tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post5555559063949521347..comments2023-08-01T13:38:49.728+02:00Comments on Insights and Rants: The Great Defrag Shootout XV: Paragon Total Defrag 2007Donn Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07954994300802439618noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-58009328608404972832010-06-13T02:19:39.234+02:002010-06-13T02:19:39.234+02:00Don't use Paragon Defrag 2010,this program is ...Don't use Paragon Defrag 2010,this program is s**t. I ran it to do a complete partition defragment in Windows 7, it restarted did it's thing and now it has destroyed my master boot record and i cannot even fix from the windows 7 Recovery Disk because it won't detect my hard disk at all.<br /><br />thanks Paragon for a terrible program.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-60641227693203480172009-11-21T11:04:48.995+02:002009-11-21T11:04:48.995+02:00People should be warned that Paragon defragmentati...People should be warned that Paragon defragmentation is dangerous. It's using its own API to access and move files, moreover it seems that MFT is actualize not for every file moved. I've try to use Paragon defragmentation - when power went down it appeared that 20% of my files were destroyed. It was easy to check as most of them were pictures in jpg format and I've had csv files for them. And nothing could be done to rescue them as it looks like clusters were randomly assigned to file (clusters were moved but MFT not corrected). Sad, don't use it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-46606163499424388582009-10-05T18:40:11.231+02:002009-10-05T18:40:11.231+02:00OK,
What's is safe is using Microsoft API yet...OK,<br /><br />What's is safe is using Microsoft API yet if you're an adventurer try "fast"...<br /><br />Trying v2009 right now for the unique "Shrink MFT" function yet it took 3 HOURS on a 80GB partition which is still at 80%. IMHO this is utterly useless. One can endure the horrible interface and clumsy GUI yet this one is a deal breaker...<br /><br />For good defragging use Perfectdisk in conjunction with Defraggler when needed. Stealth, Invisitask and others are simply stealing resources and wearing your drive...<br /><br />For shrinking MFT stay away from PTD and try workarounds such as; do registry trick for 12.5%, create new partition and copy there for a fresh MFT, use Ghost 2003 or similar for backup/restore defragged/shrink MFT, fill your partition to the fullest and wait some time for MFT to shrink itself (it DOES) then resume and try not to use defrag Offline/System files since they not only reserve "MFT Zone" but also reset it mostly to 12.5%... <br /><br />posted 09/10/05Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-18692084571776249872008-11-19T16:01:00.000+02:002008-11-19T16:01:00.000+02:00Paragon defragmentation is very effective, but dan...Paragon defragmentation is very effective, but dangerous as well.<BR/><BR/>It should be noted that boot-time defragmentation functionality was present in Paragon's much earlier products, such as Partition Manager and Disk Manager, so probably they just separated it into a separate product. It also should be noted that there was significant number of users who reported that Paragon's defragmentation destroyed their file system completely. I was one of them - when I came to the computer in the morning after leaving Paragon at night defragmenting at the boot screen, I was greeted by the message that the program has crashed; then half of the data became unreadable. Perhaps Paragon has improved their algorithm since then, but it would be nice to hear about that directly from them. Also what needs clarification is whether Paragon is using safe Microsoft API, or their proprietary - I understand it's the latter, but maybe depends on this "safe mode" they offer.<BR/><BR/>So the very important advise to every Paragon user would be to not even think about it if you don't have a good backup. At the same time I can confirm that there are some programs on my system that after having been through Paragon defragmentation (in their old Partition Manager) take 1/10 of the time required to start - and that after already having been defragmented by practically every competing product.dzintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05521705084211279701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-70249840308799163482008-08-12T01:34:00.000+02:002008-08-12T01:34:00.000+02:00I want to know HOW to remove it from the boot-up p...I want to know HOW to remove it from the boot-up process. I used it and don't care for it. So, I uninstalled the program but this fragment still remains. Help.......someone, anyone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-91431451614878024192008-08-03T23:18:00.000+02:002008-08-03T23:18:00.000+02:00PerfectDisk does in fact reduce the MFT. I had the...PerfectDisk does in fact reduce the MFT. I had the same problem as yours, but after using PerfectDisk, it was shrunk to about 20% of the original size, if not smaller. But other than that, good review. I now know this product is not for me. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010907860837667852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-49609722322294947242008-07-04T07:13:00.000+02:002008-07-04T07:13:00.000+02:00I tried the demo version of PTD 2007 and can only ...I tried the demo version of PTD 2007 and can only say that I was not confident on using it to defrag my main (boot) drive. I never crossed the analyze stage, as I started it at 10pm and by 9am next day (eleven hours later) it was still scrolling filenames at his graphic boot screen. The elapsed time counter froze after 2 min running, and the estimated time to finish was always giving absurd values, till it froze too sometime during work. I ran the analyze partition at the only (boot) partition of a 200 Gb hard disk, with around 100 Gb of used space, running Windows XP 32 bits, everything pretty standard. The worst thing was the message PTD screen gave me when I pressed the ESC key at 9am to cancel that nonsense: "Are you sure you want to interrupt this process? The working partition will be corrupted"... Im a brave man, and tought that analyzing a disk couldnt be that dangerous, and selected "Yes". The thing stopped, restarted and rebooted Windows XP flawlessy. But I will never try it again. The same partition is defragged with Windows defrag in about 30 minutes.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05311705677485086821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-83744887857070554962008-01-30T06:21:00.000+02:002008-01-30T06:21:00.000+02:00I'm puzzled by your statement that PerfectDisk 8 c...I'm puzzled by your statement that PerfectDisk 8 can't shrink the MFT, because it certainly does so on this winXP machine. In fact, it just did.<BR/><BR/>The thing is, that you have to specifically switch the option on for a given partition and it's not in an obvious place (Configuration->Drive Properties then it's on the "Offline defrag settings" tab where you need to check the relevant checkbox). But once it's turned on then performing an offline defrag on that drive will also defrag, and shrink if need be, the MFT.<BR/><BR/>As a for-instance, I did precisely that just now with a new 500Gb external hard drive that I've been copying vast numbers of files onto for the past couple of days and I watched the MFT shrink from around 58Gb down to a much more reasonable 530Mb (with PD8 reserving another 400Mb immediately afterwards, to allow for future expansion).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-81156437485009513222008-01-11T05:35:00.000+02:002008-01-11T05:35:00.000+02:00I have a 250GB HD and found that the 'offline defr...I have a 250GB HD and found that the 'offline defrag' scripts (batch files?) crashed and that the "Native Mode GUI" reported an error.<BR/><BR/>I especially did not enjoy being without the use of my computer for so many hours.<BR/><BR/>It works a little better on a non-boot drive as the aforementioned difficulties do not occur.<BR/><BR/>There are both 'flashier' and 'better operating' (results) programs (even some of the free ones).<BR/><BR/>My advice is to try another program that does NOT require offline defragmenting of 'regular' files on the boot drive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-45197665205778926352007-12-20T16:10:00.000+02:002007-12-20T16:10:00.000+02:00I've had my hard drive become unbootable after a P...I've had my hard drive become unbootable after a PTD defrag as well. As far as I know, it's more of an issue with boot-time defrags than PTD since I've tried O&O's and had the same issue before. I think it has to do with the program not fixing up the MFT correctly and leaving it corrupt. Strange thing is that both times it happened was when I left it overnight. Hmm...<BR/><BR/>A CHKDSK run with the /f parameter will be able to recover a good portion of your data. The problem with this method is that CHKDSK can only get of it back since it tries to recover based off the corrupted MFT. Even then, it's recovery is not always correct. If it's music, video, or documents, you can try viewing it to double-check.<BR/><BR/>Despite this unfortunate incident, I still use PTD. My hard drive contents change so much in a short period of time that it gets horribly fragemented by the end of the week. It defrags so throughly and optimizes so well that I just can't not use it. I'm hoping that Paragon will work on that issue since more people probably have had this issue and the program is so promising not to leave it unfixed.<BR/><BR/>If you do continue to use it, you can try checking the verify written blocks option. It'll take longer but it might help decrease the chance for another disaster.<BR/><BR/>Due to the way program works, it seems better to use if your main hard drive has multiple partitions (I think it allows you to still use your computer as long you are not defragging the partition you're currently using), for sorting out non-primary hard drives or for backed-up data (guess that warning wasn't just there for show).<BR/><BR/>And, oh yes, many thanks to Donn for the Great Defrag Shootout!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-77022457367370326262007-12-03T08:16:00.000+02:002007-12-03T08:16:00.000+02:00Ouch! Please contact Paragon Support. According to...Ouch! Please contact Paragon Support. According to their web site it works with 32 bit versions of Vista.Donn Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07954994300802439618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-63899284146404936002007-12-03T03:14:00.000+02:002007-12-03T03:14:00.000+02:00I installed the PTD trial program on my labtop and...I installed the PTD trial program on my labtop and ran the defrag overnight. When checked the computer in the morning, it was dead and would not boot up without reinstalling the recovery discs and manually reinstalling the original software The computer is brand new (HP Pavillion) and c/w intel centrino Due, 2GB ram & Vista ultimate. Is this program is compatible with Vista O/S? I heard other people ran it on XP based system and had no problem. I like to buy the product, but i'm hesistant after this unpleasanat incident, which cost me a lot a time to reinstate the computer to its orignal state.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-57733436018120063812007-08-16T18:41:00.000+02:002007-08-16T18:41:00.000+02:00I don't know why you first complain about how othe...I don't know why you first complain about how other products cannot shrink the MFT, then you complain about how it grows immediately after shrinking with PTD. Doesn't that lend to any notions about why the "other guys" don't shrink the MFT? It's hardly a worry, and if you have a growing MFT problem it usually points to some other configuration issue - such as relocating the "Temporary Internet Files" folder to another drive or partition. Quite frankly, I don't see how this product can become popular unless it does everything while the system is still operating in Windows.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-91947242975201750252007-07-05T19:22:00.000+02:002007-07-05T19:22:00.000+02:00The bootable CD runs its own version of Windows, b...The bootable CD runs its own version of Windows, but I guess the trial version can only be run on 32 bit systems.Donn Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07954994300802439618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-66136878825723569012007-07-05T18:03:00.000+02:002007-07-05T18:03:00.000+02:00Be noted that PTD apparently can't be installed un...Be noted that PTD apparently can't be installed under Windows XP 64-bit at all. :/ Shame, looked like a little gem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-66685615545691867012007-07-03T14:21:00.000+02:002007-07-03T14:21:00.000+02:00Run these tasks overnight or on weekends. Like Spi...Run these tasks overnight or on weekends. Like Spinrite, the tasks generally take a long time, especially on huge drives.Donn Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07954994300802439618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-66935853556003248662007-07-03T13:11:00.000+02:002007-07-03T13:11:00.000+02:00Your should do "chkdsk x:/f" on your disk.And this...Your should do "chkdsk x:/f" on your disk.<BR/>And this program take very long time to defrag,and no on-line defrag,it must unmount disks before it starts defrag,So If you have many hdds you can defrag them all day,and don't even think about using it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-86149699643299870012007-06-28T21:40:00.000+02:002007-06-28T21:40:00.000+02:00Thanks for your reviews, but PTD fails to defrag M...Thanks for your reviews, but PTD fails to defrag MFT of drive C: in boot-time mode. It says check the drive with CHKSDK, but after checking the problem remains !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19298483.post-15731270888615069642007-06-15T10:15:00.000+02:002007-06-15T10:15:00.000+02:00Donn, the review is great! Everything we wanted to...Donn, the review is great! Everything we wanted to say but couldn't convey) Thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com