well right now im using O&O defrag. but im wondering what the public thinks is the best defrag program?

I likeie:

Download Disk-Defrag from AusLogics, it's speedy and free.

http://www.download.com/Auslogics-Disk-Def...6-10567503.html

I've used Disk keeper since version 6 and they have an excellent track record for NTFS. You will not find too many IT professionals who would not favor it for NTFS. I had v9.0 for a while (IMHO, it was their worst version), but the latest version is quite good. These days, unless you have a old computer, defragging does not yield as much speed/ performance boost as some people would believe. Processor speeds have become so fast now (not to mention the fast DDR2 memory technology) that the main benefit to defragging on a regular basis is to garner a better chance at data recovery.

I haven't found anything that tops Ultimate Defrag. You can control exactly how the files are arranged on the drive with this one. With the slow 4200 RPM drives that most laptops have, this can really make a huge difference in bootup time. It cut my laptop boot time almost in half.

But after the boot up, how much of a performance benefit did you really see from it? XP (IMHO) does such a fine job of handling system resources & memory that I can't justify spending money for a program like that. Just about everything you do in Windows depends on the kernel and the system memory. With the way that DDR2 memory has come along (and soon DDR3) - everything loads up blazingly fast. Yes you may see a small increase in boot time, but I would argue it's hardly an issue as far as overall system performance goes. m2c.

If you're happy with the performance and it meets your needs, stick with the program. I haven't used it for a few years, but I liked it a lot when I had Windows NT.

That is exactly right. Once you've chosen a defrag program, you should stick with it rather than trying out various ones willly nilly. Every defrag program uses a different algorithm to determine what files to move and in what order. They also use different rules in determining what is a frequently used file versus not so frequent. Not all defrag programs are created equally.

Using Perfect disk 7 now. I tried disk keeper, and it would tell me needed defrag. Even after just finished??

Program loading is a product of the speed that the files are read from the hard drive, initially. If the files are residing in the RAM from a previous opening of the program, then it will be faster in subsequent openings. A pair of SATA 2 10,000RPM Raptor drives in RAID 0 will allow most programs to load almost instantly.

Yes point taken, but when you think about memory hogs like Adobe Reader & all the plug ins that have to load up, having fast memory does play an important role. Given a scenario with DDR2 memory in use with PC defragged on a reg. basis vs. seldom, I don't think there's going to be much of a difference in load up time. Of course using a faster RPM drive does help which goes back to my original point that with the aid of newer technolgy, defragging is not as important as it used to be.




Unless you're a die hard PC enthusiast - running RAID 0 configuration and Raptor drives is not something your average user will strive for.