Anybody who has used Windows for very long has probably heard the terms “fragmentation” and “defragmentation”. I won’t go into what these are, as I’ve written another blog post explaining it. I’ve tried literally dozens of defragmenters over the years, both free and paid (free trials) in search of “the one”, and have found most of the free versions lacking in some way or another.
They all to a good job of defragmenting, to various degrees. Some take longer than others, and some have a better interface than others. One thing they all lack, except for specialized tools like PageDefrag from Microsoft’s Sysinternals, is the ability to defragment system files that are in use, like the Master File Table, the Page File, or the Hibernation File. This has to be done at boot time, and before now, you had to spend $30 for Raxco’s PerfectDisk Home version, or 39.95 for Executive Software’s Diskeeper for the ability to do this. Not any more. Puran Defrag offers most of the features of its more expensive counterparts for free. This includes boot time defrag and scheduled defrag. Note that this is for private and non-commercial use only; commercial users will need to purchase a license, but it is still cheaper than either PerfectDisk or Diskeeper. Puran Defrag has several options available for a boot time defrag, like doing a disk check before commencing with the defrag. This is nice to do in order to ensure your file system is in good shape before moving things around and rearranging them. In fact it’s a good idea to do this at least once a year to verify the integrity of the file system, especially if you have suffered a power failure or hard reboot, or in the case of laptops, because they typically get moved around a lot and are more subject to being dropped or handled roughly.
The Puran Defrag user interface slightly resembles Microsoft Office because it uses a Microsoft Ribbon-type tab system. The only gripe I have with it is the window cannot be resized, which is puzzling why it was designed this way. The Maximize/Restore Down button has been greyed out, and it can only be minimized to the taskbar or closed completely. This is about the only thing I don’t like about the program. There are four tabs along the top, for the Main Window, Additional Operations, Automatic Defratmentation, and About Puran Defrag. Here are some screenshots:
Puran Main Window
Puran Main Window Shot 2
Puran Additional Operations
Puran Automatic Defragment Window
Puran Defrag "About" Window
As you can see, it is a very full-featured program for being free. The only drawback is that the window is not resizable. For a free program, this is not a big deal at all. Defragmentation is quick, and gives a noticeable improvement in system speed. The initial run should probably be done at boot time, then a regular defrag run can be done.
With a download size of less than 2.5 Megabytes, it’s impressive that Puran Software has put so much functionality in such a small package. With PerfectDisk and Diskeeper both weighing in at better than 40 Megabytes, one wonders what they do with the extra space. It seems that Puran Software has done something right here. Puran Defrag can be downloaded here. Just choose the Free version. And only if you’re not a business.
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