MyDefrag 4.3.1MyDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer (a maintenance utility to make your harddisk faster) for Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 2008, Win7, and for X64. |
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| Size: | 1.99 MB |
| Price: |
Freeware
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| Rating: |
5.00/
5
(1 votes)
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| Platform: | Win7 x32,Win98,WinXP |
| Downloads: | 744 |
| Last Updated: | May 24, 2010 |
| Category: | System Maintenance |
| Developer: | |
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MyDefrag is extremely solid because it is based on the standard defragmentation API by Microsoft, a system library that is included in Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 2008, and Win7. Most defragmenters are based on this API, including the free defragmenter that comes with Windows and many commercial defragmenters. Basically all MyDefrag does is send "move this file to that location" commands to the API. The API is part of the operating system and can safely move almost any file on the disk, without risk and while the computer is in full use.
Defragmention
Imagine a book split into several parts, some pages are over here, other pages in another room on another floor altogether. You will have to walk a lot when you need to read the book. It may sound silly, but this is exactly what happens to files on your harddisk. Defragmentation will put all the parts (fragments) back together, making your computer a lot faster.
Optimization
Imagine a big library with lots of books, spread out all over the building and not sorted whatsoever. There is an index telling you exactly where every book is, but you will have to walk a lot when you need several books. This is exactly what happens on your harddisk, the files that belong to an application can be all over the place, anywhere on the harddisk. Optimization will bring all the files together in one place, leaving the rest of the harddisk empty, and will sort the files, for example alphabetically.
Defragmentation and optimization will not only make a harddisk faster, but also lengthen it's life span, because the disk will have less work to do and therefore have less wear and tear. Also, it will refresh and strengthen the magnetic data on the harddisk by simply reading the (weakened) data and writing it afresh. However, defragmenting and optimizing is work, so excessive defragmenting and optimizing can actually cause
Program language: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish.
* To my great chagrin I have found that some programs can crash (most notably MySQL and uTorrent) if the disk on which they have open files is dismounted with the MyDefrag * DismountVolume command. The command was used in the DataDisk scripts that were introduced in the previous version. I have now removed it.
Great idea, very configurable, but still has a
major bug that needs to be ironed out. Basically,
the program can use 100% of your CPU and spend
HOURS moving an incredibly small amount of data.
The author claims this is due to NTFS compression
on a drive, but no other defragmenter has this
problem and it manifests even when there is no
NTFS-compressed files on the drive at all. In
addition, I've found that the program can be
closed but will continue to run for ages in the
background (still using 100% CPU) before it
finally decides to quit out. On smaller drives, or
if you're lucky, the program will work fast and
does everything you'd expect. However, it's pretty
far from something you should trust your important
data to. Stick with one of the commercial guys,
like PerfectDisk, or else something solid and
reliable like Defraggler for the moment.
Forum post:
http://www.mydefrag.com/...=3165.msg21010#msg21010
Defragging USB sticks will break them (see
draculla's review) or at the very least shorten
their lifespan. Don't EVER do it. The reason: USB
are solid state devices, hard disks are magnetic
devices. Solid state devices can only write to
each cell a limited number of times (50,000 - 1M)
before they become stuck - read only. Hard disks
being magnetic can be written (millions).
Do NOT defrag USB drives.
this program needs so much tweak and editing
- The installer is stupid and not-so-much-smart,
you have to remove old version before install a
new one.
- The screensaver is not smart, can not be
portable
- Did not remember view setting
- Pretty slow, sometimes crash
Changelog:
* Added a check to * MoveToEndOfDisk to exit more quickly if the program is stopped prematurely.
* Fixed an installation bug that causes an "unable to execute file" error for the MyDefragScreenSaver.scr file.
* Changed the * MoveToEndOfDisk fileaction so it will skip a file faster if there is no gap large enough above the file.
* Changed the * MoveToEndOfDisk fileaction so it will stop faster when MyDefrag is stopped by the user.
* Fixed a bug that limited the value of constant numbers in a script to 2147483647.
* The ZoneBegin will no longer be automatically moved by a zone that contains a MoveToEndOfDisk fileaction.
* Removed the automatic disk filters from most of the default scripts. For example, the script for flash memory disks will now run for all the selected disks, and not only for removable disks.
* Fixed a problem where enlarging a gap for FastFill would be extremely slow if the file to be moved away was a NTFS compressed file.
* Fixed a bug in MaxRunTime statement that would cause it to always use zero as maximum runtime.
* Fixed a bug that could cause the subroutine that enlarges gaps for FastFill(WithShuffling) to move items that were already processed (placed in a previous zone).
* Fixed a bug in the grammar that prevented the WhenFinished(Shutdown) setting from accepting the sub-options.
* Fixed 2 bugs in string variables.
* Changed PreventScreenSaving() into * SetScreenSaver.
* Changed PreventPowerSaving() into * SetScreenPowerSaver.
* Changed the subroutine that vacates the NTFS reserved area, Previously it would not count NTFS reserved area free space that was already there, resulting in unnecessary data movement.
* Fixed a bug in NTFS scanner so it will now load a minimum of 1 sector when loading the first record of the MFT. On ultra-big harddisks the size of an MFT record (1 kilobyte) can be smaller than the number of bytes per sector.
* The * ImportListFromProgramHints fileboolean is now oompatibel with Windows XP.
AFAIC the most important fix (haven't tested it yet, but I sure will tonight - 5 stars for the moment) is the longstanding issue with the massive slowdowns due to NTFS compressed files. If he's fixed this, the program instantly becomes the best defragger currently available on Windows - and that includes the commercial equivalents.
EDIT: This thing is still broken. Crashed with a dialog telling me to send the debuglog to the author's forum. Reading the debuglog, it tells me it doesn't have enough info and NOT to post it on the forum. WTF? This thing is still far from stable - avoid and get something trustworthy that won't potentially sh1tcan your boot drive - either Defraggler or PerfectDisk, whichever fits your budget.