Best free defrag tool for Win7-64 SSD+HDD

[cookie365]

I think it's time to defrag the HDDs in my PC.

But what tool to use?

I own a copy of O&O Defrag Pro 15 but that's more than 2 years old and I don't know if it plays nicely with SSD setups.

And I really don't want to spend £.

So can anyone recommend the best SSD friendly free alternative, or is my O&O still up to the task?

Thanks

[kalniel]

Windows 7 in built tool. Good, quick, free. Better than most third-party tools IMHO.

But don't do the SSD, they don't need defraging.

[Jonj1611]

I use Auslogics Disk Degrag, free and found it better than the windows built in one.

[deejayburnout]

Don't think you can defrag an ssd anyways?

I use the windows one. Don't see how any 3rd party app could improve on the Bill Gates version.

[kalniel]

Don't think you can defrag an ssd anyways?

You can tell software to try, because it doesn't know about the underlying hardware and sees the same thing whether it's a HDD or an SSD. It just makes no sense to try and organise data on an SSD as if it were an HDD (and you just waste wear cycles doing so).

I use the windows one. Don't see how any 3rd party app could improve on the Bill Gates version.

Well the previous windows defrag tools were pants. But the one in Windows 7 is completely different and good.

[KeyboardDemon]

Windows 7 in built tool. Good, quick, free. Better than most third-party tools IMHO.

I use Auslogics Disk Degrag, free and found it better than the windows built in one.

Better? In what way? What does it do that the in built/third party tools don't do?

This is one of those areas where I have never really understood the benefits of going third party, would be great to find why one tool does a better job than another.

But don't do the SSD, they don't need defraging.

Quite right, on a hard drive you want all of your files and data tightly packed in continuous blocks so defragging helps achieve this, on an SSD let the drive decide how to store the data in order to ensure even wear across the NAND chips, give you better drive performance and prolong the longevity of the drive.

[Jonj1611]

To answer that question find a review site of degrag utils and it will help to answer that question for you

[peterb]

To answer that question find a review site of degrag utils and it will help to answer that question for you

But you said you found it better - in what way? Faster? more thorough?

[Jonj1611]

Yes that is what I said, but the question seemed rather generalized and did quote two people so who was the question referred to?

Hence my reply in which a good review site would show all the possible for's and againsts of various defraggers.

For me, I found a quick defrag time and what seemed to be a more responsive system compared to defraggler and windows own defragger.

[KeyboardDemon]

Both quotes said that one software choice was better so I quoted both. Is my asking why it's better more generalized than you saying it is better?

[Jonj1611]

When I say generalised you mention third party tools and from the way its written its hard to know if you are looking for specific information or an array of information, I could have given a better response though.

And while we are at it and talking about "third party", back in the day the Windows 2000 defragger was stripped down and licensed from Diskeeper. Though whether they built their own versions in later windows I dont know.

[scaryjim]

Back on XP I always used defraggler for the ability to defrag empty disk space. In a previous job I got a good three months of being the most popular person in the office after I spent one evening defragging everyone's PCs - it was like they all thought I'd bought them new PCs

Haven't tried defragging any of my Win 7 computers yet (although I should probably do the system partition on my HTPC soon, as it's getting quite full), but it's nice to know that Win 7's built in defragger is better than Win XPs - will look forward to trying it. My usual approach is to always use a built in tool first to see how well it dos the job before looking for a third party one - if the tool's there I can't see why you wouldn't try it, as it costs you nothing and you can always find an alternative if you're not happy with the results...

[kalniel]

Both quotes said that one software choice was better so I quoted both. Is my asking why it's better more generalized than you saying it is better?

For my part I found the built-in tool to be quicker to run and had less impact on system resources when running, both of which mean it's set for a weekly defrag and I don't even know it's there any more, my mechanical disks are just always kept in a good and performant state.

My OS drive is the SSD, so I can't answer any questions on how windows boot and performance is affected by different tools, but for my mechanical uses (large games, photo processing etc.) the read speeds from my mechanical drive appear to be as optimal as they were when the computer was new, a sign that fragmentation is not an issue for me. Resource monitor, HDD testing suites and copy speeds also indicate that the drives are operating more or less exactly at the manufacturer's rated speeds, so I know that there is nothing significantly more to be gained from a different file organisation.

Plus by using the Windows tool you don't have to worry about disabling the clean ups and indexes/superfetchs etc. that might otherwise conflict in their approach.

But for interest, my favourite defrag tool before I came to these conclusions was MyDefrag (http://www.mydefrag.com/)

[spiritdreams]

+build in tool, fastest, also with SSD, you are not supposed to defrag them anymore.

[sir_markus]

back when i was using win 7 i did use Defraggler and i could recommend it. But ever since i got a SSD and Win8(.1) i have been using the build in tools. A ssd is fast enough that it doesn't really need defragging. If you really want to, you can. If wont make it any faster though.
People say it reduces the life of your ssd but the latest ssd show under stress testing to be able to last just as long as any hdd. and those tend to get replace by a new connector type way before they die. In fact defragging only adds to the usage a drive has, reducing its lifetime

[cookie365]

Thanks all. I'll stick with the Win 7 tool for now.

Yes, I know SSDs don't need defragging, just HDDs - which is why I want to make sure I use an up to date tool that knows that and doesn't try to automatically defrag the SSD in the background