Diskeeper Update Defrags in Background

LAS VEGAS -- Executive Software International rolled out at Comdex here a new version of its Diskeeper 7.0 file defragmentation utility that is designed to demand fewer system resources during operation.

Dubbed Diskeeper 7.0 Second Edition for Windows, the newest version of the highly popular system utility adds a feature called Quick Defragmentation that is designed to defrag recently created files. The company says the SE version also includes an improved utility for consolidating free space on the hard drive.

The update retails at $49.95 for the workstation version and $249.95 for a server version. Currently, the SE version works only with Windows NT, 2000, and XP. A version that works with earlier versions of Windows is expected to ship later in November. Executive Software maintains several versions of the program, most recently releasing a manual Lite version.

Why Defrag?

File fragmentation can cause significant degradation in system performance and routinely occurs on partitions where files are added and--especially--deleted. It occurs when the operating system breaks up a file and fits the data into spaces left open by deleted files. The process results in slower file access because the system must find the fragmented files over a wider area of the hard drive before it can read them.

Free space on a hard drive can also become fragmented. This leads to performance problems when creating and extending files.

Neither condition affects a file's contents, but both hamper the system's read/write efficiency.

Hands-On Cleanup

I tested out the latest Diskeeper version on a highly fragmented drive in my notebook PC running Windows 2000.

As with prior versions of Diskeeper, the new product includes a "Set It and Forget It" option for running the program at scheduled times. This is a handy tool for those who prefer to let their PC run defrags when the system is otherwise idle. For these tests, however, I manually ran the application.

Installation was extremely smooth and fast. The new menu system is virtually identical to past iterations, with one major exception: A new submenu under Action offers three defrag choices. The default is Maximum Disk Performance, which defrags files and consolidates free space. A second choice is Quick Defragmentation, which reduces overall defragmentation time by emphasizing file defragmentation over free-space consolidation. Defragging provides greater system performance gain.

Improved Free Space performs a normal Diskeeper defragmentation, according to the company, but then does extra processing to further improve free-space consolidation. This method works only on systems with the NTFS file system.

Background Success

I picked Quick Defragmentation and ran the operation in the background while using a word processor and occasionally doing some online research. I noticed no change in overall system performance while doing these chores, even though Diskeeper was working, somewhat noisily, in the background defragmenting more than 2000 files.

The entire process took about 20 minutes and, while this wasn't a lab test, the notebook seemed to respond more quickly when opening apps and saving files. That's a fairly typical result from running a defrag on a heavily fragmented partition.

Even though Windows includes a defragmentation utility, Diskeeper--in its several versions--provides options the bundled utility lacks. If you don't already have Diskeeper on your system, you may find it a worthwhile addition to your system enhancement utilities.