Defrag for Windows v2.0

Defrag for Windows 2.0

Reviewed by: Thomas V. Kappel
Published by: PC MESH
Requires: Windows 98/ME/XP
MSRP: US$19.00

Today, time is the currency and speed is the base. Time is valuable and usually in short supply. So for many of us, keeping our computer running at peak speed and top performance is critically important. One method of maintaining top speed in a computer is to frequently defragment the hard drive, thus keeping the files together and in order for fast easy loading. Defrag for Windows 2.0 claims to defrag Windows 98/ME/XP automatically and for an extremely low price. I was excited to check out this program.

Today's Windows operating systems have become extremely complicated programs. They now automatically load on startup a large number of programs and processes most of which are hidden to the user. Some examples of these programs are firewalls, antivirus, spool32.exe, pstores.exe and page files. These files make it difficult and complex to completely and efficiently defragment your hard drive. For example, the page file used by Windows can often be 500MB in size or larger - it's used to temporarily store data. Windows frequently shrinks or expands this file spreading information over the hard disk in large and small chunks.

Defrag for Windows 2.0 offers complete defragmentation of the hard drive by performing seven steps. These are: shutting down running processes, disabling and removing the page file, running the Scandisk utility built into Windows, restarting processes, re-enabling the page file and shutting down and restarting the PC. It sounds like all the necessary steps for a well-designed program.

Unfortunately, it didn't work on my Windows ME machine. I tried it on a Windows 2000 machine where it's not supported and it did not work. I tried it on a Windows 98 machine where it did finally work. I wasn't able to test it on an XP machine, but XP and Windows 2000 share a lot of the same base code. I was concerned and wrote the support desk at PCMESH. I received the following response.

"Your test shows that the tasks performed by Defrag for Windows (DW) depend on more factors (i.e., individual configuration/settings of the particular machine) than just the operating system. While we have many satisfied customers who appreciate our software, we also receive e-mails from users who complain that DW doesn't work as advertised. DW is in its early versions stage and need some more time to be functional on at least 90% of the machines."

What a disappointment. It may or may not work on more than 90% of the machines out there. That's too bad. My guess would be that it probably works on Windows 98 systems okay as it worked all right on mine. Windows 98 is not as complicated an operating system as Windows ME or XP, which is exactly where a good defrag program is badly needed.

On the other hand, it just may work on your machine. A trial program can be downloaded and tested before purchase. The program is easily uninstalled, but it does leave a few things to be manually removed. If it works on your machine it's a good deal. It's low cost, comes with a 30-day money back guarantee, one-year free upgrades and unlimited e-mail support.

The whole purpose of this program was to save valuable time by maintaining efficient operation of our computers. It is regrettable, but it will cost you some time to determine if it will work on your machine and that, to me, is counterproductive. I took it off all my computers and I'm giving the program a pass. Perhaps, at a later date, there may be some benefit in going back to see if they've managed to make it more functional - if there's some free time.