Which Defrag Utility to buy?

[wayliff]

O&O, PerfectDisk or Diskeeper?

I have read here and there that this one is better than the other.
CNET has O&O and PerfectDisk better positioned that Diskeeper...

Still I would like to hear from Anandtech users what they prefer and why.

I am on the market for one...really need it.

 

[BW86]

my vote goes to O&O

 

[MrChad]

Considering I defrag *maybe* twice a year, the standard Windows one works just fine for me.

 

[nweaver]

I don't....

 

[zerocool1]

why O&O?

 

[Sniper82]

I probably haven't defragged more than 3 times the 8 years I been working with PC's. But I redid Windows about every couple months. But recently I haven't been redoing Windows as much and have started using O&O and it seems like a good app. I am sure the others do this but I like it that you can have O&O defrag each partion and you can go to sleep or walk away. Heck WinXP might do this but I never bothered to figure out if it did.

Either way I never used the others. Reason I chose O&O is because I to posted on here a while back and most recommended it.

 

[wayliff]

anyone else? O&O seems to be the way to go so far.

 

[Reapsy01]

i've been using diskkeeper pro, it seems pretty good, I set it to screen saver mode and forget about it.

 

[KoolDrew]

PerfectDisk, hands down. O&O second, but not close to PerfectDisk. Diskeeper just sucks.

 

[jadinolf]

Never tried Perfect Disk but I use the other two and have no preference.

 

[xtknight]

PowerDefrag, the free one may take a while to find, may be the best. I don't defrag very often though, only just particular folders that I deem may need it. I have my Opera shortcut set so it defrags the cache then opens Opera right after. That way my Opera load is never slow.

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: Reapsy01
i've been using diskkeeper pro, it seems pretty good, I set it to screen saver mode and forget about it.

 

[JCKC]

Diskeeper. Does a far better job than Norton Sppedisk ever did, and much faster. 'Set it and forget it' so that it runs whenever the screen saver kicks in and you'll never have to think about defragging again.

 

[computerABUSER]

Executive Software "Diskkeeper" works very well, don't let anyone tell ya different!
CA

 

[flexy]

PERFECTDISK


And i do not have the time and i am not in the mood to write a long lecture now WHY....just believe me After many various tests/comparisons and (over many years) constantly checking on Diskeeper, OO and PerfectDisk....perfectdisk *is* better for quite a bunch of reasons.

Edit: dont even mention Norton speedisk. Speedisk was ok under 98, but its basically worthless under XP.

 

[kamper]

So basically he's got an equal smattering of recommendations and dislikes among the three and not a single person has said why one is better than another

 

[jimbob200521]

disk keeper

 

[flexy]

ok.

PerfectDisk is better because

() it has the option to use XP specific features (say: layout.ini) to optimize files needed at bootime.
DK has a bootime-defrag feature too (somehow) but it is hidden and only allows bootfile fragmentation from the commandline and does NOT work nearly as good as in PD. In fact, AFAIK trying to rearrange my bootfiles like PD does never worked for me with DK.

() PerfectDisk does a much better job in free space consolidation. DK people say it doesnt matter, but it matters for me.

() PD is much faster than DK and (at the same time) does a better job.

() DK is owned by Scientology.

() my own tests (despites the CLAIMS of DK) always show that the end result with PD is much faster, especially noteable faster boot times.

 

[Malak]

None of them are any better than what's built-in to Windows. Don't buy one.

 

[KoolDrew]

() PerfectDisk does a much better job in free space consolidation. DK people say it doesnt matter, but it matters for me.

This is one reason why Diskeeper sucks as much as it does. It does a terrible job at consolidating free space. In the end it only causes fragmentation to occur faster.

 

[Ryland]

Diskeeper Home 9 has been pissing me off because it kicks on whenever I start doing somethng that is disk intensive which slows my machine way down. Its like it is set backwards from what it is supposed to. Yes I am using Set and Forget but it still pulls this crap.

Their "tech support" sucks because they haven't actually HELPED me, just told me that the Home version doesn't have the ability to set priority even though they state that it should only kick off when your machine isn't being used. The technician even keeps sending me emails asking if there is anything else he can do to help and I keep sending him the same @#()% request. POS.

 

[JCKC]

Youo must have a configuration issue because I have DK Home 9 on my PC and also use the 'Set it and Forget it' setting for all four of my drives and I have never seen it execute outside of screen saver mode.

 

[Ryland]

Originally posted by: JCKC
Youo must have a configuration issue because I have DK Home 9 on my PC and also use the 'Set it and Forget it' setting for all four of my drives and I have never seen it execute outside of screen saver mode.

That is possible BUT I have seen it do this before AND after I have done a wipe and full reinstall of windows.

I do have my computer setup to never put up a screen saver. It just goes blank and then turns the monitor off.

 

[wayliff]

Thanks for the recommendations...I will wait until after thanksgiving...unless I find a sale...and then grab one.

Keep your what you use and why recommendations coming.

Thanks again!!

 

[tcsenter]

Windows XP already has the 'lite' retail version of Diskeeper by Executive Software. Straight forward, few configurable options, now lets you schedule defrag as an automated task. See:

How to Automate Disk Defragmenter Using Task Scheduler Tool in Windows XP

Description of the New Command Line Defrag.exe Included with Windows XP

There is no disk defragment utility on the market that is so substantially better than Windows (Diskeeper) defrag that its worth paying for. Disk defragmenting has largely become irrelevant for all but very heavily fragmented drives. Once a month should take care of that.

I schedule defrag to run after Disk Cleanup, with cleanup options automatically set.