Customer Reviews

Diskeeper 2008 Pro Premier Single License Pack

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been using various iterations of Diskeeper since Windows NT. That first version completely trashed my system.

I haven't had a problem with Diskeeper since then and the 2008 version finally adds a feature, "InvisiTasking", that should have been built into Windows from the beginning: continuous and unobtrusive prevention of hard drive fragmentation. On the rare occasions when I manually defragment one of the 3 hard drives on the machine, there's very little to clean up. I no longer have to suffer through the sluggishness and sometimes complete non-responsiveness when manually defragging the system drive. It has made the machine noticeably faster.

What's not to like?

Unlike previous release, the 2008 version opens additional windows when you manually defragment a drive, an unnecessary complication.

As with Windows Vista, Diskeeper's marketing department has created a bewildering array of more and less crippled product versions. Only the most expensive version supports the TB hard drives that are starting to become mainstream. Carefully check the feature table to make sure you get what you need: http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/home/dk2008comparisonchart-home.asp

Also like Microsoft, Diskeeper '08 requires on-line activation so its a question what happens when you want to move the utility to your next computer.

Lastly, Diskeeper sends an inordinate amount of spam about the wonders of its product.

Data - our hard disks are overflowing with it. Everything from documents, to digital photographs, the latest iTune downloads and video fill our systems to the brim. It's not uncommon to see computers with 500GB or more of storage space to accomodate our growing need for more storage. With our growing storage needs comes another problem -- keeping that data optimized for read and write access. Years ago, this wasn't a problem as machines were CPU-bound, that is the bottleneck on the system was the CPU, not the disks themselves. Today, that is no longer true. With dual-core and (soon) quad-core systems finding their way into our homes, the bottleneck has become the hard drives and other data storage devices -- keeping up with the demand placed on them to access your data and deliver it to the computer for processing.

Diskeeper 2008 helps unclog the bottleneck in your computer system by defragmenting your drives to keep your files in one place for increased throughput and accessibility, plus also optimizing data to keep the most frequently accessed files within easy "reach".

I've been a user of Diskeeper for years, and the 2008 version continues to deliver in the performance and reliability spectrum. One of the best features of the program is its ability to defragment "on the fly", or in the background as I like to call it. Instead of having a weekly, or daily, defragmentation cycle that could tie up your resources and slow your system down, Diskeeper uses idle resources as you work to keep your files defragmented. This helps keep everything running smooth, but at the same time does not slow your system down or steal away CPU or I/O cycles from what you are working on -- if the system needs them, Diskeeper will give them up and wait until more idle time becomes available.

Another area that Diskeeper helps keep optimized is your systems MFT (Master File Table) and paging files (Virtual memory). These are files used by Windows to help keep track of where your files are (think of the MFT as a huge library card catalog) and also to swap programs in and out of memory as needed. It's critically important to keep your paging file defragmented since any access to it can slow your system down -- and having the system jumping all over the place looking for parts of the file can slow you down dramatically.

Overall, Diskeeper 2008 is a great product for anyone who uses their computer extensively to do digital photography, digital video, recording or playing back audio files or just has a lot of data that gets frequently accessed. It's a great product that has continued to evolve over the years to meet the growing data storage needs of both home and business users.

As a software engineer with over twenty years of experience, I've used a variety of disk defragmentation software. Over the years, Diskeeper has been consistently one of the best. I was initially skeptical that the new I-FAAST would be worth the extra $$$ for the Pro Premier version; however, there was a perceptible difference (after about two weeks) with I-FAAST. The difference was most noticeable when I let my trial version lapse, and I-FAAST stopped running. Needless to say, I upgraded to the Pro Premier version. If you have a good sized, modern hard drive, and want the most out of your system, Diskeeper Pro Premier is hard to beat.

I installed the free version of Diskeeper and after clicking "Finish" I was practically forced to click the "Buy Now" button. I fid and selected
the Home and premium option. After paying $37.45, the installation process was supposed to uninstall the free version and install the regular version but after ten minutes and many blinking screens another "Finished" button appeared. I clicked it and came to realize that my computer apparently has both versions installed but I cannot use either because of mutual conflict. At the same time I cannot use the original Windows defrag function because it has been highjacked by one (or both) of the Diskeeper versions.

It all proves again that you should think twice before buying third party software that are meant to improve an operating system but can cause havoc when they are not designed to install properly. Before the Diskeeper disaster my computer was a well maintained, stable environment.

I installed Diskeeper 2008 on my 9 months old desktop. Within 24 hours, the computer performed as it did when it was new. I recommend this product to every computer owner.

This product works in the background and once you install and set it up to run, you never have to think about defragmenting again. I'm grateful to never have to wait for hours for a defrag to run again. Highly recommended and worth the money.

I am still no fan of ANY defragmenters automatic full-time defrag!-
I had problems with DK 10 PP corrupting programs with auto-defrag on (others reported same)!
I contacted DK support, and asked them if DK 2008 PP still had this known corruption problem?- They replied that this problem had been "addressed" in DK 2008 (whatever "addressed" means...?).

I installed DK 2008 PP, did all the recommended settings..., enabled IFAAST, auto-defrag, boot-time defrag...
At first things went faster- Then after about 3 weeks my anti-malware scan times started REALLY slowing down!? I go to receive a fax with WinFax Pro, and it is corrupted (same problem as with DK 10!)!
I turned off auto-defrag, and my HD quickly became BADLY fragmented! :o(

I uninstalled DK, and installed freeware Disktrix Ultimate Defrag v1.72.
A little tricky to setup- Disable Windows defrag (on install), and just select auto for defrag mode. First defrag is slow, and is then FAST.
Anti-malware scan times got fast again, and my HD does not become as fragmented (I manual defrag every 4 days, and I'm a power-user (software tech)).