Strange Defrag Reports

[JD]

I assume that if I could identify a hopelessly fragmented file, I could just
delete it, but none are identified. Can anyone advise me as to why this is
happening and what I can do to fix it? Here is the report:

Defragmentation is complete for: (C
Some files on this volume could not be defragmented.
Please check the defragmentation report for the list of these files.

The bottom pane lists no files. Here's the top pane of the report:

Volume (C
Volume size = 76.33 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 13.08 GB
Free space = 63.24 GB
Percent free space = 82 %
Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation
Total files = 59,413
Average file size = 265 KB
Total fragmented files = 1
Total excess fragments = 4
Average fragments per file = 1.00
Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 1
Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 4,537
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0
Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 142 MB
MFT record count = 64,059
Percent MFT in use = 43 %
Total MFT fragments = 3
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
None

 

[Gerry]

JD

Your MFT is the single fragmented file, which is not unusual. I cannot
see anything to worry about.


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Leonard Grey]

No such thing as a "hopelessly fragmented file." There are some files
that do not need defragmenting, so Windows defragmenter leaves them alone.

You would do well to learn about file fragmentation before you cause
your computer real damage.

 

[JD]

I have no desire to cause my computer real damage. It's just that I've never
seen this report before and naturally wonder what it means.

 

[JD]

Thanks for the reassuring note. It seems that the reports shows one
fragmented file and one fragmented folder. I do not know the significance of
the MFT, but would like to know. It may not be "unusual," but I've never
seen it before.
After posting, it occurred to me that I had just installed a router so that
my wife could use her laptop in the living room. Could it be that this is
the reason that Defrag is reporting as it is? By any chance, do others with
routers between modem and computer see the same report from Defrag?

 

[Ian D]

Thanks for the reassuring note. It seems that the reports shows one
fragmented file and one fragmented folder. I do not know the significance
of the MFT, but would like to know. It may not be "unusual," but I've
never seen it before.
After posting, it occurred to me that I had just installed a router so
that my wife could use her laptop in the living room. Could it be that
this is the reason that Defrag is reporting as it is? By any chance, do
others with routers between modem and computer see the same report from
Defrag?

The MFT is the Master File Table. The MFT becomes fragmented
when it becomes full and expands, creating another fragment if
there is insufficient free space contiguous to the last MFT fragment.
Your MFT has 3 fragments, but only 43% in use, which means it has
lots of room before it fragments again, at about 148974 records.
Each record represents one file. Also, the size of each additional
MFT fragment created appears to be a multiple of the total record
count of all previous fragments.

 

[JD]

In other words, I can expect to see this "report" each time I defrag from
now on? It still seems curious to me that I've never seen it before. Thanks
for the info.

 

[williamkilmartin]

Solution to fragmentation

I would try downloading a trial of Diskeeper Pro: http://www.diskeeper.com/trialware/TrialwareProducts.aspx

It will handle all fragmentation, including the MFT. Diskeeper is a MS Gold Certified Partner, so no worries on the data integrity. Not to mention it's used by 70% of the Fortune 1000 companies...

The new version includes Intelliwrite, which eliminates most of the need to defragment. It'll defragment most of the fragmentation to begin with: http://www.diskeeper.com/trialware/trialwareproducts.aspx

Shoot me an email on your thoughts.