Rating: Summary: Not Really Needed if You Have Windows XP Review: Admittedly the built in defraggers for Windows 98 and Windows ME did not perform well i.e. they would run forever and keep restarting if you did not kill almost every background task running on your computer. However if you use Windows XP and NTFS the built in defragger works wonderfully. The manufacturer tries to make it appear as if using the Windows built in defragger is a very manual and tedious process. However it is quite simple to automate the built in defragger by simply adding it as a scheduled task - go into Accessories, System Tools, and Scheduled Tasks. Add the following new task and schedule it to run it once a day or even once a week. C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DEFRAG.EXE C: /f I have mine run at 4:05 a.m. each morning. So each day my hard drive starts out freshly defragged. I am not saying the Diskeeper product is bad. Actually I think it is a great product. However I also believe that the defragger built into Windows XP (also created by the company that produces Diskeeper) is nearly as good, especially if you schedule it to automatically execute on a daily basis. There are some things I do not like about Diskeeper. First I do not like how you are forced to use the more expensive version of the software if you are using XP Professional. This seems like a scam as there are plenty of home users using XP Professional. Second I do not like the idea that the Diskeeper program essentially runs all the time (and is thus taking up memory and CPU cycles). I realize that its memory footprint is probably trivial and it does not use much CPU cycles when not actively defragging, but I am one of those people who likes to keep my PC very lean. Finally I do not like how Executive Software seems to make it appear as if using the Windows built in defragger is a very manual and tedious process when in reality it can be easily automated.
Rating: Summary: The Best Defragger On the Planet! Review: Another reviewer (Jan. 15) stated that Diskeeper isn't much better than the built-in defragger that comes with XP. I totally disagree. Two of the most important files that need to stay defragmented in order to have the best hard drive performance are the MASTER FILE TABLE and the PAGE FILE. The XP defragger doesn't defrag either of these. These files are constantly in use by Windows and if they're fragmented, you'll have poor hard dirve performance -- no matter how fast your hard drive is. This software is awesome! Especially the SCREEN SAVER option. Set this option and your hard drive will be defragmented every time the screen saver comes on. There's no loss of CPU time while your using the computer. My only complaint is that the Pro version costs more than the Home version. Take my advice -- GET THIS SOFTWARE! You won't regret it.
Rating: Summary: Diskeeper Buries Norton Speed Disk Review: Diskeeper is the best defrag tool that I have ever seen and I've tried them all. It can defrag on a restart or on demand, but the by far the best feature of all which I have not seen in another defrag tool is the SCREEN SAVER defrag option! You will never have to waste your time with a slow machine while defragging or scheduling defrags again. Just set the screen saver option to run, and it will automatically defrag your computer whenever the screen saver kicks on. There is nothing to set up, just leave your current screen saver as it is. When you come back to work and move your mouse, the screensaver stops as well as the defrag (after about 5 seconds). I love this tool! This works for servers or workstations.
Rating: Summary: A Utility That Works Review: I am very skeptical when it comes to utilities for Windows as I have had more problems with utilities causing crashes than anything. It used to take hours to defrag my hard drive but now I don't have to bother with it. Here is a product that really works. I set it and forget it. My hard drive stays defragged continuously. I run two hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration and was afraid this would cause crashes but I haven't even had a hiccup. Leave Norton's and the rest and get the best. I also recommend Executive Software's Undelete program. It is also excellent.
Rating: Summary: A "Must Have" Review: I first found out about Diskeeper because from my job. I am working in IT at a well known pharmaceuticals company, and do several tasks. Right now, one of them is to build the hard drives of new computers. We use a slightly different version that is controlled through one of our servers, but the Porfessional version works basically the same, just minus the server. We use Diskeeper because our users don't want too and are not allowed to defrag the hard drives (we use XP Pro and it requires you be an administrator to defragment the hard drive) so we have Diskeeper on all the computers (we have over 500) and it just works in the background doing its thing. It does the same with my home computer too. I really just don't even think about defragmenting and so it is nice to know it will do it without my thinking. You could just leave you computer on, but one of my computer is in my bedroom, and the noise is not something I can sleep with during the night.
Rating: Summary: Very fast Review: I use this program over my Norton Speed Disc and WinXP defragger. It is faster and seems more accurate. I did try to install Disckeeper 8 on my Laptop running WinXP Media edition but got a box saying it is not approved for this and it would not download. The previous version seems to work okay with Media however.
Rating: Summary: The Best Defragger On the Planet! Review: My pc was slowly dying...I spent days on Window's sites and every help site I could find to figure out what was wrong. I regulary run every maintenance tool there is and everything was fine, except for the 5 minute wait to open ie or any windows file--as long as I didnt do this, my pc worked great(??). I was locking up continuously, had plenty of memory (1gig) and more than enough harddrive (66%free). I run XP Professional and I was ready to toss in the flag and reformat the thing. Then I went to pcpitstop.com and ran their analysis and they suggested Diskeeper. Well I downloaded the trial version and gave it a whirl and an hour later my pc was cured. According to the Windows defrager my system was 0% fragmented...but Diskeeper said I was 46% fragmented. BIG difference! based on my now lightening like pc I will take Diskeeper over Windows defragger any day. Windows built in defragger cannot defrag the paging file--paging file NEEDS defragmenting. Maybe if you do not use your pc continuously or work in graphics daily you will never experience what I did and the other defragger is good enough--but if you are constantly having to reformat and start all over or you once lightening pc is now a snail....you just might NEED this product. Windows built in cannot do all it should. I highly recommend this product.
Rating: Summary: Diskeeper WORKS! Review: My pc was slowly dying...I spent days on Window's sites and every help site I could find to figure out what was wrong. I regulary run every maintenance tool there is and everything was fine, except for the 5 minute wait to open ie or any windows file--as long as I didnt do this, my pc worked great(??). I was locking up continuously, had plenty of memory (1gig) and more than enough harddrive (66%free). I run XP Professional and I was ready to toss in the flag and reformat the thing. Then I went to pcpitstop.com and ran their analysis and they suggested Diskeeper. Well I downloaded the trial version and gave it a whirl and an hour later my pc was cured. According to the Windows defrager my system was 0% fragmented...but Diskeeper said I was 46% fragmented. BIG difference! based on my now lightening like pc I will take Diskeeper over Windows defragger any day. Windows built in defragger cannot defrag the paging file--paging file NEEDS defragmenting. Maybe if you do not use your pc continuously or work in graphics daily you will never experience what I did and the other defragger is good enough--but if you are constantly having to reformat and start all over or you once lightening pc is now a snail....you just might NEED this product. Windows built in cannot do all it should. I highly recommend this product.
Rating: Summary: Incredible! Review: This is an incredible product. You can actually use your computer while the defragmenter is running, somthing I never would have thought possible using the built in Windows defrag utility or the one available from Norton Utilities. This is one product that will actually EXCEED your expectations!
Rating: Summary: Better than Norton! Review: Whether you are a techie or relatively intimidated by the whole system maintenance thing, this product is for you! Perhaps the biggest plus for me was the speed. Diskeeper is one of the fastest defrag utilities available. In addition the ability to configure the software to defrag your drives while the computer is idle (During a screen saver running for example) makes this a great tool for your PC toolbox. In any event, don't take my word for it. You can download free trialware at www.diskeeper.com and try it for 30 days before you buy! You won't be disappointed! You'll need the professional edition if you run Windows XP Professional.
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