[nvsblmnc]

Started a defrag run on my main PC this morning at 06:10 using the built in Vista defrag utility (I know, bad idea).  It's 11:35 now, still going and I have no idea how long it's going to take 'cause Vista doesn't give me any details. 

I'm committed to this run now, but I just don't have this much time to waste on a regular basis - any suggestions on something that'll make for a fairly quick defrag run on a 900GB system?

Please?

[Ghostavo]

I thought Vista used a defrag utility on the background when you aren't running anything.

Anyway, this article might help.

[nvsblmnc]

Thanks for the link.  I'll look into that for future use.

[colecampbell666]

I use PowerDefrag, it works very well.

[BlackDove]

Diskeeper is the best. However it's not freeware. The trial is quite convincing though.

[colecampbell666]

Diskeeper is on my dad's work laptop, it has an auto-defrag function on it that defrags in the background. XP actually uses a much cut down version of Diskeeper.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Diskeeper is the best. However it's not freeware. The trial is quite convincing though.

Man we had that for a shot time on the Vax system where I used to work.  Only thing it did was eat up all the processor and IO resources.  Never did do well at defragging.  Of course that was over 10 years ago. 

[CP5670]

I use Diskeeper on XP and it works well enough, much faster than the built-in Windows one, but I don't let its background service run except when I actually want it to defrag.

[Zoltan]

I use AusLogics Disk Defrag for XP, and I am happy with it. It seems to be a lot better than what comes standard with XP, but I am not sure how it would compare with other products.

[Grizzly]

Windows XP had a background defragger. (TweakUI FTW!).

[Unknown Target]

That contig thing seems pretty compelling, I'm defragging with it right now. Gotta put out another vote for Diskeeper though, it's awesome.

[jr2]

PowerDefrag = contig with GUI frontend  I use that... link in my sig.  (under "Optimize")

[WMCoolmon]

Is there any defrag program with markedly better defragging skills than the built-in XP/2000 one(s)?

[Mars]

Not really... just with some scheduling ability thrown in.

Wish Microsoft would use a journalling file system for a change.

[jr2]

Is there any defrag program with markedly better defragging skills than the built-in XP/2000 one(s)?

Contig + PowerDefrag.  Basically, it runs Contig on every file in the system, then runs Windoze defrag after.  Works quite well.  Give it a try... it's free, and less than 500KB total to download.

Contig
Power Defragmenter GUI

Unzip both to the same directory, then run Power Defragmenter GUI.exe , and select the PowerMode Disk Defragmentation mode.
If you want, you can also use PageDefrag to defrag some system files that are normally not able to be modified (eg, pagefile, hibernation file, registry, and others).