Users old enough to have used DOS will remember how it used to have an error message where the choices were: "Abort, Retry, Fail?" Right now the
2009 Defrag Shootout is definitely in the "Fail" category.
Why is it that I continually underestimate the complexity of testing and benchmarking defrag software? It took months to get the machine set up with
Windows XP, Windows Vista 32 and finally 64 bit. It took longer to figure out which tests would work and which were useless. Just when I got all that figured out,
Windows 7 was launched. Oh, and did I mention that I needed a RAM upgrade and my wife had a major operation?
Also, work has a pesky habit of getting in the way too. Ah well. So at this stage I have test results for the
Windows Disk Defragmenter and
PerfectDisk 10, and a half-written review of PD10. Not exactly a "shootout", is it? So, dear readers, I am abandoning the
2009 Defrag Shootout with less than 2 days to go.
But
all is not lost. I am setting up my trusty FRAGG computer with
Windows 7 32-bit, and will also do the same for
Windows 7 64-bit. I am also registering a web site devoted specifically to the
Defrag Shootout, because the results are tricky to find and compare on this blog. More details will follow. Of course this requires a lot more work, but it just has to be done. I will announce more as the information becomes clearer.
Excellent, glad the shootout has just been delayed, not abandoned. look forward to the new site too :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you include system performance benchmarks as well. Boot/Shutdown times are one of the most perceptible measures of performance. Even application boot times would be helpful (Photoshop?). Theoretically once everything is defragmented, OS and application boot/shutdown times should be the same across defrag apps, but it would be interesting to find out whether these programs handle files differently. It would be nice if they placed Windows boot files in a contiguous block and in order at the beginning of the drive to reduced seek time between files and the like.
ReplyDeleteWhen you test Auslogics disk defrag at some point make sure you select system files smart placement otherwise it seems to be just a defrag program.
ReplyDeleteBesides simple defragmentation, “Defrag & Optimize” mode applies several optimization techniques:
* Free space consolidation
* System files smart placement*
* Moving regular files from the MFT Reserved Zone to the rest of the disk space
*This feature is disabled by default. You can enable it under the “Algorithms” tab in the program settings.