Paid vs FREE Defrag PRograms

I am using Puran Defrag which allows ms to defragment my HDD and even the boot files, page file, and MFT.

So why would anyone pay for a Defrag program like O&O Defrag, Diskeeper, or PerfectDisk??

Can someone please explain to me?

Why are they so expensive? And each year they come up with a new update, and you have to pay an upgrade fee? That is a rip off I think.

And what am I missing if I only use Puran Defrag? I like Puran Defrag because it's the only free program that allows you to defrag the system files via a reboot including the boot, mft, and hibernation and pagefile.

I have a 500 GB 7200 RPM Hitachi HDD on my Notebook

 

Beats me. Defragging was important in the Win 95/98 days. Not so much any more. Modern OSs handle things so much better that defragging is almost useless. I can't recall the last time I even did it.

 

I used to use Norton Anti-virus when I first starting using a computer. I agree that the yearly upgrade is a rip-off. As for defragmenting, I have noticed, as md2lgyk pointed out, the it isn't really necessary. However, I do use the Windows XP defrag utility to check my hard drive after I have deleted large files (more than 100 MB). I think I have had to defrag maybe once or twice in the past 6 years. I use CCleaner to wipe free space and that seems to keep things running smoothly.

 

Well, the freeware options are generally available for personal use, not business use. The license agreements will usually state this. So, yeah, the non-business user has numerous good options for defrag programs.

 

Puran also did a chkdsk on boot for me when the normal Windows methods failed.

Back in the old days of small, slow hard drives, defrag was a necessity to try to keep a decent I/O performance. Now that drives are larger and faster, with (hopefully) a higher % of free space, regular defragging is less likely to make a discernible difference to program loading times, etc.

Windows own defrag has also become much better with time; in W7, set it on a schedule and forget it would be fine for most users.

If your drives are large and less than about 60% full, defrag will probably be needed on a monthly or less frequent basis for most users.

Users of machines that are frequently cold booted, where speed of boot is valued most, running a regular defrag c: /b will place the boot files in the optimum position.

Many gamers playing online games have updates that are installed on a weekly basis, as their main (*.pak type) files are often in excess of 1GB, there's also a need for a defragger that works on folders only, to minimize the decompression/load times needed on game start up.

I could go on but there are so many variables ...

 

Defraging the newer, faster, larger drives may not present a visible improvement in performance but it can certainly reduce the workload on the drive itself, extending it's life and helping reduce the likelihood of corruption on the drive.

 

Defragging the drive too often can actually increase the workload on the drive, especially when the normal computer usage is relatively low - like I wrote earlier, so many variables ...

 

I see, you have a good point there man

 

I use Iobit Smart Defrag its free too use.It Auto runs for me but i can do it manully as well it very's from on each computer i guess different setups.If your a heavy gamer then you need too defrag alot.

 

No, they're more likely to benefit from a defragger that can do a folder only defrag after each game update. See my first post.

 

I agree that there are a lot of variables but I didn't want people to get the impression that you don't need to defrag at all. I run a laptop with a 500gig HDD. It gets booted multiple times per day and is used a lot. I defrag about once a month.

 

I didn't think I was giving people that impression.

Sounds about right for the usage given, try the defrag c: /b in the run box after the defrag, it might shave a few seconds off each boot; it runs and closes automatically after a very short time. If you're on W7, it'll give you some brief stats early on, the bottom 2 can be quite informational.

 

I wasn't suggesting that you did but there was some talk earlier in the thread about defrag being "useless". I was simply trying to dismiss that notion.