You know sometimes things change and you wonder why. Sometimes things don't change and you wonder why. One of the things that has changed that I wonder why is Microsoft's new desire to do away with drop down menus. Windows Vista hides them for its own programs like Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office 2007 does away with them as well. Why?

One of the things that hasn't changed that I have to ask why is why doesn't Microsoft Windows after all of these years write data to hard drives and other storage media in an organized and defragmented fashion? Why do we still need disk defragmenting software, this is something that should have been corrected in at the very least the second or third version of Microsoft Windows. Windows 95 at the latest. Why is it that Microsoft still thinks it is perfectly alright to scatter data all over a hard drive instead of writing to the drive defragmented, especially when they know that fragmentation slows the computer and the operating system down?

Unfortunately the defragmenting software that comes with Windows Vista is slow and pretty much trash. Microsoft in their infinite wisdom or lack of wisdom whichever you prefer has dumbed it down to the point that it is not only slow like every version before it but now provides less information and fewer options.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. The best alternative in my opinion is Raxco's PerfectDisk 2008 Screen Shot. This powerful, easy to use and fast disk defragmentation product is not only everything the Microsoft program isn't it does something that Microsoft's program doesn't do and that is automatically defragment the drive anytime the computer is idle. You would think at the very least Microsoft would have designed their defragmenter to work this way and by default. This means you don't have to run the program every week or every month and wait for it to optimize your drives. It does all of the work for you every time you stop using your computer. Not only is this a time saver, you don't have to remember anything either.

PerfectDisk 2008 features don't stop there, it includes a wide range of features including:

Microsoft Certified
Ensures PerfectDisk 2008 meets Microsoft-specified availability, reliability, security, and supportability guidelines that result in a better and safer user experience.

Patented SMARTPlacement Optimization
PerfectDisk 2008's SMARTPlacement optimization strategy results in faster subsequent defragmentation runs and faster boot times because many of the files on the drive do not need to be moved at all, since they are placed according to users unique usage patterns. Typical defragmenters waste resources by constantly moving all files around on the drive during every defrag pass.

Space Restoration Technology
PerfectDisk 2008's exclusive Space Restoration Technology provides the most complete and efficient free space consolidation available today. In a single pass, PerfectDisk 2008 creates the largest piece of contiguous free space possible. This results in less fragmentation occurring when new files are created and also improves write file access time, in addition to read file access time, which is all typical defragmenters focus on. A Consolidate Free Space Defrag option is also available which creates the largest piece of contiguous free space available. This is useful prior to creating large files or in performing partition resizing operations. It is also useful in compressing a virtual hard drive on a virtual machine, as a large amount of contiguous space will be recaptured.

Single-pass File and Free Space Defragmentation
PerfectDisk 2008 performs a complete defragmentation of files and free space in a single pass no matter how large the drive or how badly fragmented the drive. No slowly chipping away at the problem like typical defragmenters. Once and done - and using fewer resources as well. In addition, you have a clear understanding of when your drive has completed its defragmentation.

Complete Automation
PerfectDisk 2008's exclusive AutoPilot Scheduling automates all aspects of defragmentation. Administrators and users have complete flexibility in defining schedules to completely automate the enterprise's defragmentation. For example, schedules can be set to run daily, weekly, or only when the user's screen saver is on. If users are working, PerfectDisk will run in the background. With StealthPatrol, users can choose to have PerfectDisk only run during system idle time.

Minimal Free Space Requirement
Raxco Software pioneered defragmentation of the largest drives with minimal free space - as little as 1% free space on a drive is required to defragment it with PerfectDisk 2008.

Complete NTFS Metadata File Defragmentation
Because only PerfectDisk 2008 defragments all metadata, the result is a drive that is completely defragmented. Other defragmenters do not defragment all of the NTFS metadata and even more alarming, do not report on the files they leave fragmented. And PerfectDisk also provides complete fragmentation statistics for all files. You get the complete picture of the state of your drive. With other defragmenters, since you don't have statistics on all files, you're only seeing part of the picture.

Optimized Master File Table (MFT) Placement
PerfectDisk 2008 provides a 5%-10% performance improvement over typical defragmenters because of where PerfectDisk 8 places the MFT. Microsoft has specific guidelines for placement of the MFT for this improved performance, and only PerfectDisk follows these guidelines.

Selected Files Defrag
PerfectDisk 2008 allows users to defragment a single file, or selected files, rather than an entire drive if desired. This can be useful for users working with large files, such as videos.

CPU and I/O Throttling
PerfectDisk 2008 provides the ability to control CPU and I/O resources. While PerfectDisk 2008 uses very little CPU resources, administrators still have the ability to throttle CPU depending on certain circumstances. Similarly, I/O activity can also be throttled. This can be useful if, for example, another application is performing large amounts of I/O.

User-defined thresholds
PerfectDisk 2008's exclusive Perfect-Time user-defined threshold capability allows you to limit the amount of times PerfectDisk needs to run to only when a site-defined level of fragmentation is reached, thereby reducing unnecessary defrag runs.

Full Active Directory Integration
PerfectDisk 2008 is fully integrated with Active Directory Group Policy Administrative Templates, allowing for comprehensive enterprise deployment, scheduling and management. This saves time with enterprise deployment and requires no training for administrators familiar with Microsoft's Active Directory.

Optional GUI-less Installation
PerfectDisk 2008 can be installed without the user interface active, giving administrators increased control. This allows administrators to deny end users access to the PerfectDisk interface if they wish.

Full-featured Command Line Interface
Full-featured command line support for both local and remote operations is provided. Command line support is not limited to certain commands, as with typical defragmenters. The ability to utilize all PerfectDisk 2008 commands provides administrators with even more control and allows for greater tailoring to your site's specific requirements.

Low System Resource Usage
PerfectDisk 2008 has low CPU and memory usage, which saves computer resources, freeing them for other needs and applications.

Automatic Shutdown After Defrag
PerfectDisk 2008 can be set to shut down at the conclusion of a defrag.

Defragments directories, pagefile and hibernate file
No file or directory is left fragmented with PerfectDisk 2008, so you'll have better performance. No other defragmenter defragments the hibernate file.

Now if you have used previous versions of PerfectDisk then I am sure you would like to know what's new in PerfectDisk 2008. New features and enhancements include:

A brand-new user interface
A new user interface makes it easier than ever to use PerfectDisk. Menus and toolbars have been replaced with a ribbon that organizes and presents capabilities into a set of tabs that correspond to how the product is used. The tabs on the ribbon display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task areas in PerfectDisk. New wizards are also now included, providing easier setup.

StealthPatrol automatic disk defragmentation
PerfectDisk now provides the ability to automatically perform defragmentation only when your system is idle. Together with the wide range of scheduling options available with AutoPilot Scheduling, PerfectDisk 2008 provides more flexibility, automation and complete control than any other disk defragmenter.

Improved performance and reduced resource usage
PerfectDisk has been enhanced to run even faster during SMARTPlacement defragmentation passes. The engine also now uses 15% - 20% less memory consumption than PerfectDisk 8, which results in additional improved performance.

Selected Files Defrag
PerfectDisk's Single File Defrag has been replaced with Selected Files Defrag, giving users the ability to select multiple files to defragment, rather than the entire drive. The ability also now exists to select files from the "Most Defragmented Files" list for immediate and automatic defragmenting.

Fragmeter
A new graphical view of how fragmented your drive is. PerfectDisk 2008's powerful bit map display of disk drives is now enhanced with a new, colorful and easy-to-view circular graphic of your drive's level of fragmentation.

Free Space Recycler
PerfectDisk now provides the ability to easily and automatically reclaim valuable free space from your Recycle Bin, Temporary Internet Files, and duplicate text, picture, video and music files.

Space Explorer
See a bird's eye view of the space distribution between files and folders inside your drives' directories. PerfectDisk 2008's Space Explorer also allows you to delete large files to recapture valuable space on your drive.

Enhanced system tray icon functionality
Additional capabilities are now available through the system tray icon, providing additional ease-of-use.

Estimated Time to Completion
PerfectDisk now provides the estimated time of day when a defrag run will complete.

Native support for 64-bit platforms
Native support for 64-bit platforms provides improved performance and efficiency on 64-bit platforms.

Enhanced Active Directory Integration
A new Active Directory tab is now available for those enterprises utilizing Active Directory, allowing for easy Active Directory snap-in and loading of the PerfectDisk 2008 Administrative template.

If Microsoft isn't going to step up to the plate and fix its operating systems so that it doesn't scatter your data all over your hard drives like throwing confetti at a party then I am so glad we have a third party option that not only takes care of the problem, it does so the right way and that is it does with an easy interface and most importantly after setup it does it on its own. PerfectDisk is quite literally perfect, imagine that!

Footnote: A Simplistic Answer to Why Do We Need to Defragment in the First Place?

You maybe wondering why disk defragmentation is so important. Well, it is simple hard drives are generally fastest when they don't have to search for the data being called up. For example if you are loading a photo that is say 20MB in size the drive can access and load that data much faster if it is all in one location and in order on the drive. However, if that data is scattered all over the drive little bits here and there, it is in drive speed time going to take it much longer to find and read in those little bits. Image that you are on a pogo-stick and you have 50 Easter eggs to pickup in 1 minute. Now what do you think would be faster, having all of those eggs in one place or all over your yard?

Now if you only have one file that is fragmented like that you probably won't notice a slow down of your system. But if 90% of the files on your drive are like that you can not only notice a slow down of your system it can actually cause other problems with the system including crashes and lock ups.

Computers of all kinds need at least some minor maintenance and disk defragmentation like running your anti-virus and spyware software from time to time is one of those maintenance items. Until Microsoft fixes their OS so that it doesn't write fragmented files (it is important to note that it faster to save a file all in one place than it is just drop bits of it all over the hard drive and Microsoft does indeed know this.) we have no choice to but to deal with this issue ourselves. This is one reason why I like PerfectDisk 2008, you can basically set it and forget it. Your drives will be maintained and you don't have to waste time doing it manually.

Needs

• Windows Vista, Windows XP Home or Professional, Windows 2000 Professional
• File System: NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32, exFAT, RAID or SAN
• 64 MB of Memory (128MB recommended)
• 32-bit or 64-bit Processor