Best free Disk Defragmenter?

Currently I use Auslogics disk defrag but im on the lookout for a new more thorough programme if one exists?

Whats the best out there in your opinion?

 

Hi David, thanks for your reply.

I use XP on my desktop and vista (unfortunately) on my laptop. I am always installing and uninstalling different programmes so I defrag about once per month but if its not too cluttered I just let it slide for a while longer. Ill give your recommendation a try and see how it goes.

Thanks

 

Finally, someone asking about the best defragger who actually needs to use a defragmenter. Refreshing post. XP needed one but Vista/W7 don't IMO. I'm no expert but that's what I've found.

 

@ David : First impressions of O&O Defrag is its excellent! May even purchase the full version so I can disable zone filing.

@ augiedoggie : Thanks, Guess you guys see a lot of requests for defraggers on here

 

Ya, us forums rats see a lot of them.:-D However, there's never anything wrong with folks asking either.

We all learned from somewhere as none of us were born with a keyboard up our butt either!:-D

 

O&O is excellent, and I like Auslogics a lot also. Another good defrag program is the free version of Ultimate Defrag (scroll to the bottom of that page and fill out the form provided to receive a download link in your email; surprisingly, this defragger is not available here at MajorGeeks). I ran the free Auslogics for a couple of years and have no complaints; so if you like it, stick with it. Personally, I currently use the paid version of Ultimate Defrag, mainly because of the configurability and features (it's more for advanced users). If you don't needs all kinds of options and features, Auslogics is great for good basic defragging.

 

I use Puran Defrag free: http://majorgeeks.com/Puran_Defrag_Free_Edition_d6360.html

Does boot defrag also and lots of other features. Tried some others such as Auslogics but this Puran one is #1 in my book.

 

I've been using IObit SmartDefrag with Win XP for a few years. So, another recommendation. :-D

 

Thanks oma and usafveteran for your suggestions. I have never heard of Puran Defrag before and I like the inclusion of boot defrag for free. Seeing as though I have already defragged with o&o today I will wait a month or two before trying puran out.

 

More choices Drive Utilities
at http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

Some Free, some Shareware.

Bazza

 

I ran the Auslogic defrag program just once and it made such a mess of my HD that I had to do a Ghost backup and restore to get my drive back in shape again.
Auslogic had files scattered from one end of the partition to the other. What a mess!
It comes with other Utilities packages but I won't let it run.

The defrag that comes with every version of windows is sufficient to keep your HD running smoothly. The main thing is to keep the CRAP off of it.

I actually don't defrag my HD anymore. I do a Ghost backup followed by a Ghost Restore and my drive is completely re-written with all my files in perfect order, with NO spaces between them and NO fragmentation. I do that at least once a week.

I always delete ALL garbage files from my HD before I do a backup and that includes old System Restore points and the Pagefile.
I delete almost 5 gig's of junk before doing my backups.

good luck,
:cool

 

Thanks, Oma. I downloaded Puran and I like the way it shows me what it's doing.

 

You're welcome Lavender. In Puran's *additional operations* I have only the first 4 checked. I always do a bootdefrag but only after using *analyze* feature of Windows own defragment utility first. If it says no defragmentation is necessary I won't do it with Puran either except for when I'm making an image of the HD on my external hard drive. When I check defrag *analyze* in Windows after having used Puran it shows a nice solid block in front of the drive which other defrag programs never did. Do defragging about only once a month or even less because I was told that defragging too often may wear out the HD prematurely.

 

"Re: Best free Disk Defragmenter?"

Hello to all...

Just wondering... I am always installing and uninstalling different programs as well; so of course I defrag on a regular basis. I currently use Windows 7 Professional on my primary desktop computer and have the Disk Defragmenter (which is included with Windows) scheduled for once a week.

Anyway, getting to my question here: What exactly is the benefit of purchasing a shareware defragmenter; or even using non-Windows freeware defraggers (I mean other than the one included w/Windows?).

Incidentally, I used to run O & O Professional (on my old XP Pro machine) because it was given to me as a gift, but I never really thought about the benefits of using a non-Windows freeware defrag program.

Thanks,

COMPUABLE

 

:confused Hmmmm.... this is surprising, to me anyway. Auslogics has a pretty good rating here at MG and this is, without a doubt, the first that I've heard of Auslogics actually causing more problems. I used it on my home PC for at least 2 years and it performed perfectly. Also, I have no idea what "It comes with other Utilities packages" means. Whatever......

I should have mentioned Puran also. It's a great free defrag that has more options than most other free apps. For me personally, I like to use 3rd party for just about everything in Windows: I don't use the built-in DVD maker, I don't use Windows Media Player, I don't use Internet Explorer, I don't use the built-in Windows defrag program, etc (but I do use Paint LOL ). From experience, I know that the built-in tools work just fine, but I like something that works just a bit better, for me, personally. But that's me. If the built-in Windows offerings are working for you and offer everything you want and need, then there really is no need to use something else.

 

I always use Smart defrag v2 which is available to download from here at Majorgeeks. Smart defrag hasn't let me down yet and it's free.

 

Thanks again, Oma.

I will copy what you do. I hadn't defragged for a couple of weeks and Puran found a load of stuff, because I had been trying out and replacing several programs like my anti-virus, so it needed a good clean.

 

Lavender, please give us some feedback on how it did go by using Puran Defrag? Thanks.

 

I also like MyDefrag.
There is a GUI that acts as a kind of front end for MyDefrag, however I don't use it.

MyDefrag comes with a number of pre-designed scripts which direct the specifics of how the
defrag will be performed. The scripts are plain text files. You can create your own scripts if preferred.

MyDefrag should be pretty safe to use since it uses the Windows API to actually move the files.
MyDefrag just tells it what to move and where to move it.

For me, it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of a defragmenter.
The graphics of these programs really do not show much about what is actually being done.
The Options provided by some of these programs look impressive but there is little assurance or evidence that
those options are being handled properly and are actually effective, as intended.

At least with MyDefrag, the developer describes in detail what the primary strategies are and how they are implemented.
FAQ - mydefrag

For fast and complete defragmentation, Sysinternals Contig is very effective.

 

Hi Oma,

I love Puran and the way it shows me what it's doing at every phase. I've run it twice since I downloaded, mostly because I've been removing or replacing programs, and it's done an excellent job.

Lavender