Managing XP system space for the MFT

[Svend Cr]

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Kelly]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Executive+Software+Diskeeper+8+Support

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Nathan McNulty]

I just want to add, messing with the MFT is not a good idea. Make sure
that all of your data is backed up well because one wrong move and the
whole drive will show up as corrupt and you will lose all of your data.

If the drive is working properly, just leave it alone. Also, if you are
trying to figure out what files are taking up space, make sure to enable
Hidden and System Files

 

[Svend Cr]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Executive+Softwar
e+Diskeeper+8+Support

Hey! Of course I have tried that! In fact I also use
Perfect Disk and neither site really goes into what I have asked
above.

The info I am asking is not specific to Diskeeper but has more to
do with NTFS.

If anyone else can advise then i would be grateful.

 

[Bob Harris]

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. if you are
uncomfortable with opening the PC case, most shops that sell hard drives
will install them (in deckyop PCs), and will also transfer all files form
the old one to the new one.

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, ad/or does not
backup all important files, and/or does not backup non-system files. Look
into a good ackup/restore program. Hint: Microsoft does not make one.

The system restore function

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Svend Cr]

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

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.

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

 

[Rock]

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

<snip>

You'll probably never get less than two MFT fragments. That's normal.
System restore does have it's place, to correct that occasional, though
hopefully rare, ooops in between imaging the drives. Reduce the amount
of space it uses, by going to system restore settings and make the
amount smaller. 500 mb will allow about 2 weeks worth of restore
points. That should be plenty though if you image regularly you can go
even smaller.

 

[Alex Nichol]

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.

NTFS keeps a fairly large auxiliary area next to the MFT (if possible)
to use for MFT purposes - don't forget each file gets its own block in
there, enough to hold the whole of some small files. This is called the
MFT area. In Perfect Disk, the defrag I decided I prefer to Disk Keeper,
it shows up as its own color. Disk keeper may just be calling it
'system required'. Space used by restore points does not require
special treatment by a defragmenter

 

[Svend Cr]

NTFS keeps a fairly large auxiliary area next to the MFT (if
possible) to use for MFT purposes - don't forget each file
gets its own block in there, enough to hold the whole of some
small files. This is called the MFT area. In Perfect Disk,
the defrag I decided I prefer to Disk Keeper, it shows up as
its own color. Disk keeper may just be calling it 'system
required'. Space used by restore points does not require
special treatment by a defragmenter

Do you know what is in the area which Perfect Disk calls
"excluded".

I know that the hibernate file (if you have one) can take up a lot
of the "excluded" space.

But even without hibernate there seems to be quite a lot of
"excluded" space. What is it?

 

[DILIP]

This is absolutely normal. When an NTFS partition is created, 12% of the
disk is explicitly allotted to the MFT, and any writing of data into this
area is impossible. The MFT is used to hold the critical index structures
from which files on an NTFS volume are referenced. However, if there is
insufficient free space on the system then the MFT is automatically reduced
in size.

System restore files are stored in the system volume information folder
which by default, is given permissions only for the System. You can take
permissions for the folder if you're using XP Pro and see the space used and
the kind of files contained in it.

There's no particular way to reduce the size of the existing allocation to
the MFT. And why would you want to do this. As files increase, the MFT
will be broken into even more fragments later and will seriously degrade
system performance. Please see if this article helps you -
http://techxp.freewebpages.org


--
Replace the obvious with "hotmail"

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Alex Nichol]

Do you know what is in the area which Perfect Disk calls
"excluded".

I know that the hibernate file (if you have one) can take up a lot
of the "excluded" space.

But even without hibernate there seems to be quite a lot of
"excluded" space. What is it?

Run its Analysis, and look on the 'Excluded' page of the report. On
mine seems to be the page file and also assorted Metadata files that
will not appear in a regular file listing

 

[Svend Cr]

Please see if this article helps you -
http://techxp.freewebpages.org

My Adobe reader says it gets an error when trying to open the PDFs.

:-(

 

[Eric Gisin]

This is absolutely normal. When an NTFS partition is created, 12% of the
disk is explicitly allotted to the MFT, and any writing of data into this
area is impossible. The MFT is used to hold the critical index structures
from which files on an NTFS volume are referenced. However, if there is
insufficient free space on the system then the MFT is automatically reduced
in size.

That is the MFT zone. The actual MFT uses around 1% of drive space.

System restore files are stored in the system volume information folder
which by default, is given permissions only for the System. You can take
permissions for the folder if you're using XP Pro and see the space used and
the kind of files contained in it.

There's no particular way to reduce the size of the existing allocation to
the MFT. And why would you want to do this. As files increase, the MFT
will be broken into even more fragments later and will seriously degrade
system performance. Please see if this article helps you -
http://techxp.freewebpages.org

You certainly can reduce the MFT zone. Simply increase volume usage to 90% and
the MFT zone reduces to 6%.

In principal the MFT zone should prevent MFT fragmentation even if it drops to
2%. However, NT 5 often moves the MFT zone from its original position, which
causes MFT fragmentation.

 

[DILIP]

I tried downloading it again and it works on my side. Try re-installing
Adobe Acrobat Reader.

 

[DILIP]

You are repeating the same thing I have said in different words.

-Inline-

--
Replace the obvious with "hotmail"

That is the MFT zone. The actual MFT uses around 1% of drive space.

And I wrote

When an NTFS partition is created, 12% of the
This space on the hard disk is not USED by the MFT, but till such a crucial
space requirement occurs, the MFT accolation *will remain* at 12%, even
though it is not being used by data. However, this space is included while
viewing the free space properties of the drive, since it is eminently
useable space.

You certainly can reduce the MFT zone. Simply increase volume usage to 90%
and
the MFT zone reduces to 6%.

And I wrote

And why would you want to do this. As files increase, the MFT
The very reason 12% of the disk is set aside for the MFT is to prevent its
later fragmentation, as the number of files on the drive increase. If free
space drops below 15% then the system takes back the alloted space for the
MFT. However, this is at the cost of MFT fragmentation which affects
performance.

In principal the MFT zone should prevent MFT fragmentation even if it
drops to
2%. However, NT 5 often moves the MFT zone from its original position,
which
causes MFT fragmentation.

AFAIK, the MFT zone will be adjusted only when free space becomes an issue

 

[Svend Cr]

You certainly can reduce the MFT zone. Simply increase volume
usage to 90% and the MFT zone reduces to 6%.

How do you increase volume usage? Is it done by setting quotas per
volume in XP?

 

[Al Dykes]

How do you increase volume usage? Is it done by setting quotas per
volume in XP?

Isn't volume usage related to system restore's. How is this related
to MFT size. The MFT file is for NTFS wat the FAT tables are for
FAT32. The index to the file names and other stuff.

 

[Eric Gisin]

How do you increase volume usage? Is it done by setting quotas per
volume in XP?

Fill the volume with files.

Here is an example were a NTFS volume has a 0MB MFT zone, yet free space is
15%! It was almost full at one time.

NTFS Information Dump
Copyright (C) 1997 Mark Russinovich

Volume Size
-----------
Volume size : 5145 MB
Total sectors : 10538639
Total clusters : 1317329
Free clusters : 201896
Free space : 788 MB (15% of drive)

Allocation Size
----------------
Bytes per sector : 512
Bytes per cluster : 4096
Bytes per MFT record : 1024
Clusters per MFT record: 0

MFT Information
---------------
MFT size : 7 MB (0% of drive)
MFT start cluster : 4
MFT zone clusters : 24384 - 24576
MFT zone size : 0 MB (0% of drive)
MFT mirror start : 658664

Meta-Data files
---------------

 

[Guess Who]

Does it specifically say that 12% of the partition is used for the MFT?
What about the Recycle Bin? By default it reserves 10% of each Partition.
I always turn it down to 1%. If you turn off system restore, it should no
longer allocate any space to be reserved, but who knows?

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

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.

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

 

[Tim Slattery]

Isn't volume usage related to system restore's. How is this related
to MFT size. The MFT file is for NTFS wat the FAT tables are for
FAT32. The index to the file names and other stuff.

The FAT table simply keeps track of disk space chains. No information
about the files represented by those chains is present in the FAT, all
of that is in the various directories. A directory entry contains a
pointer to the FAT which allows the file system to locate the file on
the disk.

The MFT is a *completely* different animal. It seems to contain
directory information for all files on the disk, and if the file is
small all the data will be there as well. I'm not positive where
detailed information on the disk location of the file being described
is kept.

AFAICT, Microsoft has not published a complete spec for NTFS as it has
for FAT and FAT32 , so nitty-gritty details are somewhat sparse. But
to equate the FAT and the MFT is to greatly oversimplify things.