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From
TNPC issue #3.10...
Windows 2000 3rd Party Utilities: Part 1
by Al Gordon
May 11, 2000
OK, so I apologize.
A few weeks ago, in this space, I chided the makers of utility
software and other apps about their slowness to develop Windows
2000-compliant versions. Since then, I've had occasion to discuss
the situation with a number of utility technical gurus, and they
all had the same thing to say: blame Microsoft. The word from the
third-party vendors is that Windows 2000 was more than the usual
work in progress. Even the "final" code wasn't final. Several
companies tell me that last-minute changes were made, and the
third-party vendors didn't find out about them until after
Windows 2000 shipped.
No one is suggesting anything nefarious in Redmond; just that
Microsoft appears to have had problems coming to closure with
Windows 2000. Of course, this could just be other software
companies making excuses; but I heard the same story often enough
from disparate enough companies for it to be credible.
Anyway, with that as prologue, I can now report that the Windows
2000 utilities logjam is finally starting to break, and important
products are now starting to make their way to the market. This
is the start of an ongoing series of articles on the product
lineup.
As mentioned in our last issue, just out is Version 8.0 of what
is my all-time favorite utility, WinZip. I suppose it is
stretching the point to call this Windows 2000 related, inasmuch
as WinZip always has worked with Win2K. However, the new version
contains a number of interface changes that enable it to
integrate more smoothly into Windows. It also has a nifty new
feature that allows you to right-click on a file or files in
Windows Explorer or My Computer, create a zipped archive, and
send it on to your e-mail program all in one operation.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/310/tr.cgi?util1
More truly tied to Windows 2000 are PowerQuest PartitionMagic
5.01 and DriveImage 3.0. PartitionMagic version 5.01 is a free
upgrade for customers who purchased 5.0, and is available for
download now. It is the definitive tool for resizing partitions
without erasing data, and is just the thing to reconfigure your
hard drive to handle Windows 2000. The new version provides
support for Win2K's new NTFS 5 file system. However, Win2K
support is limited to running from floppies. Native Windows 2000
operation won't come until the next version. PowerQuest officials
said they wanted to make Win2K capabilities available now and
work on integration with the OS later.
DriveImage makes bit-level copies of your hard drive, for backup
or for transport to another drive. I try to make it a practice to
create an image of my basic system configuration, and then burn
that image on a writable CD. That way, when the inevitable system
corruption takes place over time, I can minimize the time
required to restore a clean, functional system.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/310/tr.cgi?util2
I'll have more to say about the PowerQuest products in a future
article, after I have put them to the acid test of using them to
reconfigure my system.
An interesting aspect of Win2K is that while the Big Fish in
utilities, Symantec and McAfee, are still at work on making their
suites compatible, some new players have gotten into the game.
Executive Software--which heretofore has specialized in
enterprise tools--has plunged into the end user market with
Diskeeper Workstation 5.0, a defragmentation program, and
Undelete 2.0. Executive Software provides Windows 2000's defrag
applet, and its knowledge of the new operating system is such
that it has been able to tightly integrate its product with
Win2K. Diskeeper incorporates what the company calls "FragGuard"
features that allow it to proactively monitor file system data to
prevent fragmentation, and it has a "Boot-Time Defragmentation"
feature for defragging directories, which the company says
normally cannot be touched during Windows 2000 operation.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/310/tr.cgi?util3
It also adds the normal bells and whistles one expects when
purchasing a replacement for a Windows built-in applet:
scheduling, automatic operation, ability to defrag more than one
drive at once, and faster operation.
The company's undelete product replaces the Windows Recycle Bin
with a "Recovery Bin." As per the norm with this type of utility,
it relies on the fact that ostensibly erased data remains on your
hard drive until overwritten by something else. Your file system
perceives that the data isn't there anymore, but it is, and
Undelete tries to find it. The Recovery Bin has a no-nonsense
interface, which provides a drive and directory tree structure
limited solely to those branches where there are files to be
recovered. It is a more orderly array than the standard Recycle
Bin.
The same strictly business approach also holds for the Diskeeper
interface. The company's enterprise emphasis is obvious here.
Whereas consumer-oriented defrag products tend to feature
entertaining animations, in which flashing colored squares depict
data being rearranged, Diskeeper settles for boring, albeit
functional, bar graphics--long on performance, short on
entertainment value.
There is another interesting new entrant into the defrag
sweepstakes: PerfectDisk 2000 from Raxco Software. PerfectDisk's
defragmentation strategy is "Smart Placement," which is to
arrange files on your hard drive according to usage patterns.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/310/tr.cgi?util4
The principle is simple: your basic program files (e.g.
winword.exe) almost never are modified, so they can be packed
away at the most distant reaches of your drive. Meantime,
something like your Outlook .pst file, which changes constantly,
needs to be placed somewhere where the defragmentation program
can readily consolidate it. This means that the first time you
run the program, the defragmentation will take a VERY long time,
but should pay dividends in future use.
I found that both Diskeeper and PerfectDisk did an effective job.
PerfectDisk's interface was somewhat more user-friendly, if only
because it offers fewer options. But Diskeeper got the job done
more quickly, and for me, minimizing downtime is always a plus.
You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:algordon@TheNakedPC.com
Copyright © 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved.
The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422
You may reprint an article from TNPC as long as you show the
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Windows 2000 3rd Party Utilities: Part 1
by Al Gordon
(This article originally appeared in The Naked PC
newsletter #3.10, subscribe at http://www.TheNakedPC.com)
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