defragmentation issues in XP

[Gerry]

Robert

I do not understand why no pagefile and turning off System Restore only
results in 24% free space when your last Disk Defragmenter report showed
20% free space! It should be much more. Can you please post a further
Disk Defragmenter Report.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Robert M Jones]

Robert

I do not understand why no pagefile and turning off System Restore only
results in 24% free space when your last Disk Defragmenter report showed
20% free space! It should be much more. Can you please post a further
Disk Defragmenter Report.

I did some more deleting and fiddling and got free space up to about 40%
including switching off system restore and the page file. I then tried
another defrag in my Admin account with that amount of free space,

But it made no difference to defrag - still is having virtually no
effect on the fragmentation on C:

I can see some further files that I can delete ormove (I will move that
huge pdf file), but would like guidance on others

Firstly - all those msp files:
and the 2 Skype msi files
and
\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\vsmon_on_demand_2008_11_25_00_14_18_full.dmp.zip
\Program Files\Common Files\SpeechEngines\Microsoft\SR\1033\l1033.ngr
\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\lib\rt.jar
\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\rt.jar

How vital are those?
My current Java is update 11


Here's the report you asked for

Volume WindowsXP (C
Volume size = 12.50 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 7.42 GB
Free space = 5.08 GB
Percent free space = 40 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 9 %
File fragmentation = 17 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 43,880
Average file size = 256 KB
Total fragmented files = 63
Total excess fragments = 8,242
Average fragments per file = 1.18

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 5,303
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 54 MB
MFT record count = 49,366
Percent MFT in use = 89 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
95 11 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\cfe9d9.msp
113 11 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\376eacd.msp
106 12 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\17104cb.msp
106 12 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\4f029c0.msp
106 12 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\242282b9.msp
343 12 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\1b5b5039.msp
132 12 MB \Documents and Settings\*****
user\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xs4rw30u.default\Mail\Local
Folders\Sent
112 13 MB
\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\lang\hwxjpn.dll
124 13 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\17104e2.msp
124 13 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\5d27f56.msp
146 14 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\17104b4.msp
147 14 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\4f029a9.msp
223 15 MB \Documents and Settings\*****
user\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\6hejn3cy.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite
67 16 MB \Documents and Settings\Other
users\Local Settings\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\6glr2jvm.default\Cache\04C0FD88d01
176 16 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\122241b.msp
498 16 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\1b5b5022.msp
191 17 MB \Documents and Settings\***** user\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Skype\{5C82DAE5-6EB0-4374-9254-BE3319BA4E82}\Skype.msi
209 17 MB \Documents and Settings\Other
users\Local Settings\Application
Data\Skype\{5C82DAE5-6EB0-4374-9254-BE3319BA4E82}\Skype.msi
270 17 MB \WINDOWS\repair\RegBack\software
279 17 MB \WINDOWS\Internet
Logs\vsmon_on_demand_2008_11_25_00_14_18_full.dmp.zip
68 23 MB \Program Files\Common
Files\SpeechEngines\Microsoft\SR\1033\l1033.ngr
74 27 MB \Program
Files\MSECACHE\O2007Cnv\1033\O12Conv.cab
97 27 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\552f80.msi
100 41 MB \Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\lib\rt.jar
490 42 MB \Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\rt.jar
812 51 MB \Documents and Settings\***** user\Local
Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ssq91pui.proxy
profile\urlclassifier3.sqlite
804 53 MB \Documents and Settings\***** user\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\6hejn3cy.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite
762 53 MB \Documents and Settings\Other
users\Local Settings\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\6glr2jvm.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite
59 59 MB \Documents and Settings\Other users\My
Documents\Railway Timetables\CompleteTimetable.pdf
143 114 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\cafb1d.msp

Once again - many thanks for the help.

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420

 

[Gerry]

Robert

I did some further research on your problem. It still has me puzzled
which is why I have not responded earlier.

msp files are patchs.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370578(VS.85).aspx

My feeling is that you should not remove them. In Google I found one
report suggesting that Disk Defragmenter cannot defragment an msp file
because it is in use. However I have a number of msp files on my
computer which are not fragmented and this leads me to doubt whether
the" in use" suggestion is credible.

I would try running Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode

Please let me know if this suggestion make any difference.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Robert M Jones]

Robert

I did some further research on your problem. It still has me puzzled
which is why I have not responded earlier.

msp files are patchs.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370578(VS.85).aspx

My feeling is that you should not remove them. In Google I found one
report suggesting that Disk Defragmenter cannot defragment an msp file
because it is in use. However I have a number of msp files on my
computer which are not fragmented and this leads me to doubt whether
the" in use" suggestion is credible.

I would try running Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode

Please let me know if this suggestion make any difference.

Okay I've tried this - I went into Safe Mode, and chose the Default
Admin account rather than my "created" adminstrator account, and then
switched off system restore and switched off page filing and restarted
in safe mode again, in the Default Admin account - this left C:\
partition at 12.5GB with 5.33GB free space, 42% free space.

I ran defrag on C:\ again and got exactly the same results - the same
list of files that could not be defragmented. After analysis there were
NO unmoveable files, but the defrag is still not touching those files -
the list seems to be the same - mostly msp files and a few others.

Any further advice (or places to go next) greatly appreciated. With the
partition in the state that it is, my page file when created is
obviously fragmented at the point of re-creation. - while most of the
files don't seem to be files that Windows would be analysing, obviously
the page file is.

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420

 

[Robert M Jones]

Okay I've tried this - I went into Safe Mode, and chose the Default
Admin account rather than my "created" adminstrator account, and then
switched off system restore and switched off page filing and restarted
in safe mode again, in the Default Admin account - this left C:\
partition at 12.5GB with 5.33GB free space, 42% free space.

I ran defrag on C:\ again and got exactly the same results - the same
list of files that could not be defragmented. After analysis there were
NO unmoveable files, but the defrag is still not touching those files -
the list seems to be the same - mostly msp files and a few others.

Any further advice (or places to go next) greatly appreciated. With the
partition in the state that it is, my page file when created is
obviously fragmented at the point of re-creation. - while most of the
files don't seem to be files that Windows would be analysing, obviously
the page file is.

Just to say that I downloaded Defraggler.exe and it has done a fair bit
to solve my problem, although I still have been unable to obtain a large
enough block of free space at the end of my drive to insert a congiguous
1437MB fixed pagefile.sys

Seems many others on the defraggler forums have the same issue - the
defrag free space option doesn't completely defrag free space.

But at least now the pagefile.sys is the ONLY fragmented file and it is
in three sections only.

Never did work out why I couldn't defrag all those msi and msp files
using the XP defrag utility. Tried everything suggested and thanks to
those who made suggestions. I finally got down to about 45% free space
and the XP defrag still couldn't do the job with or without pagefile.sys
or System Restore.

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420

 

[Gerry]

Robert

Your problem defeated me. I do not understand why your msp files were so
fragmented. The only explanation remaining that I can think is that the
patchs were installed when the system was significantly fragmented.

I did not realise defraggler was freeware. I just downloaded and tested.
An interesting tool.

--
Regards.

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

 

[Robert M Jones]

Robert

Your problem defeated me. I do not understand why your msp files were so
fragmented. The only explanation remaining that I can think is that the
patchs were installed when the system was significantly fragmented.

I did not realise defraggler was freeware. I just downloaded and tested.
An interesting tool.

Thanks for trying Gerry. I did eventually move all the installer files
that were fragmented to another partition temporarily, but that didn't
make much difference to what the XP defrag utility could do. Even with
about 46% free space and no system restore files and no page file, it
still seemed unable to defrag the drive properly.

Defraggler seems to do a much better job although others on forums seem
also to have difficulty getting it to defrag the last two or three files
and having fragmented free space seems very difficult to avoid - hence
the difficulty of getting that unfragmented page file.

As I have bought myself an external hard drive for Christmas, I may get
more adventurous as I can now easily image the C:\ partition to the
external drive with BootIt (TM) before any experiments.

Once again thanks. See you back on BT group!

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420

 

[Gerry]

Robert

I have been playing with Defraggler. It is quick. Although it gives a
lot of information it does not report on the pagefile or the MFT. I have
also noticed that it reports the volume as defragmented and if you then
analyse the drive using Disk Defragmenter you get a report saying there
are fragments.

One defragmenter which consolidates free space is Perfect Disk. This has
long had a good name but you pay $40 for the privilege.
http://www.raxco.com/home_office/home_perfectdisk_professional.cfm


--
Regards.

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