The First Place Forever

[Wolfram]

Dear Mister Jeroen Kessels, Sir:

I took the courage to send you this message, with the hope that you will have the kindness
to answer me to the following questions:

1. Why, the team belonging to Gizmo (Ian) Richards - the person who manages the famous
"gizmo's freeware website", has suddenly changed its opinion in what concerns your program
("MyDefrag")?

I will quote them:

"Well ladies and gentlemen, MyDefrag has been dethroned. I rarely move around the top product,
for I once thought that no program could beat the programming skills that have developed such
masterpieces such as MyDefrag and JKDefrag.

However I stand corrected.

The last couple of releases for MyDefrag were very frustrating experiences for me. That being said,
I waited around in hopes of a better version being released. This corrected version, has yet to be
released.

On the other hand, Auslogics latest release (3.1.1.80) is way ahead of the competition.
I found the defragmentation time to be incredibly fast. Analyzing my disks took seconds,
and for the first time in a while, the long process of defragmenting my hard drive was shrunk to minutes.
I now officially recommend Auslogics as the best free disk defragmenter."

Here's the URL: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-disk-de-fragmenter.htm

Why the last couple of releases for MyDefrag were "very frustrating experiences" for the reviewer?
Has, the defragmentation time, something to do with the defragmentation's "quality"?


2. After I read the description made by Auslogics Software Pty. Ltd., on its website, to "Disk Defrag 3",
I had the feeling that it is a combination between "JkDefrag (3)" and a GUI very similar, in endowments,
with the one provided by the Defragmenter included in SystemSuite 6, from Avanquest Software. Although,
graphically, it is more similar to the one belonging to "Defraggler" - from Piriform Ltd.

Has, Auslogics Software, ever contacted you?
"Disk Defrag 3" contains lines of code belonging to one of your JkDefrag (or MyDefrag) versions?

Here it is the Disk Defrag 3 description: http://auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/overview

(I am sure that it is a pure coincidence the fact that MyDefrag-v4.2.7.exe and disk-defrag-setup.exe
have almost the same "download sizes": 1,975 kilobytes and 2.21 MB, respectively - a little more for
the last one, because of the GUI.)

I do not want to ask the person from techsupportalert.com, what made him change his opinions.


3. I do not have the possibility to test software, on my PC. But I have a big request to you:
because you are an expert in Defragmentation, and you know how to test a program, would
you agree to make a test titled "MyDefrag versus Disk Defrag"? You can easily figure out how
efficient is your program. I simply want to prove that your product is better. Even if it is the
endeavor of a single man.

Do you accept this challenge?

I thank you for your attention.

[jeroen]

1. Why, the team belonging to Gizmo (Ian) Richards - the person who manages the famous
"gizmo's freeware website", has suddenly changed its opinion in what concerns your program
("MyDefrag")?

I am not familiar to a website by that name and i have not read the review that you are referring to. MyDefrag has been plagued by several annoying bugs, very difficult to find because they happened for only a few users. I could not repeat them for myself and only managed to fix them after adding a lot of debug code and several releases. The latest version 4.2.7 is stable for everyone, I have not had any crash reports. So, I am sure the review is about previous versions, not about the current version.

Has, Auslogics Software, ever contacted you?

No, not that I can recall. MyDefrag is freeware closed source, a complete rewrite that uses virtually none of the JkDefrag sources, so they cannot have used that. The old JkDefrag is free GNU open source software, so it is possible that they have used some or all of the sources.

would you agree to make a test titled "MyDefrag versus Disk Defrag"?

I am sorry but I have no time to perform such a test. And such a test performed and setup by me would not be a neutral test. And there are plenty of comparitative reviews available on the internet already.

[rlg118]

Whenever I've tried another defragger, it has always undone the zones and gaps which I have so carefully created. Then I have to run MyD to put things right again. So... why bother?


Happy 2010 to all.

[Wolfram]

First of all, I would like to thank you for your prompt and straight answer.

Fortunately (!), your answer has given birth, in my mind, to new questions...

You told me that your are "not familiar to a website by that name".
But allow me to ask you if...

The guys from techsupportalert.com have ever contacted you?

I am asking you this question because, on their website, there are two links - both
to your website. I assume that, before doing this, Mister Ian Richards has,
at least, informed you about his intentions and asked your permission: to mention
your name, the name of your program, its capabilities, and so on.

Mister Ian Richards has never contacted you?!

Have you at least checked up if the data posted on the above mentioned website,
data about YOUR program, is accurate?

I simply can not believe that you have not heard about the most well known "freeware
website" in the world.-


In what concerns the last answer, I have a few comments to make:

- In my opinion, you are the most suited person in the world to test your program.
Besides, you are an expert in Defragmentation & Optimization.

- I assume that you will not try to cheat us and/or to lie yourself.

- The reviewers from techsupportalert.com are "half-amateurs" (and volunteers). Do you
think that they know more, about the Defragmentation process, in general, and about My
Defrag, in particular, than you know?!

- They have never rigorously tested your program.  Their statement ("Auslogics latest
release (3.1.1.80) is way ahead of the competition") proves it. This kind of "estimation"
does not bother you? I have serious doubts in what concerns their competency.

- There are countless software producers who do not hesitate to "compare" their programs
with similar ones, from their competitors. Even if such comparisons are not permitted by a
certain legislation, you can at least prove that your software has superior optimization
algorithms, consumes less resources, etc, etc.

- I understood that you can not sacrifice one day, from your valuable time, to make a Test.
But it worths to do it. And not only because there are no comparatives between MyDefrag 4
and Disk Defrag 3.

"techsupportalert.com" is a website with a big influence over many PC users.
And, if you want to attract more of them, willing to Donate, I think you should reconsider your
attitude. Id est, in your spare time, you should spend a few hours to make a test. It will also be
useful for you, as professional programmer, to analyze the behavior of other (free) defragmenters.

Or, why not?, you can invite others to make this test - after a strict methodology, of course -;
and then, to post a link to their results.-


Once again, I thank for your attention. And I apologize if I nagged you.

[Araldo]

"techsupportalert.com" is a website with a big influence over many PC users.

Which is proven by what? Nearly every site state this 

I never ever heard of this site, this thread could simply be a way to get more visitors there.

[Wolfram]

Although this is not the main subject of my post, I will give you an answer:
If you will click on the link indicated below, you will discover that "gizmo's
freeware" website has more than one million unique, recorded visitors,
interested by the rubric titled "Best Free Antivirus Software", for example.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

I do not know if this proves something regarding the website's popularity.
But I hope it will satisfy you. 
Besides, claiming "high traffic" is one story, and proving it, is another, completely
different, story.

Also, I do not intend to polemize on this matter. My main intention is to clarify
a controversial decision made by one of the gizmo's lieutenants. And I strongly
believe that the most appropriate person able to do it, is Mister Jeroen Kessels
himself.-

[Falcon4]

It's enough to say that I've never heard of techsupportalert.com - and quite frankly, a website by that name is quite likely to be "just another dumpsite". Sounds like one of those SEO'd-to-death websites that pollutes search results with its shining reviews of Registry Defender 2010, DriverCure, and all sort of other malware/adware.

[theantagonizer]

I simply can not believe that you have not heard about the most well known "freeware
website" in the world.

I think the quotations are in the wrong place in this statement, it should be "the most well known freeware website in the world" since that is their statement. I also have never heard of this website and agree that it is "one of those SEO'd-to-death websites"

There are countless software producers who do not hesitate to "compare" their programs
with similar ones, from their competitors. Even if such comparisons are not permitted by a
certain legislation, you can at least prove that your software has superior optimization
algorithms, consumes less resources, etc, etc.

In looking at Auslogics website I see that they have a fancy image with check-marks "comparing" them to a couple other defraggers but MyD is not on that list. Perhaps A: because MyD is free software that doesnt require even businesses to pay to use it (personally I find Auslogics business licensing pricing to be quite steep) and B: because MyD would have almost the same exact capability that auslogics claim sets them above the competition.

I downloaded and tried the auslogics defragmenter and was not impressed. The "speed" that "techsupportalert" claimed to have discovered is not related to the defragmentation api as that is the same for all defragmentors that use the Win API. The only "speed" difference I found was that the "sorting" done by the auslogics product seems to be scattered filling only the gaps with its "file optimization." Also, there is no way to change this. I cannot script a more "intelligent" defragmentation for auslogics. I agree with you that it just seems like a slightly more enhanced version of defraggler with a half baked attempt at using some of MyD's concepts of boot optimization. (The auslogics didnt appear to make any room for those boot files to be moved to the beginning of the disk, just once again filled gaps with some of them.)

This was not a formal test as I also dont have time to set up a disk with fragmentation and clone it then install MyD on one and auslogics on the other and run a side by side comparison. That does take a lot of time and I assure you I would rather have Mr. Kessels focusing on the development of MyD in his spare time (for free) than running useless comparisons that take forever and are outdated once a new version of either software is released. It is not worth it and in my opinion there is no comparison. MyD is still the best and just because some site says it isnt, doesnt mean they are correct or even making that claim based on any "intelligent" testing or comparison of their own.

I know this comes off sounding like a fanboy for MyD but how about you take your time Mr. Wolfram, to do the side by side comparison and then come to your own conclusions about which is better.

I leave you with this thought. I went to the Auslogics site to see where you had posted a matching post to this one to see what auslogics would say about how they stack up with MyD and wouldnt you know it, they dont have a forum... Or a bug tracker or ANY public support. You can read the help and submit a ticket and wait an unspecified amount of time for an answer from one of their understaffed support centers or you can come here and ask the entire community of people who use this software every day, including the person who hand wrote every line of code in it. I would say there is no comparison with the software or the business model.

[Leolo]

Yawn...

http://auslogics.com/en/faq.php?name=Auslogics%20Disk%20Defrag&file=%2Fen%2Fproducts%2Fdisk-defrag%2Fproduct.faq&question=3&backlink=%2Fen%2Fsoftware%2Fdisk-defrag%2Ffaq

Currently we are working on the MFT defragmentation support, so that your MFT can also be defragmented by the program. This feature can be available in one of the future major versions of the program.

Wake me up when Auslogics can defragment the MFT, and then we will start talking about comparing it to MyDefrag...

Regards.

[quanthero]

IMHO, even Windows built-in disk defragmenter can do better job than Auslogics disk defrag. But nothing beats optimizations than can be done by MyDefrag!!!

[jeroen]

The guys from techsupportalert.com have ever contacted you?

Many people contact me. Perhaps they have, perhaps they haven't, I don't remember. And perhaps they have posted on this forum, the name Ian Richards sounds familiar, but I usually don't know who is behind pseudonym's.

there are two links - both to your website.

On the internet it is not customary to ask permission for putting a link to another website.

Have you at least checked up if the data posted on the above mentioned website, data about YOUR program, is accurate?

Perhaps you can supply a link? Like I said before, I don't know the website you are referring to.

In my opinion, you are the most suited person in the world to test your program.

All very good arguments. But I am sorry, I simply do not have the time, so I am leaving it up to others.

[Nobodo]

Firstly, I believe that MyDefrag does a better job than Auslogics.

However, some of the responses in this thread have been quite rude.  Gizmo's freeware review is in my opinion the best and most unbiased review of freeware available on the internet.  I and many others refer to it frequently when looking for a free alternative to what might otherwise be a very costly piece of software.  I have found their reviews in different categories of freeware to be fairly accurate and certainly not commercially inspired.  Just because "I haven't heard of it" doesn't mean it is nonsense, it just means sometimes you have to (gasp) admit you don't know everything there is to know about sites on the internet.  Just because it is a review site you haven't heard of doesn't mean it is some "SEO'd to death" site concerned with nothing more than getting hits and earning income from its faked reviews and commercial links.

Anyway... MyDefrag is now becoming pretty stable.  Anybody here has to admit that there was quite a timeframe where it was anything but stable, bombing out with an 'Oeps' message on every few runs.  How could anybody doing a review of freeware defraggers have possibly rated a piece of software as 'the best' when they were getting a crash of that software on a regular basis; especially when that software is doing something as important as moving all their precious data around on the hard drive?

I believe the original poster's point was mainly that it might be good to contact Gizmo's Freeware Reviews and let them know that although MyDefrag has gone through some growing pains, it is now quite stable and could run circles around Auslogics.  People who post and lurk here are likely to be quite technically-oriented, and are likely to love the fact that MyDefrag has scripts that one can personalize much more than any other defragger available.  The casual visitor to a freeware review site is looking for software that will do a good job and not blow up in the middle of running; it is really only those 'dedicated to the cause' that will put up with software crashing on every other run because they know their favorite defragger will eventually be stable.

Anyway, enough soapbox.  I agree with the original poster's sentiments.  If contacting a site like Gizmo's and asking for a 2nd chance at a review isn't something Jeroen wants to take the time to do, that is understandable.  But perhaps other users of MyDefrag can get fired enough to do that contacting in Jeroen's place.

Thanks,
Mark.

[jeroen]

it might be good to contact Gizmo's Freeware Reviews

I can only repeat: I do not know a website by that name. I have tried googling it but cannot find it. If you want me to respond to an article on a website, then please include a link to that website and article.

[jonib]

I can only repeat: I do not know a website by that name. I have tried googling it but cannot find it. If you want me to respond to an article on a website, then please include a link to that website and article.

This looks like the link, from the first post of this thread:

Here's the URL: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-disk-de-fragmenter.htm

jonib

[Bibby]

Here's the URL: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-disk-de-fragmenter.htm

What the guy is saying about MyDefrag seems a little unfair. I have not had any problems for quite a long time now with MyDefrag... certainly there were a couple gripes with early beta versions but it is currently working wonders right now!

This guy, Gizmo(his name?), is saying that the recent releases didn't work so well and immediately suggests Auslogics software as the best due to it's speed. Something that Gizmo has not covered with his defrag reviews, which is a huge error, is optimization. File placement is important. Maybe this is why Auslogics software is fast... it skips any sort of major optimization.

Anyway... for me there is nothing better than what MyDefrag offers. Sure you have to be technically minded to play around with it but that is it's strongest point.

MyDefrag defrags, optimizes, is customisable and works!