e4defrag vs WinContig

e4defrag is a Linux utility for defragmenting extent-based files on ext4 filesystems. It accepts an individual file, a directory and its files, or a device mounted as ext4. The utility aims to place targeted data in more contiguous blocks, which the manual says can improve file access speed. Its -c option reports current and ideal fragmentation counts and a fragmentation score without making changes; the score appears only when the check runs as root. With -v, it prints error messages and each file’s fragmentation count before and after defragmentation. e4defrag checks for ext4 and reports an error for other filesystem types. It does not support swap files, files in lost+found, or files allocated in indirect blocks. A target device or mount point excludes files belonging to another device’s mount point, and fragmented or insufficient free space can prevent improvement. The manual says it is safe to run while another application uses a file, though shared memory and disk bandwidth can slow both. It is free at free.

WinContig defragments selected files or folders, so you can process frequently used items without defragmenting an entire disk. It is a Windows standalone executable: no installation or additional DLLs are required, and its files and settings stay in one folder. It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, and ReFS on internal and external HDDs and SSDs. You can save groups of files and folders as profiles, use command-line switches in scripts or scheduled tasks, and add optional analyze and defragment commands to File Explorer. WinContig can also scan for file-system errors, retrieve S.M.A.R.T. data, and remove temporary files before defragmentation. It supports Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11, along with Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2019, in 32-bit and 64-bit editions. It needs 6 MB of free disk space and administrator access. The Freeware plan costs nothing, with personal and commercial use on unlimited Windows computers and no registration or payment.