Norton Speed Disk 5.1 for Windows NT/2000

[Cristiano]

I used Speed Disk on Windows NT and it worked fine.

Then, I installed a fresh copy of Windows 2000 and tried
to install Speed Disk again to check whether it would
still work.

The software was working up to the release of Windows 2000
Service Pack 1, which is supported according to the
README.TXT file for Speed Disk.

By the release of Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, a warning
message appeared whenever the program was run, showing the
Operating System compatibility, which was up to Windows
2000 Service Pack 1.

I checked Symantec Knowledge Base and learned that message
could be ignored and the program run normally.

Then, Symantec released an update which supported Windows
2000 Service Pack 2 - the last update for the application.

This situation was also present by the release of Windows
2000 Service Pack 3, and the same procedure was taken for
the warning message.

But now, with the release of Windows 2000 Service Pack 4,
the program displays the following warning message and
doesn't run:

"Speed Disk is designed to run with Windows 2000 and
Windows NT 4.0, service pack 3 or later. It will not run
on Windows NT 3.51."

I wonder what is causing the program to identify my
version of Windows as NT 3.51

I uninstalled Speed Disk and re-installed it as a possible
solution, and noticed the following:

If Speed Disk is not updated through LiveUpdate, it runs
and the Operating System compatibility warning message
appears and can be ignored.

If Speed Disk is updated, the Windows NT 3.51 warning
message appears and the program doesn't run.

I would like to know whether there are other updates for
Speed Disk, because LiveUpdate only shows one update
available for it (Speed Disk 5.1.2 Build 253).

And also, is there a problem in running the previous
version (Speed Disk 5.1.0 Build 245) without updating?

I am really looking forward to having an answer to this
issue.

Thank you very much.

 

[Dan Seur]

I used Speed Disk on Windows NT and it worked fine.

Then, I installed a fresh copy of Windows 2000 and tried
to install Speed Disk again to check whether it would
still work.

The software was working up to the release of Windows 2000
Service Pack 1, which is supported according to the
README.TXT file for Speed Disk.

By the release of Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, a warning
message appeared whenever the program was run, showing the
Operating System compatibility, which was up to Windows
2000 Service Pack 1.

I checked Symantec Knowledge Base and learned that message
could be ignored and the program run normally.

Then, Symantec released an update which supported Windows
2000 Service Pack 2 - the last update for the application.

This situation was also present by the release of Windows
2000 Service Pack 3, and the same procedure was taken for
the warning message.

But now, with the release of Windows 2000 Service Pack 4,
the program displays the following warning message and
doesn't run:

"Speed Disk is designed to run with Windows 2000 and
Windows NT 4.0, service pack 3 or later. It will not run
on Windows NT 3.51."

I wonder what is causing the program to identify my
version of Windows as NT 3.51

==========================
Just careless code. I'll bet it senses an NT system, decides it can't
work with it, and uses an old error message to tell you so.

This is a real insight into Symantec quality.

I have no knowledge that would be useful in answering any of your
questions below, and none that justifies using Speed Disk either.
==========================

 

[Cristiano]

==========================

Just careless code. I'll bet it senses an NT system,
decides it can't work with it, and uses an old error
message to tell you so.

This is a real insight into Symantec quality.

I have no knowledge that would be useful in answering any
of your questions below, and none that justifies using
Speed Disk either.
==========================

Norton Speed Disk is an excellent option for defragmenting
a single computer or even remote desktops over a network.

This application was developed during the old ages for MS-
DOS. It offers scheduling options, but, the most useful
customization is that you can set which files, through
names or wildcards, go where in four different regions on
each partition (files placed first, last, at end or
unmovable).

Also, this program defragents the MFT (Master File Table)
on NTFS partitions, which was a problem before, because
continuous write operations on this file system just make
the MFT expand, never collapse, even if you delete files.

By the way, this program can defragment more than one
partition simultaneously (useful for servers or high-end
mainframes), and its processor priority can also be set.

 

[Cristiano]

I checked Microsoft's KB and it's possible that the update
in Ntfs.sys Driver can be causing this issue.

The KB article is:
-321557:Improvements in the Post-SP2 Release of Ntfrs.exe
That Is Packaged with an Updated Ntfs.sys Driver

 

[Greg Hayes/Raxco Software]

Cristiano,

The reason that you are getting this message from SpeedDisk is because
SpeedDisk under NT4 and Windows 2000 does NOT use Microsoft's defrag APIs.
This means that if MS (via hotfix or service pack) makes changes to the file
system, etc... there is an opportunity for SpeedDisk to make a mess of
things. You get the warning and if you choose to continue, you are running
at your own risk (until Symantec releases an update that officially supports
the new service pack).

This is one of the reasons that Symantec has discontinued development and
support for SpeedDisk for their enterprise customers (servers) and are
recommending PerfectDisk to their customers.

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows Storage Management/File System

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