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Feedback on Defraggler v1.02.077


thm

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I'm unconvinced by the new tabbed UI: it typically means more clicks

to do the defragging. <_<

 

The "Defrag" button now appears to do a full disk defrag, i.e. files, folders

and freespace. This is only needed occasionally. In previous versions

this would just defrag the selected files, so for a quick defrag, could just

click Analyze, then select all files and click Defrag.

 

Now, with the new version, to do the same thing you have to click Analyze,

then View Files, then select all files, then remember to right click to get the

context menu and then scroll down to Defrag Checked and left-click on that.

Not that that is difficult, but I don't think it is particularly obvious and could

put off some newcomers to the program (they may not find out how to do it).

 

Now, not everyone wants to look at the list of fragmented files anyway, so

how about the following compromise between the old UI and the new...

 

Having the tabbed UI means more space on the "Drive" tab in which extra

buttons could be placed.

 

So...how about slimming down the height of the Status and Properties groups

and adding buttons at the bottom of the Drive tab to the right of the Analyze

button something like this...

 

-------------------- Defrag Options -------------------------

[Just Files] [Files+Folders] [Free space] [Entire Drive]

 

 

...The Files button would defrag all the files found in a previous Analyze run

(or if none done, then would effect an analysis first). Similarly for the Files+Folders

button, except that folders too would be included.

 

This would mean that most users could choose exactly what type of defrag

they wanted very quickly and easily (and obviously).

 

For those relatively rare occasions when one only wants to defrag certain files,

one could just do the Analyze, then click View Files, select the target files and

use the context menu to defrag those selected. This is an excellent feature of

Defraggler, it's just that [iMHO] it is less likely to be used than the other options

- particularly the first two (Files, Files+Folders)

 

What does the forum think of that ?

 

It's good that Defraggler now persists the window properties (size, position etc)

- could the "Priority" option be persisted also, perhaps ?

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I, too, prefer the old GUI.

 

 

My own proposal: I think there should be two views instead of the two tabs. The default view would be basically the default tab as it is now, and the other view would be the way it used to look (the buttons, the smaller white defrag prompt, etc., not just the file list as it is now). When clicking the view files button, it would open the old view (and allowing the user somehow to easily navigate back to the other view). Also, it would save your preferred view as the default view.

Edited by scriptdaemon
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I too like the old interface. I felt unconfortalbly with the tabs. lost in some cases.

 

thm is absolutely right on this

 

If you insist in keeping the new look can i suggest to have the defrag/analyze/stop controls on both tabs

in exaclty the same position so that we can avoid right clicking

 

Please

1. keep it simple (the previous interface prety much accomplished that)

2. take note of peoples' suggestions -> one click sequential defragging is the most asked feature

(mine is a screensaver-defragger, but probably not many users need or want this feature)

 

I hope defraggler will be improved in ways that iwill keep it small, simple and useful.

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- New to defraggler so I've never seen the old interface. I found the new one to be pretty intuitive for the most part.

 

- Would be nice to have a "Defrag" menu item where you could toggle which type you wanted to use, i.e. Just Files, Files+Folders, Free space, Entire Drive (as mentioned in a previous post).

 

- The drive map legend should be displayed at all times. There's plenty of room in the interface for this. Suggest adding a "View" menu item and having the drive map legend option there where you could toggle on/off.

 

- The drive map legend seems to be missing a color, i.e. a blue/grey.

 

- When you Analyze, it'd be helpful for the tool to suggest whether or not you should defrag and which type to use.

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I personally like the new tabs. I like seeing more information then previously like the pie chart or analysis results vs. current state. I also like that this information is on the default tab, it's better for new users. I do agree with thm though that there should be the four different defrag options. I know that you can defrag freespace through the advanced menu but it should be a more accessible option. I do have a couple of additional comments about the latest version though.

 

-Should add a timer that shows time elapsed and estimated time remaining.

-The percentage complete is not very accurate. It jumps around a lot and then stays at a certain percentage for 40 min., and then will jump quickly again.

-When you maximize the window, the UI does not resize accordingly. It just stays the same small size in a now big white window.

-I also really like jd's idea. "When you Analyze, have Defraggler suggest whether or not you should defrag and which type to use."

-Add in a scheduler for analysis. It will automatically defrag based on the analysis results given using the above method.

 

Overall this was a nice release though, good work.

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I've been using defraggler for a short while and it's pretty good. I only have few comments about 1.02.077

 

  1. Make the fact it is beta a lot more obvious. I spotted the new version last night, downloaded and started running it at home. Only this morning did I twig it was beta. Please put the warning at the top and provide a link to the previous stable release on the download page.
  2. It's very, very slow. On a drive which had previously been de-fraggled, it seems to be moving every single file about and creating masses of fragments. This is my home PC and it has been running for a good 12 hours now (300gb drive, 200gb data). The PC seems to be stable, so I am not overly concerned about data loss, I am just wondering what on earth it is doing!
  3. New UI. Sorry, I don't like it. Too many clicks. I selected the files and then stared dumbly at the screen whilst I looked for the defrag button. Obviously I found it, but I think it is now doing way more than I asked it (I only wanted the selected files defragged, not got a clue what it is up to).
  4. Automation. I noticed "df.exe" this morning as well. I am going to guess that this is a command line so I can knock up a quick batch file and have that run at some specific time, would it be possible for defraggle to offer the ability to schedule such a task via the UI? Might help total beginners.
  5. Monitor. I realise this may be bloat, but what about adding a feature to monitor driver(s)? A system tray icon which would pop up a message if the scheduled analysis (e.g. nightly) indicates that defragging might be a good idea. For this and the last one, defraggle should have the option wake the PC from any sleep-state it may be in to ensure the job gets done.

 

 

All in all, a good product, although I think I will stick to the previous release for now.

 

rS

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I have used the May 08 version successfully for a few weeks & it was very good & fast, if a bit basic looking. I could do a 15Gb defrag in about 5-10 minutes. Have just downloaded the new version, tried a defrag, & aborted it , unfinished, after 2 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!.

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1. Agreed with above posters, the new UI is rather annoying. Instead of giving the pie chart a tab of it own, let it have it's own window that you are able to open optionally, such as with the Drive Map Legend (hell, COMBINE it with that one).

2. It defrags mindblowingly slow. What happened to the blazing fast defrag algorithms from the previous release? Were they less efficient than initially thought?

 

EDIT: In case it means anything:

 

Celeron 2.2Ghz (<-- Old, but not the cause for the poor performance unless it's a coding error with Intel CPUs)

1.5GB DDR PC2700 RAM

40GB HDD

Radeon X1550 PCI

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Initially the new design pissed me off immensely.

Because it's different. ( Most people are like that. )

 

The "Defrag" button needs to say "FULL DEFRAG" and the file list needs its own defrag button.

 

also it would be nice to have a button for this macro:

1. Analyse selected drive.

2. Select all files on analysis.

3. Defrag checked.

 

This could be called QUICK DEFRAG in contrast with FULL DEFRAG.

 

I have used the May 08 version successfully for a few weeks & it was very good & fast, if a bit basic looking. I could do a 15Gb defrag in about 5-10 minutes. Have just downloaded the new version, tried a defrag, & aborted it , unfinished, after 2 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

You need to use it differently now, select all then right click and "Defrag checked."

 

1. Agreed with above posters, the new UI is rather annoying. Instead of giving the pie chart a tab of it own, let it have it's own window that you are able to open optionally, such as with the Drive Map Legend (hell, COMBINE it with that one).

2. It defrags mindblowingly slow. What happened to the blazing fast defrag algorithms from the previous release? Were they less efficient than initially thought?

 

EDIT: In case it means anything:

 

Celeron 2.2Ghz (<-- Old, but not the cause for the poor performance unless it's a coding error with Intel CPUs)

1.5GB DDR PC2700 RAM

40GB HDD

Radeon X1550 PCI

 

2. <-- Apparently now "DEFRAG" does a FULL defrag, and not just defraging of fragmented files.

See post 1, to see how to do the quick defrag. ( Analyse -> List Files -> Select All -> (RIGHT CLICK) Defrag Checked )

The Full defrag is only useful for FUTURE performance, if you plan on doing quick defrags frequently, there is no real need for a full defrag.

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2. <-- Apparently now "DEFRAG" does a FULL defrag, and not just defraging of fragmented files.

See post 1, to see how to do the quick defrag. ( Analyse -> List Files -> Select All -> (RIGHT CLICK) Defrag Checked )

The Full defrag is only useful for FUTURE performance, if you plan on doing quick defrags frequently, there is no real need for a full defrag.

 

Thanks for that.

 

Poor design in this version methinks. <_<

 

EDIT: I really wish thing would defrag my pagefile. This says it's in 2 fragments, but when I run PageDefrag from Mark Russonivich (or however his name is spelled), it says the Pagefile is as contiguous as possible. really, really annoying.

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I came here to see what other people were saying about the new interface.

 

 

Old interface:

1. Load up program

2. Analyze

3. Click check box & defrag.

Simple.

 

New interface:

1. Load up program

2. see confusing empty-space pie-graph thing (what is this for??)

3. switch tab to file list

4. Right click drive and Analyze...

5. Then check off box

6. Find some place where you can right-click and then click on "defrag checked"

 

What the heck? A confusing interface AND twice as many steps?

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:angry: I just downloaded the free defraggler software....after installation was complete... i was in a different program.... when all of a sudden my computer gave me a message of a drastic error.... and was closing down to avoid further harm to my computer.... I received an error message to report to microsoft about a harmful action to my driver device.... I had to do some cleanup on my computer and virus quarrantining... I have windows XP and have never had a problem like this.... I will be telling all my address friends to stay away....

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:angry: I just downloaded the free defraggler software....after installation was complete... i was in a different program.... when all of a sudden my computer gave me a message of a drastic error.... and was closing down to avoid further harm to my computer.... I received an error message to report to microsoft about a harmful action to my driver device.... I had to do some cleanup on my computer and virus quarrantining... I have windows XP and have never had a problem like this.... I will be telling all my address friends to stay away....

Before you run around yelling The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling! please permit us to help you discover what the problem is and help you remove it.

 

What is your operating system and Service Packs installed.

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein

IE7Pro user

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:angry: I just downloaded the free defraggler software....after installation was complete... i was in a different program.... when all of a sudden my computer gave me a message of a drastic error.... and was closing down to avoid further harm to my computer.... I received an error message to report to microsoft about a harmful action to my driver device.... I had to do some cleanup on my computer and virus quarrantining... I have windows XP and have never had a problem like this.... I will be telling all my address friends to stay away....

 

Yeah, and I'm sure Defraggler broke your TV, stole your shoes, killed your dog, and made your penis shrink from 3 inches to 2 inches as well.

 

Such evil software!

 

You should demand a refund at once!

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Thanks for that.

 

Poor design in this version methinks. <_<

 

EDIT: I really wish thing would defrag my pagefile. This says it's in 2 fragments, but when I run PageDefrag from Mark Russonivich (or however his name is spelled), it says the Pagefile is as contiguous as possible. really, really annoying.

 

I just ran into the same problem on a friend's computer. First off, Mark's program (for the first time in my experience with it) did not make the page file contiguous despite the fact that there appeared to be more than enough free space before and after the larger portion of the page file to allow that to happen. I tried several times and the darn page file remained in two segments. So, (in Windows XP) I went to the Virtual Memory configuration window and changed the setting to no virtual memory. I then rebooted the machine and went back and reset the virtual memory setting to the value I wanted. Now the file is no longer fragmented.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mitch

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I just ran into the same problem on a friend's computer. First off, Mark's program (for the first time in my experience with it) did not make the page file contiguous despite the fact that there appeared to be more than enough free space before and after the larger portion of the page file to allow that to happen. I tried several times and the darn page file remained in two segments. So, (in Windows XP) I went to the Virtual Memory configuration window and changed the setting to no virtual memory. I then rebooted the machine and went back and reset the virtual memory setting to the value I wanted. Now the file is no longer fragmented.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mitch

 

:o

A note of warning to those following the above advice: do not disable [set to zero] the virtual memory

unless you have plenty of memory, otherwise your machine may not boot ! :( It's impossible to say

definitively how much memory you need to be safe [as that depends upon your configuration], but

you should be OK for Windows XP with 512 MB and above. Probably > 1GB for Vista. (?)

If you do have plenty of memory, then sometimes it is a good thing to do a thorough defrag

between scrapping the page file and recreating one.

- thm

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I completel agree with this thm. It became less obvious to defrag a few files which is THE PRIME REASON why i used Defraggler. There should be analyze, defrag, defrag free space, & stop buttons on the same level as the tabs because these are options you want access to at anytime. I trust piriform will listen to us though so im not worried.

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I also much prefer the previous GUI.

 

The new version of defraggler doesn't appear to only defrag selected files and takes an age to complete. I also miss seeing the defrag in action. All in all, the previous version (imho) was much better!

I have now reverted back to that!

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Ok, the new GUI has killed the functionality for me.

 

Before, when listed all the files and having it defrag just the files, it the bottom of the program would display how many fragmented files and how much space the fragmented files were taking up.

 

I used it as a "count down" to see how far along the defrag was.

 

Now at the bottom it just has "Check for update" and NO file information. I also can no longer scroll down the file list when it is defragging. :(

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:o

A note of warning to those following the above advice: do not disable [set to zero] the virtual memory

unless you have plenty of memory, otherwise your machine may not boot ! :( It's impossible to say

definitively how much memory you need to be safe [as that depends upon your configuration], but

you should be OK for Windows XP with 512 MB and above. Probably > 1GB for Vista. (?)

If you do have plenty of memory, then sometimes it is a good thing to do a thorough defrag

between scrapping the page file and recreating one.

- thm

 

This is why two heads are always better than one. I failed to mention that the XP machine I did this on had 1 Gb of memory. Sorry about that.

 

:(

 

Edit: Actually, the virtual memory window says that the minimum page file size "allowed" (short of totally eliminating it) is 2 MB.

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This is why two heads are always better than one. I failed to mention that the XP machine I did this on had 1 Gb of memory. Sorry about that.

 

:(

 

Edit: Actually, the virtual memory window says that the minimum page file size "allowed" (short of totally eliminating it) is 2 MB.

 

That all sounds like a bunch of crap.

 

I disable the page file on 256 Meg and even 128 Meg machines before running Defraggler. It works great.

 

Not having a page file and then running Defraggler should NEVER make your system "not boot" unless your system is a broken piece of junk in the first place.

 

This forum seems to be like some sort of fly trap for people to gather and spread retarded misinformation about their system and then blame it on this software.

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