\$MFT\

[Dave Neve]

Hi

When I run Norton Defragmenter (the HD analyser) on XP Family , it always
says that the most fragmented folder is \$MFT\

But I can't find this folder and it doesn't ring a bell and so I'm beginning
to wonder what it is as I spend so much time defragmenting it apparently.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Dave;
It's short for L$MFT >>Lucky $trike Means Fine Tobacco. )

Seriously, $MFT is some kind of temporary file.

What's the path? C:\$MFT\ ??

Empty ALL of your Temp files.

 

[Spinner]

Actually the MFT is the Master File Table and has very little to do with
temporary files.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/ntfs/archMFT-c.html

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Spinner;
Blew this one. I should have looked this one up instead of
assuming it was a file extension.

Not a file extension, like you said. Probably the most important
file on an NTSF formatted disk.

File - $MFT (0)
[[In NTFS, everything on disk is a file. Even the metadata is stored as a
set of files. The Master File Table (MFT) is an index of every file on the
volume. For each file, the MFT keeps a set of records called attributes and
each attribute stores a different type of information.]]

Files That You Cannot Defragment
[[The file is the master file table (MFT) on an NTFS volume. Because the
first fragment of the MFT cannot be moved, the MFT is typically contained
within two fragments when sufficient space is available on the volume. If
the MFT is contained within three or more fragments, Disk Defragmenter looks
for free space where the MFT might fit. If sufficient free space exists, the
MFT is moved as a whole (minus the first fragment). If space is not
available, the MFT is not defragmented.]]

Thank you for pointing this out.

Wes

In