.. will be released to the public on the 22nd of this month to the general public and business community. It has been released to the tech community first, and today I downloaded and installed the Pro Premier version. This is the panel you first see when it opens. Have a read of it.

OK, done? There is a system report page which opens after the above is closed. Both can be unchecked such that you do not see them again

The default for Diskeeper  is to organise the files on the disk for efficiency, and it is probably best to leave it this way at first , One of the settings that I have changed is the ‘defrag using VSS defrag’ which is now enabled. The other enables a ‘before and after’ pictorial view of the process. In between, there is just a text window which is really quite boring.

The big question is whether Diskeeper 2011 will destroy Windows 7’s ability to retain restore points as the 2010 version appeared to do. I will keep my eye on this and report back. If VSS does it, I will try the ‘standard defragmentation. Thereafter, if I have any problems like before, it will be off the system faster than a loosely nailed tin roof in a hurricane.

In the meantime, I have disabled the scheduled Windows 7 defrag utility to stop any fighting over where each utility thinks that files should be. I will also not manually run Auslogics defrag for the same reason.

I ran a manual defrag on each drive just to get it going, and a popup appeared to tell me that ‘auto defragmentation’ is better than a manual run. Well, the proof will be in the running.

There is a question in the back of my mind..

All Windows computers benefit from the occasional defragging. It stands to sense that an organised hard drive is better, but on the basis that the ‘home’ versions of disk defragmenters lack the hard-core defragging options found in the professional and enterprise versions, is there any point in the home user buying something like Diskeeper?

There is a rumour that the Vista and Windows 7 defragmenters are based upon Diskeeper technology. Certainly, XP and Windows 2000 defragmenters were. In this way, I can’t honestly say that a home user should rush out and buy a disk defragmenter, especially one with such a poor visualisation. A system admin might be ok with Diskeeper, set it up, and let it run, because he/she will have many other issues to cover in a day. A home user with time to spare often wants to see what he/she is getting for the money, and there are free defraggers which do just that. Auslogics defragger is a good example.

Anyway, for better or worse, Diskeeper 2011 is running, and I will report back fairly soon.