Win7 - Best Defrag Program?

[charliec]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!
charliec

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!
charliec

I let Windows do it by itself.

Actually, I meant to *not* defrag, since I deem it relatively
unimportant for me, but almost by accident, I discovered that it was
enabled by default, so I shrugged and didn't change it.

Some people might be doing a lot more disk activity than I do, such as
people who edit a lot of video. They might prefer to leave defrag on or
find a more powerful program than the one that Windows provides.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!
charliec

I use this program.

Auslogics Disk Defrag Free
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

You can schedule it for daily, (overkill), weekly and monthly. It has
never missed a scheduled defrag and on both of my Win7 machines, a
scheduled defrag was a hit or miss whether it would happen.

 

[charliec]

I let Windows do it by itself.

Actually, I meant to *not* defrag, since I deem it relatively
unimportant for me, but almost by accident, I discovered that it was
enabled by default, so I shrugged and didn't change it.

Where did you find the info that it was enabled by default??

 

[charliec]

I use this program.

Auslogics Disk Defrag Free
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

You can schedule it for daily, (overkill), weekly and monthly. It has
never missed a scheduled defrag and on both of my Win7 machines, a
scheduled defrag was a hit or miss whether it would happen.

Thanks

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Where did you find the info that it was enabled by default??

It was enabled and I didn't do it, which implies that it was the
default.

I probably saw it in the Services management screen, or maybe in the
Task Scheduler.

 

[Paul]

Thanks

One difference between Windows Defrag and third party tools,
is in Windows 7, files larger than 50MB are not defragmented.
That's how the Windows Defrag finishes so fast. And, since
I haven't got access to a graphical display of fragmentation
on my Windows 7 computer, I also can't tell you whether
the build-in defragmenter "pushes the files to the left"
like the older defragmenters do.

Those are functions I would expect of a third party defragmenter.
Defragment all files. And push them to the left, or use some
other optimization strategy. It's unclear how much fussing the
Windows 7 one does, by comparison.

So if you're going to purchase a third party tool, I'd do
some evaluations along the way, to see how well Windows 7
does by itself. Perhaps start with an evaluation copy of the
third party tool, run the Windows 7 defrag, use the graphical
display in the third party tool, and see how well Windows 7
is doing. And how much gain you'd get from the third party tool.

Your three test cases would be:

1) Graphical display of original fragmentation level.
2) Check again after Windows 7 runs defrag.
3) Check again after the third party takes a crack at it.

Paul

 

[Bruce Hagen]

One difference between Windows Defrag and third party tools,
is in Windows 7, files larger than 50MB are not defragmented.
That's how the Windows Defrag finishes so fast. And, since
I haven't got access to a graphical display of fragmentation
on my Windows 7 computer, I also can't tell you whether
the build-in defragmenter "pushes the files to the left"
like the older defragmenters do.

Those are functions I would expect of a third party defragmenter.
Defragment all files. And push them to the left, or use some
other optimization strategy. It's unclear how much fussing the
Windows 7 one does, by comparison.

So if you're going to purchase a third party tool, I'd do
some evaluations along the way, to see how well Windows 7
does by itself. Perhaps start with an evaluation copy of the
third party tool, run the Windows 7 defrag, use the graphical
display in the third party tool, and see how well Windows 7
is doing. And how much gain you'd get from the third party tool.

Your three test cases would be:

1) Graphical display of original fragmentation level.
2) Check again after Windows 7 runs defrag.
3) Check again after the third party takes a crack at it.

Paul

Just an FYI for the OP regarding your tests:

It resembles the XP style with the colored squares, and it did move files
that the Windows defragger didn't. Also, it is freeware.

I can't say it's the best one out there, but I am convinced it's a lot
better than what is built in Win7.

 

[Char Jackson]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!

I think most people just use the one that's built into Windows 7. It
runs by default every Wednesday at 1:00AM on the systems that I've
looked at.

You can check by clicking the Start Orb and typing "task", and Task
Scheduler will be available in the list of results. Click it and check
the scheduled tasks, looking for ScheduledDefrag.

I don't think anything additional is needed, but opinions vary.

 

[Char Jackson]

One difference between Windows Defrag and third party tools,
is in Windows 7, files larger than 50MB are not defragmented.

I consider that an advantage in favor of the Windows tool. The only
point of discussion might be the trigger size, but I think 50MB is a
good compromise.

That's how the Windows Defrag finishes so fast. And, since
I haven't got access to a graphical display of fragmentation
on my Windows 7 computer, I also can't tell you whether
the build-in defragmenter "pushes the files to the left"
like the older defragmenters do.

Hopefully not. Doing so makes the graphical display more pretty and
makes some people feel like their favorite tool did a more complete
job, but there's no other advantage. NOT pushing everything to the
left provides more time before the next defrag becomes due.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

It was enabled and I didn't do it, which implies that it was the
default.

I probably saw it in the Services management screen, or maybe in the
Task Scheduler.

A later post by Char Jackson indicates that it was the Task Scheduler.

 

[charliec]

I think most people just use the one that's built into Windows 7. It
runs by default every Wednesday at 1:00AM on the systems that I've
looked at.

You can check by clicking the Start Orb and typing "task", and Task
Scheduler will be available in the list of results. Click it and check
the scheduled tasks, looking for ScheduledDefrag.

I don't think anything additional is needed, but opinions vary.

Thanks for the reply. I went to Task Scheduler, but did not see the
option to view "scheduled tasks". How do I display that in task
Scheduler?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Thanks for the reply. I went to Task Scheduler, but did not see the
option to view "scheduled tasks". How do I display that in task
Scheduler?

Click on one of the items in the left (navigation) pane that look like
folders.

 

[Char Jackson]

Thanks for the reply. I went to Task Scheduler, but did not see the
option to view "scheduled tasks". How do I display that in task
Scheduler?

Scheduled tasks are displayed in the section called Active Tasks. When
you bring up the Task Scheduler screen, the center section of the
window is divided into 3 pieces, Overview of Task Scheduler, Task
Status, and Active Tasks. The third one is what you want.

 

[Char Jackson]

Click on one of the items in the left (navigation) pane that look like
folders.

I don't do that...

When I launch Task Scheduler, I can see the Active Tasks in the main
window. Once I click away from "Task Scheduler (Local)" and into one
of the folders below, the Active Tasks are no longer displayed.

So, I would take the advice above and add a single word:

DON'T click on one of the items in the left (navigation) pane that
look like folders.

 

[Thip]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!
charliec

I like Puran (free). It does a boot-time defrag.

http://www.puransoftware.com/Puran-Defrag-Download.html

 

[Char Jackson]

Got it - Thanks

I see ScheduledDefrag is scheduled to run every Wed. I assume that is
the Win7 Defrag?

Yes.

 

[Robin Bignall]

I am new to Win 7 (just installed a new computer a couple of weeks ago
with it - old computer was WinXP). I'm in the process of
setting-up/installing the regular programs I will need (i.e. backups,
etc), and am looking for the best approach to defragging the harddrive
when needed. What would be the best approach/program to defrag the
harddrive in Win7.

Thanks for any insights/suggestions!
charliec

My favourite is Perfect Disk from Raxco. I have the Pro version that is
not free, but it does all of the things mentioned so far -- special
routine for SSDs, boot time defrag, continual monitoring in background
and much more.

 

[charliec]

My favourite is Perfect Disk from Raxco. I have the Pro version that is
not free, but it does all of the things mentioned so far -- special
routine for SSDs, boot time defrag, continual monitoring in background
and much more.

I have a registered copy of PerfectDisk that I used on my old WinXP -
will check to see if is can also cover Win7.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I don't do that...

When I launch Task Scheduler, I can see the Active Tasks in the main
window. Once I click away from "Task Scheduler (Local)" and into one
of the folders below, the Active Tasks are no longer displayed.

So, I would take the advice above and add a single word:

DON'T click on one of the items in the left (navigation) pane that
look like folders.

OTOH, before I posted, I did what I said and got the results I
described. If I do what you say, I see nothing in the main window.

So I'd say "don't don't".