Defragmentation software for Win9x

[Multibooter]

VoptXP v7.22 under Win98 appears to defragment substantially faster than PerfectDisk 8 under WinXP. This makes VoptXP very interesting, especially since defragging is quite time-consuming.

I defragged the WinXP-FAT32 partition on my old laptop with VoptXP under Win98, WinXP worked fine afterwords.

When I defragged with VoptXP a 28GB partition on the internal HDD of the old laptop, Win98 stayed much more responsive than when I defragged an external HDD connected via USB 2.0/eSATA. SysInternal's Process Explorer did respond (sometimes quite sluggishly) while defragging the internal HDD, with the process priority set to Idle by MyRun.

Before the defragmentation the 28GB partition on the internal HDD was heavily fragmented, about 1200 fragments and 2500 gaps, 2GB free space, 42.000 files. After the defragmentation by VoptXP 13 fragments were left over and the free space was not optimized

VoptXP has 2 interesting settings: -> Tools -> Tuneup -> File name cache and -> Conservative swap file use

Here my notes on setting the process priority of VoptXP to Idle with MyRun v1.1:

. start MyRun Editor

-> enter "VoptXP" into the text field on the top left

-> New button

-> click on the "..." button on left

-> in window Open: browse to H:\Vopt\VoptXP.exe

the fields File Name and Default directory are filled automatically

-> click on Test button to check whether VoptXP comes up, then exit VoptXP

-> back in window MyRun Editor 1.10:

-> set the Process priority (e.g. to Idle)

-> select Invisible launching

-> File -> Save as -> browse to H:\Vopt\

-> in field File Name: -> enter e.g. "Vopt.mrn" [.mrn= MyRun file type]

-> Save

-> exit MyRun Editor: -> File -> Exit

manually create a desktop shortcut H:\Vopt\Vopt.mrn

in Vopt.mrn Properties: -> Change Icon

-> browse to H:\Vopt\VoptXP.exe -> Open -> Ok -> Apply -> Close

Any more ideas on how to keep VoptXP from locking up Win98?

Edited November 6, 2010 by Multibooter

[jaclaz]

For non-German speakers: Volume DB061 contains the text plus the facsimile of the First Folio Edition/1968 facsimile edition by Hinman of the complete works of Shakespeare. The Digitale Bibliothek also includes a huge collection of images of publicly available art.

With all due respect , the idea of reading possibly the greatest English writer of all times translated into German doesn't particularly interests me.

Back to topic, it 's such a pleasure to deal with you on any topic , you do actual testing, you do actual reports, you do actually contribute to the community.

jaclaz

Edited November 6, 2010 by jaclaz

[Multibooter]

OT: DB061 contains the facsimile of the first edition and the Riverside Edition, both in English. The software makes it very easy to compare passages in the editions. DB061 is out of print, there is 1 copy for USD 65 at

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digitale-Bibliothek-Shakespeare-Complete-Works-Eng-/200415608801?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea9b37fe1 Directmedia is selling to university libraries, so DB061 can probably be found in an academic institution near you. Another volume, DB059 "English and American Literature", is also in English and contains most important English-language works, but no facsimiles of the original edition.

Back to VoptXP: VoptXP v7.22 was written in Visual Basic 6 [it accesses msvbvm60.dll, as shown by MiTeC EXE Explorer], but Win98 stays locked under both msvbvm60.dll v6.00.9782 (23-Feb-2004) and v6.00.9815 (5-Mar-2009).

VoptXP locks up Win98 only when moving files. After moving a file, VoptXP seems to check for keyboard input, then moves the next file. If the files being moved are small, Win98 doesn't appear locked up, but when big files (e.g 100MB-4GB) are moved, Win98 stays locked for up to 30 minutes. This seems to be caused by the way VoptXP was programmed, and probably very little can be done about it. Although VoptXP v7.22 seems to be a blazingly fast defragger under Win98, I have rejected it because it cannot handle partitions with large files without locking up Win98.

[jaclaz]

Although VoptXP v7.22 seems to be a blazingly fast defragger under Win98, I have rejected it because it cannot handle partitions with large files without locking up Win98.

There is always the good ol' method:

• you start the defrag
  
• you go to sleep leaving the PC working
  
• next morning you see what it did (unless of course you like watching the little coloured squares or bars moving up and down and right and left )
  

Seriously, next candidate:

http://www.quusoft.com/products/system-utility/quusoft-disk-defrag/

at 50 bucks/year , it must be the eigth wonder of the world, expecially if you don't need all the other <put here an adequate word> they bundle with it.

This thingy (just a wrapper):

http://www.blueorbsoft.com/scandefrag/index.html

seems like hinting (actually plainly saying ) that effective defragmentation on Win9x/Me requires "exclusive" access or however you EITHER defrag OR work with the PC in most cases:

http://www.blueorbsoft.com/scandefrag/Readme.html

the whole idea of a "restrictive" mode should mean something.

Another candidate (cannot say if it will actually run on 9x/Me - it seems like this info is not available):

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/Uniblue-DiskRescue.shtml

Yet another one (free AND seemingly Win9x/Me compatible):

http://www.glarysoft.com/products/utilities/disk-speedup/

jaclaz

Edited November 6, 2010 by jaclaz

[rainyd]

Jaclaz, I must say that impressed with all your finds.

Second and third link unfortunately doesn't work (at least in this moment).

DiscRescue probably don't work under Win9x:

http://www.liutilities.com/products/diskrescue/

I have installed the last uility but I've got message that DiskDefrag.dll is connected with missing export of Kernel32.dll: GetVolumeNameForVolumeMountPointW.

[Multibooter]

next candidate: http://www.quusoft.com/products/system-utility/quusoft-disk-defrag/

QuuSoft Disk Defrag installs Ok under Win98SE, but does not run under Win98SE. The 1st err msg displays: "H:\QuuSoft Disk Defrag\DiskDefrag.exe. A device attached to the system is not functioning." The 2nd err msg displays: "Error Starting program. The H:\QUUSOFT DISK DEFRAG\AD\AD.DLL file expects a newer version of windows. Upgrade your Windows version." Maybe an older version works under Win98. I hope \AD\AD.DLL is not adware, like what some version of FlashGet contain.

I then installed Norton SystemWorks 2004 on a test Win98. SpeedDisk defragmented and optimized free file space Ok on a 192GB partition on the pre-brick 1TB HDD connected via eSATA to my old laptop. But SpeedDisk seems to be very slow, maybe it's doing some optimizations. I don't need optimized file placement on an external HDD.

[scanDefrag 5.7 at http://www.blueorbsoft.com/scandefrag/Readme.html ] seems like hinting (actually plainly saying ) that effective defragmentation on Win9x/Me requires "exclusive" access... you EITHER defrag OR work with the PC in most cases... the whole idea of a "restrictive" mode should mean something.

Norton SpeedDisk defragmented fine in the background, while I was using other applications.

Here some old notes of mine regarding Norton SystemWorks 2004 (one of its components is SpeedDisk) under Win98SE:

"REJECTED 11/20/06

. the system seems much crisper without it 10/11/06

UNINSTALL 10/11/06

. it seems to be a pain to get rid of it"

Before the uninstall I was using Norton Disk Doctor and SpeedDisk installed from the original NSW2004 CD. Eventually I re-installed NDD via file-copy as a standalone application, without the Symantec Activation and LiveUpdate, which had turned my system into a sluggish and crash-prone computer. NDD as a standalone application, however, is top under Win98SE (except for some partition table repairs, which may be dangerous), just as standalone Ghost v11.0.2 is top under Win98SE.

After having installed NSW 2004, from the original CD, but not activated, on the test Win98 opsys (to avoid that the Activation and LiveUpdate stuff of NSW2004 corrupt my working Win98 opsys), I copied the following 9 files to the folder with NDD-standalone:

Sd32.exe

Sd32.hlp

Sd32eng.dll

Sd32vxd.vxd

N32DLSTU.DLL

Norton.exe

\Program Files\Symantec\S32evnt1.dll

\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Symmigr8.dll

Unfortunately, nothing happened when I double-clicked on Sd32.exe.

I checked for any NOTFOUND files with Filemon, according to the 5-year-old discussion in , but nothing obvious was displayed. "I know for sure that Speed Disk for Windows 98 can be standalone... Sorry I don't remember..." in posting #7 there by Oleg_II

Are there anywhere good instructions on how to build a standalone SpeedDisk for Win98SE from the files of the regular installation of NSW 2004?

Edited November 7, 2010 by Multibooter

[jaclaz]

Unfortunately, nothing happened when I double-clicked on Sd32.exe.

Typically (and that is one of the reason why I won't touch ANY Symantec piece of software released in the last, say, twelve years ) Norton apps tend to write a few hundreds keys in the Registry ....

There is a specific tool to remove that huge piece of bloat, if I recall correctly it is Symnrt:

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/tsgen/

Are there anywhere good instructions on how to build a standalone SpeedDisk for Win98SE from the files of the regular installation of NSW 2004?

I doubt it.

Another thingy worth a shot

http://web.archive.org/web/20020121062439/http://powerdefrag.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/20020207182945/http://powerdefrag.com/download/PD0210B2.exe

Another known "facilitator" for Win9x is "EnditAll", you can find it here:

http://www.compu-docs.com/links.htm

Yet another "candidate":

http://www.ylcomputing.com/content/view/342/150/

jaclaz

Edited November 7, 2010 by jaclaz

[Joseph_sw]

quick defrag using defraggler, a NT based defragmenter software don't even touch fragmented directory clusters, nor you expect it to do optimization on removed entries (aka deleted files/folder entries) in directories entries.

using old norton DiskEdit will reveals this fact.

is there any FAT32 defragmenter apps that runs under true win98se dos?

i wont mind the good ol' method if it would work under true dos.

[jaclaz]

is there any FAT32 defragmenter apps that runs under true win98se dos?

i wont mind the good ol' method if it would work under true dos.

Your google-fu is low....

http://www.bttr-software.de/forum/board_entry.php?id=4713

Also Rom-Dos Defrag is claimed to be FAT32 and LFN compatible:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080502215925/http://ms-dos7.hit.bg/doskbc3.htm

Have you tried the FreeDOS version:

http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/free-defrag/

http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/free-defrag/DFRAG131.ZIP

http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0503736/php/drdoswiki/index.php?n=Main.Gall-DEFRAG

OT , but not much , Partition Logic has also Defrag capabilities (on FAT filesystems):

http://partitionlogic.org.uk/index.html

jaclaz

Edited November 7, 2010 by jaclaz

[Joseph_sw]

Your google-fu is low....

well, thats true.

http://www.bttr-software.de/forum/board_entry.php?id=4713

i choose to clear way from paragon partition program, as i experienced this disaster when i tried to resize the cluster size.

my knowledge using diskedit and delphi allow me to learn how the errors occured/formed and able to salvages about 7/8 of the content.

the paragon partion manager wrote the wrong first cluster mark on every file/folder entry in every directory clusters, what would happend if i allow scandisk to repairs that error??

Also Rom-Dos Defrag is claimed to be FAT32 and LFN compatible:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080502215925/http://ms-dos7.hit.bg/doskbc3.htm

its offer rom-dos defragd, but it also states it doesn't support fat32.

On the other hand, ROM-DOS 7.10 DEFRAG works fine under MS-DOS 7.10 with LFN. Therefore, under DOS, this is the best one for you.

...

Still unfortunately, this defrag tool doesn't work with FAT32 drives yet. For FAT32 support, please read the information below.

there also offfer defragw.exe which support fat32 when i download it, it turn out to be defragw.exe from winME.

however i already using winme defrag, and its refuse to work with my partition.

that one partition was about 80 GB with 4KBytes/cluster, and also contain a few .nrg files that larger than 3GB in size.

Have you tried the FreeDOS version:

http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/free-defrag/

http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/free-defrag/DFRAG131.ZIP

http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0503736/php/drdoswiki/index.php?n=Main.Gall-DEFRAG

OT , but not much , Partition Logic has also Defrag capabilities (on FAT filesystems):

http://partitionlogic.org.uk/index.html

i'm curious about this statemnet:

It uses real mode code (“640 KB mode”), and XMS if available

is this one won't be plaqued by "too-many-clusters-to-defrag" problem?

but, i will try the free-dos one, since my cd burner and floppy drive is currently not functioning well, and its provide source code to examine.

jaclaz

Thanks for the information.

[jaclaz]

that one partition was about 80 GB with 4KBytes/cluster, and also contain a few .nrg files that larger than 3GB in size.

Yep.

Traditionally using "standard" software on "non-standard" setups has rarely turned out as successful.

jaclaz

[Multibooter]

Defragmentation under XP is much more flexible. And way more stable.

Maybe there is a tool which can be used under Win98. I have installed Norton SystemWorks 2005 Standard for real-life testing on my good Win98SE opsys on my 10-year-old 700 MHz Inspiron 7500 laptop, where there are 100+ apps. The only component I selected during the installation was Norton Speed Disk. I am posting this while Speed Disk is defragging the internal FAT32 HDD. CpuIdle shows a high CPU usage, the laptop fan is blowing but the system is fully responsive.

Earlier I was also on the internet while Speed Disk defragged fine a 192GB partition of the external 1 TB HDD connected via eSATA to my 10-year-old laptop. The system became very sluggish for a while, but never crashed or hung.

Speed Disk of NSW 2005 seems to be up to now the defragmentation software of choice under Win98SE - if one wants to fill one's system with Symantec overhead of unknown consequences. Nevertheless, I was impressed.

Now to the tricky part: How can one set up a standalone Speed Disk? Norton SystemWorks 2005 installs 62MB of stuff, even if one selects only Speed Disk.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Multibooter

[dencorso]

By trial and error. The best way would be to set up a test machine having a plain vanilla 9x installed, then image it fully, then install regshot 1.8.2, and then install the Symantec product, using regshot to monitor the registry changes. Then save the installed files away, redeploy the image and start adding files and registry entries until it starts working. It's a painful and time consuming process, which may, or may not, give results, but I don't know of any shortcut to it. Of course, Dependency Walker 2.2.6000.0 can serve as a guide as to what to put in, but some of it will always be educated guesswork. The only thing I know for sure is that the appropriate entry at HKLM\Software\Symantec\InstalledApps is of paramount importance for any Symantec application, and I bet HKLM\Software\Symantec\Norton Speed Disk and HKLM\Software\Symantec\Speed Disk are, too, for your specific problem...

[jaclaz]

I'll just throw this one on the table, and see if anyone finds it of use:

http://web.archive.org/web/20020203213518/http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.001.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010814222127/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.002.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20011104234347/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.003.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010814224059/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.004.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010417145818/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.005.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010417150504/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.006.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010417151309/www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.007.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20010420173410/hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?b=pcm&fcode=000UYR

Actual file needs a bit of googling.

http://thedailyreviewer.com/computing/view/defrag-status-104442191

jaclaz

[Multibooter]

I just completed my stability test of Speed Disk of NSW 2005 defragmenting in the background under Win98SE. On my 10-year-old Inspiron 7500 (700 MHz, 512 MB RAM) I had eMule running/downloading and was browsing at the same time the Internet with Firefox at a JavaScript-heavy page while Speed Disk was defragmenting the internal HDD, then defragmenting a 192GB partition of a 1TB HDD connected to the laptop via a Vantec eSATA PCCard. Speed Disk fragmented fine, even if the system became slow when the 192GB partition was being defragmented, but no unresponsiveness or hanging/crashing of the computer.

Speed Disk of NSW 2005, defragmenting in the background, passed my stability test with flying colors.

I also defragmented with Speed Disk under Win98SE the FAT32 partition on which WinXP SP2 resides. I then booted into this FAT32-WinXP, which came up fine as usual. So Speed Disk of NSW 2005 does not do anything bad to the FAT32 partition which WinXP can't swallow. The defragmented FAT32 partition seems to be fully compatible with WinXP running under FAT32.

I then gave Vopt v7.22 another try: Vopt 7.22 when loaded via MyRun v1.1 defragments Ok in the background a 20GB partition on the internal HDD.

But when defragmenting the 192GB partition of an external 1TB HDD, connected via eSATA, Vopt locks the system for about 1 hour. The system turns completely unresponsive and the screen eventually turns black (Win98 power setting), and I couldn't turn the screen on again until Vopt had finished. The only indication that the computer was doing something at all was that the activity lights of the eSATA PCCard and of the EZ-Dock docking station were blinking. Once Vopt was finished, everything was Ok and back to normal.

I will make one more test with Vopt under Win98SE, using a USB 2.0 PCCard under nusb 3.3 instead of the eSATA card.

Addendum: I just finished the defragging test with the external HDD connected via USB 2.0: the locking problem is still there, but seems less severe than when connected via eSATA. Apparently every time Vopt finishes defragging a file, it checks for keyboard input.

Vopt v7.22 seems to be Ok under Win98 if you are ready to go for an extended coffee break during defragmentation, and for displaying the defragmentation status of a partition (number of gaps and fragmented files)

Edited November 18, 2010 by Multibooter