Spinrite, Diskkeeper, etc.....is there really that much differnce

[SnapperOne]

Is there really that much difference between "off the shelf" defragmentation software and the utility included with Win98Se.......and between the various "off the shelf" software titles themselves; i.e...Spinrite vs. Diskkeeper vs......?

[Mntsnow]

One of the biggest advantages of the "third party" defrag utils is the ability of it to move the pagefile/swapfile to the outer edge of the hard drive disk (fastest access area) which will improve performance.

[vfrxsw]

A company rep from Executive Software spoke at my local computer club last year. He stated that positioning on the drive was not that important. He said the main advantage to Diskkeeper was that it would run automatically so system was kept less fragmented and no one had to spend time doing anything once the software was loaded. As quoted from their site
"Why does Diskeeper report fragmented files after I have run the default defragmenter in Windows 98?

The two products actually work quite similarly, unless the default setting of Rearrange program files so that my programs start faster check box is left enabled in the Windows 98 defragmenter. This can cause fragmentation at the beginning of the partition, due to design factors in the Windows 98 defragmenter. If you disable the check box by selecting Settings from within the Select Drive window of the native tool, this tool will defragment the partition in a manner very similar to Diskeeper"

[helldiverCDN]

Good article on how MS Defragmenter works, and why other 3rd party defrag programs report 'defragmentation' if MS defrag prg has been used, can be found at :
http://cwdixon.home.texas.net/support/win98_support/index.htm

...under 'Disk Defragmentation' section.

Cheers,

hell out


[This message has been edited by helldiverCDN (edited 03-26-2001).]

[This message has been edited by helldiverCDN (edited 03-26-2001).]

[bdunn]

SpinRite is radically different type of utility than defragmenter. loog ak the grc website http://www.grc.com for more information on it.

[G]

Hi,
I’ve written a number of posts on SpinRite - the following reference being one of them http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/Forum2/HTML/012940.html The post says it all really, and I still do not own shares in grc.com. Diskeeper is another robust and stable program that does exactly what it is supposed to do – no more and no less. It is the leader in its field. If you are concerned with the fact that defragging a HD can corrupt files then ensuring that you have a defragger that instigates many security parameters to prevent corruption is well worth considering. Many people may look at the price, or inspect the interface and wonder what all the fuss is about. With both of these programs, it’s all under the hood, so to speak. If moneys tight but you want two programs that will be of value not only now but also in the future then these are both candidates.

Diskeeper has a trial version or comes with Win2000 (which may be all you need). For SpinRite grc.com, for obvious reasons, don’t have a trial version but if you are not happy with it then they are happy to give you a refund. (The policy when I purchased it).

I have got both and they have earned their keep already.

All the best,
G