If you’ve ever tried Auslogics free Disk Defrag tool then you’ll know it’s a quick and easy way to optimise your hard drive, if a little basic: like most of the free defrag tools, the program offers the bare essentials and very little else.

But it’s a very different story with the newly released commercial version, Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro, which is absolutely stuffed with essential features – and the results are very impressive.

Everyone uses their PC differently, for instance, and a “one size fits all” defrag policy is never going to work. So it’s good to see Disk Defrag Pro offer multiple defrag algorithms, enabling you to optimise your file layout according to access times, modification times, or Windows own prefetch layouts. And if that’s not good enough then you can manually decide which files you’d like written to the fastest part of your drive, so any performance boost is delivered precisely where you need it.

You get plenty of choice over how the defrag process takes place, too. The program can now run before Windows launches, for instance, allowing it to defrag system and other files which might otherwise be locked (like the Registry, say). You can choose to defrag individual files or folders, perhaps as a quick way to optimise a particular application. A powerful scheduler means you’re able to run unattended defrags whenever you like, and there’s even the option to defrag your system when it’s idle, so any fragmentation is eliminated almost as soon as it appears.

Keep your drive in top condition using this powerful disk defragmention toolkit

Yes, that does mean another background process for your PC, but Disk Defrag Pro goes to an unusual degree of trouble to make sure it never gets in your way. An excellent Resource Management module makes it easy to limit just how much use the program can make of your CPU or hard drive. And you can tell Disk Defrag Pro not to run at all if, say, a particular application is running, or your notebook is on battery power, so you’ve plenty of control over how it works.

And there are stacks of other features, everywhere you look. Like special defrag algorithms for VSS-enabled and SSD drives, for instance. The program’s detailed reports, which for instance can plot your file fragmentation over time. And the Defrag Wizard, which asks you a few simple questions and then automatically sets up the program to best suit your needs.

While there is still a free version of the program available, it’s nothing like as powerful. You don’t get the choice of defrag algorithms, for instance. There’s no boot-time defrag, no resource management, scheduling is more basic, there’s no detailed reports or specific SSD support – it’s a big step down.

Still, if you’d like to sample what Disk Defrag Pro has to offer then we’ve an exclusive 90-day trial version, which will give you plenty of time to find out. Grab a copy, take a look at the new features, and see just how the program compares to your current defrag tool.