t other non-free defrag tools do the same, like O&O ?
There is a good explanation on how JkDefrag works on their web page:
[i]JkDefrag is based on the standard defragmentation API by Microsoft, a system library that is included in Windows 2000, 2003, XP, and Vista. Most defragmenters are based on this API, including the free defragmenter that comes with Windows and many commercial defragmenters. Basically all JkDefrag does is send “move this file to that location” commands to the API. JkDefrag does not modify the disk by itself, and is therefore extremely solid.
Defragmentation and optimizing will not only make a harddisk faster, but also lengthen it’s life span. The disk will have less work to do and therefore have less wear and tear. Secondly, the sorting optimization strategies (see the “-a” option) will refresh all the magnetic data on your harddisk. However, defragmenting and optimizing is work, so excessive defragmenting and optimizing can actually cause more wear and tear than it prevents. JkDefrag is therefore set for “fast” optimization by default, intended to be used on a daily basis. The other optimizations should only be used occasionally.
Phase 1: Analyze
JkDefrag has to scan all the files on the disk to determine if they are fragmented and where they are. A second step inside this phase will apply the exclude masks and determine which files are SpaceHogs.
Phase 2: Defragment
All fragmented files are defragmented, simply by moving them to the first gap on the disk that is big enough. If there is no gap big enough then the defragmenter will reduce the number of fragments in the file by moving as much of the file as possible into the largest gaps available.
Phase 3: Optimize
* On most harddisks the beginning of the harddisk is considerably faster than the end, sometimes by as much as 200 percent! See the link to "HD Tune" in the "See Also" chapter for a nice little free program to measure your disk. The default JkDefrag optimization strategy therefore moves all files to the beginning of the volume. It is intended for daily use and will simply fill gaps with files from above, very quick and with very little data movement.
* JkDefrag classifies files into 3 zones: directories (zone 1), regular files (zone 2), and SpaceHogs (zone 3). Directories are perhaps the most accessed data on disk, so zone 1 is placed at the beginning of the harddisk. After the directories comes a free area (see below), then zone 2 with regular files, another free area, and then zone 3 with SpaceHogs (less important files that take up a lot of space). The beginning and end of the zones is determined automatically, see the "-f" option.
* A running computer will create and delete temporary files like there is no tomorrow. If the harddisk were completely optimized then the only place for new temporary files would be behind all the other data. Which is rather slow. So JkDefrag maintains a free space of 1% of the total disk space between zone 1 (directories) and zone 2 (regular files), and between zone 2 and zone 3 (SpaceHogs).
* Sorting the files on your disk can give you even more speed. There are several sorting strategies to choose from (see the "-a" options). These are all very slow and intended for occasional use only.
* Windows reserves a percentage of the disk for the MFT (Master File Table), but can place normal files there if the rest of the disk is full. The files will remain there, even when there is enough space again. JkDefrag looks for files in the MFT reserved space and moves them to normal diskspace, making the reserved space available again for the MFT.
When JkDefrag is running you will see lot’s of messages zipping by showing you exactly what is happening. The messages are also stored in the logfile (“JkDefrag.log” or “JkDefragCmd.log”) for later inspection. The logfile may also contain warning messages, for example when a file could not be moved. This is normal, no need to worry. Windows has many system files that cannot be moved while Windows is running.[/i]
quoted from:
http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/
I really like this forum I’ve found lots of useful info and stuff here like JKDefrag there is a useful interface made for it http://www.emro.nl/freeware/ It’s a GUI that makes it easy to schedule, slect individual drives and much more. I’ve been experimenting with it and it seems to do a better job that the one in XP.
Joe