MyDefragGUI 2.1.2

MyDefrag defragments very fast, has several optimisation strategies, offers highest possible data security and can also defragment external storage media. However you can input options only by a script grammar. With MyDefragGUI the operation becomes very easy. Beyond that it has some additional functions e.g. planning the defragmentation, storing the personal settings, configuring the screensaver...
MyDefrag is based on the standard Defragmentation Interface by Microsoft (the FSCTL_GET_VOLUME_BITMAP, FSCTL_GET_RETRIEVAL_POINTERS, and FSCTL_MOVE_FILE function calls), just like all other defragmenter. It is therefore very solid, there is no risk of losing data or the disk getting scrambled, and you can run it while the computer is in full use.

Phase 1: Analyse

MyDefrag has to scan all the files on the disk to determine if they are fragmented and where they are. At the moment it has to use very inefficient Microsoft function calls, in the future I hope to speed this up by directly reading the MFT and FAT.

Phase 2: Defragment

* All fragmented files are defragmented, simply by moving them to the first gap on the disk that is big enough. If there is no gap big enough then the defragmenter will reduce the number of fragments in the file by moving as much of the file as possible into the largest gaps available.
* Windows reserves a percentage of the disk for the MFT (Master File Table), but can place normal files there if the rest of the disk is full. The files will remain there, even when there is enough space again. MyDefrag looks for files in the MFT reserved space and moves them to normal disk space, making the reserved space available again for the MFT.
* Regular files are moved out of the directory zone, and space hogs are moved out of the directory and regular zones. This prepares the disk for the next step (optimisation) so it can do a better job. See below for more information about the zones.

Phase 3: Optimise

* On most hard disks the beginning of the hard disk is considerably faster than the end (see therefore in the chapter "Links" the program "DiskSpeed32"). The default MyDefrag optimisation strategy therefore moves all files to the beginning of the volume. It is intended for daily use and will simply fill gaps with files from above, very quick and with very little data movement.
* Sorting the files on your disk can give you even more speed. There are several sorting strategies to choose from. These are all very slow and intended for occasional use only.
* MyDefrag classifies files into five zones. Files outside their zone are moved to their zone. Directories are perhaps the most accessed data on disk, so zone 1 is placed at the beginning of the hard disk. After the directories comes a free area, then zone 2 with regular files, another free area, and then zone 3 with big files, which are files bigger than 50 megabytes; files with certain filenames such as archives; files in the recycle bin; service pack files, and other infrequently accessed data. The begin and end of the zones is determined automatically.
* A running computer will create and delete temporary files like there is no tomorrow. If the hard disk were completely optimised then the only place for new temporary files would be behind all the other data. Which is rather slow. So MyDefrag maintains a free space of 1% of the disk space between the zones