Windows 7: the best defragment program?

O&O Software - O&O Defrag 14

I like Diskeeper 2010..fast, effective, fully automatic and also prevents most fragmentation.

Second choice would be the windows defragger itself, which IMHO is better than other freeware utilities.

I'll second that, techcal. I've used Diskeeper for several years. It has many more features - in addition to defragmenting - that improve disc performance.

I have to agree with this one, Its very quick and Very easy to use. The other programs provided by piriform are superb at keeping the Computer running Fast and clean.

Best options, and of course, Windows' integrated defragger.

the windows 7 integerated defragger doesn't seem that good, it doesn't show the program bar, and all the details. i like the windows xp defragmenter, it was very detailed and effective.

As far as I'm concerned, the best defragger is O&O ($50):

O&O Software - O&O Defrag 14 Pro Disk Defrag Software

But, the second best is Ultimate Defrag ($30):

UltimateDefrag - The Defragger For Power Users - About

Or if you prefer free:

UltimateDefrag Freeware Edition - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Seekermeister, as somebody who almost NEVER runs a defrag program....do you really find benefits that makes it worth spending $50 to purchase a program? What benefits do you get out of it, how do you quantify these improvements, what testing have you performed. Over the past few years, after defragging a drive with the built-in's and most free programs like defraggler and Auslogics..I haven't been able to prove any performance gain in any aspect that I measured.

I'm not going to tout any defragger as being something that is going to revive all of the performance of any OS, but at the same time, it does help some. It is obvious that it will help seek time when opening a program or file, and by using the defragger at boot time, you can defrag locked files. Whether any defragger is worth paying for or not is a subjective decision, but for me it is worth the cost more than some other programs that I have paid for.

EDIT: I don't know how it could be measured, but by reducing seek time, it also reduces wear on a hard drive (On the other hand, there are some that will argue that defragging increases wear by moving files around).

In principal, I understand how it would reduce seek times. But with my hard drive and computer so fast today, I'm just not sure whether this time is actually noticeable. Thus, I'm not inclined whatsoever to spend money on something that might in fact not do anything except improve the situation in theory. If I buy an SSD drive and put it into the computer, I can see that my boot times decreased substantially, and my programs load instantly and virus and malware scans happen super fast. It's obvious that it worked. If I get a new video card/driver, I can see that my FPS went up in my game, or allow me to run my game at a higher resolution...thus I know that it made an impact. If on the other hand, I purchase a defragger and run it and say, "well, things should be faster now"....i'm kinda buying into it like faith.

Don't take this as a personal attack, I just questioned you directly as you mentioned a $50 app that you thought did a great job. I was just curious on what things you saw specifically to make that call. Always want to keep my eyes open, rather than just sit back and assume my stance on defraggers is actually correct.