No matter what anyone says about these products, they are HUGE performance gains. The problem is they are "shadow" ware software, you never see them, they are hidden from view and they just do their job.
It's an extremely hard thing to tell to execs because they don't "see" the benefit of having them. The reason you don't feel the impact is because over time the machines get slower (it takes several months to a year). But take a new machine and run a disk intensive, file activity monger and then do the same thing on a fragmented disk. Now defrag that other machine and run the test again.
I guarantee 40-50% increase in performance (that may be quite aggressive, but it's very noticeable).
Now of the products, there is only one that does the job. DiskKeeper is by FAR The leading product in defrag. There is special tools for Windows, that's it. Raxco makes a nice neat interface for VM Ware, but Diskkeeper has their own central management of defrag from another console, so you don't need Raxco.
I have tried both, and I have used Disk Keeper since 4.0, and I can assure you that 50 bucks per license is worth every single penny. If you don't see a benefit in using such a tool, well then there isn't much I can say. TEST for yourself. It will keep your systems running at optimum speed, if you don't care that your systems run slow.. well you have other issues.
Built in products that come with Windows are like comparing a Kia with a Lexus, sure they both have 4 wheels, seats, and a steering wheel, but the comparison ends there. Lexus drivers KNOW the difference.. and why they pay more for the latter.
Disk keeper hands down.
