DiskFresh stops data fading away

My development server has two huge 2TB drives in it, which makes backups a nightmare. But what has worried me even more is that these drives are too big to do proper disk maintenance. No drive is "too big to fail", and the more data it contains, the bigger the disaster when it does fail. It's just a matter of time.
All magnetic disks suffer from the same problem: the analogue magnetic signal decays over time. If the file is being regularly updated, then this isn't a problem, because each update rewrites the analogue signal. But what about those old music files that you haven't listened to in 2 years? How do they get updated? When was the last time your hard drive even read those files to see if they are OK or not?
Until now I have used Spinrite to maintain my hard drives. On my laptop this isn't a hassle, because the drive is only 160GB big, and I can run Spinrite overnight in "refresh mode", where it reads and rewrites every sector on the disk, whether it has been used or not. If any sectors are damaged or faulty, Spinrite will attempt to recover the data. It usually succeeds.
In addition, I use Carbonite to make an automatic backup to "the cloud" of all the files I need on a regular basis. This includes all the programming projects I am working on. So if I file gets damaged or corrupted, or I just screw up and need an older copy, I can get it back in a few minutes. For bigger files like my two 4GB Truecrypt volumes, I use SyncToy to make copies to the server, and to an external USB hard drive.
But this is where things start getting difficult. The 500GB USB drives are slow, and it can take ages to run Spinrite on them. Each of the 2TB drives takes Spinrite nearly two weeks to check thoroughly (level 4), but I simply cannot expect my server to be offline when this happens, and Spinrite only works in offline mode. Gotcha. So I have had several hard drives lying around the office with important data on them, and no way of ensuring that the integrity of the data is being maintained. I can't afford to wait for the drive to fail or the data to be lost. That's a luxury for big companies like Google.

Google have so many hard drives in their data centres that they are always removing and replacing faulty hard drives. They have special machines (shown above) to destroy drives once they fail. Watch from about 3 minutes into this YouTube video.
A few weeks ago, the author of Puran Defrag and the Puran Utilities, Vishal Gupta, wrote to me to say he had started working on a program to solve this problem. I gladly agreed to do some testing, and make suggestions. I made a complete image backup of my test machine, and set to work.
DiskFresh is the result of this collaboration. Vishal did all the engineering, wrote all the code, and put up with my nitpicking, wild ideas, and occasionally useful suggestions. The result is elegantly simple, but extremely useful. You select a drive (either the entire physical disk or a drive letter) and the program methodically reads each sector, and assuming it gets no error messages from the drive, rewrites the data back to the same sector. Bingo! A fresh analogue signal on the drive, and you can rest easy that (for the next few months at least) the magnetic signal is not going to fade away and lose your data with it.
DiskFresh also has a "read-only" mode which is useful for SSD drives and USB Flash drives. Flash memory also has a "data fade" problem, but rewriting the data doesn't help, because you can only write data on a flash drive a limited number of times. Instead, you just read all the data fairly often (4 times a year) and the drive controller should pick up any problems before it is too late.

On my server's scheduler I have set DiskFresh to run every 13 weeks, on a Saturday. It will refresh all 3 physical drives, a total of 4.3TB of storage space. The server can still run while this is happening, and the DiskFresh software detects how much other hard drive activity is happening, and will scale back if the drive gets too busy. It is very well behaved, and doesn't consume lots of computer resources or disk space. On completion of the refresh, you get a text report listing useful information and any errors encountered. FWIW, each 2TB drive took about 22 hours to refresh during testing.
There is a free version that you can use on your home PC or for testing in a business environment. There is even an option to schedule it to run quarterly. The commercial version has some extra features, and the installer allows you to also install Puran Defrag, Puran File Recovery and/or Puran Duplicate File Finder. All of these are essential tools for modern Windows PCs, and it is great to have them in a single setup program. It makes life easier for the IT technician. Choose from a 5PC license for small businesses, or a site license for 20 or more PCs.
Update: For a more detailed look at why DiskFresh is so useful, see my Fact-Reviews article on DiskFresh and why you need it.
Update 4 July 2013: DiskFresh is now at version 1.1, which fixes a bug encountered when using encryption in some cases.

Full disclosure: I was not paid to do any testing, nor do I receive any money for any sales of this product. I am grateful that Vishal listened to my rantings about the hard drive signal fading away, and I am glad to be able to use this utility on my computers: Windows 2012 Server, Windows Vista (laptop) and Windows 7 Home Premium (Test PC).

Face to face with a false defrag program

I don't encounter malware very often, and this program reminded me how bad it can be. Michael Kaur from the Malware Removal Instructions blog sent me a copy of this program, since I requested it. It's a nasty piece of work, installing itself surreptitiously in your system, and then pouncing when you reboot.
When you boot up it runs its "scans" and then falsely tells you lies about your machine. I prepared my "FRAGG" test machine and made sure the files were fully defragmented and everything was in order, so I knew all the "errors" it reported were bogus.
I had to deactivate the Microsoft Security Essentials program in order to be able to install the malware, but once it was installed my machine was effectively held to randsom. It wouldn't let me run any other programs, or even copy files to my USB memory stick.
Even the payment information is bogus. To prevent the malware from spreading on my network, I had unplugged the network cable before installing it. Nonetheless the malware managed to dupe Internet Explorer into believing that the payment URL was legitimate (the domain is not registered) and secure. Who knows what they'll do with my credit card details? I'm not about to try to find out.
I eventually had to boot up from an Ubuntu boot CD just to copy the files for this blog post. Then I wiped the hard drive using DBAN, to make sure the darn thing was gone. Nasty. Fortunately there are helpful web sites like the Malware Removal Instructions blog to clean up your machine, if this stuff manages to get past your antivirus program. What do you mean you don't have one??? I suppose you don't do backups either ...

Defragmentation Scareware wants your money

It's a scam: rogue software installs itself or lures unsuspecting users to install it. Then it "analyses" your system, generating a whole bunch of alarming messages about how your system is "critical", and then insists that you pay the authors for the full version to "fix" the problem. Once you pay, miracles happen: your system no longer has errors. Of course these messages were all bogus to begin with, and now that you have handed over your cash, they no longer appear.
This tactic is not new, but before it was done using fake "security" scanners, antivirus programs, or malware scanners. Now the authors have turned their attention to rogue defrag programs, as reported by GFI Labs and other web sites. I heard it first on the Security Now podcast #280:

... watch out for fraudulent defraggers.
That's the latest thing to happen. There's so many useful free software out there, it's not surprising that the bad guys are going to be mixing their own malware in with the good stuff.
So there's HDDRepair, HDDRescue, HDDPlus, UltraDefragger, ScanDisk, DefragExpress, and WinHDD have all been identified as bogus. They claim to be a free defragger to make your computer run faster, the way it used to. And who doesn't want that? What these things do, though, they're scareware. You run them; they actually do no defragging at all, but they apparently do something. And then they come back with a note that, oh ... you've got serious problems, baby. We're going to need another $20, or an initial $20, or more in some cases, to fix this problem. So again, this is going to catch a certain number of people who unwittingly download this and don't know any better.

What worries me is that this kind of scareware is likely to give defrag programs a bad name, in the same way that anti-spyware and registry scanners have been given a bad name. So, before you download any defrag software, check whether it is on this list and use the correct URL supplied. If it isn't on the list, report it, and use a trusted program instead.

Another Patent for PerfectDisk

PerfectDisk has, for me, always been the defrag program by which you measure other commercial defrag programs. I recently learnt that the developers (Raxco) have obtained another patent for PerfectDisk. This affects the way files are analysed, and is supposed to be much faster than the standard way used by most Windows applications.

Patent #7,672,982 has been awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for new file query technology that improves the speed of the disk defragmentation process on Microsoft Windows platforms. Raxco has incorporated the new file query technology into its PerfectDisk 11 disk defragmentation solution.

This is in addition to their SmartPlacement patent, #5,398,142 which was awarded in 1995.
I'm never sure what to make of software patents, but as long as it isn't used to "attack" other products, I'm sure it's OK. Raxco doesn't have the litigious reputation of other software companies such as Apple.

Testing the new Defrag Review site

I have got my trusty FRAGG computer back, and have spent some time during this week setting up and tweaking my new web site: www.fact-reviews.com. I chose the name because I want my defrag reviews to be based on facts and benchmarks as well as user opinions. I chose "fact" because it is the opposite of "hype".
I am asking regular readers of this blog to take the time to check out the site, and leave comments (either at this blog article or using the Disqus facility on the site). Please bear in mind that the content is very sparse, and there are a lot of links that don't work because the pages haven't been created yet. If you don't like incomplete sites, stay away!
I have managed to get the left column of the menu to work, so it isn't a complete disaster. Over the next few days I am hoping to add some real reviews and benchmarks. I welcome all comments, questions and suggestions.
Update 26 June: A big thank you to readers from 24 countries who have visited the site to see what is happening. I have received some positive feedback, and will continue to work on the site to make it useful.
Update 27 June: I have added two new articles: "Why Defragmentation is Needed", and "Linux Defragmentation Issues". The Linux one will be quite interesting to Windows users too.

No Defrag Benchmarks

This is just a brief not to say that the planned defrag benchmarks and reviews are cancelled until further notice. I have lent the FRAGG machine to a friend for a month or so, and this makes it impossible to run any publishable benchmarks for a while.
I have not abandoned the idea of doing the benchmarks, but the whole process has got bogged down for a while.

Another Perfect Disk

"Raxco Software has launched the latest version of its award-winning PerfectDisk disk defrag and optimization product family. The new version 11 has been received with rave reviews from the largest Beta test in PerfectDisk history, with thousands of enterprise, SMB and home users around the world participating. PerfectDisk 11 includes several enhancements and new features to help users keep their PCs, laptops and servers running at optimal performance.
"Enhancements in PerfectDisk 11 include improvements to SMARTPlacement, PerfectDisk’s patented optimization strategy that optimizes drives and eliminates most fragmentation before it occurs, and more. You can see a complete overview of enhancements at www.perfectdisk.com/whats-new. Evaluation copies are available at the PerfectDisk 11 Download Center.
"In addition, the virtual set of components (PerfectDisk 11 vSphere, PerfectDisk 11 Hyper-V and PerfectDisk 11 VMware Workstation) will be launched in Q2."

Information supplied by Sherry Murray at Raxco. I plan to publish benchmarks in due course.

OverClocker benchmark misses the obvious

OverClockers.com has published a series of benchmark results for six defrag programs. Unfortunately the benchmark measurement program they used is HDTune, a program that measures hard drive performamce.
What's wrong with that? It reads raw sectors, not fragmented files. In fact, the manual for the Pro version says that if you want to do the write tests you should use an un-formatted, un-partitioned disk, in order to avoid accidental data loss.
I hate to be one of those "I told you so" critics, and I feel even worse that I have been unable to do any benchmarking on my FRAGG machine for the last month because of hassles with the SARS eFiling web site. Hopefully that will come right by the end of the month and I can publish some more meaningful benchmarks.

PuranDefrag for Home Users at no cost

I have always been impressed with the commercial version of PuranDefrag, which I use on my laptop and my wife's laptop. At $19.95 for one, or $29.95 for two, it is great value.
Now the news got even better: you can take PuranDefrag home and install it on your home computer(s) at no cost, provided it is for private and/or non-commercial purposes only. Just go to the download page and choose the Free edition.
Update: I installed the free edition on my trusty FRAGG testing computer, which I am currently using to access the eFiling web site to fill out my tax returns. There is no difference between the free edition and the commercial edition, other than the license. It has all the features, the same cool layout, and the same ease of use. The guys at Puran Software are being incredibly generous to home users. There are no "nag screens" or irritating sales nonsense. This is a big win for the home user and non-commercial organisations.

The 2009 Defrag Shootout: Abort, Retry, Fail?

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.

PerfectSpeed aims to speed up your PC

According to their press release, this morning Raxco Software launched PerfectSpeed, a fully automated all-in-one utility suite that includes a certified disk defragmenter, safe registry cleaner, duplicate file remover, file shredder and advanced privacy protection through trace erasing and more. The suite includes the engine of PerfectDisk 10, the award-winning Microsoft Certified disk defragmenter with support for Windows 7.
In conjunction with this launch, Raxco also announced special trade-up pricing to PerfectSpeed for users of Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare. As Kent Wilber, one of thousands of PerfectSpeed beta testers said, “I love it. I had been looking for a replacement for Windows OneCare, and PerfectSpeed has everything I was looking for and more. Its automation makes it basically effortless. And the fact that it includes a safe registry cleaner, duplicate file remover and privacy eraser was a pleasant surprise and great bonus that will save me time and money, since I won’t need separate tools for those tasks.”
PerfectSpeed includes a complete PC Performance Check and a set of intuitive and easy-to-use Wizards that help tailor PerfectSpeed to the unique needs of a user’s PC, laptop or netbook. After a quick one-time setup, PerfectSpeed runs automatically, ensuring the user’s system is optimized to peak performance and stays that way.
PerfectSpeed’s components include:

• Disk defrag and optimization powered by PerfectDisk and including patented SMARTPlacement optimization, exclusive AutoPilot Scheduling and the industry’s only total free space consolidation
• Registry cleaner with exclusive SafeClean technology that eliminates system instability and problems caused by conventional registry cleaners
• Automatic trace eraser that encompasses multiple browsers to protect users from malicious eyes
• Military-strength file shredder that permanently deletes files so that criminals and others can’t recover data, even if they have forensic data recovery tools
• Duplicate and temporary file remover that recaptures valuable space, including space-consuming duplicate music, video and picture files
• Tweak tool to easily customize the performance, security and appearance of Windows systems.

PerfectSpeed is available immediately from http://www.perfectspeedpcoptimizer.com or www.perfectdisk.com. It is available for a free 15-day trial or for purchase at special introductory pricing through July 31st. Regular pricing is set at $29.99 for a single user, $59.99 for a 3-user license, and $99.99 for a family license that covers all PCs in a household. The special introductory pricing is $19.99 for a single license, $39.99 for a 3-user license, and $69.99 for a family license.
I will include this product in the 2009 Defrag Shootout

Puran Defrag 6.1 released

Puran Software has just released version 6.1 of its Puran Defrag product. It adds support for Windows 7, and has some new pricing options, starting at US$19.95 for a single copy, and better discounts for multiple licenses.
I use Puran Defrag on Penny's laptop and my own, and think it is an excellent product, especially for home PCs and laptops.

Windows Vista Laptop Survival Guide

Here is my collection of utilities and "must have" programs in order to keep a newbie's Windows Vista laptop in good shape. I am writing this from my experience with several laptops, including my own Vista machine. I have put my money where my mouth is, having purchased a Toshiba laptop from the Laptop Center in Israel, for a friend who is moving to Israel from South Africa. Since I can no longer provide her with computer support, this is what I have arranged for her machine.

The first item to install is the Norton User Account Control utility, in order to deal with those annoying UAC popups that plague Vista users. It doesn't make them go away, but it can remember what applications you agree to run, and so not bother you every time you use it. Say goodbye to the Microsoft User Annoyance Control ;-) 1,180,672 bytes. Reason*: when you are setting up the machine, you can disable the UAC messages that pop up regularly, so they don't bother the user any more.
Next, install CCleaner. This utility can keep your system clean and tidy, find registry problems, and assist in disabling all those weird utilities that load when Windows starts. When installing, make sure you unselect the Yahoo toolbar, as shown above. 3,247,736 bytes. Reason*: you can set up the defaults once, and then show the user how to "Run CCleaner" from time to time, or just set it to run automatically.
I have mentioned the Vista Battery Saver utility before, and it really seems to be making a difference to the lifespan of my laptop batteries, in addition to saving power. Battery life is extended by using less power, even when your laptop is running off mains. 965,120 bytes. Reason*: set it up to save power, and then tell the user not to play with the settings.
Hard Drive temperature is also very important, and HDTune monitors the temperature of your hard drive, and warns you if the drive temperature is getting near danger levels. In order to use it, you need to set it to start up when you log on, which is explained here. Use the free version 2.55 (642,632 bytes). Reason*: once it's set to run, tell the user what to do if the hard drive gets too hot.
SpinRite is not a utility you install. You buy it, download it (196,608 bytes) and create a boot CD from the .iso image it creates. If you don't have software to do this, use the free CDBurnerXP utility (3,158,425 bytes). Once you have the bootable CD, boot up from it and run SpinRite in "Maintenance Mode" every 4 months or so. It's the best US$89 you'll ever spend. While refreshing the magnetic signal on the drive, it also recovers data from any unreadable sectors, and warns the drive of any impending data loss. Most people only use it when they have already lost data, but SpinRite is best at preventing data loss and warning you about a drive that is about to fail. There is no trial version, so they offer an unconditional money-back guarantee. When Penny's HP laptop blocked all low-level access to her drive, they offered to refund me. I refused, because I use the product on other drives. Download size is tiny. Reason*: Once the boot disk has been made, show the user what to do once every 4 months. If they forget (they probably will) then at least the disk is available for data recovery when required.



If your PC came with the Adobe Reader preinstalled, the best thing to do is uninstall it. After all, do you really want 145MB of insecure bloatware on your machine? Then, download the Foxit Reader instead. It's a 3,738,880 byte download (compared to 26,739,584 bytes for Adobe Reader 9.1) and it loads really fast when you want to open a PDF file. Remember to go to Edit->Preferences->JavaScript and DISABLE Javascript to protect your machine from viruses and other malware. Reason*: Once it's installed and Javascript is turned off, the user doesn't have to do anything special to view PDF files more securely than the Adobe Reader.
The PlaySound utility isn't going to save the world, or your laptop. But it is a way of reminding you to slow down a bit, and give your PC a chance to get organised. Select the option of installing a startup shortcut, and you'll get the progress bar shown here whenever you log on. It encourages you to wait while your laptop software settles down. 1,736,704 bytes. Reason*: While the PC starts up it needs the user to leave it alone. You can get weird error conditions if you try to rush the machine. Rather wait for it to stabilize before trying to use it.

You also need a good antivirus program, and I can think of nothing better than the ESET NOD32 Antivirus package. It is fast, lightweight, has a good updating mechanism, and it works. I've had hassles with other antivirus programs, but not this one. If you want to get rid of spam, then you may consider upgrading to their ESET Smart Security program instead, or just purchase a license for SpamFighter. I used SpamFighter for a year before the ESET Smart Security product came out, and it gave me a good feeling nuking spam from my inbox, knowing that it was learning about the spam and blocking it from other inboxes as well. Reason*: install the antivirus and it gets on with the job. No user intervention required, unless a message appears.

Finally, you need a defrag program to keep your laptop hard drive properly organised. If you need a freebie, then use a combination of UltraDefrag for a boot time defrag, and JkDefrag 3.36 for the screen saver defrag. But you'll need to configure it properly. Rather splash out US$19.95 and get Puran Defrag 6. It's effective, simple to use, and has all the options you need. 2,428,928 bytes. While PerfectDisk may have won all the awards, and I haven't tested all the defrag programs yet, PuranDefrag is installed on my laptop and Penny's, and it is doing a great job. It is set up to do a boot-time defrag every Sunday morning, and it does a simple file defrag every 6 hours when the machine is in use, should this be required. Reason*: Set up the automatic defrag and let the user get on with more important things.

*I have supplied reasons why these products are newbie-safe. There are plenty of power utilities for power users, but I wouldn't install these on machines where the user barely knows how to use Word or a browser. There is such a thing as feature-overload ;-) and "No User Intervention Required" is always helpful.