Defraggler suggestions

[mcknet]

I'd like to see some "move to" features.

 

In the file list, right click to move the selected file or files to the beginning, middle, or end of the drive.

 

In Options/Defrag tab, instead of just moving all the files to the end, allow beginning, middle, or end to be specified in the Edit category box.

 

Add a feature to allow moving unused files (based on last accessed date?) out of the way of the higher-performance files. Files that are never accessed can be selected for moving to the middle or end of the drive. This would be similar to archiving on another product. That's really the only reason I ever use the other product. I really prefer to use the light, portable, and simple Defraggler.

 

Also add a feature that would allow moving files to the very beginning of the drive, not just the first empty space available. For example, selecting all the files in the Windows folders and moving them to the beginning after moving files that are already there out of the way.

 

Scott

[^L^]

In the file list, right click to move the selected file or files to the beginning, middle, or end of the drive.

Yes! that would be a smart feature.

 

cheers

[redhawk]

Some suggestions for Defraggler

 

- Allow pagefile.sys file to be defragged if this file isn't locked i.e. running from BartPE or from a dual boot of XP - currently Defraggler is programmed not to touch it.

- Add option to create a log report i.e. fragmentation statistics and all processed files.

- Detect problems with the file system and warn users to run chkdsk /r to avoid a possible program crash.

 

Richard S.

[NiTeSHiFT]

Don't know if it already has been asked for:

 

Win7 doesn't show me my EMPTY card-reader drives, but defraggler does. I would love an option to only show the drives which Win7 shows or the drives which aren't 0 in size.

[ovd.]

Defraggler don't remember/save the distance in hdd/partitions info that you set. (drive, file system, capacity...)

 

 

can be fixed please?

[Zeru]

Suggestions for defraggler:

1) progress bar in status column to make it more visual

2) show fragmented files, mft, page file on pie chart (and make same colors with used legend)

3) add registry defrag

4) add possibility to use chache file on other drive with custom size

5) add function to defrag system files on OS startup(it would be great if defraggler could be started like chkdsk before booting OS)

And also I would like to see

In the file list, right click to move the selected file or files to the beginning, middle, or end of the drive.

this feature as well.

Hope all of those would be realised

[monterto]

"And make it possible to queue other drives for defrag"

 

This would be a FANTASTIC feature!

[Inspector4424]

Does Defraggler use any chronilogical info to help in what the user of the PC run the programs they use the most? Some people want to run only a few and the rest are diskfiller, they need help in moving unused programs to help SPEED UP the ones they use.

[albertwigs]

Windows has an internal API (Application Programming Interface) that third-party applications such as Defraggler can use to move and delete files. This API works the same way Windows does when it moves or deletes files, and is very safe. Even if the PC crashes or you experience a power failure during defragmentation, Windows can usually complete the file operations or cancel them without file corruption.

[amd.64]

First I want to say that Defraggler and CCleaner are both fantastic programs. I have not yet used any other programs from Piriform.

 

Second I have some comments about options / features suggested by other users. First I will comment on the options / features I like and agree with then in a second post the options / features I dislike and disagree. Then in a third post list the options I would like to see added

 

Defrag all drives attached to system (excluding network drives) -- I would agree with simultaneous or successive defrags of multiple hard drives. The user could choose between simultaneous or successive. Each user could select the method that best fits there needs. Multiple partitions on same drive must always be successive. Defragging a network drive would be a nightmare as it would take forever.

 

Defrag Registry ? I think that having all five files of the registry (Default, SAM, Security Software, System) in the same location or successive blocks on the hard drive would have to be a benefit to the over all performance of the system / Windows. Even if they are close to each other they will still get fragmented as these files are used and grow. Even if there is not a ?Defrag Registry? option, have a normal or quick defrag make sure that these files are not fragmented and are next to each other on the drive would be a nice feature.

 

Page File Defrag ? As one poster mentioned that once this file has been defragmented once, it should not become fragmented again. Why buy / install a program specifically to defrag the Page File, when that program may only be used once maybe twice. If after the initial defrag, the size of the Page File changes then the option would already be available with out installing a second program.

 

I really like the idea of defragging the System files on boot up. As long as it is not every time the computer is booted. Perhaps every fifth or tenth time the computer is booted or maybe only as needed. Maybe this can be an option set in the INI file. User could set the boot defrag to once a week or month etc.

 

Logging would be a very much useful feature to us computer techs. A log created after the analysis and after the defrag is complete would be excellent. Logging would help in trouble shooting among other things beyond the scope of this thread.

 

As it is, I rarely use the Shutdown after defrag option and only on computers on my work bench. I would like to see it expanded to Restart, logoff or just exit Defraggler after defrag. The user should be able to select which one of the four they want if they want any of the choices

 

Although a drive map legend option is available in the help menu, it would be nice not to have to open it up every time I run a defrag

[amd.64]

In this post I will discuss the features I do not like / disagree with.

 

If the only purpose of the exclusion list is to allowing skipping the Internet Cache folder or the temp directory etc, then the exclusion list needs to be removed. There are countless programs to delete internet cache, temporary files and other junk files. One of these programs is made by Piriform (CCleaner) and a second is included with windows (Disk Cleanup). I have actually seen a computer performance improve just buy deleting the internet cache and other junk files

 

Moving files from one drive to another and back again is a VERY bad idea. If while running a defrag the power company decides to switch grids or some other nonsense causes a power loss, the system could possibly be hosed, if Defraggler happened to move some critical windows file , such as the registry files or ntlder, or boot.ini and had not moved them back yet before the power failure. A hosed system in this manner would not be a problem for experienced techs but would be a big problem for the house wife or college student user. Also moving files in this manner could only slow the defrag process down. If you wish to defrag a drive or partition with very little free space, upgrade to a bigger drive.

 

One poster suggested that if Defraggler attempted to move a file currently in use that a prompt should pop up asking if the file should be skipped or wait until the file is no longer in use. This to is a bad idea, at any one point hundreds if not thousands of files are in use. I personally do not want to answer that question once let alone several hundred or possibly thousands of times. This would also require ?baby sitting? the program. As a computer tech I can be working on as many as six or seven or even more computers at once, some remotely. I do not have time to?baby sit? such a feature. In fact if a program had such a feature I would not use it at all

 

I like Defraggler because it is a nice small and simple app that is less then 5 Megs total. I also like the app because it is portable and I can run it from my thumb drive. Features such as real-time, idle or screensaver defrag will only prove to bloat the software. Before I found Defraggler I had actually used DiskKeeper then quit and went back to the Windows native defrag program because of such features. I prefer the scheduled defrag more then real-time, idle or screensaver defrag. Running a defrag with other programs running is not a good idea either. If a program is running and tries to access a file that has been moved by a defrag process, since it was last accessed, can cause that program to crash. A scheduled scan ensures that the scan will run when I want it to run and that I am ready for it.

 

While performance will improve over time with more defrags, running defrag multiple times in succession will not achieve anything but waste time and put more wear and tear on the hard drive.

 

One poster suggested making Defraggler perform better on slower systems. I am currently running a defrag on a drive with Defraggler taking a total of 58 Megs. That is a pretty small foot print. What will slow down Defraggler or any defrag program more then anything is low read, write and seek times and low HD cache (IE 2 Meg cache). Again upgrade the hard drive to something better.

 

When I have a computer on the bench I will use Defraggler to defrag the hard drive before I return it to the customer. I also use Defraggler on my personal systems. I agree with Brain49 in post #73. I do not want to see Defraggler turn in to another Disk keeper. I gave up using Disk Keeper for a reason. I do not want to give up using Defraggler. If you want certain features that Disk Keeper or other commercial paid defrag programs have then use those programs and leave Defraggler alone.

[amd.64]

I would like to see more command line options for Defraggler.

 

Include command line options for:

Installing / Uninstalling

Check for Errors

Analyze

Full, Free Space and Quick Defrag

Check for and automatically install updates silently

Create a log after analyze and defrag

A silent feature that can be used with all other command line options

 

Not sure if it can or not so I will mention it, the command line program should be able to use the settings in the INI file

 

Edit: It would be nice to have the command line defrag all drives whether simultaneous of successive.

[GRM177]

Dear crew, I would like to leave some suggestions about Defraggler, notice that I'm an experienced user and I guess that suggestions could be useful to real improvements:

 

- In config menu, option could be individual for each disk, e.g., in C: I prefer do not move larger files, but in D: I do move them to the end, so each time users have to change configs depending the disk to defrag, as well, the option to move larger files could be exposed in the main screen instead of inside menus (just one of this would help, two would be perfect, just as in PerfectDisk);

- Instead of close program by clicking 'X' button, should be some safer option, or send program to icon tray, or, at least, a confirmation, today I lost important data after click there accidentally;

- Color map could be better illustrated.

 

There are some errors in Portuguese (br) translation, if you need help I can point the errors and corrections for you.

 

Regards,

Gus Ramis (Brazil).

[ingeon]

I would love to be able to cue multiple hard drives.

 

Many times lots of data gets moved and sifted and to sit and do one

drive at a time is frustrating. If one could cue them then it can

run say over a weekend or during the night.

Scheduling does not work for me because it is difficult to say

how long each drive will take to complete.

[Thumpie Bunny Eve]

Regarding Defraggler:

 

In the near future, Will there be >>more<< controls for what

file types go to the Front and what go to the back of disks?,

(More then what is currently provided, eg:(large files+ext to end of disk))

and in what order those files are stacked in?

 

Example:

Such as, .ZIP's dead last, then .AVI's, then .MP3's then .JPG's,

But .EXE's and .DLL's come first, then .CPL, then ,.DRV in that order.

 

Or additional controls, for specific files

and folders to be positioned fore or aft of the disk?

 

Or options for controlling by date,

and number of times accessed, what files are shifted fore, or aft of a disk?

 

I'm not sure if these are suggestions or all out requests.

But I'm defiantly looking for the ability to more precisely control the lay out of my disk structures.

 

 

--------------------------------------

 

Very very sleepy when writing this. Now that it's done, I'm Crawling into bed to hide from the sun!

PS: Why is watching my drives defrag like gazeing into a camp fire? It's hypnotic! @~@! hehehe

[deziner]

I am a user of Piriform "CCleaner" since 2005 and have found this prog to great and faultless. I have just decided to try the Defraggler. I think it is OK but I am used to another defrag program that runs in when the screen saver activates. This is the one feature that I think is missing from Defraggler. Still it is the right price. Thanks.

[Groonx]

Appreciation

 

I'm not sure where to post this, so I have placed it here because I thought the Defrag devs would be most likely to watch this thread.

 

On QUEUING:

 

I run 15 partitions on XP 64-bit. This morning I was able to select the entire shebang, minimize Defraggler, and continue my day-to-day work. Every so often I look at the progress Defraggler is making on my 1.7 TB system. Beautiful! Once again, you guys are making a perfect app perfecter.

 

Thanks and Respect to you.

 

Vancouver, Canada

[SolarFox]

Hi,

 

Please add feature like "PUT Folders First" in options. Why shoud you do that?

It will reduce searching files on HDD much more faster!

Example: If you have 100.000 files on hdd and you need to find ONE file but you don`t remember where it is. You start searching and sometimes can take 1 or even 2 minutes to find than and meantime your hdd doing WORST job u can imagine. But if ALL Filenames (names of Files and Folders)are on beggining of HDD it will take ONLY 1-3 SECONDS to find your file (depend how your memory throughput between your Memory and CPU is fast not HDD!) Becasue your hdd HEAD don`t need to MOVE at all because all names are on ONE place so all data will be read in 0.01 second adn than RAM Memory and CPU need to FIND that file and that will be in a more than 1 -2 seconds.

So If You have INTEL i7 CPU (who have 14-19GB per seconds bandwith between CPU and Memory)it will take less than a second to find your file and what is most important your HDD life is increased because his head didn`t move 1-2 minutes like mad to find your one file.

 

Some of us still remember how was Norton Speed Disc for Win 98 (NOT 2000) do that job!

I guess some companies want US to buy faster HDD`s and that was removed when Win 2000 come out(even you have FAT32 or NTFS) but even fastest on market can`t be compared to this way of defrag.

 

p.s. Sry for bad English

 

And i have one more very good suggestion... But will write soon.

[Ch3vr0n]

i've got a small, quick and easy suggestion and is inline of what has been done in the latest version. The latest version has the ability to defrag multiple drives in Queue. Well my suggestion is that it supports defragmenting multiple drives SIMULTANEOUSLY. Any decent system nowadays can do that. I sure would love this, as it would save me a ton of time

[redhawk]

I'm not sure if the Windows defragging API supports simultaneous drives but even if it did I doubt there would be any speed difference than defragging drives one after another.

To defrag a hard drive data must be read and written via the IDE/SATA controller which would have a set maximum transfer rate.

If you was to defrag 4 drives at the same time then each drive would only have 1/4 of the controller's bandwidth to use.

As you can see 4 * 1/4 = 1

 

Richard S.

[AEon]

redhawk,

I am not expert on hardware limitations, but from experience: You are right about the controller bandwidth limitations, but you should be aware that these bandwidths are usually several factors above what a real HDD can actually provide. So if you run 4 HDDs, the controller may actually be able to server 2 or 3 of them at full speed.

 

There is another limiting factor: Partitions. Usually HDDs are partitioned, so if you try to defrag more than one partition on the same HDD, there will be "head shreddering". This slows down the defrag speed considerably, plus probably reduces the life of your HDD.

 

So we would be talking about defragging different HDDs. I only have SATA drives, each with a separate connector to the main board. So defragging two drives at the same time, should actually be twice as fast (or almost). Especially if you have a multi-core system (like my i7 920), where CPU power should not be limiting factor, provided the defrags are running in separate threads.

 

Unless I am overlooking something...

 

Ironically my SSD (solid state drive C:\ Win7 64bit) explicitly should *not* be defragged.

[Ch3vr0n]

My drives are also sata drives each attached to their own controller on the motherboard. Not only that they are Samsung F1 spinpoints that have the "s.m.a.r.t." option. No limitations on the partitioning though, each drive of 1TB is made up of a single partition.

 

My system is a Intel Q9950 with 2x Samsung F1's and 8GB ram. So memory nor speed nor bandwith should be an issue here.

[luminoso]

Defraggler really should improve engine by supporting VSS (Volume Shadow Copy)

 

Everytime I defrag I must turn it off or Volume Shadow Copy will grow and destroy my current system/files Volume Shadow Copy.

 

I belive that his would also greatly improve Defraggler speed?

[Thumpie Bunny Eve]

[1.]

 

The following options lack a text input box for file pathes,

 

settings > options > exclude > add > Drive or Folder [Text input box] & [browse Dialog]

settings > options > exclude > add > File [Text input box] & [browse Dialog]

 

This tends to be an easy fix for most programs,

and would be beneficial to those who know their path,

work with scripts, or have their paths copied in clip board.

 

Please add functionality for text input boxes.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[2.]

 

How can i set Defragglers ram usage allotment higher?

I would like to offer 2GB of my ram to Defraggler when it defrags,

as most of the files i defragment are between 700mb and 1.8gb

I also have a I-Ram drive, which is 4GB,

but I see no way to defer Defragglers work-space to that high speed ram drive. (Z:)

[Thumpie Bunny Eve]

Does the Piriform team actually ever READ this stuff? or take any of it into consideration?

Cause I realize I've posted here before many many months ago, and no answers were given then either.

Is this section of the forum only here to defer requests and helpful ideas to the void?

Does the Piriform team value our suggestions? or are we talking to ourselves, so that we are not -bothering- them?

 

Suggestion: reward suggestions with moderator feedback.