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XP Pro defragment tools

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by Christer, 2004/01/01.

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  1. 2004/01/01
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hello all!

    In another thread, my attention was drawn to New in File Systems and I quote:

    I have tried to find out the hows and whens about MFT defragmentation but no luck.

    Doesn´t it require boot time defragmentation to get the MFT?
    I can´t find that option neither in the snap-in nor in the command line tool.

    Anyone who knows more?

    Thanks for Your time,
    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  2. 2004/01/01
    Newt

    Newt Inactive

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    You should have defrag.exe loaded along with the other system files. Try from a cmd prompt and defrag /? for command line switches available.

    And from Here
     
    Newt,
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  4. 2004/01/01
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hi Newt!

    All I´ve ever heard about MFT defragmentation is that it can only be done at boot time when the MFT has not yet been locked by Windows.
    I once had an issue with a Ghost Image and Symantec suspected MFT fragmentation to be the cause and suggested I buy DiskKeeper to be able to fix it. It has the option to defrag the MFT at boot time.

    This new information clashes with what I thought that I knew but it is an additional incentive to use the native defragger(s).

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  5. 2004/01/01
    Newt

    Newt Inactive

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    It represents a major change/improvement over earlier OS versions.
     
    Newt,
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  6. 2004/01/02
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    I have only used Norton SpeedDisk since I installed it in June 2003.
    Now I defragged two partitions using the native tools.

    The 8 GB system partition with 60% free space, using the command line defragger.
    Analyzed before defragging to have 5 MFT fragments and analyzed after defragging to have 3 MFT fragments.

    The 24 GB data partition with 80% free space, using the snap-in defragger.
    Analyzed before defragging to have 5 MFT fragments and analyzed after defragging to have 3 MFT fragments.

    It seems to work but not quite. With the amount of free space not preventing MFT defragmentation, why doesn´t it get to 2 MFT fragments?

    Since neither of the partitions are close to exhausting the reserved MFT space (C: - 30 MB of 1 GB, D: - 12 MB of 3 GB), why does it get fragmented in the first place?

    Could it be that the OS increases the used MFT space in increments?
    The analysis report for D: reads:
    Total MFT size = 12 MB
    Number of MFT entries = 12,492
    Percent of MFT used = 98
    Total number of MFT fragments = 3

    Another thought, there are many things in XP that you can get to in different ways. Aren´t the two native tools one and the same, run with and without the graphical user interface?
    The reports look very similar ...... :rolleyes: ...... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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