which Windows XP defrag uitility is faster or more highly recommended

I've done a 30 day trial on both PerfectDisk and Diskkeeper. But it wasn't time enough to tell which is the faster utility.

Now I have to decide. I have a pretty large HDD--320gig, partitioned--and want a defrag utility that is fast. Has anyone done any extensive testing on these two apps...which is faster?

Are there pros and cons to either that would help me decide if the speeds are pretty similar?


DW
In the High Desert of Central Oregon
AMD x2 4400
2gig OCZ Platinum ram
nvida GeForce 7800 gtx v.81.98
Windows XP pro sp2

 

I don't know anything about PerfectDisk but I do use Diskeeper. Don't really know what to say other than I'm totally happy with it. As for speed, there again, I don't know which is faster but with diskeeper you can schedule when you want it to run. Leave your puter on over night and schedule it to defrag then. Time's not an issue then. Just my two cents worth.

 

heads or tails...

DW,

I have used Diskeeper in the past, but left it for Perfect Disk. I have been using PD for a couple of years now. They are both solid programs, reasonably fast and the features are very similar. I felt my system ran better with Perfect Disk. Whichever program you pick will do a very good job for you. Not a lot of help was I.

B

 

Isn't Diskeeper about the same thing as Windows Defrag is. Built on the same platform unless it has changed. Can you not do a Schedule Tasks and add the Defrag from Windows there to run at a set time and day?

 

Windows Defrag is a 'Lite' version of Diskeeper. Diskeeper is significantly more 'feature rich' than the Windows version.

B

 

Yes you can use task scheduler to run windows defrag if you want. But, you need run it from the command line in order for it to work. You have to create a batch file with the proper commands and switches and point task scheduler at that. If you just try to point it at the program itself, it'll just open the program and that's all that will happen.

With Diskeeper there's lots more options available when it comes to scheduling and as Mr. B said, more features in the program itself. For the really fussy, you can do things like defrag the pagefile, MFT, etc. Can't do those things with the windows version.

Is it worth it? I don't know. Each man has to decide for himself what his poison is going to be. I like it and will purchase it again if the next version of windows doesn't support the version I have now. I've become accustomed to my hard drives always being neat and tidy without any interaction from me.

 

What do you mean by faster - faster defragmentation or faster access after defragmentation ?

Most are more or less same. You can use anyone. A minute here or there is not going to make much difference, specially if like me you schedule defragmentation at night