Virtual PC is an x86 emulator for PowerPC Mac hosts and a virtualization app for Microsoft Windows hosts. It was created by Connectix in 1997 and acquired by Microsoft in 2003. The Mac version was discontinued in 2006 following the Mac transition to Intel, while the Windows version was discontinued in 2011 in favour of Hyper-V.
In the maintenance of file systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the degree of fragmentation. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the mass storage device used to store files into the smallest number of contiguous regions. It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmentation utilities try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence.
Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, and was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996, and then to retail in August 24, 1996, with the Server versions released to retail in September 1996.
Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain a computer. The latest version of the original series of Norton Utilities is Norton Utilities 16 for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 was released 26 October 2012.
Shadow Copy is a technology included in Microsoft Windows that can create backup copies or snapshots of computer files or volumes, even when they are in use. It is implemented as a Windows service called the Volume Shadow Copy service. A software VSS provider service is also included as part of Windows to be used by Windows applications. Shadow Copy technology requires either the Windows NTFS or ReFS filesystems in order to create and store shadow copies. Shadow Copies can be created on local and external volumes by any Windows component that uses this technology, such as when creating a scheduled Windows Backup or automatic System Restore point.
PageDefrag is a program, developed by Sysinternals, for Microsoft Windows that runs at start-up to defragment the virtual memory page file, the registry files and the Event Viewer's logs.
Microsoft Drive Optimizer is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase data access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called defragmentation. Defragmenting a disk minimizes head travel, which reduces the time it takes to read files from and write files to the disk. As a result of the decreased read and write times, Microsoft Drive Optimizer decreases system startup times for systems starting from magnetic storage devices such as a hard drive. However, defragmentation is not helpful on storage devices such as solid state drives, USB drives or SD cards that use flash memory to increase speeds, as these drives do not use a head. Defragmentation may decrease lifespan for certain technologies, e.g. solid state drives. Microsoft Drive Optimizer was first officially shipped with Windows XP.
Contig is a command line defragmentation utility for Windows developed by Microsoft as part of the Sysinternals Suite.
Windows Home Server is a home server operating system from Microsoft. It was announced on 7 January 2007 at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, released to manufacturing on 16 July 2007 and officially released on 4 November 2007.
Windows Vista—a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system—was available in six different product editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft announced the USD pricing for editions available through retail channels; the operating system was later made available to retail on January 30, 2007. Microsoft also made Windows Vista available for purchase and download from Windows Marketplace; it is the first version of Windows to be distributed through a digital distribution platform. Editions sold at retail were available in both Full and Upgrade versions and later included Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Windows Vista contains a range of new technologies and features that are intended to help network administrators and power users better manage their systems. Notable changes include a complete replacement of both the Windows Setup and the Windows startup processes, completely rewritten deployment mechanisms, new diagnostic and health monitoring tools such as random access memory diagnostic program, support for per-application Remote Desktop sessions, a completely new Task Scheduler, and a range of new Group Policy settings covering many of the features new to Windows Vista. Subsystem for UNIX Applications, which provides a POSIX-compatible environment is also introduced.
Condusiv Technologies is an American software company based in Burbank, California. The company was formerly known as Diskeeper Corporation, a name derived from its flagship product, Diskeeper, a file-system defragmentation software package for Microsoft Windows and OpenVMS. Before adopting the Diskeeper name, the company was known as Executive Software International, Inc.
O&O Defrag is a Windows defragmentation utility sold by German software developer O&O Software. It has won several awards by PC journals and magazines, and is certified by Microsoft for all its current NTFS-based operating systems, including Windows 2000, Server 2003, Vista, 7, and 10.
Vopt is a Windows defragmentation utility sold by Golden Bow Systems. It is one of the oldest defragmentation products, and has supported MS-DOS and all versions of Microsoft Windows. The convenience of quick processing time is offset by less optimal performance, but when used in conjunction with the built-in optimization of the Windows prefetch folder, system performance is maintained without major reorganization of all the files on the drive.
Defraggler is a freemium defragmentation utility developed by Piriform Software, which can defragment individual files or groups of files on computer memory systems. Defraggler runs on Microsoft Windows; it has support for all versions since Windows XP. It includes support for both IA-32 and x64 versions of these operating systems.
JkDefrag is a free open-source disk defragmenting utility computer program for Windows. It was developed by Jeroen Kessels beginning in 2004 and was released under the GNU General Public License. Since version 4 of 2008, much changed from previous versions, JkDefrag was renamed MyDefrag by its developer; earlier JkDefrag versions continued to be available. MyDefrag, which was closed source freeware, was discontinued, with the last version being v4.3.1, file date 21 May 2010; for several years the MyDefrag website has been a redirect to the still-existing JkDefrag site, but links to downloadable JKdefrag files are dead. JkDefrag source code is still available from 3rd party websites
The following is a comparison of notable file system defragmentation software:
Auslogics Disk Defrag is a freemium software application for Microsoft Windows intended to defragment files and folders on a hard drive, consolidate free space, and optimize file placement using different criteria. It has an estimated 10 It is available in both free and "Pro" versions.
Windows 8, a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system, was available in four different editions: Windows 8 (Core), Pro, Enterprise, and RT. Only Windows 8 (Core) and Pro were widely available at retailers. The other editions focus on other markets, such as embedded systems or enterprise. All editions support 32-bit IA-32 CPUs and x64 CPUs.
PerfectDisk is a defragmentation software product for Windows developed by Raxco.
