Defrag with service -- another way to find the best defrag software

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

When trying to figure out how to make your PC run faster, many people turn to look for the best defrag tool and best PC optimizer. Look at reviews, head to the user forums, ask their colleagues and friends to see what the options are. Free or paid for. Automatic or manual. Lots of options or few. Enterprise defrag or for personal use only. It's all well and good, and what drives us here at Raxco to deliver the market's best defrag software year after year.

                                                Best defrag software -- plus service with defrag

But we also like to differentiate ourselves in a different way, through our technical support and customer service. So while we truly believe PerfectDisk is the best defrag software available, we also think our service and support are superior as well. That attitude is epitomized by Wendy Clontz, who heads up our customer service department and whom we are proud to have with us.

Dan Baldry is a 20--year IT professional in Sydney, Australia, managing a team of people who sell maintenance and professional services for one of the world's largest networking companies. Dan wrote to me directly recently about what he described as our "excellent service," which he argues is hard to find these days. Here are some of Dan's words: 

                                                Best defrag utility and best defrag service

"I purchased Perfect Disk a few years ago mainly on the basis of an article I came across in a local PC magazine that I thought gave a good impartial review and sold me on the merits of the product. With a computing background, to me disk defragmentation is what I would describe as a routine housekeeping item that I would consider baseline for a healthy PC. In a perfect world this would be delivered as a native part of the operating system. You might argue that it is, but I'm suspicious of the standard utility  and a bit wary of the available freeware (though I know they are reasonably good). With my hard disk capacity getting bigger, I was on the hunt for a good utility that would just do the job and I could be confident in (no doubts), so that was why I decided to stump up the dollars and go for Perfect Disk. In short, I wanted to be sure my system was at optimum health and running with maximum performance all the time. You might ask why? Well, I use my PC  for a mix of work and play and it became a bit of a mission to drive the best performance without resorting to a massive/expensive upgrade as time went on. A few dollars on PD seemed like a good option. Eventually I did upgrade but I still use PD as part of the same housekeeping approach.

However, over the past couple of years, with reinstalls, losing keys, lost downloads etc... and needing to call on support more than once came to realise that the Raxco company offered me an extension of the confidence that I had in the product, and that was the confidence that if I had an issue I would get a reasonably quick, no nonsense, response. Even though it was probably only a few interactions over something like 24 months, I realised it was the same people assisting me throughout, which made me feel the company must have something going for it to be able to retain people like that. The consistent message I hear back is that while customers choose our physical products to drive their business based on value and the vision of our company, it's the Services we offer that keeps them coming back. Not only that, but our partners value our Services above all for the profitable revenue it drives - and customers are willing to pay as they have confidence that they are getting a total package. I think it's how we treat our customers after the sale that creates real business, and I think that's something Raxco has understood from the get go."

So there you have it, directly from a professional in the IT field. It's not enough for us to deliver the best defrag software or to simply fix a slow PC startup. We need to go the extra mile.

Service -- before and after the sale -- for life.

                                            Best defrag software, best defrag utility -- with defrag service

PerfectDisk 11 Service Pack 3 (Build 178) defrag update

Friday, August 13, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

The PerfectDisk 11 Client and Enterprise Console have been updated to Build 178. These latest builds include various bug fixes and minor enhancements.

You can “Check For Updates” in the products or wait for Autoupdate.

Client enhancements and fixes: 

  • We corrected a bug when creating Auto Pilot schedules for Exchange Data stores on Exchange 2010. If individual stores were selected instead of all stores, you would get an error.
  • A new feature was added to allow controlling the behavior (display) of the registration dialog. This can now be blocked using group policy, the config.ini file or the Enterprise Console
  • A new feature was added to control the VSS settings from Group Policy or the config.ini file.
  • A new feature was added to control the custom SMARTPlacement settings from Group Policy.
  • We modified the behavior of the Screen Saver Auto-Pilot schedule to allow the monitor to power off. Prior to this version, Screen Saver schedules would not run if the monitor powered off as not screen saver was present. This behavior was modified to recognize the corporate need to have monitor power down to save energy.
  • The defragmentation logic was modified to minimize skipping files during a defragmentation pass. Prior to this version a file could be skipping after failing to move when requested. This logic was changed to only skip the file under more restrictive terms.
  • We corrected a flaw in the SmartDefrag logic where the proper defragmentation algorithm was not always being used.
  • We added support for Japanese translations.
Console enhancements and fixes:
  • When deploying patch files from the Enterprise console, the wizard would sometimes crash due to an un-initialized variable. This has been fixed.
  • We corrected a bug when downloading the latest PerfectDisk clients for deployment. The console did not use the proxy settings. This has been fixed.
  • New feature was added to allow controlling the behavior (display) of the registration dialog. This can now be blocked using group policy, the config.ini file or the Enterprise Console.
  • We corrected a bug when downloading PerfectDisk client packages from the deployment wizard. Previous versions did not support saving the package to a network share. This has been fixed.
  • A change was made to the deployment wizard to use the computer name if a domain is not specified when providing credentials.
  • Some user interface layout changes were made to avoid confusion.
  • We fixed a bug when specified specific sync periods which spanned midnight.
  • We added support for Japanese translations.
Get PerfectDisk and defrag news like this earlier — follow PerfectDisk on Twitter.

                                

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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. It performs robust free space consolidation to significantly prevent fragmentation, reduce the rate of future fragmentation and improve write performance.
  4.  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.
  5. 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.
  6. It optimizes boot files to improve boot time by 20% or more.
  7. It provides a free, Microsoft-certified duplicate file remover and file recycler to further assist disk cleanup and optimization efforts.
  8. It's simple enough for the novice user but with free, optional advanced features for power users.
  9. 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.
  10.   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.
  11.   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.
  12.   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

PerfectDisk 11 Service Pack 2 (Build 174) defrag update

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

The PerfectDisk 11 Client and Enterprise Console have been updated to Build 174. These latest builds include various bug fixes and minor enhancements.

You can “Check For Updates” in the products or wait for Autoupdate.

Client enhancements and fixes: 

  • Correct issues connecting to and displaying data stores for Exchange 2010
  • Change behavior when stopping a defrag pass. PerfectDisk used to display the statistics at the time you stopped even though they were inaccurate. PerfectDisk no longer does this.
  • The display files in block feature has been disabled during a defrag and analyze pass since there was no data to display
  • Corrected some display issues on the virtual machine tab
  • Added support for translation into Japanese
  • Corrected some statistical calculations when files are being added and deleted from the drive during the defragmentation pass.
  • The list of drive types that can be impersonated was limited to prevent confusion. The purpose of impersonating drive types was due to the inability to accurately determine whether or not a drive is a solid state drive.
  • Corrected a display issue on the Hyper-V host product. GUID was being displayed in lieu of the guest computer name.
  • Clarified the code to ensure the user realized the schedules maximum duration only applies to the online portion of the schedule. There is not maximum duration for a boot-time defragmentation pass.
  • Ensure that PerfectDisk does not attempt to perform an offline defragmentation pass on a FAT/FAT32 from a schedule. This functionality is not supported.
  • Corrected some typo's in displayed text
  • Changed the default behavior regarding file modification date on FAT/FAT32 drives. When no date exists we now display nothing. We used to display 1980.
  • Improved the layout to better fit all the on screen data
  • Corrected a bug when defragmenting drives greater than 2,147,483,648 clusters (8 TB with 4k cluster size)
  • Improved boot-time defragmentation logging.
  • Corrected a display issue with the schedule tab buttons when using Group Policy.
  • Certain error messages were improved to aid the user in understanding what went wrong.
Console enhancements and fixes:
  • Improved the task planner
  • Corrected an infinite loop in the Console User Interface. PerfectDisk Enterprise Console would appear to hang.
  • Corrected a crash in the Console user interface.
  • Updated to SQLExpress Service pack 3.
  • Displayed the Space explorer Client when PerfectDisk is not installed. This feature replies on PerfectDisk Client being present.
  • Improved the historic data reports.
  • Default Configuration profile data values have been adjusted to better represent the real world.
  • Corrected Connect using PD option not being available if Hyper-V Host installed on Console computer.
  • Corrected Console listing Hyper-V Host software as VMware.
  • Corrected import of settings that created registry keys that were not correct type.
  • Corrected Console reports that incorrectly did not include the Console computer.
  • Corrected issue in Deployment wizard that incorrectly displayed local/GP schedules.
Get PerfectDisk and defrag news like this earlier — follow PerfectDisk on Twitter.

                                

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.

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SQL Server performance improvements -- start with SQL defrag

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

                                               

We hear often from DBAs looking for SQL server performance improvements, and for us (of course...) that starts with SQL defrag of the SQL Server. We know that disk I/O can be a big bottleneck for SQL, so DBAs are often looking to reduce disk I/O on their SQL servers. Now, this can include improving arrays, tuning and DBCC REINDEXing of data, but reducing physical fragmentation is always key.

SQL Server program files, database files, transaction logs and backup files can all fragment, as can the free space around them, which is why free space consolidation is also critical in an SQL environment. Fragmented free space impacts write performance in particular, and also leads to more file fragmentation. In particular, a high number of SELECTS on your data can also increase fragmentation. SQL defrag software is a quick way to give DBAs SQL Server performance improvements.

Defrag SQL -- another component of enterprise defrag software.

                                              

 

Top server performance -- defrag to maintain

Monday, April 5, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                                A Service of bMighty.com

Writing in Information Week’s IT blog for small businesses, Paul Korzeniowski had a recent post about HP’s 3 new ProLiant G7 servers that offer as much as a 23:1 performance boost and include embedded technologies, including Insight Control software that allows clients to monitor and manage either onsite or remote servers and remote troubleshooting services. In his blog, Korzeniowski also discusses how the new HP devices are addressing energy concerns of small businesses. He states that “HP has emerged as a leading supplier of server, storage and network equipment.”
                                                      

We of course view HP as a leader in this category as well, which is why we have partnered with it on several initiatives. After all, HP understands along with us that server defragmentation is a key piece of keeping the performance of servers at a high level. Even for servers that are designed to boost performance out of the box. Server defrag, as part of overall enterprise defragmentation, will help keep it that way.

You can read Paul's entire post here.

TechRepublic -- Product Spotlight: PerfectDisk 11 Professional

Friday, April 2, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                            

Another review of PerfectDisk 11 appeared recently in TechRepublic. Unlike most, this one is not as favorable as others. But I want everyone to see it all, so you can see the link to Justin James' review here.     
                                    Justin James

While I differ with some of Justin's overall take, I respect his opinion. For example, we have a lot of users who are not power users, yet tell us they find the user interface easy to use. One factual correction I do need to make - he states that there is no central management in PerfectDisk. Actually, there is complete and robust central management in PerfectDisk, through the PerfectDisk 11 Enterprise Console. And of course, other management capabilities also exist, such as full integration with Active Directory. That's why many of the world's largest enterprises use PerfectDisk - without central management, they would not be able to use PerfectDisk for their enterprise defragmentation.

So take a look at Justin's review. Then reread the Computerworld one...:)

Is software discovery broken? Not for the best defrag software

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

                                                

Writing in that old industry stalwart PC Magazine, columnist John C. Dvorak declares that "software discovery is broken." In particular, he observes:

"A combination of SEO (search engine optimization) tricks, product duplication, fake companies, and bogus product reviews have muddied the water for software. No wonder app stores have begun taking over—it's almost impossible to find good software on the Internet. It's hard to find anything beyond big names like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, because little sleazeball companies have taken over the space.

"You see them all the time. If you're looking for any sort of utility on Google, you'll come across a ton of crappy and often useless (if not outright fraudulent) garbage that has risen to the top, thanks to what I like to call "active" SEO trickery."

                                                  Trickery or best defrag software?

Well, I do know there's a lot of junk out there. Hey, there are 5 billion people in the world, and there are a lot of bad ones too - but that doesn't make everyone bad. As one of only 2 real  enterprise defrag software companies in the world, we know there are a lot of weeds out there. No matter what you do on the Internet - work, play, research - you know you have to be smart about it and put your filters on. It's only natural, given the freedom of expression that the Internet has provided the world. 

So everything is not so easy. But day after day, month after month, the largest enterprises in the world, thousands of small businesses, and millions of consumers do what they are paid to do -- or desire to do -- and look for the best defrag software. And while I'm sure many end up with 'crap" (hey, Dvorak's words :)) for a defragger, we know that the majority end up with PerfectDisk or Diskeeper. They do their homework, they find real, valid reviews, and make the determination that the best disk defrag or the best enterprise defrag really leads to very few options.

You want the best recipe for making pizza? You know how to find options and filter through until you get the ones that you can trust. Want the best defrag software? Same process. It's life in 2010.

What do you think - is software discovery broken? 

The PC Magazine article is here.

                                          Is software discovery broken?


PerfectDisk 11 -- Go

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                         Welcome to PerfectDisk 11

                              www.perfectdisk.com

                    PerfectDisk 11 best defrag software                
                    

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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 -- best defrag software

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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


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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

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It goes to 11 -- in 11 days

Saturday, February 27, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

                                     Best defrag software and auto defrag

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.

                                     Best defrag software and auto defrag


"...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 
 

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Well, well -- aren't you picky -- defrag a file -- or 100

Friday, February 19, 2010 by Joe Abusamra

                                           Defrag a file -- slow PC fixes

Savvy computer users looking for slow PC fixes often look to defragmenting programs to speed up PC and generally improve slow PC problems. As we've pointed out before, there are many users who make great use of PerfectDisk's Selected Files Defrag feature to defrag a file or a few files. It's very valuable for users who have a particular set of files that are heavily and regularly modified. For example, a videographer doing lots of editing may be focusing on just a few files needed to improve video performance, but the entire disk does not need to be defragmented as often as the few video files he or she is working on.

                                       Defrag a file to fix slow PC problems

PerfectDisk has progressed from allowing a single file to be defragmented to several files. Now the number moves to 100 with ongoing counters of selected files. Defrag a file -- or defrag a hundred files. Be a picky user -- another way to speed up PC performance.

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

                                               Defrag a file for slow PC problems

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More than defrag -- to space and beyond

Friday, February 12, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                       Best defrag tool

While the ultimate goal for a defrag programs is faster PC speed and faster PC performance, a best defrag tool should be able to go beyond that. There is a lot of information about your drive and files that are of interest to many users.
                                        Best defrag software

Answers to questions such as:
  • how much space is being taken up by certain file types
  • what percentage of files on a drive are new and how many are old
  • what percentage of files on a drive are recently modified or recently accessed
  • what are the largest files on a drive, which are the oldest.
Space Reports -- more comprehensive, improved charts and graphs.

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

                                         Best defrag tool        

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Home, Sweet Home -- WHS defrag goes to 11 too

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                                     HP.com home

One of our most passionate and vocal group of users is the Windows Home Server (WHS) crowd. These users recognize that the WHS environment can benefit greatly from a completely defragmented environment. A solid WHS defrag is the reason HP partnered with us to offer PerfectDisk Windows Home Server to its MediaSmart and DataVault users - they can stream media faster and reclaim hard drive space, improve backup performance and basically optimize their digital life. 

                                            

The evolution of PerfectDisk includes WHS. Faster analyzes, faster WHS defrag, BlockViewer, enhanced SMARTPlacement, improved interface and more all get into the PerfectDisk WHS package. The bundling options remain intact, providing the best value available to optimize the entire WHS environment -- server and home PCs.

The best overall WHS performance, via superior WHS defrag.

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

                                                 

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Bipartisan support on the best defrag software -- from the defrag capital

Monday, February 8, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                                    

When it comes to determining the best defrag software, there can be a lot of back and forth discussion. Kinda like some of the big debates on the big issues of the day that take place just a few miles from our headquarters, in Washington DC. Proponents on each side.

One of the reasons we feel PerfectDisk is the best defrag tool available is that we've invested in R&D while delivering innovation over the years to address the changing landscape. And, all the while maintaining an open dialog with our customers to ensure we keep up with their demands.

                                              Best defrag software -- bipartisan support

We may be biased, but we put the best defragmentation test to some of our biggest critics -- those who love PerfectDisk but want it to be better, and those who have never been that crazy about it, and used something else. The support has been coming in from all sides.

Will it remain the best defrag tool?
  • "Truly an improvement over an already awesome product."
  • "The best there is, without a doubt."
  • "It has no real competition."
  • "The 2010 standard for Disk Management. It Simply ROCKs!
  • "Improving on an already fine product."
  • "Still best on the market."
  • "My laptop loves it."
  • "State-of-the-art defragmentation for people who like perfection."
  • "A prettier interface."
  • "World class."
  • "Still the best - and now you can customize it too!"
  • "The best defrag tool on Earth just got better."
  • "The most customizable and comprehensive product on the shelf."
  • "It is the best defrag software on the market. It has features for every level of computer user, from the person that just wants to defrag their hard drive to the person that wants to not just defrag hard disk, but wants more about space usage on the hard drive, the ability to defrag while still using Windows."
The best defragmentation around.

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

                                           Best enterprise defrag - PerfectDisk 11

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Enterprise defragmentation evolved -- Remote Free Space Management

Thursday, February 4, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                          Photgraph of Muhammad Ali standing over a prostrate Sonny Liston
While reasonable people can argue the merits of using freeware to defrag a computer or to defrag a file, if that capability exists in the particular defragmentation software, no such arguments exist when it comes to enterprise defragmentation. The choice becomes greatly limited. The freeware utilities, the built-in Windows defragmenter, and even most of the chargeable ones are simply not designed for enterprise defragmentation.

Putting aside for a moment the actual quality, flexibility and customization capabilities of the defrag program to improve PC performance, a large enterprise or even relatively small business has a lot more to worry about to ensure successful enterprise defragmentation. Installation and deployment across the organization to the required PCs and servers. Configuration and management. And reporting. Any good administrator requires full reporting capabilities to have a handle on the status of his or her enterprise. And better yet, be able to be proactive. Which is why PerfectDisk provides an elaborate alerting and warning system for administrators within the PerfectDisk Enterprise Console.

                                            Enterprise defragmentation reports

And now comes Remote Free Space Management, a shot in the arm to IT administrators responsible for enterprise defrag. It allows IT administrators to generate detailed reports on disk use, including graphical representations of storage usage. This new functionality provides significant improvements over Windows Storage Server Reports, providing not just data, but actionable reports. For instance, you can run a Duplicate File Report in Storage Server, but it does not allow you to remotely identify and execute duplicate file removals across the enterprise. PerfectDisk does.

Enterprise defragmentation evolved. March 2010.

                                            Enterprise defrag evolved

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Supersized servers for 2010 -- defrag to ensure vSphere and Hyper-V performance

Sunday, January 17, 2010 by Joe Abusamra
                                                     

A couple of weeks ago I looked at part of Computerworld's Forecast 2010 Special Report. Today I'll look at another part of the report -- Supersized Servers and the message that "virtualization will hit a hot streak in 2010, and enterprises will order more systems fully loaded with maximum processing power, memory and I/O capabilities." In question after question in Computerworld's study, virtualization, and particularly server virtualization, came up big:
  • #1 of Top 5 technologies most likely to be the target of spending increases in 2010: Servers
  • #1 of Top 5 project priorities for 2010: Server upgrades, virtualization
  • #1 of Top 5 most promising new technologies for respondents' industries or organizations: virtualization
  • #1 of Top 5 technology areas for beta testing: virtualization.
While 2009 saw cutbacks or budgets on hold, 2010 is forecast to see an increase. Almost 65% of IT professionals polled indicated their organizations are likely to virtualize more servers this year. And the servers are going to be beefy, bigger and more powerful to handle more virtualization servers.
                                                    Budget -- virtualization defrag

As organizations look to virtualizatoin to handle more, they also need to look at virtualization performance. And one key aspect of virtualization performance is defragmentation, including Hyper-V defrag and vSphere defrag. As important as we feel defrag has always been and continues to be for physical servers, it's as least as much with virtualization, as organization look to improve vSphere performance and Hyper-V performance. If all that power in those new servers is not allocated properly, much of it will be wasted. Only with a technology such as PerfectDisk's Virtual Awareness can the power of a busy virtual server be fully harnessed. Without virtual awareness, even the biggest and most powerful servers can waste a lot of resources, spinning its wheels, so to speak. Virtual awareness ensures perfect communication between the host and all its guests.

Maximize virtualization performance with enterprise defragmentation -- with virtualization smarts.

The entire Computerworld article, by Robert L. Mitchell, is here.

                                                   Hyper-V defrag and vSphere defrag