cgw@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU (C. Gray Watson) (11/15/88)
Yep, I sent in my $10 and got the newest version of DiskExpress. What are the changes in the new version?? A new Quick Optimization option lets you optimize your hard drive without waiting 3 hours. A neat graphics display of the free space on the hard drive. The docs didn't talk about any speed increaes but I Optimized with priority my Jasimine 40 meg last night and it only took around 90 minutes. Well do you think it is worth it?? I mean it is only $10... gray cgw@cadre.dsl.pittsburgh.edu
simon@alberta.uucp (Simon Tortike) (11/16/88)
In article <1746@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU> cgw@cadre.dsl.pittsburgh.edu (C. Gray Watson) writes: >Yep, I sent in my $10 and got the newest version of DiskExpress. > Could someone post some details of how to upgrade? I have not noticed anything in the Mac mags. It is most interesting to compare graphic views of a hard disk, using SUM's disk tools, defragmented using (a) SUM's defragmenter, and (b) DiskExpress. In the latter case all you see is a solid black block followed by a white one. In the former, you see all the slug trails on the disk! ------------------- Simon Tortike, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineering, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CANADA T6G 2G6. UUCP: alberta!simon | BITNET: stortike@ualtavm | AGT: +1 403 432-3338
dudek@ai.toronto.edu (Gregory Dudek) (11/16/88)
In article <1746@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU> cgw@cadre.dsl.pittsburgh.edu (C. Gray Watson) writes: >Yep, I sent in my $10 and got the newest version of DiskExpress. > >What are the changes in the new version?? > > A new Quick Optimization option lets you optimize your hard drive > without waiting 3 hours. > How does the Quick optimization actually do differently, as compared to the standard optimize? The flyer didn't explain what it avoided doing to get so quick. > >Well do you think it is worth it?? > >I mean it is only $10... > It's $10 for the upgrade PLUS $10 shipping and handling. Given that the new product lists for only $39 and the upgrade doesn't actually DO anything different in the long run (besides some slightly nicer displays) the price didn't seem worthwhile to me. I do love DiskExpress, however, and I'm not faulting the makers, it's just that the product is so cheap already that paying 50% more for a upgrade that does essentially the same stuff doesn't cut it for me. For the person who asked: I got a flyer in the mail about 2 weeks ago describing the upgrade to this and some other products like Font/DA Juggler. -- Dept. of Computer Science (vision group) University of Toronto Nice mailers: dudek@ai.utoronto.ca UUCP: {uunet,decvax,linus,pyramid, dalcs,watmath,garfield,ubc-vision,calgary}!utai!dudek ARPA: user%ai.toronto.edu@relay.cs.net
pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (11/17/88)
I got my DiskExpress 1.5 yesterday. I unfragmented my harddisk with priori- tize files option on. On a Mac II it took 27 minutes to move 292MEGs. Wow!!! I am impressed. The last time I did this operation it was on a MacPlus with 20Megs. It used to take an entire night. GO BUCKS!! Beat Michigan!!! (Or at least don't loose by more than 3 TD's) Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve 231 West Eighteenth Avenue 1-(614)-292-5310.office Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.department
billkatt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Steve Bollinger) (11/17/88)
In article <1066@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu.UUCP (Paul G. Nevai) writes: > > >I got my DiskExpress 1.5 yesterday. I unfragmented my harddisk with priori- >tize files option on. On a Mac II it took 27 minutes to move 292MEGs. Wow!!! >I am impressed. The last time I did this operation it was on a MacPlus with >20Megs. It used to take an entire night. Problem is, it only moves files instead of putting all the free space at the end. So you have a lot of small free areas on your hard drive instead of one big one. The practical upshot is that yur hard-drive will refragment itself faster this time than the last, until you do the slow, full optimization. > >GO BUCKS!! Beat Michigan!!! (Or at least don't loose by more than 3 TD's) Get Real! Go home Bucks! +----------------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | Steve Bollinger | Internet: billkatt@caen.engin.umich.edu | | 4297 Sulgrave Dr. +------+---------------------------------------------+ | Swartz Creek, Mi. 48473 | "My employer doesn't take my opinion any | +-----------------------------+ more seriously than you do." | | "You remember the IIe, it +---------------------------------------------+ | was the machine Apple made before they decided people didn't need | | machines with big screens, color, or slots." | | - Harry Anderson (from NBC's Night Court) | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (11/18/88)
In article <88Nov16.150749est.9522@neat.ai.toronto.edu> dudek@ai.toronto.edu (Gregory Dudek) writes: > How does the Quick optimization actually do differently, as compared > to the standard optimize? The flyer didn't explain what it avoided > doing to get so quick. "Quick optimize" copies fragmented files (only) to unfragmented free space; it does not move unfragmented files around in order to defragment the free space or to pack all of the files at the beginning of the volume. The net effect is that you end up with a disk that has no fragmented files (unless you were _very_ low on free space) but whose free space is still fragmented. There's a _big_ reduction in the time needed to defragment the disk this way... since only fragmented files are copied/moved, much less data must be shuffled around. It's a fair tradeoff. You can gain much of the benefit of defragmentation by running a quick-optimize defragmentation every few days (it takes only a minute or so), and running a full beat-the-disk- to-death defragment-and-prioritize every few weeks. > It's $10 for the upgrade PLUS $10 shipping and handling. Given that > the new product lists for only $39 and the upgrade doesn't actually DO > anything different in the long run (besides some slightly nicer displays) > the price didn't seem worthwhile to me. I do love DiskExpress, however, > and I'm not faulting the makers, it's just that the product is so > cheap already that paying 50% more for a upgrade that does essentially the > same stuff doesn't cut it for me. Please check the flyer again... I believe you misread it. The upgrade is $10, but the shipping&handling is only $3. DiskExpress 1.5 lists for $49.95; it's probably available on-the-street for $40 or so. I find the upgrade worthwhile at this price, although not essential... I already have a copy of PowerOp!, which defragments files in the "quick optimize" style. I do like the "Show free space" display in DiskExpress 1.5, though.
hal@gvax.cs.cornell.edu (Hal Perkins) (11/18/88)
In article <gibberish deleted> dudek@ai.toronto.edu (Gregory Dudek) writes: > How does the Quick optimization actually do differently, as compared >to the standard optimize? The flyer didn't explain what it avoided >doing to get so quick. Quick optimize attempts to copy only the fragmented files to contiguous sections of free space. If it can't find a block of free space large enough for a particular file, it displays a warning and skips the file. The standard optimization rearranges the entire disk. Quick optimize is much faster, but it doesn't leave you with a single area of free space, and it may be unable to do much if the free space is badly fragmented. The two optimizations complement each other. Do a quick optimize regularly to unfragment files; do a full optimize every now and then when the free space gets too chopped up. My opinion is that the new features are definitely worth the cost of the upgrade--we're not talking about a whole lot of money here, and the company has to recover its costs somehow. Hal Perkins hal@cs.cornell.edu Disclaimer: No connection with ALSoft except as a satisfied customer.
pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (11/19/88)
In article <3fb8bb6c.129dc@blue.engin.umich.edu> billkatt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Steve Bollinger) writes: >In article <1066@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu.UUCP (Paul G. Nevai) writes: >> >> >>I got my DiskExpress 1.5 yesterday. I unfragmented my harddisk with priori- >>tize files option on. On a Mac II it took 27 minutes to move 292MEGs. Wow!!! >>I am impressed. The last time I did this operation it was on a MacPlus with >>20Megs. It used to take an entire night. > >Problem is, it only moves files instead of putting all the free space at the >end. So you have a lot of small free areas on your hard drive instead of one >big one. The practical upshot is that yur hard-drive will refragment itself >faster this time than the last, until you do the slow, full optimization. You are wrong, I didn't use the option where it only moves files. C'mon I wasn't born yesterday. I defragmented the entire disk and all free space was placed to t the end in 27 minutes (292Megs). At the end I check the disk directory map using DisExpress, Symantec Tools and CMS Utils, all three showed that all files were moved mover to the beginning of the directory. Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve 231 West Eighteenth Avenue 1-(614)-292-5310.office Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.department
simon@alberta.uucp (Simon Tortike) (11/19/88)
In article <14185@coherent.com> dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) writes: > >Please check the flyer again... I believe you misread it. The upgrade >is $10, but the shipping&handling is only $3. DiskExpress 1.5 lists for >$49.95; it's probably available on-the-street for $40 or so. $10 for the upgrade + $10 shipping to Canada. ------------------- Simon Tortike, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineering, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CANADA T6G 2G6. UUCP: alberta!simon | BITNET: stortike@ualtavm | AGT: +1 403 432-3338
isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken Hancock) (11/19/88)
In article <3fb8bb6c.129dc@blue.engin.umich.edu> billkatt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Steve Bollinger) writes: >In article <1066@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu.UUCP (Paul G. Nevai) writes: >> >> >>I got my DiskExpress 1.5 yesterday. I unfragmented my harddisk with priori- >>tize files option on. On a Mac II it took 27 minutes to move 292MEGs. Wow!!! >>I am impressed. The last time I did this operation it was on a MacPlus with >>20Megs. It used to take an entire night. > >Problem is, it only moves files instead of putting all the free space at the >end. So you have a lot of small free areas on your hard drive instead of one >big one. The practical upshot is that yur hard-drive will refragment itself >faster this time than the last, until you do the slow, full optimization. > Wrong. If you read his post, it states >> with prioritize files option on <<. This moves all files to the front and leaves all free space at the end. The new Quick-Optimize feature is like SUM's hard disk tuneup which unfragments the FILES, not the DISK. The new Disk Express 1.5 is definitely faster. Whether it's worth the $10 upgrade depends on how often you use it. Ken Ken Hancock '90 | BITNET/UUCP/ Personal Computing Ctr Consultant | INTERNET: isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu -----------------------------------+---------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER? I don't get paid enough to worry about disclaimers.