Re: Perfect Disk offline defrag pass is SLOW!!!

From: Gerry Cornell (gcjc_at_btinternet.com)
Date: 07/20/04 

Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:05:06 +0100

JP

You may have less free space than you think.

To see what is on your hard drive you may need to change a number of
settings. Select Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced
Settings, and check "Show hidden files and folders". Whilst there uncheck
"Hide File Extensions". Also check "Display the contents of system folders".

These will reveal most files but System Restore points are held in a System
Volume Information sub-folder on each drive or partition -in XP there is one
for each partition and these will still remain hidden. The restore points
for the system partition can get very large, especially if you uninstall and
reinstall programmes. They can fragment into many pieces. The system permits
the creation of many more restore points than most users really need. This
is why I mentioned the option to remove contained in Disk Cleanup in my
earlier message.

How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531&Product=winxp

Do you use any Symantec / Norton utilities. Norton Protected Storage hides
large files which users often don't realise are there.

As well as the System Volume Information folder the system partition often
contains a large MFT folder ( Master File Table ) and usually the
pagefile.sys file. You cannot defragment the MFT folder which typically
should be in 2, more often three, fragments. The page file and free space
can become very fragmented if not defragmented regularly, more so as the
partition fills up. and this may be what you are encountering. Do other
housekeeping before running Disk Defragmenter. 

-- 
~~~~~~
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA
Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"JP" <jpilgrim@(NOSPAM)bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:%tZKc.10326$GT3.1978@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
> My computer is a Dell Dimension 4100. I have two identical systems, one
for
> personal use, and the other for business. The personal (not this one)
> machine runs an offline pass much faster. Both have 10GB C: drives.
Neither
> of them is above 50% full. I also have a second harddrive on this machine
> where I install new programs and download files. All that is on C is
system
> files and support utilities. Is there something I can do with the free
> space?
>
> -- 
>
> JP
> jpilgrim@(NOSPAM)bellsouth.net
> "Gerry Cornell" <gcjc@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:erwbYBcbEHA.368@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> > JP
> >
> > A 10 gb hard disk is small for XP. That may be the problem! How much
free
> > space on the hard disk? You can  obtain this information by double
> clicking
> > the My Computer icon on your Desktop. Place the cursor on your C drive,
> > select Properties and the information will be displayed.
> >
> > How old is the computer? What was the original version of Windows when
> > bought new? When and how did you install Windows XP.
> >
> > Before running Perfect Disk perform other routine housekeeping first. A
> > suggested routine may include:
> >
> > 1. In Outlook Express empty your Deleted Items folder.
> > 2. In Outlook Express run File, Folder, Compact All whilst OFFLINE.
> > 3. Run Disk Cleanup. Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
> > Cleanup with
> > Temporary Internet Files, Offline Web Pages (optional), System Restore (
> > more Options tab )
> > and Recycle Bin selected for deletion. If you have more than one drive /
> > partition you may
> > need to do this operation for each drive / partition.
> > 4. Remove Cookies. Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, General,
Delete
> > Cookies.
> > 5. Run Perfect Disk.
> >
> > You should run ALL housekeeping tasks whilst Offline and do not carry
out
> > other activities whilst they are in progress!
> >
> > -- 
> >
> > ~~~~~~
> >
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > Gerry
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > FCA
> >
> > Stourport, Worcs, England
> > Enquire, plan and execute.
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Please tell the newsgroup how any
> > suggested solution worked for you.
> > http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> >
> >
> > "Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in message
> > news:uNzcUgZbEHA.252@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> > > JP wrote:
> > > > Defrag weekly, both offline and online. Disk size is 10GB.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "Gerry Cornell" <gcjc@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:uMEB8wPbEHA.3420@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > > >> No disk size either!
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> ~~~~~~
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> Hope this helps.
> > > >>
> > > >> Gerry
> > > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > > >> FCA
> > > >>
> > > >> Stourport, Worcs, England
> > > >> Enquire, plan and execute.
> > > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > > >> Please tell the newsgroup how any
> > > >> suggested solution worked for you.
> > > >> http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> > > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> "Unknown" <Unknown@Somewhere.Kom> wrote in message
> > > >> news:7myKc.27$nq6.16@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com...
> > > >>> Impossible to say if it were normal since we don't know when you
> > > >>> defragged last. Do it once a week and you'll see.
> > > >>> "JP" <jpilgrim@(NOSPAM)bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> > > >>> news:BSxKc.6163$GT3.3470@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
> > > >>>> Last night I performed an offine defrag pass on C:, and it took
24
> > > >>>> minutes to analyze and another 29 minutes to defragment the page
> > > >>>> file, master file tables, and directories. The total time of the
> > > >>>> pass was 53 minutes. Is this normal? If not, how can I speed it
> > > >>>> up? Any comments would be appreciated!
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>> FYI:
> > > >>>> RAM: 512MB
> > > >>>> pagefile.sys: 766MB
> > > >>>> Proc. Spd.: 733MHz
> > > >>>> Drive type: FAT32
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>> --
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>> JP
> > > >>>> jpilgrim@(NOSPAM)bellsouth.net
> > >
> > > With a 10BGB HD, check the free space.  You should target at least
> > > 400-500GB free space for XP, and if the disk is heavily fragmented
even
> > > that might not be enough for the offline defrag to proceed
efficiently.
> > > Since the offline defrag does not take care of the bulk of the disk, a
> > > general online defrag might be necessary to provide sufficient free
> > > space for a speedy offline defrag.
> > >
> > > Q
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>

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