An engineer created a disk defragmentation simulator on Windows 98 – with the same interface and HDD sounds

Although the days of Windows 98 are long gone, a new project from engineer Dennis Morello will revive memories of one of the most recognizable elements of the 26-year-old operating system.

Image source: defrag98

We are talking about an application for disk defragmentation, the process of which on Windows 98 was accompanied by visual visualization (repainting dark blue cells into light blue) and sounds of the hard disk drive (HDD).

Morello’s Windows 98 Disk Defrag simulator, designed specifically for browsers, accurately simulates the disk defragmentation process on a 26-year-old operating system, down to the mentioned details.

When you select a disk, the simulator calculates the approximate time for defragmentation to complete

According to Morello, one of the most difficult aspects was creating an authentic defragmentation algorithm: his solution allocates a random number of cells for processing and adjusts the speed depending on the selected disk.

As for the audio, Morello recorded and edited the sounds of a real hard drive, and also synchronized the effects with the visualizer and the speed of a particular drive.

Morello bills the Windows 98 defragmenter simulator as an experiment in learning new ways of web development. The engineer used a number of tools including React, Next.js, Zustand, TailwindCSS, Radix UI Primitives and Vercel.

Anyone who misses the days of Windows 98 can try Windows 98 Disk Defrag for free at defrag98.com. Morello added that he is ready to develop the simulator further, improving and expanding it with new capabilities.