Defrag Windows 7

Maximizing VMware ESX Performance through Windows Guest Defragmentation

Thursday, July 29, 2010 by Bob Nolan

Raxco has been working with VMware the past several months to assess the impact of Windows guest defragmentation on VMware performance. The most recent testing used VMware's vscsiStats utility to capture metrics. The vscsiStats utility sits between the VMware kernel and the Monitor. It captures every IO request through the storage stack and sorts them into various buckets that can be used for performance analysis. We ran our test concurrently using five virtual machines on an ESX 4.0 cluster.

The goal of the test was to determine if Windows guest defragmentation improves virtualization performance. The test was fairly simple; we created a fragmented disk with ISO images and other files and made a copy for each of the five virtual machines. We installed MS Office and MS SQL on each of the VMDKs and measured the results with vscsiStats. After the data collection was done on the fragmented disks, we used PerfectDisk to defragment the files and free space on all of the disks and repeated the tests using the defragmented disks.

The results were pretty impressive on several fronts. First of all, one of the main sources of virtualization overhead occurs when IO have to traverse the virtual storage stack. Our testing showed that when the Windows guests were defragmented with PerfectDisk the total number of IO was reduced by 36.5% and write IO was reduced by 44.6% after the MS SQL installation. This means defragmentation was able to reduce the total IO load by over 1/3 for all IO and it reduced write IO by almost half. How was defragmentation able to do this?

The answer is that while file defragmentation improves file read time, free space consolidation improves file write time by reducing the number of physical accesses needed to write the file. If the guest file system can find sufficient contiguous free space, the likelihood of the file being written in one piece improves. Contiguous free space also means you do bigger writes. The vscsiStats bear this out. The PerfectDisk disk created 11.9 times as many IO greater than 524K, which is the largest vscsiStats bucket size. The vscsiStats histogram illustrates this difference on the far right column.

Disk IO latency was also affected by the file defragmentation and free space consolidation of the Windows guests. As noted above, the Windows file system was able to perform fewer and larger IO when the disk is defragmented and the free space is aggregated in a large chunk. It logically follows that these IO will complete in less time and the vscsiStats again support this assumption. The utility sorts IO into buckets ranging from .001ms to >100ms. Since the average disk drive access time is about 15ms, we viewed all IO taking more than 15ms as a slow IO. The vscsiStats show the defragmented disk reduced the total number of IO taking longer than 15ms by 48.7%.

The final metric that showed improvement due to guest system defragmentation was sequential IO. The vscsiStats utility measures the distance in logical blocks between seeks. This histogram shows that the defragmented disk increased the number of IO that were only one block away (center columns) and decreased the number of IO that were 1000 to 500,000 logical blocks away (left and rightmost columns).

In summary, it appears Windows guest file defragmentation and free space consolidation will:

Reduce VMware overhead by reducing the total number of IO that traverse the virtual storage stack
Improve system throughput by producing larger IO
Reduce system latency by reducing total IO and generating larger IO
Improve virtualization performance by increasing sequential IO
Reduce the demand for host CPU, memory and IO resources
Potentially create a situation where the host can support one or more additional guests due to the resources conserved

To access a complete copy of the white paper detailing the test procedures and results go to www.perfectdisk.com/user_data/white_papers/vmware_multi_test_new.pdf

Big, bad and ugly drives -- what's the best defrag software?

Thursday, July 22, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

The debate about whether or not free is good enough for a defrag of the data on your disk drives will likely go on as long as Windows and NTFS are around. I've discussed the merits of third-party defrag software that is not free here before, but I'm not doing that today. However, there are some instances and conditions that lend themselves to a much easier conclusion and a clearer delineation between free and "not free". And I do want to share an interesting user experience with you.

Like the case of the CNN newsroom that was brought to a halt because its servers were so severely fragmented. And a recent story that was brought to my attention by Andrew Hart of Australia. Andrew is a heavy Photoshop user and has 5 1TB hard drives that he gives quite a workout with all he does. And he needed to defrag Windows 7. He gave a couple of freeware defrag tools a try. For his environment, they didn't cut it.

This is how Andy describes his situation:

"After only 3 days of trialing it, albeit to the point of having tried, almost exhaustively, all the available defrag options on very large, heavily fragmented data drives, I have concluded that PerfectDisk 11 PRO is a very competent and comprehensive defragging program. I am very pleased to have it looking after my 5 x 1 Terabyte HDDs in a 64-bit Win 7 computer. On days when I am working in Photoshop CS5, which is quite often, I can generate and delete several gigabytes of image data in a single session, and this makes it virtually mandatory to have a defrag program with robust strength, speed and intelligence to keep my system from becoming bogged down and unresponsive. I have tried the defrag utility built into Win 7 64-bit, as well as another free 64-bit program, but unfortunately neither are quite up to the task of both completely defragging and simultaneously compacting all free space quickly in a single pass. For those requirements I have to look to PerfectDisk."

How to make your PC run faster? There are various things that can help, defragmentation being one. When people look at a defrag utility to defrag Windows 7 or auto defrag XP, at the individual user level, freeware may be considered. But they might not be good enough for the biggest, baddest and ugliest of your drives - the ones with large files that are edited, created and deleted frequently. And when you add things like the ability to find and remove duplicate files, the decision becomes easier still.

Sometimes the best things in life are free. Sometimes, however, as in the case of the best defrag software, free just doesn't cut it.

Windows 7, video performance and the defrag connection

Monday, July 12, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Redmond Magazine recently reported a problem with Windows 7 and video performance, where the VC-1 video codec does not use all of the cores in three-core and six-core machines. What does this mean? Well, if you've purchased a new computer with Windows 7 for better graphics and video support, you may not be getting all you signed up for. For example, Blu-ray disc players aren't leveraging the power of some multicore machines running Windows 7.

The issue may also affect Xbox 360 game consoles, which also use VC-1, as well as a few other video codecs. Codecs compress and decompress media files. Most computer users probably don't care about them, as long as the video frames run smoothly. But many do.

As Redmond reports, there's no word from Microsoft on when the problem with the VC-1 video codec in Windows 7 will be resolved.

In the meantime (and afterward), thousands of videographers, graphic designers and the like turn to thorough disk defragmentation to boost their video performance. Particularly when you're doing lots of editing, with large files changing and being deleted, video performance can take a big hit. That's why so many of them turn to defragmentation utilities like PerfectDisk to keep video performance humming along.

Fast defrag. Faster defrag performance. All leading to better video performance.

SSD overview and do I need an SSD defrag -- Part 2

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

This is the concluding post on whether there a need for an SSD defrag, from Greg Hayes' recent white paper.

To maintain SSD write performance, SSD manufactures implement one or more of the following techniques:

Wear Leveling
The SSD controller keeps track of how many erase cycles have been performed on each flash block and dynamically remaps logical to physical blocks to spread out the wear over all the cells in the drive. This means that no one portion wears out faster than another - prolonging the life of the SSD.

Over Provisioning
Over Provisioning provides extra memory capacity (which the user can't access). The SSD controller uses these "extra" cells to more easily create pre-erased blocks - ready to be used in the virtual pool.

TRIM
TRIM allows the SSD controller to remove data from deleted cells so that the next write won't have to move, erase then write. This allows an SSD to maintain write performance for a longer period of time. In order for TRIM to be effective, it has to be implemented in the SSD itself as well as in the Windows operating system. Currently, TRIM is only implemented in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

PerfectDisk and Benefits to SSD storage
With SSD storage, since file level fragmentation results in negligible performance degradation, traditional file-based defragmentation really doesn't provide any performance benefit and should be avoided, as it has the potential to ultimately degrade SSD write performance. What can provide a performance benefit is free space consolidation to eliminate free space fragmentation and consolidate partially full blocks of data. High free space fragmentation is a strong indicator that a high instance of un-TRIM'ed, or partially full blocks exists.

While free space consolidation can help improve write performance, free space consolidation is not something that typically needs to be done on a frequent basis. PerfectDisk 11 will automatically identify SSD storage and if configured to optimize performance, will perform a Consolidate Free Space pass on the drive. PerfectDisk does not perform this pass automatically. You must specifically tell PerfectDisk to optimize the drive. PerfectDisk allows you to perform this pass manually or on a scheduled basis. In addition, you can configure PerfectDisk to only optimize the SSD storage if free space fragmentation exceeds a specified threshold.

You can read the entire white paper here.

Related Post:

SSD overview and do I need an SSD defrag -- Part 1

New life -- for your laptop and your laptop's battery: smart defrag and more

Monday, June 14, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

I admit, in the day-to-day living of running around and trying to get things done here in the midst of travel and other comings and goings, it's often a challenge to do all the best practices to keep my laptop living as long and efficiently as it can. Of course, I defrag system files and defrag Windows 7 with the best defrag software I know of. That's like getting a PC tuneup every day so my laptop runs as fast as possible and I boot quicker.

But what about the life of the battery itself? I always need to be reminded of the many tips there are to extend battery life, so when I was looking through the new July issue of PC World, the article Breathe New Life Into Your Laptop's Battery got my attention. The usual reminders were there to nag me:

don't run it down
keep it cool
give it a rest
and more, including a nice set of "myths" debunked.

It also made me feel good that my choice for best defrag software includes a Power Option that allows me to stop a current defrag pass, as well as not even start a defrag pass, if my laptop is on battery power. My selections get checks for those boxes! So if it seems like you're constantly coming and going, and starting and stopping, it's a wise move to follow extended battery life practices.

And keep it cool.

Is your defrag tool smart enough? 12 ways to tell

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Is your defrag smart enough to be the best defrag software

Information Week had a recent cover story entitled Are Your Apps Smart Enough? This got me thinking, like most things do, of defrag programs and the "smarts" that are required to make the best defrag software. After all, any decent defrag utility, even freeware, is going to do a bare minimum (hopefully), to at least attempt to put fragmented files into a single piece and get you faster PC performance.

But how do you know if your defrag program is smart enough to be the best defrag software? Here are 12 to get you started:

The developers of your defrag utility meet regularly with Microsoft development teams, including file system experts, for a true understanding of file system behaviors, strategies and plans.
The defrag utility employs disk and file optimization strategies for the best possible drive optimization, rather than simply defragments files, so it is a true PC performance optimizer, beyond just a simple defrag utility.
It performs robust free space consolidation to significantly prevent fragmentation, reduce the rate of future fragmentation and improve write performance.
It's smart enough to just defrag a file -- a single file or a few selected files -- rather than the entire drive, if that's all that is fragmented and that's all you need done at a particular time.
It doesn't force you into a single way to defrag - it provides flexible scheduling options that are accommodating to your activity and requirements, whether you need or want automatic background defragmentation during idle time, screen saver defrag, or daily or weekly schedules.
It optimizes boot files to improve boot time by 20% or more.
It provides a free, Microsoft-certified duplicate file remover and file recycler to further assist disk cleanup and optimization efforts.
It's simple enough for the novice user but with free, optional advanced features for power users.
It's smart enough to be the choice for tens of thousands of World of Warcraft users around the world to improve World of Warcraft performance and used by millions of gamers around the world to improve the performance of other PC games.
It's intelligent enough to contain patent-pending technology that ensures no resource contention in virtual environments and can boost virtualization performance with specific solutions for vSphere and Hyper-V.
It's passed the internal tests, pilot programs and RFPs of many of the world's largest companies and government agencies, and is deployed in and helping those enterprises today.
It is certified by Microsoft for Windows 7.

Make sure your defrag tool is smart enough to be the best defrag software possible.

Smart defrag tool is best defrag software

The Windows 7 green light for IT -- Windows 7 defrag too

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

It looks like now it's time for the big boys and girls, as all indications are that the move to Windows 7 by businesses is on. In the Computerworld article Windows 7 gets the green light, Robert L. Mitchell details the results of a recent Computerworld survey to IT professionals. It's not a secret that just about all the initial enthusiasm for Windows 7, of which there was a lot, originated from the consumer side. Home users have been quick to embrace Microsoft's latest operating system since its launch several months ago.

Now, the enterprise market is moving, either deploying now, in testing, or planning to deploy over the remainder of 2010 and into next year. Mitchell writes that "after taking a pass on Vista, IT shops are ready to commit to Microsoft's new PC operating system." The top 2 reasons they're moving? They skipped Vista so Windows XP is getting too old, and they just want to keep current. Surprisingly (to me), over a third won't wait for SP1 of Windows 7, while over a quarter expect SP1 to be available by the time they get around to deployment.

Windows 7 green light and Windows 7 defrag

While Windows 7 performance is not a primary consideration in the move to Windows 7, it will be a consideration when testing and deployment is ultimately done. And while there is a Windows 7 defragmenter built into the OS as always, the Windows 7 defrag option that comes with Windows 7 is, like its predecessors, not a viable solution for the enterprise. Yes, you can defrag Windows 7 with the built-in function, but only on an individual basis. From a purely functional standpoint, it is not close to the best defrag software. But beyond that, it's not for an IT organization. It lacks enterprise deployment, scheduling, management and reporting capabilities at even the basic level. This is why top IT teams continue to implement robust enterprise defrag programs - the Windows 7 defrag that comes with Windows 7 does not cut it.

With the green light on, the move to Windows 7 by businesses is on. With Windows 7 performance an important aspect of the move, having the best defrag tool is a necessity, and that move is on too.

You can read the entire Computerworld article here.

Related posts (Windows 7 defrag):

eWeek's 5 Windows 7 Issues Every IT Pro Needs to Know - Plus 1 defrag

Friday, April 30, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

I like Windows 7. Lots of people and critics like Windows 7, and more companies are beginning the process of moving, or at least planning, to move to Windows 7. But it's not perfect, as I've also pointed out before, focusing in particular on the Windows 7 defrag shortcomings.

This past week, eWeek's Nicholas Kolakowski wrote about 5 Windows 7 issues that every IT pro needs to know, which I found interesting because it touched on some real world scenarios that an organization must face when moving to Windows 7. The five issues Nicholas calls out are:

Lack of upgrade path between Windows XP and Windows 7
Libraries functionality
Legacy applications backwards compatibility
Occasional battery life issues for laptops running Windows 7
Early drive incompatibility.

Some of these issues may or may not be a problem for any particular organization. For example, not everyone has experienced battery life issues, and Microsoft denies it is even an issue at all. And depending on your level of expertise, upgrading from XP to Windows 7 may or may not be an issue.

But the point is, as with any major upgrade, things may not be as simple and straightforward as they appear. And that's the case with the Windows 7 defrag - sounds decent on paper, but there's more to the story. Even ignoring even the quality, thoroughness and flexibility, a key thing for IT managers is management and control of the process. There is no management and control of the built-in Windows 7 defrag. So if you're looking to speed up PC performance across the enterprise and also manage and report on the process, you'll run into roadblocks with the built-in Windows 7 defrag. We've outlined the administrative issues and a lot more in a white paper previously released.

Windows 7 offer a lot. But particularly for IT pros, things are not necessarily as straightforward as they may seem.

You can see the entire eWeek set of slides here.

Related posts:

From Motorola -- Windows 7 defrag -- real world, real family...real money saved

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Kevin Maharaj, of Hayward, California, is a business consultant at Motorola. He has a 5-year old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop, which is used by his entire family. With all that use over all those years, it became slower and slower. Kevin writes: "I tried everything I could, even defragged but nothing worked...it was just to slow."

Slow PC problems were getting the best of the Maharaj family. He needed to try something new to speed up PC performance. Time to look for the best defrag tool. Kevin "found out that PerfectDisk 11 was released so I tried it. PerfectDisk 11 has this enhanced SMARTPlacement feature. The thing is, that it defragged my laptop SO WELL...SO WELL!"

Not only did he improve PC performance and the laptop can now boot quicker, perhaps the best news is that Kevin can hold on to his laptop. "This is a 5-year old laptop and absolutely no need to upgrade."

Improve PC performance. Boot quicker. Defrag Windows 7 a better way. Protect your investment and save money.

Get smart.

Is the best defrag software now even perfecter? Defrag program review

Thursday, April 8, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Another review of PerfectDisk 11 is out. This one comes from 2phatgeeks, a site that covers many many things, including computers and software. The author originally came across PerfectDisk years ago knowingly, but with some skepticism, writing that PerfectDisk "was single purpose, it was small but it was full of intelligent features and it was cheaper than Norton. I was, of course skeptical at first. I’d been fooled by bright and shiny baubles and smooth talkin’ before."

2phatgeeks writes that "the newest iteration, version 11, continues the outstanding tradition set by its predecessors while upping the bar even higher for the competition...the feature set for PerfectDisk 11 is expansive enough that rather than just referring to it as a defragger, it’s more accurate to call it a drive management system...the end goal of any system maintenance software is to promote stability and speed and PerfectDisk continues to deliver."

Regarding price, the reviewer writes that "I’m not a millionaire. If you are, please buy me things and/or send me money. For the rest of you that aren’t, price matters. Norton = $49.99. PerfectDisk = $39.99 for Pro, $29.99 for Home premium. Better product for less money. How the hell could this not be a selling point?"

Need to defrag Windows 7 or just a good defragmentation program? Get the best defrag tool -- it's even more perfecter now.

You can read the entire review here.

IT warming up to Windows 7 -- remember to auto defrag XP and Windows 7

Thursday, April 8, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Dimensional Research recently surveyed 923 IT professionals about their Windows operating system adoption plans, and the indication is that the trend away from XP and towards Windows 7 is at least starting. Gregg Keizer, writing in Computerworld (April 5, 2010), states that "business are finally prying their hands from Windows XP and they warm to Windows 7. The feeling about how great XP has been is beginning to fade.

In Dimensional's new study, 40% of the respondents said that they're worried about the hassles of maintaining XP as it gets more and more outdated. That's up from 28% almost a year ago. And while 60% of the respondents said they're worried about the cost and overhead of migrating to Windows 7, that number is down from 72% last year. The study stated that "IT is still more worried about Windows 7 than XP, but the trend is favoring Windows 7."

As I and many others expected, it's just a matter of time. And in terms of defragmenting computer, PerfectDisk has it all covered. From auto defrag XP to a certified Windows 7 defrag, you can get the best disk defrag from PerfectDisk and speed up PC performance and boot quicker.

From the past to the present...and whatever is to come.

Computerworld -- how to compete with free -- defrag and more

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

After yesterday's post on the PC Magazine article about software discovery being dead, I found it ironic that later yesterday a review of PerfectDisk 11 appeared in ComputerWorld, Network World, PC World, and a host of other sites that picked it up. Here's an "old school" review of PerfectDisk 11 by a set of "traditional," mainstream technology publications.

When looking at how to make your PC run faster and the best disk defrag tool, there is the Windows 7 defrag tool and lots of free Windows defrag software out there. So why pay for one? Ian Harac's review explains why, including features above and beyond simple auto defrag. He even gets into duplicate file software and duplicate file removal.

Harac, in his review PerfectDisk 11 Whips Hard Drives Into Shape, writes:

"Defragmentation is one of the chores of computer ownership, something that's tedious but which has to be done regularly. Windows includes a free defragmentation tool, but there are plenty of competing products. How do you compete with "free"? You make something worth paying for. PerfectDisk 11 ($40, 30-day free trial) is that worthy tool.

"PerfectDisk 11 has one of the best blends of features and usability I have seen....given the range of features and ease of use, it's well worth upgrading from a free product to PerfectDisk Professional."

All disk defragmentation software is not created equally. A very small set is actually worth paying for.

You can read the entire Computerworld article here.

WHS defrag -- how to get the best performance for Windows Home Server

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Jeff LaFleur, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, thought he had the perfect solution for his Windows Home Server environment. He almost did, except with slow PC performance and slow server performance, he knew there was one piece missing. So he needed a slow PC fix to right his entire WHS environment. His story:

"Two months ago I purchased my HP EX487 MSS; I was excited to have finally been able to afford my new toy (needed backup device is what I told the spouse so Shhhh). Soon after setting it all up, I began tinkering with everything I could find. See, I'm not the most computer literate person; I thought I understood what I was doing, but I didn't. After 3 server recoveries, my server was back up and running nicely. I had one issue left to deal with - slow performance. With each server recovery, the server got slower and slower. I decided I would try PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server, hoping I might be able to reclaim a small portion of my speed back. After installing PerfectDisk, I discovered my C: partition was 40% fragmented. Once PerfectDisk was finished, the server was 100% better. Gone was the slow loading console and slow response from the media streamer. I was delighted to say the least. To sweeten the deal, I was also given a license to install PerfectDisk on my Windows 7 laptop.

"A week or so later, I received and email from Raxco notifying me there was a new version coming out, PerfectDisk 11, and once more I was pleasantly surprised when I learned it was a free update. PerfectDisk 11's interface is easy to use and easy for someone like myself to understand. I appreciate the time they spent tuning the interface to make it as user friendly as possible." A WHS defrag plus a Windows 7 defrag adds up to a perfect Windows Home Server experience.

And a perfect bundle, in Minneapolis and everywhere.

Windows 7 performance boost -- Windows 7 defrag the right way

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

As Windows 7 gets into the hands of more and more users, the inquiries as to how to ensure the best possible Windows 7 performance are also increasing. Just recently, research firm NPD Group reported that desktop sales at U.S. retail stores soared in February, driven in part by the popularity of Windows 7 PCs. Overall desktop sales rose 30% in terms of units sold and 33% in dollars year-over-year, The NPD Group reported. February marked the third time in the last four months that desktop revenue grew faster than laptops, and the fifth consecutive month of revenue and unit increases.

Ok, so how to boost Windows 7 performance? Well, there's the built-in Windows 7 defragmenter of course. But better still, do a Windows 7 defrag with a more powerful tool that offers capabilities above and beyond what Microsoft provides. You can check out the differences here.

Get the best possible Windows 7 performance with a Windows 7 defrag.

PerfectDisk 11 -- Go

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

                         Welcome to PerfectDisk 11

                              www.perfectdisk.com



Related Posts:

It's an 11 -- Start your engines

Monday, March 8, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

The new CDs are shining, the warehouses stocked, and finishing touches are being made on back-end systems and the web site. Everyone here is ready and excited to help serve up PerfectDisk 11 to the world tomorrow.

Drew Como is the director of infrastructure at Kaos Studios, in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. Kaos is a division of videogame publisher THQ. Kaos Studios artists, developers and designers need the best possible system performance for their computers. Simply put, they need the best defrag software possible. Of course, the millions of people that play THQ's games also want maximum performance.

Drew has his thoughts on PerectDisk 11:

“PerfectDisk 11 is a stellar product that far surpasses PerfectDisk 10 “The engine is many times faster, even on large drives with a high volume of files, and the new customization and reporting capabilities help ensure our computers run as fast as possible and we have the storage information we need.”



On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11. Coming tomorrow.

PerfectDisk 11 defrag -- What's New

Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

For those of you following this space over the last several weeks, you've seen a glimpse of what's new in PerfectDisk 11. For an overview, here's a link to follow to what is new in the PerfectDisk 11 disk defrag program:

PerfectDisk 11 Whats New

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11. Coming Tuesday.

PerfectDisk 11 What's new in best defrag software

Windows 7 performance -- defrag to get it

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Rightly so, Windows 7 has obviously received lots of accolades. And yes, there's a Windows disk defragmenter, with modifications, built in. That's enough for some people. Others want more, or better.

PerfectDisk provides more, and that mantra will carry on to PerfectDisk 11. Microsoft has given its seal of approval to PerfectDisk 11, and here is just a very small sampling from some of our thousands of PerfectDisk 11 beta testers that looked to boost their Windows 7 performance with PerfectDisk 11:

"I have been running the PerfectDisk 11 Beta on two different computers - one with Windows XP Pro and the other with Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Not one problem. This is going to be one awesome software when the final is released."
                                                                             Shawn Antosz

"I am very impressed! Analyzing and defragmenting is noticeably faster than previous versions and I like the new layout. I've not noticed any issues. Installed on Win 7 x64. Looking forward to the final release! Good work."
                                                                             Adrian Jefferies

"I've noted significant defragmentation improvement on the Windows 7 system. Very much appreciate the usability features. Thanks for a wonderful product."
                                                                             Henry Gardiner

Boost Windows 7 performance with Windows 7 defrag

The Windows 7 defragmenter functions. Like a lot of things in life, you can choose functional, or choose to function...or you can excel.

There's a better way to defrag Windows 7 and boost Windows 7 performance.

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11. Coming Tuesday.

Boost Windows 7 performance with PerfectDisk 11 Windows 7 defrag

It goes to 11 -- in 11 days

Saturday, February 27, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Are you ready? The people below certainly are. They're just a small sampling of feedback from the largest beta test in PerfectDisk history. Thousands of users -- home users, small businesses and enterprises -- have lent their time, energy and expertise to making sure we deliver the best defrag software ever.

And with their help, we've done it. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11.

Coming March 9th, 2010.



"...once again, the best compliment I can give is that YOU GOT IT RIGHT! I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit and the interface is clean, beautiful, and totally functional. This version appears to be noticeably faster than PD10, which was already pretty good. You have stepped ahead of the competition yet again."
                                                                Paul T. Blades

"...lots of goodies in this new version. Many times products come up with a new feature here and there or fix things that should have been fixed in the prior version—you guys really aired it out and took a whole new crack at the product. Really speaks volumes of the caliber of your people and company. VERY fast compared to prior editions -- great!

"Like the new progress bars showing how much of the drive is left to defragment and the activity indicators along the bottom right in the drive map view showing 'defrag' 'recycler' and 'schedule.' Again, pounding on the GUI stuff, I really like the new block effects -- the blocks with the 'shine' effect and bright colors are great.

The SMARTPlacement types you can select based upon resources available and performance needs so far as fast file access etc., blew me away. Pretty much ended my even checking to see what each new version of *** expletive deleted *** looks like before I upgrade to one or the other. I did have a chance finally to compare the amount of file information *** expletive deleted *** gives you when you use the 'cluster inspector' versus your new right click feature-- not even close. PD11 wins the details award there. Everything anybody would ever want to know is reachable through a right click and a few other clicks to get to the specific details you want-- very nice."
Gary Michelson

"I've noted significant defragmentation improvement on the Windows-7 system. Very much appreciate the usability features...thanks for a wonderful product."
Henry Gardiner

"Your claim that initial analysis of a drive is faster in Version 11 than in previous versions is an understatement. Analysis used to take several annoying minutes, just to determine whether defragging was needed. I just ran the analysis for an 80GB PATA HDD in 19 seconds. In the past, the analysis of that drive always took several minutes, even when it was not highly fragmented."
Kenton Machina

"Thank you. I have participated in many Beta tests, including Microsoft XP Beta and Vista Beta, but never has the experience been as easy or as pleasurable as my experience with you and PerfectDisk 11. PerfectDisk 11 has been faultless in its operation. You have done an outstanding job with this program."
Michael Downs

"I now find the software excellent and a big improvement on v10. The drive map does not take so long to build; the menu tabs are clearer and more logical. Well done!"
Julian Grenfell

"Version 11 Beta operated flawlessly. Solid, stable and much faster than Ver 10."
Richard Lindsay

"New StealthPatrol features make this a very feature-rich version."
Alfred Morgan-Jones

"I think you're showing off a little - when I installed this build, PD11 immediately analysed my 4 1TB disks simultaneously in just a few seconds. Keep up the good work."
Robert Rigby

"The speed improvements are very obvious with the analysis. Going maximum window and analyzing gives the WOW to the client. Just two words: Love it."
James Brown

"I've noted significant defragmentation improvement on the Windows-7 system. Very much appreciate the usability features...thanks for a wonderful product."
                                                              Henry Gardiner

"...faster than previous versions. So far everything looks great to me."
                                                              John Hull

"PD 11 Home Edition is looking good, and its performance is excellent. I like the changes you've made to the Drive Map tab."
                                                              Greg Webb

"...quick....smooth..."
Richard Futch

"...faster....solid..."
Richard H. Brown, Jr.

"....much faster....thank you...."
John Hall

Having used PD11 HE and Pro the same as I have been using PD10, the overall impression I have is one of a more professional and robust feel. There are many minor interface tweaks and additions, input and output, which contribute to this feel and after a while I could tell that there are many improvements under the hood too."
Mark Stubbs

"It is substantially better on the Win7 x64 system! So the better the system, the more performance gains you'll see with PD11 (which makes perfect sense). Congratulations on a smooth dev cycle. I generally leave PD in Stealth Patrol, and forget about it. Once in awhile, I check on things and find all my hard drives in optimal condition. I just smile and silently thank you guys for a great product."
                                                            Stephen V. Smith

"...noticeably faster and has a very nice feel. Congratulations."
                                                            Alan Burt

"Product has worked flawlessly on several different machines using various operating systems and hardware."
                                                            Ronald Chenoweth

“awesome software”
Shawn Antosz

“…very impressed…”
Bryn Pritchard

"Analyzing and defragmenting is noticeably faster than previous versions and I like the new layout. I've not noticed any issues. Installed on Win 7 x64. Looking forward to the final release! Good work."
Adrian Jefferies

"I like the intelligent handling of SSD drives."
Tom Bruce

"Bravo Zulu!!"
Tom Vaughn

Related Posts:

VSS defrag -- more flexibility and control

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

Shadow Copy (also called Volume Snapshot Service or VSS) is a feature introduced with Windows Server 2003 and made available in Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. VSS allows taking manual or automatic backup copies or snapshots of a file or folder on a specific volume at a specific point in time. VSS is used by backup software providers, including System Restore in Windows 7 and Vista, and provides previous versions of files for Windows Server 2003/2008 and Windows 7/Vista.

When VSS is enabled on a drive, VSS may detect defrag activity as changes to the drive and attempt to replicate those changes (MS KB article 312067). Depending on the amount of data that VSS attempts to replicate, Shadow Copies/Restore Points may be purged or "dropped". This means that previous versions of files may no longer be available or Restore Points may be purged. If a VSS enabled drive has been formatted with a cluster size of 16K or larger (default cluster size is 4k), VSS has the ability to detect defragmentation activity and minimize replication - reducing (but possibly not eliminating) the number of Shadow Copies/Restore Points that may be purged.

Today, PerfectDisk can be configured to detect if VSS is enabled on a drive and to take appropriate action. By default, if VSS is configured on a drive and the cluster size is less than 16k, then PerfectDisk will defragment in VSS compatible mode. If VSS is configured on a drive and the cluster size is less than 16k, then PerfectDisk can also be configured to not defragment the VSS enabled drive at all or to defragment the VSS enabled drive normally.
If PerfectDisk is configured to Stop if any Shadow Copies exist, PerfectDisk will NOT defragment the drive at all.
If PerfectDisk is configured to perform normal defragmentation, it may result in Shadow Copies/Restore Points being purged as defragmentation is performed. When configured to defragment in VSS compatible mode and the drive cluster size is less than 16k, PerfectDisk limits the number of files "moved" during the defragmentation pass so that purging of Shadow Copies/Restore Points is minimized. For VSS enabled drives where the cluster size is 16K or larger, PerfectDisk defragments drives normally.
Note that when PerfectDisk defragments a drive in VSS compatibility mode, it may not defragment files/free space as completely as it normally does.

What was just described is current PerfectDisk behavior. But some users, particularly power users, may want more control over their VSS environment. Like the ability to specify a percentage threshold on a drive that limits how much of the drive will can be defragmented, to minimize the purging of Shadow Copies/Restore Points even more than is currently available.

As always, we're looking to put more into an auto defrag. For those that want to defrag a computer with more flexibility and control than a standard auto defrag can provide.

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11. March 2010.