Bill Detwiler: When IT pros encouraged users to defragment their hard drives, they often recommend utilities that are built into the individual's operating system. But when it comes to defragmenting their own machines, IT pros all seem to have their favorite third-party defrag utility.
I'm Bill Detwiler, and during this TR Dojo episode, I'll look at four, free defragmentation utilities that are popular the TechRepublic members.
Before I get started, let me say that the four utilities I mention during this show are not an exhaustive list. There are dozens of defragmentation tools -- some free some not. Also, each tool has its fans and detractors among the TechRepublic audience. I'll give you a brief rundown on each utility's features, to help you pick a tool that fits your needs. Just remember that the features
Lastly, we reviewed each of these tools in TechRepublic's Product Spotlight blog. I'll provide a link to each review in this video's blog notes. If one of these utilities sounds like it might fit your needs, be sure to check out the full review.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the tools. First on our list, is UltraDefrag. Available from Sourceforge.net, this utility supports Windows versions from 2000 up to Windows 7.
UltraDefrag is designed to be a more powerful and reliable replacement for the standard Windows tools. With this tool, the big advantage is speed -- many TechRepublic members consider it to be one of the fastest defragmentation utilities out there. As a bonus, there also a micro edition that can be installed on a USB drive. Speed, along with portability, make it a good addition to the mobile IT pro's toolbox.
Next, we have MyDefrag. This one works with Windows 2000 through Windows 7 as well as Windows Server OSs, 2003 and 2008.
MyDefrag gets high marks for being very thorough, reliable, and customizable, but according to our reviewer, the application isn't very fast. If speed isn't as important to you, though, MyDefrag offers a lot of options for different modes of operation and a very detailed graphical interface.
The third tool I'll mention is called Smart Defrag, and it also works with Windows operating systems, going back to Windows 98.
The one feature that may set Smart Defrag apart for many people is its simplicity and the fact that it automatically defragments files during your computer's idle periods. It doesn't have a lot of customizable features, but the ease of having automated defragging, especially for heavy users of the Internet and those who consume a lot of multimedia, make it popular with some power users.
Last on our list is the Defraggler hard disk utility. It's similar to MyDefrag in that it offers more customization, such as being able to target single files and folders for defragmentation, rather than an entire drive, and it allows you to run scripts from the command line.
Defraggler's advanced feature set is attractive to system administrators, and like UltraDefrag, it can be run from a USB drive, making it handy for technicians to take with them on desktop calls.
Well that's a quick rundown of four, free defragmentation utilities that are popular with the TechRepublic community. For more information on each tool, check out the full reviews in our Product Spotlight blog. I'll link to them from the blog notes.
Also, if you have a favorite defragmentation tool that wasn't on our list let us know what it is in the TR Dojo blog.
As always, for more teachings on your path to becoming an IT Ninja, visit trdojo.techrepublic.com or you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/billdetwiler.
Thanks for visiting the TR Dojo.
