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ReadOnly wrote:- Defragmentation speed improved by up to 30%.
- Optimized free space algorithms.
- Re-architected scheduling manager.
- Improved the fragmentation calculation during Defragmentation.
- Fixed keyboard support for scheduler.
- Minor UI tweaks.

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download/portable

Thanks ReadOnly.

On maybe a separate topic, dramatic speed improvements seem to be important in the actively developed defrag programs I've seen lately. UltraDefrag for example distributes multiple distributions based on processor to maximize speed.

I'm not doubting that Piriform puts out good software, but I'm wondering if speed-of-optimization is really the key feature of interest for defrag programs. I liked for example how MyDefrag (not portable) has multiple different profiles based on time frame. So a daily, weekly, and monthly algorithm. There's also Smart Defrag which supposedly puts the most used files on the inner ring of the drive, making accessing them much faster.

Unfortunately, that appeals to what I think I know about drive fragmentation on FAT/NTFS-formatted drives. Does anyone really know anything about this? At this point I'm using Ultra Defrag because its open source.

(I realize this may be a non-problem ... any advantages of one defragmented hard drive over another are going to be milliseconds difference anyway, I'm just curious.)

webfork wrote: I'm not doubting that Piriform puts out good software, but I'm wondering if speed-of-optimization is really the key feature of interest for defrag programs. I liked for example how MyDefrag (not portable) has multiple different profiles based on time frame. So a daily, weekly, and monthly algorithm. There's also Smart Defrag which supposedly puts the most used files on the inner ring of the drive, making accessing them much faster.

Unfortunately, that appeals to what I think I know about drive fragmentation on FAT/NTFS-formatted drives. Does anyone really know anything about this? At this point I'm using Ultra Defrag because its open source.

Well, what do you want to know?

I use MyDefrag because it optimizes disk layout a lot (see the list at the end of the MyDefrag homepage), probably more than any other program. Heavy optimization slows defragging down, though.

SYSTEM wrote:

webfork wrote:Unfortunately, that appeals to what I think I know about drive fragmentation on FAT/NTFS-formatted drives. Does anyone really know anything about this? At this point I'm using Ultra Defrag because its open source.

Well, what do you want to know?

Mainly: what is the best defrag program you can use and why? Additionally (on the why question), how would someone go about determining the best possible optimization method? I don't see reviews really looking at that -- they mostly focus on the interface and other goodies like zapping temp files or boot-time optimization.

webfork wrote: Mainly: what is the best defrag program you can use and why?

YMMV. Defrag programs have their strengths and weaknesses. Some people prefer features (such as individual file defragmentation), some heavy optimization that gives you as much performance as possible, some fast optimization that completes quickly.

webfork wrote: Additionally (on the why question), how would someone go about determining the best possible optimization method? I don't see reviews really looking at that -- they mostly focus on the interface and other goodies like zapping temp files or boot-time optimization.

I'm afraid the only way to determine that is to review the claims on the websites of defrag programs. I'm not aware of any testing program that'd allow you to measure the differences between programs. (Existing benchmarks such as CrystalDiskMark don't simulate real world usage, so they are only suitable for hardware benchmarking.)

For example, here I review a claim at the MyDefrag website:

MyDefrag organizes files into zones, such as directories, Windows files, files used while booting, regular files, and rarely used files. The most accessed files are placed at the beginning of the harddisk, and files that are commonly used together are placed in close proximity to each other.

If MyDefrag can do that, it will indeed increase speed a lot. If files accessed at the same time (such as data files used by same program) are spread very far from each other, the hard drive needs to perform long and slow seeks which take much more time than actually reading the files. On the other hand, if the files are in close proximity, the seeks are very short (and fast) or even nonexistent (if all the files are in the same track).

In addition, MyDefrag should be able to do that. The Prefetch feature of Windows keeps track of files which each program accesses on startup, so that the files can be cached when the program starts up and the program can access them faster. MyDefrag should be able to parse files used by Prefetch and therefore find out which files should be placed close to each other.

It seems Piriform (Avast) removed the portable option (same with Recuva, etc).

vevy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 4:59 pm It seems Piriform (Avast) removed the portable option (same with Recuva, etc).

I'm frustrated but not surprised. I've been moving away from their tools for the last few years and this just seems to be how they think software works. I don't expect there will be a workaround via extractor and I'm fairly sure they have a no-redistribution license so these are going offline unless we can find another option.

Update: oddly CCleaner is still distributing a portable version so I expect they'll drop that in the coming weeks. Speccy, Recuva, and Defraggler have all been given big disclaimers.

I'm fairly sure they have a no-redistribution license so these are going offline unless we can find another option.

Can't we keep "the last portable version"? They don't seem to be getting any attention anyway, so they might as well be the last actual versions.

Speccy, Recuva, and Defraggler have all been given big disclaimers.

Could you explain? I kinda don't wanna touch their installers.

Same method as with CCleaner in the past (just tested with Recuva installer):
(Uni)Extract (NSIS, 7-Zip is enough) Defraggler/64.exe and Lang folder
Create portable.dat and paste Updated entries

vevy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:03 pmCan't we keep "the last portable version"? They don't seem to be getting any attention anyway, so they might as well be the last actual versions.

Redistribution of most Piriform apps is prohibited by the license agreement.

JohnTHaller wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:40 am

vevy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:03 pmCan't we keep "the last portable version"? They don't seem to be getting any attention anyway, so they might as well be the last actual versions.

Redistribution of most Piriform apps is prohibited by the license agreement.

I see. Thanks.

For folks who'd like it automated, I added dfgPortable, an automatic portable installer for Defraggler: https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/dfgportable

JohnTHaller wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:12 am For folks who'd like it automated, I added dfgPortable, an automatic portable installer for Defraggler: https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/dfgportable

Thanks, mate. I appreciate your work!

A question for people with the technical knowledge. Is it safe to use an unmaintained defrag tool? I mean, besides the obvious potential bugs in any software.

In other words, is it expected that something about the defrag/filesystem/whatever functionality in Windows might change that would cause the unmaintained defrag tool to mangle your files or something? Or is it an established process about older tech (HDDs) that it won't matter much?

Thanks

vevy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:13 pm A question for people with the technical knowledge. Is it safe to use an unmaintained defrag tool? I mean, besides the obvious potential bugs in any software.

In other words, is it expected that something about the defrag/filesystem/whatever functionality in Windows might change that would cause the unmaintained defrag tool to mangle your files or something? Or is it an established process about older tech (HDDs) that it won't matter much?

Thanks

Windows offers dedicated defragmentation functions for software developers. An old defrag tool should work forever and be perfectly safe to use.

Windows offers dedicated defragmentation functions for software developers

And these are not subject to change?