Re: Managing XP system space for the MFT
From: Svend Cr (nomail_at_mail.com)
Date: 08/14/04
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Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 18:36:44 +0100
Bob, you have written an interesting post.
Like you, I find that it is easier to image the whole partition
although I only have space to keep the last three images.
I have never had to use XP's restore and would far prefer to just
copy back an image of the whole partition.
As I understand it XP doesn't recover all file types. In fact,
today I switched off system restore for my system drive (it was
already off for all other drives) because I can't really see I will
want to use its features. Am I missing something perhaps?
However the starneg thing is that my third party compression
software (Diskeeper and Perfect Disk) report that about 12% of the
whole partition is still being reserved by XP for system uses
Presumably this is for the System Volume Information folder.
How can I free that valuable space up?
Svend
"Bob Harris" <rharris270[SPAM]@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> You may be confusing the MFT with system restore. The MFT is
> like a bigger (maybe better) version of the FAT. It is used
> to keep track of where pieces of files are on the disk.
> Unlike a FAT, it also keeps track of where the files used to
> be, and that allows for some auto-repairs not possible with
> FAT. For a number of reasons it is better if the MFT is
> contiguous, or few pieces, instead of many fragments.
> Diskeeper can reduce the number of MFT fragments via its
> boot-time defrag, but it rarely eliminates all of them. That
> is OK/normal. The MFT usually has some extra space in it,
> maybe a lot of extra space. That space is not really wasted,
> just reserved. It will be the last place XP writes a file,
> only after all other sace has been used. You do not need to do
> anything about the size of the MFT. Leave it alone!
>
> If you feel that you are running out of space, buy a larger
> hard drive, or install a seond hard and transfer your personal
> files to it.
> As for system restore, that can eventually use several Gigs of
> space. You need to decide whether having more than a few
> restore points is valueable. In my case I delete all but the
> last restore point, via a right-click on C: in windows
> explorer, properties, disk cleanup, more option, etc.
> However, I do complete backups up the C: partition to an
> external USB disk before installing new software, and
> periodically, even if ther have bee no changes to the system.
> I retain these complete images for months, so I can "restore"
> C: to last week, last month, or even last year in minutes. I
> do this because system restore is less than 100% reliable,
> and/or does not backup all important files, and/or does not
> backup non-system files. Look into a good backup/restore
> program. Hint: Microsoft does not make one.
> "Svend Cr" <nomail@mail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Executive Software's Diskeeper 8 shows me two unexpected
>> things about my XP Pro system:
>>
>> (1) The MFT on the system partition (called C) is in SIX
>> parts.
>>
>> (2) On another NTFS partition (called D) there is a
>> surprisingly large amount of space (12% of total partition
>> space) reserved for system requirements. However I switched
>> off XP's "system monitoring" for this drive long ago.
>>
>> Defragging with Diskeeper 8 from within XP and at boot-time
>> does not get the MFT into fewer than 2 parts. And the
>> defragging does not reduce the excess space allocated to the
>> system.
>>
>> -----
>>
>> Is there a way I can see what system free space there is for
>> use specifically by:
>>
>> (A) The MFT ?
>> (B) System restore points in the System Volume Information
>> folder ?
>>
>> Most importantly, how do I get the MFT into a single part and
>> also give it enough space?
>>
>> I have used a reg hack (from
>> http://www.tweakxp.com/tweak123951.aspx) to give the MFT a
>> medium space allocation but it doesn't seem to have made a
>> difference.
>>
>> I have never had to use XP system restore points as I back up
>> whole partitions by making duplicates of them. So I don't
>> mind if I have no space at all on any drive for system
>> restore points.
>>
>> Svend
>>
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> Defragger data follows in case it helps.
>>
>>
>> Volume 60_WinXP (C:):
>> Volume size = 6,793 MB
>> Cluster size = 4 KB
>> Used space = 4,663 MB
>> Free space = 2,129 MB
>> Percent free space = 31 %
>> Defragmentation method = Max Disk Performance
>>
>> Fragmentation percentage
>> Volume fragmentation = 0 %
>> Data fragmentation = 0 %
>>
>> File fragmentation
>> Total files = 44,872
>> Average file size = 151 KB
>> Total fragmented files = 0
>> Total excess fragments = 0
>> Average fragments per file = 1.00
>>
>> Paging file fragmentation
>> Paging/Swap file size = 100 MB
>> Total fragments = 1
>>
>> Directory fragmentation
>> Total directories = 3,660
>> Fragmented directories = 0
>> Excess directory fragments = 0
>>
>> Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
>> Total MFT size = 92,523 KB
>> MFT records In Use = 48,607
>> Percent MFT in use = 52 %
>> Total MFT fragments = 2
>>
>> -----
>>
>> Volume 60_DATA [39GB] (D:):
>> Volume size = 39,942 MB
>> Cluster size = 8 KB
>> Used space = 25,030 MB
>> Free space = 14,912 MB
>> Percent free space = 37 %
>>
>> Fragmentation percentage
>> Volume fragmentation = 0 %
>> Data fragmentation = 0 %
>>
>> File fragmentation
>> Total files = 58,992
>> Average file size = 507 KB
>> Total fragmented files = 0
>> Total excess fragments = 0
>> Average fragments per file = 1.00
>>
>> Paging file fragmentation
>> Paging/Swap file size = 0 bytes
>> Total fragments = 0
>>
>> Directory fragmentation
>> Total directories = 5,018
>> Fragmented directories = 0
>> Excess directory fragments = 0
>>
>> Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
>> Total MFT size = 125 MB
>> MFT records In Use = 64,032
>> Percent MFT in use = 49 %
>> Total MFT fragments = 2
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
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