Diskkeeper seems to be CAUSING fragmentation.....

[Pete]

We have a 3-PC LAN at work (server running Win2000 Pro) and I found
that the server dirve was heavily fragmented. A helpful member of this
group suggested I use Diskeeper to defrag the drive.

I have been running Diskeeper from 7.00pm to 7:00am every day on the
cleanly-booted server.
Below are the log-files from the 4th Dec and the 12th Dec
and it would appear that fragmentation is getting worse not better
(21% total fragmentation on 4th Dec and 56% fragmentation on 12th Dec)

The 7GB server disk is formatted NTFS and is compressed.

Any suggestions as to how to defra this drive will be much appreciated
Thanks
Pete

Here is the log file when I 1st ran Diskeeper on 4 Dec

Volume GMWDATA (C:
Volume size = 6,871 MB
Cluster size = 512 bytes
Used space = 4,014 MB
Free space = 2,857 MB
Percent free space = 41 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 21 %
File fragmentation = 43 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 12,908
Average file size = 434 KB
Total fragmented files = 16
Total excess fragments = 69,471
Average fragments per file = 6.38

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Directory fragmentation
Total directories = 519
Fragmented directories = 1
Excess directory fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 31,189 KB
MFT record count = 15,655
Percent MFT in use = 50 %
Total MFT fragments = 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
5,746 305 MB \outlook.pst
15,237 480 MB \outlookpst\outlook2.pst
2 469 KB \SYSTEM4W\TEMP.BMP
18,486 395 MB \ARChive\archive.pst
7 56 KB \WINDOWS\00846888.TMP
36 37,457 KB \GMWOFF97old\Document Scrap '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs
38 37,457 KB \GMWOFF97old\Document Scrap (2) '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs
32 8,386 KB \GMWOFF97\GD002250.doc
204 23,602 KB \3rd time\Diskkeeper V7.0.393 Server
For NT,2000,XP.exe
964 126 MB \hiberfil.sys
27,410 396 MB \outlookpst\outlook.pst
44 8,592 KB \Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE
721 37,457 KB \GMWOFF97\Document Scrap '11 Wiggins
Lane_...'.shs
383 37,457 KB \GMWOFF97\Document Scrap (2) '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs


And here's the log from 12th December -

Volume GMWDATA (C:
Volume size = 6,871 MB
Cluster size = 512 bytes
Used space = 4,017 MB
Free space = 2,854 MB
Percent free space = 41 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 56 %
File fragmentation = 27 %
Free space fragmentation = 99 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 12,919
Average file size = 433 KB
Total fragmented files = 13
Total excess fragments = 59,014
Average fragments per file = 5.56

Paging File fragmentation
Paging/Swap file size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Directory fragmentation
Total directories = 520
Fragmented directories = 0
Excess directory fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 31,189 KB
MFT record count = 15,688
Percent MFT in use = 50 %
Total MFT fragments = 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File size Most fragmented files
5,525 305 MB \outlook.pst
14,866 480 MB \outlookpst\outlook2.pst
12,964 462 MB \ARChive\archive.pst
14 127 KB \WINDOWS\00698546.TMP
46 37,458 KB \GMWOFF97old\Document Scrap '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs
52 37,458 KB \GMWOFF97old\Document Scrap (2) '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs
4 8,387 KB \GMWOFF97\GD002250.doc
112 23,603 KB \3rd time\Diskkeeper V7.0.393 Server
For NT,2000,XP.exe
964 126 MB \hiberfil.sys
23,408 332 MB \outlookpst\outlook.pst
19 8,593 KB \Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE
731 37,458 KB \GMWOFF97\Document Scrap '11 Wiggins
Lane_...'.shs
322 37,458 KB \GMWOFF97\Document Scrap (2) '11
Wiggins Lane_...'.shs

 

[Karl]

Perhaps because you do not realize that you are defraging OFFICE files!
Look at the files u r defragging all the time! Scrap files, a HUGE PST
file, and other tmp files... This is very normal since the user is getting
email all the time / modifying their PST, etc...

This partition, is it JUST for data? Then I wouldn't worry about the
fragmentation too much as there is really nothing you can do to prevent it
for user data since they are always modifyiung it. If there is non - data
on the same partition, I would seriously take steps to move the data off
that partition onto it's own partition to isolate it.

-Karl

 

[David Robbins]

We have a 3-PC LAN at work (server running Win2000 Pro) and I found
that the server dirve was heavily fragmented. A helpful member of this
group suggested I use Diskeeper to defrag the drive.

I have been running Diskeeper from 7.00pm to 7:00am every day on the
cleanly-booted server.
Below are the log-files from the 4th Dec and the 12th Dec
and it would appear that fragmentation is getting worse not better
(21% total fragmentation on 4th Dec and 56% fragmentation on 12th Dec)

The 7GB server disk is formatted NTFS and is compressed.

Any suggestions as to how to defra this drive will be much appreciated
Thanks
Pete

a couple things don't sound right here... first, only 7gb on a server? i
wouldn't get a user machine with less than 40gb these days. compressing a
disk not only slows access but makes it more prone to problems, and on a
server???? the last time i used a compressed volume there was no way to
defrag it since the os compresser took over the whole volume and you no
longer had control over where files were. now maybe things have changed and
they compress block by block which would sound inefficient, but if not then
defragging a compressed volume wouldn't make any sense and could indeed make
things much worse. my recommendation would be to buy yourself a couple
decent size disks, they are really cheap and much faster than that old 7gb
model probably is, and will help much more than defragging all day.

 

[resident cynic]

Most of your fragged files are active Outlook PST files. You also have a
ridiculously small partition if you have all your programs on this, plus the
Outlook files.

Suggestions:
1. Create a dedicated partition for the PST files.
2. Shut Outlook down, and then defrag.
3. Consider using a larger cluster size -- yours is 512 bytes, which
suggests you conversted from FAT. Use 4096 byte clusters -- you wil get
much less defragmentation.
4. Use the newest version of DK7, which has the "set it and forget it"
setting. I use it in "screensaver" mode, but am not running a server, so
your situation might not work well that way.

 

[Greg Hayes/Raxco Software]

Pete,

You are running a VERY old version of Diskeeper V7 something from the middle
of last year! How can I tell?

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 21 %
File fragmentation = 43 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

Diskeeper V7 Build 410 removed the Free space fragmentation statistic - it
is no longer provided. The current version of Diskeeper is V8. If you are
going to want to continue testing with Diskeeper, you really should make
sure that you are running Diskeeper V8. If that version doesn't meet your
expectations, there are other options.

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows File System

Disclaimer: I work for Raxco Software, the maker of PerfectDisk - a
commercial defrag utility, as a systems engineer in the support department.

Want to email me? Delete ntloader.