If you don't remember the article on Diskeeper
6 SE, please read it in the newsletter for October 2001. It can be
found at
http://opcug.ca/Reviews/Diskeeper6Oct01.html if
you don't have your copy of the newsletter. Everything said in that article
applies to this version of Diskeeper.
In addition, this version has added a button
called 'Set It and Forget It'. When this button is clicked, it opens
a dialog box where you can select all (or some of) your disk volumes (partitions)
and set those to be analyzed and defragmented automatically. The
timing is fully schedulable.
After it is set up, it operates invisibly
in the background at a low priority and doesn't interfere in any way with
or slow down the operation of the computer as far as running programs in
the foreground is concerned. However, clicking on the Analyze button
and then the Defragment button does impact foreground programs as it runs
at a higher priority.
There is a second tab on the 'Set It and
Forget It' dialogs box, called 'Boot Time Scheduler'. It allows you
to schedule directories' consolidation, run CHKDSK on the selected volume,
reduce paging file fragments, and, if you are running an NTFS file system,
it also can be set to defragment the MFT (Master File Table).
You can set it to 'Perform Boot-Time Defragmentation'
'On Next Manual Boot' or it can be done at any time you might want it to
commence the Boot-Time defragmentation. At the scheduled time, the
computer does a reboot and interrupts the boot up to do the boot-time defragmentation(s)
and then does a reboot when it is finished.
Consolidating the directories improves
hard disk access speed considerably. If your free space on a volume is
low (below 10%) Diskeeper will complain but it will defragment the volume.
However, it will take a lot longer to do the job and probably will leave
some files fragmented. After several runs it will completely defragment
the volume.
In this version of Diskeeper, free space
is completely consolidated into one chunk. However, like low free
space, it may take several defragmentation runs before it is completed.
Also, when you save a new file or an updated file, it automatically
begins consolidating any fragments that might occur when the file is saved.
It does it this way if it is set to continuously
defragment volumes. Otherwise, it does it according to how you have
set it up in the defragmentation dialog box.
DK7 works on Windows versions from 95(OSR2
or higher)/98/ME/2000 Professional/NT 4.0 Workstation(SP 3 or higher)/XP
Home and Professional. The 4K cluster size limit in NTFS volumes
has been removed in Windows XP where Diskeeper can defragment NTFS volumes
with cluster sizes up to 64KB.
In US dollars, the costs of electronically
downloading the various versions of Diskeeper 7.0 are: Home Editions $29.95,Workstation
- Network edition (single licence) is $44.95 and the Server Edition (single
licence) is $249.95. The packaged versions cost $5 more except the
Server version is $10 more (plus shipping and handling, of course).
There is also a Small Business Edition which includes 1 set of CDs and
docs and costs $399.95. You can find all the pricing information at:
http://www.softwareshelf.com/products/display2.asp?p=5#buy.
There is also a version called Diskeeper
Server Appliance, priced at (1 licence) US$249.95 either shipped or electronic
download. This version is used with Server Appliances. You
can find more information at
http://www.softwareshelf.com/products/display2.asp?p=5#dksa.
Please note that everything I have said
applies mainly to the Home Edition of Diskeeper 7.0. Other information
was gleaned from the Diskeeper web site.
Bottom Line:
Diskeeper 7.0
Executive Software
In US$ downloaded versions are:
Home Editions $29.95
Network Edition $44.95
Server Edition $249.95
CD set Small Business Edition $399.95
Diskeeper Server Appliance shipped or
electronic download $249.95
http://www.softwareshelf.com/products/display2.asp?p=5#buy
Originally published: February, 2003
