Perfect Disk 11 – The Best Defragmentation Tool That Money Can Buy

It’s a common myth that we don’t need defragmentation tools, since modern day computers are fast enough to overcome performance hits caused due to file fragmentation. I can confidently claim otherwise from my own personal experience. Nevertheless, if you need further proof, check out some of the shootouts performed by Donn Edwards – the defrag guy.

Raxco recently released the final version of PerfectDisk 11 – a premium defragmentation tool. Being a paid utility in a segment flooded with free alternatives isn’t easy. One must necessarily stay ahead of the competition to remain in the game. And, that’s exactly what PerfectDisk has managed to do. If you haven’t used PerfectDisk before, here is a quick look at some of it’s best features.

PerfectDisk can defrag files on partitions with less than 1% free space.

It features advanced scheduling options along with automatic defragmentation when your system is idle (StealthPatrol).

It is able to consolidate free space and optimise file placement in a single pass.

PerfectDisk can defrag locked system files during system boot for a significantly improved system performance and Windows boot speed. It even optimises MFT (Master File Table) and other NTFS metadata.

With PerfectDisk you can selectively defragment files to save time. This is especially handy if you just want to quickly optimise a game before playing it.

The inbuilt Space explorer module provides a quick overview of your disk space usage. With Space Explorer you can hunt down the space hogging files on your system, spot duplicate files and remove misceleneous junk files.

Now let’s take a look at the major new features introduced in PerfectDisk 11:

New SMARTPlacement Presets

SMARTPlacement is PerfectDisk’s proprietary algorithm which optimises file arrangement on your hard disk. Previously there was only one file placement strategy that focused on reducing future fragmentation by placing files according to usage and type.

PerfectDisk 11 includes as many as five presets that lets you chose what’s the most important factor to you – increasing performance, reducing future fragmentation or reducing physical load on the hard disk. You can even fine tune advanced defragmentation settings to create your own preset.

Faster Analysis and Defragmentation

Raxco claims that PerfectDisk 11 can be up to 30% faster than its predecessor due to optimisations made to its algorithm.

Block Viewer

Block Viewer allows you to figure out exactly which files are represented by individual blocks on the drive map. Just right click on a block and select “Show Files” to get a better understanding of the file usage in the drives.

Other Overall Enhancements

PerfectDisk 11 features improved SSD (Solid State Drive) support, better handling of large files and more powerful VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) support.

According to PC Advisor, PerfectDisk is a “Windows defrag tool that’s worth paying for” and I whole-heartedly agree. If you are not a Perfect Disk user, go ahead and download the free 30-day trial. You may well be convinced to upgrade to the premium edition.

Download Perfect Disk 11 (59.9 MB)
License: Shareware (30 day trial)
Cost: Premium – $39.99 and Home Premium – $29.99
Operating System: Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003 and Server 2008