You mean you never heard about the well-publicized problems? Try defragging anything but your C drive, and it will eat up all of your RAM and start thrashing the pagefile besides.
And MS's image backup doesn't work properly with external USB HDDs larger than 2TBs. (Even though Win7 is vaunted as the OS to finally fully support drives larger than 2TB.)
Sadly I think you'll need to find 3rd party applications for defragging and backup.
I use Auslogics Defragger and Ultradefrag. Auslogics for whole drive defragmentation and Ultradefrage for folders because you can right click the folder and do it from the context menu.
Who uses the Windows 7 Defrag or Backup anyway? There are much better free alternatives.
Other than some nice features, both of those apps use the native NTFS defrag API. Same as the basic windows defrag. Defrag and backups arn't really kernel issues really either.
Yes, and in case you failed to notice those extra features are worthwhile unless you just have no need for faster defragmenting.
Using the native windows API is common sense. Why reinvent the wheel if MS is making their own APIs available for 3rd party developers. Using the native API is good because it lessens the chance of screwing up the system and the developers can improve on the default defrag tool interface.
MS gives you the tool for your win 7 OS but it doesn't make it exceptionally good because that would lessen the ability of 3rd party software companies to sell their solutions. MS doesn't want to run afoul of any monopoly lawsuits again one would think.... and only offering mostly bare bones tools reduces that probability as well.
The fact that they use the available tools is good not a knock on the writers of 3rd party defraggers.
As for the kernel improvements not really being kernel issues... the fact that MS isn't too concernced about windows 7 kernel improvements is just more evidence that MS considers Win 7 "done" even if they could actually improve it with a second service pack.
I fail to see how using the same API as everyone else would result in a "faster" defrag. Other than preference, you have not really given any compelling reason to use another product. Even if the 3rd party defrag was somehow faster when using the same API, why would I be concerned about something I can run in the off hours?
Most machines rarely even need defragging in reality as the affect on production machine is minimal if not nonexistent.
TLDR:
defrag.exe works.
If you need to see pretty colors on your screen, go get whatever app you want. I really don't care.
Of course you fail to see how some features beyond the basic defrag functions which Windows 7 does do quite adequately might be useful. No worries.
Maybe the OP feels that the defrag tool doesn't offer all of the features that he wants whereas a 3rd party application may offer those features.
One thing that Windows Defrag generally does is ignore files larger than 64 megabytes. Generally I use a similar setting in the defragger I use, but sometimes I want to defrag files regardless of size.
maybe not but I have noticed that when I just used the scheduler to defragment my HD once a month it became more defragmented I wanted according to the Win7 defragmenter. So I use a third party product about every two weeks.
As mentioned before right-clicking folder and defragging just that item from the context menu is convenient.
Can't break it down any further than that without resorting to sentences 5 words or shorter.
You cared enough to respond
Because you quoted me.
Also all the stuff you list, I really don't see a use for. I can use MS utilities to do all that if I really wanted. What it gets me in the long run is generally nothing. Contig can be added to explorer for the right click functions. It is also an MS utility. The 64MB thing is another example of something that really doesn't need to be done. Defraging 64MB file chunks is minimally useful and rarely will even show up on a benchmark due to the amount of contiguous file, the seek times drop to single digit milliseconds.
Basically you have failed to convince me there is any reason to go third party. But you go ahead and keep making quibs about 5 word sentences because you think I am just to stupid to see the "light."
Because you quoted me.
I don't think you're stupid.
You're just too egocentric that you seemingly can't conceive or maybe just acknowledge that the OP might have a use for 3rd party apps instead of just the Windows 7 defrag tool which is good (but maybe not feature rich enough for everyone).
Sadly I think you'll need to find 3rd party applications for defragging and backup.
While I'm not an expert when it comes to defrag, I had to research the 2TB limit on backups a while ago.
The problem is a stupid hard limit on the Volume Shadow copy Service (VSS), which limits images to a little more than 2TB (2.2TB, I believe). Since Windows Backup (and WHS 2011's backup feature along with it) are based off the Shadow copy Service, a single volume can never be backed up if it's larger than this limit and there is no workaround (other than not using VSS).
I'm not expecting any updates that will solve this, unfortunately.