True, take the example of a drive with two partitions - both show as full circle. No way, man!

On a side note, I lost some data after UD - but that might be my fault - i did some other things at the same time.

GL

Your fault.

OK, i am now testing UltimateDefrag out, so that i can get to decide if i should put PerfectDisk or UltimateDefrag on my Unattended WinXP-Pro-SP2 CD that i'm almost finished with customizing/testing with nLite/WMware. One issue i'm having with UltimateDefrag is that i have seen that it can be made portable, as there are such versions available on the web for older UltimateDefrag versions(not v1.54), but i can't understand how it is done ? What dependency's has the UDEFRAG.EXE ? I have tryed to make a snapshot before and after the normal UltimateDefrag install with the official installer with RegSnap and it dosen't seem to set any reg keys and just some files in it's directory and one in system32(UDBDef.exe, but it's not this one that's needed). Can anybody please tell me how i can get the single exe(UDEFRAG.EXE) + xml config to run without saying "The Ultimate Defrag was not installed propperly" ? During the install, then a command prompt blinks shortly, so i think that some dll is copied and registered maybe, but RegSnap dosen't list any when comparing the two snapshots i made before and after the installation ? I don't really mean "portable", but just that i want to repack the exe and whatever else needed into a 7z swicthless installer, which then just makes an "UltimateDefrag" folder in %Programfiles% and copies the main exe into there + an xml config file(and whatever else is needed ?). I want to do this because the UltimateDefrag installer has only got one silent install mode(/a), and that mode will make the entire screen blue and display the progress bar during the install, and as i am going to incorporate the app into my unattended Windows, then i really hate to have anything shown during the installations of the apps(RunOnceEx). All the other apps i'm including either has a switch to make it completely silent, like e.g. /qn for msi installers and /verysilent for inno setup installers, and /S for some others and the apps that don't have such switches i have just made a 7z switchless installer of there needed files and reg keys, which then is installed with a batch file, but i can't do that with this app, since i can't find out what the main exe is dependant upon ? Also, does anyone of you know where the license(serial) is stored ? I can't find it in the registry or %appdata% or anything ? This is just driving me crazy, so if anyone can help me out with this, then i would really be imenselly gratefull

Thank's in advance.

Wow! That's scary!

It shouldnt matter that you use the PC while defragging. The defragger should be intelligent enough to back off, and short of a catastrophic power failure or mechanical HDD failure while defragging, you shouldn't lose your data.

Thats why I like Diskeeper so much, it has never given me any headaches of any sort so far. I use my PCs normally (at home, and at work) with the autodefrag enabled, and DK doesnt do anything wierd or of concern at all, but defrags the drives whenever it gets the chance. Everyone has their preference of defraggers, and mine is DK by far.

Now after having tryed both PerfectDisk and UltimateDefrag, then i'm mostly leaning towards UltimateDefrag, i most confess. It dosen't have two processes running all the time and taking about 9MB RAM in all, which is another plus also. Of course i can set them to 'manual', but then i'd also have to stop them after each defrag job additionally. I also like UltimateDefrag's GUI the best, although PerfectDisk's isn't bad either, but just a little bit more "eye-candy'ed", but still far less than many other apps out there. The circular diagram of the drive is also a fine detail, but it's not such a big deal to me personally. Then the biggest factor, by far, is how the defragging works in general. PerfectDisk and UltimateDefrag seems to defrag files and space about the same i would say, but the difference is in their file placement strategies. PerfectDisk only has one startegy, which is a good startegy, since it makes future defrag jobs take less time, but however, dosen't really have anything going towards faster access time of most frequently used files. UltimateDefrag has many different strategies, but the one i like the best is simply the 'Auto' one. This strategy will just like PerfectDisk make future defrags faster, but in addition to that, then it will also make most frequently accessed files to be loading faster additionally, in contrary to PerfectDisk. PerfectDisk makes future defrags faster by placing least modified files together at the outer tracks of the drive and then the more frequently modified files after them. This will make future defrags faster since most of the files at the outer tracks will not have to be moved and so the only files needing to be moved are the ones after them and that only takes a minimum of moved clusters to make them defragmented again, but won't speed up file loading of most frequently used files, but actually instead make all the least used files the fastest to load instead. UltimateDefrag, in it's 'Auto' mode, places the least frequently accessed files together at the inner tracks of the drive, so that future defrags will be faster, since these files probably will stay the same. However, all the most frequently accessed files is placed together at the outer tracks, so that they will load the fastest. To me then this last startegy of UltimateDefrag sounds the most intelligent to me, i must say. The only problem i now have is that i don't know how to make a 7z switchless installer of the app's main files and that way bypass the installer, which i don't like to be run as it isn't completely silent unfortunetly. I have tried to use a debugger during running the main exe and when the error message comes up about UltimateDefrag isn't installed proppely, then the debugger shows that the error was : ERROR_SXS_KEY_NOT_FOUND ???. i don't actually have any experience in using a debugger, but as far as i could see then that was the problem shown. All the dll's that were called, seemed to just be standard windows system dlls, so i don't know what that irritating exe needs to run standalone. Dependency Walker dosen't seem to help either, so again, if anybody knows what the main exe needs to run, then i would really appreciate it. The portable versions of previous versions i have seen have all been made with Thinstall, but i would like to avoid using that method myself, as i don't like the extra resources that's being wasted by that method. Also, please be aware that after having installed UltimateDefrag, and also after having uninstalled it, then the main exe can run by itself, so the uninstall process does leave something behind(like a registered dll or something ?), because if trying to run the main exe without having used the installer before, then it displays an error message and won't start. I am so sad about not being able to find a solution to this, since i really want to have this app on my unattended Windows CD, but i don't want to use the installer, but just make a 7z installer which makes a folder in %programfiles% and copies the exe in there and whatever else is needed, and then makes a shortcut to the exe on the desktop. So please if anybody can help me out, then i would really appreciate it.

Thank's in advance.

Martin H,
I did a check on this sw (version 1.54), and found that to run, all it really needs are these 2 files:The second file can be found in your %windir%\System32 folder after installing UltimateDefrag.

Also, the quickest way to make a silent installer, is using a WinRAR SFX archive.
Check your PM box! (your personal messages, on this forum)

Where's the built-in defragger on the poll list?

I try not to get too paranoid about defragging. Windows one (yes I know it's diskeeper) is decent enough for my needs.

I've never experience performance increase with perfectdisk or diskeeper. I'm satisfied with the built-in.

Perfect Disk for home and Built in Windows defrag for work machines/machines I don't care about ;P

Hi prathapml.

I just wanted to say many thank's for trying to help me out with this issue, i really appreciate it Also, many thank's for the PM, it's was very kind of you, my friend It was a very good guess to think that you would need the 'UDBDef.exe' file from 'system32', but i actually allready knew about that file, since i saw that it was made during install with a file/registry monitor i used to capture the registry entries and file changes with during the install(RegSnap) and the very first thing i tried was to place that file in the apps directory(and afterwards in 'system32'), but that wasen't the reason for the app wouldn't start, and infact, i don't know what's the use of that file at all, since defragging works perfectly without it ? I think that it's probably something about scheduling or something like that, but i personally always just manually defrag. Anyway, after almost have gone mad finding a solution to this problem, then i have finally solved it When i first captured the reg entries during the install, then there where some entries which looked very much like it was Windows itself which had made them and not the installer, so i filtered them out manually and only kept them that i could see was made by the app, but as the big id*** that i am, then i haden't even tried to merge the complete captured reg file with all the entries, and now after having thought of that and trying it out, then it finally worked So then after manually going through the keys and testing which one was the needed one, then i finally located the exact key needed for the main exe to run standalone. Remember that if anyone tests this yourself, then it maybe seems like there isn't an issue at all, and that i'm just fuc**** somthing up myself, but that is then just because that you yourself have run the installer previously before on your PC and even though uninstalling the app, then the uninstaller still leaves the needed reg key behind, so that the main exe can run fine without doing anything, but that will obviously not work on an unattended Windows CD, where i want to avoid the installer. Again, prathapml - I really appreciate you trying to help me out, mate

Sorry for being somewhat off-topic, and i promise that this is the last post about this...

I just wanted to give a little tip to others who also want's to make a 7z switchless installer of UltimateDefrag, and the tip is relevant no matter if using the installer or not to install the app. When making the 7z switchless installer, then you of course include the xml file which stores your configuration settings, so that when the app is installed, then all your changes are restored and so you don't need to waste time making those changes again. But then when you start UltimateDefrag v1.54 for the very first time, then it will still ask you to questions which aren't stored in the xml configuration settings file, so those dialogs will still come up, even though you include an xml file where you allready have answered those questions. Those two questions, or warnings as they actually are is a) if you want to turn Windows own boot optimize function off, which is enabled by default, and which will mess with UltimateDefrags own strategies and b] if you want to set UltimateDefrag as the default defragging app on your system. It is recommended to answer 'OK' to both of these warning/questions, and then the answer is stored in two registry keys, and not in the xml settings file.

To avoid those two dialogs upon first run of UltimateDefrag, then add a reg file into your 7z switchless installer/nLite addon, which includes the following :

Note : You need to change the path of the first reg key to match the correct path for where you have UltimateDefrag installed. The above used path is the one i myself use, but that's because i install the app myself with the 7z installer and don't use the official installer, and since i like this path better than the default one, but if you use the installer, then the correct path is :

Note : You also need to change the %programfiles% path if using a localized OS version.

Then if you do like me and bypass the installer, then you of course also need to include one extra reg key, which is the one that i posted in my previous post, so that the reg file then becomes :


Final note : As prathapml also kindly mentioned previously, then during install of UltimateDefrag then a file called "UDBDef.exe" is placed in '%windir%\system32\'. This file isn't needed for normal defragging jobs, but it's a good idea to include it anyway, since it's used for boot time defrags(just place it in the folder where the main exe is, if you aren't using the installer).

Again, sorry for being somewhat off-topic, and i will rest my case now, but i just thought that i would post this so that hopefully someone else would be able to benefit from it

CU, Martin.

Hi MartinH, recvd your mail
And you've done quite some good work on the above! It would indeed be useful for the next person who'd use UltimateDefrag on their uA disc!

@prathapml

Thank you very much, my friend I really appreciate your kind words and help, mate

@all

I have just found out that if wanting to do boot time defragging with UltimateDefrag, then the file 'UDBDef.exe' explicitly needs to be placed in '%windir%\system32\', as else 'UDEFRAG.EXE' cannot locate it and boot time defragging will fail to start. I just wanted to make this correction, since i previously wrote that 'UDBDef.exe' could just be placed in the programs local folder.

Btw, i have now completely made up my mind about which defragging app in my oppenion is the very best at what it does and to me it's defenetely UltimateDefrag which takes the first place I have now completely uninstalled PerfectDisk v8.0.64 Pro. from my system, since i have no use for anything else when having the encredibly versatile UltimateDefrag installed. Not to say that PerfectDisk isn't good, since it really is a very good app, no doubt about that, but i just think that UltimateDefrag is better. There are only two very minor things which i don't like about UltimateDefrag, but as it's not related to it's defragging strategies, then i can perfectly live with it anyways; It dosen't retain the last window state(maximized) and also not the 'Put directories close to MFT' setting of the 'Auto' mode. I am really glad that i read this thread, so that i would get to learn about this awesome piece of software, so i would just like to express my sincerest gratitude towards the nice person(s) who recommended it Thank's alot, mate(s)

CU, Martin.

As I've read elsewhere on the forums and from experience, Vopt does a really good job of compacting files to the beginning of a partition (there are three possible levels of packing to select from), making resizing the partition very fast - Partition Magic, for example, seems to rearrange files very inefficiently if there are any files towards the end of a partition, making resize operations take up to several hours, in the worst cases. While Diskeeper is pretty good, it tends not to rearrange large files very well, though its MFT resizing does come in handy.

I use auslogics Disk Defrag, My favorate

JK Defrag, so small, so powerfull

ScanDefrag makes good use of JkDefrag if added into ScanDefrag's install directory and it will be detected. PageDefrg can also be added into ScanDefrag's directory and it will be detected. Then you can also add JkDefrag_Gui into the install directory for using it's Gui interface.

It is the combination of defrag tools I prefer to use.

Are you overclocking? If you are, probably isn't stable!

I almost always use Diskeeper, i tried perfectdisk a few years ago and didnt really like how simple it was, so i went back to diskeeper. about a month ago a member at another board said i should try the new perfect disk instead of DK2007 ProPremier, i tried it for about a month and didnt really notice any difference. Im back to using diskeeper

Just picked up UltimateDefrag 1.64.

One problem I'm having is I can't get the boot time defragger part to work. My machine boots up without any kind of messages.

It's in my registry under the BootExecute key as it should be. Mine looks like this for drive C:

UDBDef C

UDBDef.exe is in my /system32 folder as it should be.


II also have Perfectdisk and that runs fine from BootExecute as does Chkdsk (autochk).

Is the entry incorrectly written, perhaps? Is it a problem with permissions?

I'm running Vista Ultimate x32.

The feature itself needs a lot of work. It's nothing you're doing wrong.

I notice the offline defrag program UDBDef.exe is dated 8/4/2006. Might be it wasn't updated for Vista which is why it works on XP.

Hands down Vopt http://www.vopt.com/index.html


Does anyone know IF this works on Vista 64bit?

Does UltimateDefrag support Vista Home Premium 64bit ?

Anyone?

http://www.disktrix.com/UDIntroduction.htm

Yea I saw that, but Im wondering Vista 64 specifically.

When in doubt, e-mail them or download the trial, install and see for yourself.

The poll was a bit short, wasn't it?

What about Windows Defrag?

Well, actually, I don't use that either.

I make a Ghost backup of my C: drive,
verify the backup, and then
I do a Ghost restore of the Image file I just made.

All files are re-written to the HD in the order they were
added to the Ghost Image. There is NO spaces between files
and of course NO fragmentation.

So in less than 15 minutes, I've got my Ghost backup made
and my HD perfectly defragmented. And I didn't have to load
my HD up with a worthless Defragmentation program.

This is the way MainFrame computers have been defragged for
more years than I can count......long before PC's needed it.

So if you add "Ghost" to the poll list, I'll vote for that.

Cheers Mates!

so i installed ultimate defrag. i like it so far. not sure if its fast or slow or whatever but its clearly impressive with its features.

ive used diskeeper and perfectdisk in past but dont remmeber much about them.

my question is. with ultimatedefrag (UD) how often and what settings to you recommend i read the pdf help file and got some advice but wanted it from real people.

pictures of your settings would be great as well.

i did an Auto scan on all my drives before and then did consolidate on Cdrive and it took a while for sure only like 15mins but thats long for

so how often do i defrag and what setting is best for me. i play some games and no important files on C drive persay that i need to speedup id just like to keep used files on faster section of hdd if possible since that makes sense about being faster seek and read times and stuff compared to if they were stuck in the inside ring or so.

ill stop blabbing here but any help would be great. i enabled respect high performance on conslidate and folder/file name but not fully sure what that does.

recency settings seems default for some reason has
oldest data most outer track. (doesnt this not make sense shouldnt it be inner?)

anyways hope to see some feedback from UD users thansk.

i use to use either jkdefrag or perfectdisk. but i fell in love with UltimateDefrag. i don't see why it shouldn't work on x64 vista as with most defragers they are just manipulating the windows defrag api. best bet is see if it works. i dont see how it could cause a problem just trying it out and seeing how it works out. but you could also email them and see get the work from the horses mouth.

@nycste id advise that the first time using ultimatedefrag you first use the Consolidate Method then set auto to optimum and run the auto and from there you can just run fragmented files only or auto. if you dont make any major hard drive changes like install/uninstall software to add/delete a lot of files then fragmented files only should suffice.

thanks for a quick response. any other details you could add or mention?

ill run consolidate on all drives. and then just do auto for now on optimum not sure what that is but ill look right now.

i do update uninstall reinstall small programs often trying new stuff out ya know. always looking for free or opensource programs which get updated a lot and are easy to use

is it also a good idea or not a good idea to run 1-4 runs of ultradefrag at once since it takes up so little resources it wouldnt bottle your computer up but it might be really ill advised to run it on all harddrives at once right?

since you have the option too unlike built in windows xp defrag can only do one thing at a time

i also just realised ive been using an older version 1.54 and just found the new one 1.64 i think



edit. just wanted to mention its taking over 3 hours so far maybe more to do a consolidate on my data drive of 200+gbs. its still only at 28 percent its using like 5mb total of ram it says and like no CPU. WTF why cant it use 100cpu and finish the job already

If I had $1 for everytime you copied and pasted this over the past few years, I'd own Microsoft.
And how often do you restore with your Ghost image? Overnight? Once a week? In any case, you're forcing more activity upon your drive by constantly re-writting (overwriting) the data than defragmenting would ever do. But hey, someone showed me a link stating that disk-access did not factor into a drive's overall lifespan. I don't know how valid that is or if it is true, though.

I've been using Diskeeper for a few years now, but recently switched to JkDefrag. The price which you pay for Diskeeper is quite high. Yes, it offers more functionality and has a nicer UI than JkDefrag, but the last one is freeware, fast and does the job perfectly. Also, the screensaver function is quite handy. Besides JkDefrag, I still have Contig in my system32-folder too.

People have also stated that Ghost restorations do not perform any form of defrag or anything near it. They've also proven it the numerous times he has pasted that false information.

Will you ever see him back up his claims? Surely not.

hey jeremy

i could be doing this totally wrong but find that hard to believe but..

after i have started using ultimate defrag i love what it looks like and attempts to do but my games have been slower load times and nothing seems better. so just wanted to share and see if anyone had any comments.

do what i do. go into the options then in high performance check custom then select files and select your game directory's. that way all you game files get put to the outer area of the disk giving them better access times. also select a lot of the files that rarely get accessed to the archive that way there is more room near the outer areas of your drive for files that get accessed more.

Are you placing most commonly used files on the inner tracks of the disk? Those make up the slowest area of the disk.

What I used to do was place my entire games directory under High Performance and select "Respect High Performance" so that they would be on the beginning (fastest) area of the disk regardless. I stopped doing that because if I added one map after doing so, it would be totally out-of-place.

Since I have my games on my D (storage) drive and everything except for VMware is static data (data that only gets accessed and not modified), I only keep the files defragmented and not placed in any particular order.

Here is UD's visual representation of my drives:
C:\ (Auto, Last Modified Date, 100% of data placed on outer tracks)
D:\ (Fragmented Files Only)

cool thanks

once i reformat or get this virus issue i got fixed i aint gonna worry about defrag programs much. thanks for your help hopefully one of these days soon ill reformat or something.

just got 500gb drive in today woot.

question.

currently i got 250, 200 and 160 full almost. the 160 isnt plugged in cuz it is ide and well stupid motherboard only has 1 ide slot and well id rather just keep cd rom drive up.

since i just got a 500 i can almost fit all my data onto that alone. should i use that as my C drive and not partition it

or how would you (whoever is reading this) setup your system with 3 sata hdds newest being fastest 16mb cache vs older 8mb cache for whatever thats worth. thanks for helpo

Personally, if I had 3 HDDs, I'd use the fastest and largest one for my OS and Program installations only. I'd use the second one for storage (like I do now) of games, music, movies, other static data that's only accessed and not modified. I'd use the third drive for downloads and dynamically (frequently modified) data.
This way if your OS is hosed and you have a bootable rescue disk from, for example, Acronis True Image, you only lose about 5 minutes of your day. Or you might need to reformat, but still, you're only losing a few hours and don't lose any of your files.

thanks for your advice. do you have aim? maybe we can chat more about how exactly i do this making backup and all etc etc.

also. if i got 500gb as my main drive and my current C drive only uses like 15gb but i install all games to another partition right now.

so do you install games to C drive like supposed to or another drive like second drive as you mentioned?

my aim name is my name here

I only use my C drive for Windows and programs I use; most of which are not portable or I haven't taken the time to make them so. Some other programs I either run them from my storage drive or flash drive.
I keep everything else on my D drive. But I'd like to have another drive to separate my static and dynamic data.
Anything that is just accessed and not modified I like on one drive separate from the data that's constantly being modified/written to.
This makes it easier to defragment the data as well, as when I do so, it is done quicker.
If you have a drive that contains only static data, keeping it defragmented is a one-time defrag.
If you have a drive that contains only dynamic data then defragging that is quicker as well because it won't have to move around both static and dynamic data to complete the process.
It's just time management and organization taken into consideration.

ok well let me tell ya how i have my system currently configured.

160gb ide drive not used cuz i only got 1 ide slot on mobo and the data on there is only data and clearly not to important mostly movies and stuff

Drive 0 250gb all data. never modified just added too or deleted.
Drive 1 3 partitions 200gb total
-c drive -all programs go here but sometimes msword or open office to another partition or drive, trusted programs download here
-games partition - only games and ripped dvds go here then the dvds get deleted
-bittorent partition - everything i download goes here for most part and thats its full purpse

so if im adding a 500gb drive to my C drive. my C drive only uses like 20gb max ever cuz i normally install games to another drive.

so maybe keep the 200 C drive perhaps and just make the 500gb a data drive? or partition it? or not really sure.


so im interested in the limited user account and perhaps downloading everything to one drive or partition. and that partition or drive wont have access to main drive right or not able to mess it up or something? i still dont fully understand that.

but perhaps if you could help me over AIm or email or something different then this thread. i dont mind but maybe you do or who knows maybe we teaching others something.

Folks, please wait for at least JKDefrag 3.25 to be released!

JKDefrag 3.24 appears to be broken, even with the default options, it appeared to have moved all files that it can to the end of the HDD!

I didn't have that problem with an earlier version.

Also, it appears that with the sorting defrag methods, it could loop or take way longer than normal!

I don't trust that program or the developers ability to even code it. Each release seems to be an "undo" or "workaround" for "something else" in a previous release just to get it stable.

well, perfect disk for me has gone through the window.

thsi month came my time to re-new my support, so was only gonna cost a few quid to re-new it, BUT whats this? they now dont take debit cards or paypal, and as i dotn own a credit card i cant update it! lol

so will be changing by the looks of it.

Are you talking about JKDefrag? If you are, the problem seems to have started after 3.16, when analysis code had a big change.

Yes.

When did you start having problems with JKDefrag? I didn't see a bigger amount of problems being reported until after 3.16.