Disk Defragmenters

• Windows 7 -- defrag with confidence
• Windows 7 defrag -- no file or folder exclusion
• Windows 7 defrag in a corporate environment
• Windows 7 defrag -- real world, real guy
• Defrag for Windows  7 -- "Raxco Software has outdone itself again"
   

• It goes to 11 -- in 11 days
• Mini-sneak peek: a few few PerfectDisk 11 videos on the PerfectDiskNews YouTUbe Channel
• Well, well -- aren't you picky -- defrag a file -- or 100
• VSS defrag -- more flexibility and control
• More than defrag -- to space and beyond
• Bipartisan support on the best defrag software -- from the defrag capital
• Enterprise defragmentation evolved -- Remote Free Space Management
• A smarter way to speed up PC performance 
• Size matters; then again, it doesn't
• Exchange defrag software -- ready for Exchange 2010
• Look beneath the surface, clean your PC, shrink your drive
• Defrag analysis -- catch me if you can
• A smarter SMARTPlacement is a smarter defrag and disk space management
• PerfectDisk 11 -- Gearing up for Beta
• PerfectDisk 11 defrag -- on the horizon
   

                                                 

Every month we receive hundreds of emails from gamers telling us how PerfectDisk has helped improve their PC game performance. Some of the most interesting are from those gamers that have never defragmented their computer - the boost to their games is usually huge. There are many guides and forums on the web that recommend to gamers that they defragment their drives. Shockingly, I concur with that advice -- defrag as one of the top slow PC solutions....:)

                                                                                       

We recently had a Half Life 2 user with very large GCFs (Game Cache Files) that were so big the Windows defragmenter was struggling severely. Now, as you may know, space for GCFs is reserved and content subsequently downloaded to fill it. This process is intended to minimize fragmentation, which it may do initially. But they do fragment, and since they can be big, Half Life 2 players don’t like that. Many start off with the built-in Windows disk defragmenter; many then come to PerfectDisk, because it can better handle large files and better clear up free space.

You’ll also find that it’s important to defrag after you’ve installed Half Life 2 and updated all the files from Steam. The files are large, and by defragging with PerfectDisk you’ll reduce stuttering and load times. Just as WoW players do to improve WoW performance.

Complete disk defragmentation, including free space consolidation with PerfectDisk’s Space Restoration Technology, gives Half Lifers a better PC game performance.

The Greengate School is located in Huntsville, Alabama, educating and supporting bright children who have specific learning differences in reading, spelling or writing so that they may realize their full potential. With a dedicated teaching staff of 22, the school prides itself on superior attention to the needs of its student. You might think such a place is far from the PerfectDisk and disk defragmentation software worlds.

                                                   

But the school has found that auto defrag is a boost to its desktops and server, which is used to manage user acccess to administrative, staff and student systems. Prior to using PerfectDisk on its server and PCs, defragmentation was performed using the Windows built-in defragger on an ad-hoc, as-necessary basis. The Greengate teachers use standard Office applications, as well as testing and assessment software, and shared applications that use proprietary databases.

Besides PerfectDisk’s optimization and free space consolidation, Greengate was drawn to PerfectDisk due to PerfectDisk’s central management and scheduling capabilities, all made easy through the PerfectDisk Enterprise Console. As John Allen, IT Volunteer at Greengate noted, “PerfectDisk’s central management and automation saves me an enormous amount of time every month. Defragmentation is now done much more thoroughly, but it’s also done completely automatically, meaning I barely have to think about it anymore.”

Auto defrag…and management….made easy.

                                                  

Behind all the noise, real benefits. 

                                                     
 

                                                   

SMARTPlacement is PerfectDisk's patented optimization strategy that groups files on drives according to users' unique usage patterns. Rarely used files are grouped together, as are occasionally modified files and recently modified files. This strategy in essence "shrinks" the drive, because many of the driver's files don't need to be moved at all while defragmenting PC - they've been defragmented, they've been put together, and they don't need to be touched. A byproduct of this is total free space consolidation. Putting all this together, you receive the all around best performance for PCs and servers, physical and virtual. And you get a much-reduced rate of fragmentation, as new files are typically created contiguously because of all the large chunks of free space.

                                                        

                                        

I won't add to the barrage of articles, posts and more reviewing 2009 that list the the top stories of the year. But I did want to touch on 2009, from our perspective, as a supplier of a disk defragmentation tool that has evolved and continues to evolve with the times.

2009 brought the reality of a deep recession and tough times for many technology companies; there was Windows 7, Chrome, Bing, more mobile action. But 2 big areas that also stood out, and which helped us grow this year, was the increased movement towards virtualization and big growth on the storage front. Virtualization has been taking hold for awhile now of course, but the tough economic environment has accelerated its growth. For many companies, the potential savings realized from virtualization are too hard to ignore. And that's why our vSphere defrag and Hyper-V defrag solutions are resonating with users. Virtualization defrag with virtual awareness such as that provided by PerfectDisk allows organizations to maximize their investments in virtualization and help realize its benefits. Without proper management and resource control, virtualization efforts can fall short.

                                               

Storage was another big segment in 2009, with people and companies buying increased amounts of storage and different types of storage, including SSDs, as prices plummeted. Data requirements continue to expand, with new applications and lots of video driving demand. And cloud-based storage was another key driver.

                                           

These were the biggest factors (there were others) behind the growth of defragmentation utilities this year, even in a down economy. Individuals and companies looked for savings, and the result was an investment in infrastructure and certain types of software. Virtualization defrag and vSphere defrag to better manage the virtualization movement. Efficient hard drive defragmentation to control the storage explosion. 

All wrapped up in the PerfectDisk family of defragmentation utilities. 

                                                 

 

                                                        

Defragmenting computer or your Windows Home Server on a Friday night? Seems like a great idea!

Tim Daleo did just that on Friday night. Tim is a Project Resource Analyst and Oracle Applications Trainer for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Tim currently runs a Dell Power Edge server running Windows Home Server and a HP MSS at an off-site location. On Friday nights, Tim posts in the Using Windows Home Server blog - which classifies itself as "your number one stop for all things Microsoft Windows Home Server, Windows Media Center and anything in the Connected Home."

                              

Tim provides a good overview of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server, although he is still looking for the definitive answer as to whether disk defrag software is needed, especially since there is not a Microsoft defrag for Windows Home Server.

Here is how Tim concludes his review:

Overall I like the functionality and interface of PerfectDisk 10. If you are looking for a Disk Defragmenter for your WHS then this is a great choice. In addition, like I said earlier, their manual has 325 pages so there is a lot more to it then what I covered here.

Only time will tell whether PerfectDisk10, and disk defragmentation in general, is worth the effort and money. For now I will give PerfectDisk 10 the benefit of the doubt.

That said…does WHS really need a Disk Defragmenter? Microsoft would have included it if it needed it, right?"

                                                             

Well, PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server lets you not only defrag the server but also defrag PC or multiple PCs in your environment. One of the reasons HP partnered with PerfectDisk for its MediaSmart Servers is that its testing showed PerfectDisk would eliminate hard drive fragmentation, consolidate free space to speed backups, and allow HP users to stream media faster.

HP recognizes the need to defrag Windows Home Servers, and it has partnered with the leading disk defrag utility as part of its validation. This review provides some more insight. And thousands of users around the world provide more evidence.

Your entire connected home defragmented is a better-connected home. You can read the entire review here.

                                      

Tom Spring's Sneaky Fees article in the December 2009 issue of PC World caught my attention. Spring looks into everything from shipping and handling fees to paper statement "fees" to extra fees to book airline tickets online. He notes that "wireless providers, cable companies and other firms are increasingly nickel-and-diming us to death."

The article states that "according to the Ponemon Institute, a research group specializing in consumer privacy, such sneaky fees cost each U.S. resident an estimated $950 every year. None are outlandish -- $1 here, $3.95 there. But they add up."

                               

When it comes to defragmentation utilities, some of what you can pay for is not so much sneaky, but can be considered nickel-and-diming. In today's world with new economic realities, most of the world's biggest brands have recognized that home consumers and businesses demand top value for what they pay. Like not paying extra to defrag larger disk drives. Like getting maximum flexibility to receive automatic background defrag or the ability to schedule defragmentation.

It's the philosophy we've taken here with PerfectDisk -- the world's most advanced disk defragmentation, including our patented SMARTPlacement optimization technology that reduces the rate at which fragmentation occurs -- at the best price. For businesses that can't put their organizations at risk with freeware, to home users who also won't risk their valuable data.

Not free, but no sneaky fees. True value, which has helped make 2009 a very successful one here at Raxco.

You can read the entire PC World article here.

Along with many of the world's leading brands, we recognize that top performance, quality and service can be provided at a reasonable price, without trying to stick it to users. 

                        

                                                 

You get what you pay for. And sometimes paying nothing is good enough, sometimes it's not. If you're looking for defrag downloads, you can find some free stuff. That might be okay for you...but maybe not.

Writing in his Naples News Technobuddy column, Bill Husted writes often about free software programs that do a great job. Indeed, he writes that "one of the things I enjoy most with this column is recommending free programs that do a great job. From an early age I’ve been a great believer in the “if it’s free, it’s for me,” school of thought."

                                             

However, Husted goes on to write that "there are programs I do buy. That’s what we’ll talk about today, those rare programs so good that I’m willing to pay for them." As for the Windows built-in defragger, Husted says "it works OK. Perfect Disk 10 is better — so much better that I am willing to pay $40 for Perfect Disk 10 Professional." And the bottom line for Husted -- "my computer runs faster because of it." 

Most Windows defrag software, including the free stuff, won't defrag metadata completely. Won't defrag system files completely. Won't optimize your drives, won't do a good job of consolidating free space...won't do much more than basic defrag of files. A disk defragmentation tool can do a whole lot more, and benefit users a whole lot more.

The must-have computer programs -- read the entire article here.

Get more, do more.

                                                  

                       
My favorite video magazine, Videomaker, has its annual Camcorder Buyer's Guide out in the just-released December edition. And as the guide's author Randy Hansen states, "in video, if there's one constant, it's change." Like so much of electronics, do you buy today or wait a few months for the price to drop and/or for extra storage and capabilities to be added.

It's a very comprehensive guide, covering a wide range of camcorders, including those that start as low as $50 and skyrocket to the "if you have to ask" range. For me - I'm asking...and I have to! And there are lots of choices in the various categories - not like the choices for defragmenting a computer, of which I find very few if any (insert grin).

But unlike a disk defrag utility, where you'll receive regular updates to the software, a camcorder is typically an investment that you will hold onto for quite a long time, as is - barring add-on accessories.

We get emails from people every week who are video editors and videographers of all types - just starting out and professionals. The more anyone performs video editing on their computer, the more they realize the importance of a disk defragmenter program like PerfectDisk. The video editing gets them better videos; disk defragmentation makes it all easier, from a faster PC to better use of their PC's space through free space consolidation and things like duplicate file removal. It really acts as a disk cleanup program as well.

                                        

If this upcoming holiday shopping season includes shopping for a camcorder, I'd recommend taking a look at this guide before you spend your money. And of course, once you start taking those videos and editing and storing them, I'd recommend maximizing your investment with the necessary software to keep your computer performing like new.

You can see the entire roundup here.

                                              

With almost 12 million monthly subscriptions, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft (WoW) has a fanatical user base. And like these or players of any other MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), they look for any advantage, any edge they can get. Every day, we hear from WoW players telling us how PerfectDisk has beefed up their game and improved their WoW performance. Fast defragmentation is just part of the story.

                                           

Take Lee Morris, whose own words say it best:

"PerfectDisk is an amazing product. I originally downloaded the demo to see how it could improve the performance of World of Warcraft. Specifically WoW's MPQ files which are huge files that are updated weekly. They fragment so easily, and when fragmented they cause lagging and hangs during interactive game play as you cross particular boundaries between geography. Once I used PerfectDisk, I had nearly flawless performance. No hangs or lagging. I bought the tool immediately and scheduled the defrag after each patch from Blizzard. I've never had any lag since. I bought a 5 user license for my guild mates. Totally amazing product that's fast running and reliable. Might as well call it a WoW optimizer."

Disk defragmenter software that goes to war for WoW players every day....and wins battle after battle.

                                         

                                                        
                                    
With VMware's recent release of VMware Workstation 7, support is immediately available for PerfectDisk 10 VMware Workstation customers. 7 introduces many enhancements, including installing and running VMware vSphere 4 and VMware ESXi in a virtual machine.

VMware calls VMware Workstation "the gold standard in desktop virtualization." So it makes sense for those that want disk defragmenter software to work seamlessly with VMware products, they look to the gold standard in virtualization defrag.

                                             
PerfectDisk 10 VMware Workstation incorporates and automates the disk space-saving “Shrink” and re-indexing found in VMware Workstation, enhancing their effectiveness.  It defragments Windows guests and moves all the free space to the end of the disk, allowing the Shrink utility to maximize the amount of valuable disk space it can recover.

The defragment program for automatic defragmentation, re-indexing and shrinking of VMware Workstation  - it's only here.