SystemUp Defrag 2009 for Windows

Windows' built-in Disk Defragmenter does a pretty good job keeping your hard disks tidy, but it has limitations. To really squeeze every bit of performance and capacity out of your hard drives, USB drives, and other storage devices, you can turn to a specialized third-party app that picks up where Windows' standard defragmenter leaves off. ZoneLink's SystemUp Defrag is just such a tool. It uses proprietary defragmentation technology, including a three-zone optimization algorithm, eight different optimization methods, and automatic background defragmenting, to not only defragment your drives but also prevent them from being refragmented.

SystemUp Defrag's slick, competent interface is typical of disk maintenance utilities and system cleaners, and it's more attractive than most, with clearly labeled functions and a prominent Help Center icon on the Taskbar. In addition to standard options like fast or deep scan, SystemUp has lots of useful extras, such as the ability to set specific start and end times for defrag sessions, choose parallel or sequential defragmentation, and adjust settings to handle "space hogs" on your disks. You can also set the program to regularly defragment your disks, but only if they need it. SystemUp's best feature is the good old graphical progress display with its colorful data clusters, last seen in XP and MIA in Vista and 7. SystemUp even improves that old favorite with new options.

SystemUp Defrag is limited to a 14-day trial; the registered version costs $39.95. It works in all versions of Windows up to Vista, but not yet in Windows 7.