Some files won't defragment

[Guest]

I tried running disc defragmenter today and I received a message saying some
files could not be fragmented. This is the report I was shown.


Volume (C
Volume size = 70.94 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 53.71 GB
Free space = 17.24 GB
Percent free space = 24 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 8 %
File fragmentation = 16 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 83,744
Average file size = 780 KB
Total fragmented files = 5
Total excess fragments = 2,590
Average fragments per file = 1.03

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 1

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 5,996
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 134 MB
MFT record count = 90,159
Percent MFT in use = 65 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
98 1,024 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP556\A0054780.rbf
1,805 1,024 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP556\A0054778.rbf
125 1.45 GB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP535\A0049612.exe


I searched for this files on my hardrive and could not find them. What are
this files for and do I need them? Would it be safe to delete them?

 

[Jim]

I tried running disc defragmenter today and I received a message saying
some
files could not be fragmented. This is the report I was shown.


Volume (C
Volume size = 70.94 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 53.71 GB
Free space = 17.24 GB
Percent free space = 24 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 8 %
File fragmentation = 16 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 83,744
Average file size = 780 KB
Total fragmented files = 5
Total excess fragments = 2,590
Average fragments per file = 1.03

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 1

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 5,996
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 134 MB
MFT record count = 90,159
Percent MFT in use = 65 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
98 1,024 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP556\A0054780.rbf
1,805 1,024 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP556\A0054778.rbf
125 1.45 GB \System Volume
Information\_restore{CCA15F78-7193-4CA6-8115-2B570DD6546C}\RP535\A0049612.exe


I searched for this files on my hardrive and could not find them. What are
this files for and do I need them? Would it be safe to delete them?

They are hidden files which contain restore points. Only you know whether
you will need them or not.
Fragmentation of these files is not very important because they are seldom
accessed.
Jim

 

[John Barnett MVP]

There are certain files that disk defragmenter will not defragment. The main
one on your list is system restore files. These don't need defragmenting
because they are replaced by new ones as your system creates new restore
points and older ones get deleted. Two other areas that are not defragmented
are the hibernation file (hiberfile.sys) and the paging file. If you use
hibernation you can get round this problem by disabling hibernation prior to
defrgamenting your drive. To defragment the paging file you need an
alternative defragmenter. Something like Perfect disk will do this, but it
is not free, i'm afraid.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this post. The Author shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use
of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this post..

 

[Guest]

I should have been a bit clearer in my first post. When I attempt to
defragment my hardrive, it gets to around 15-16% completed before giving me
the message that some files cannot be defragmented and then stopping. Now
from the previous posts I'm assuming I can delete them, but I cannot find
them. I have the option set to show hidden files and folders. When I use the
search function, it is also set to search in hidden files and folders. Any
idea on how I can find and get rid of these files so I can defrag the rest of
my hardrive?

 

[Guest]

All I had to do was turn off the system restore setting. That deleted the
files for me.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

The files are not actually files they are folders, each being System
Restore point. They are all within your System Volume Information
folder. The contents remain hidden even when " Show Hidden Files" is
enabled to discourage users from deleting them. You can see the contents
if you follow the instructions in the Knowledge Base Article, which
follows:
How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

There are two preferred ways to delete the contents of these folders (
or most of the contents as some files need to be retained ).

In certain specific circumstances one would delete all restore points by
turning System Restore off and then back on. This is desirable if there
has been a viral infection and restore points contain the virus. This is
achieved by right clicking your My Computer icon on the Desktop,
selecting Properties, System Restore, and checking the box before "Turn
off System Restore on all drives" and click on OK. To turn System
Restore back on you simply uncheck the box before "Turn off System
Restore on all drives" and click on OK. In normal situations System
Restore should only be monitoring the drive or partition containing your
Windows operating system files.

As part of routine maintenance you should use Disk CleanUp to remove
all but the latest restore points, except when the system is unable and
you might need older restore points to back to an earlier system set up.
Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More
Options, System Restore, OK, and OK. This is what you should do now.

Another aspect of System Restore to be mentioned is the default space
allocation of 12%. This is allocation is over generous given the size of
new hard drives today's. Reset it to 4% by dragging the slider to the
left. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop, selecting
Properties, System Restore, select Drive C and click on Settings.

You can read more about System Restore here:
http://bertk.mvps.org/

When you have used Disk CleanUp and changed the System Restore
Allocation run Disk CleanUp to remove all Temporary Internet Files and
to empty the Recycle Bin. If you have more than one user logging on you
need to do it in each User Profile. You should then be in a position to
see Disk Defragmenter fully defragment your drive. I say fully
defragment but in reality the Defragmenter provided with Windows XP
leaves the Master File, Table, the Pagefile, some lesser files and free
space fragmented. You may need to run Disk Defragmenter twice or three
times to fully defragment your drive.

I do not agree with the comments by others that defragmenting system
restore point is unnecessary. It is true that a user will only ever need
to access a system restore point once, if ever ,but a fragmented system
restore point will increase fragmentation of other files because free
space will be more fragmented.

I notice that your pagefile is 768 mb. How much RAM memory do you have?

Your System Restore Points are large. Have you been making a lot of
system changes?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Guest]

I have 2 GB of RAM in my system. I guess the restore points were so large
because I removed about 9-13 GB of software and other files. Thanks for the
help.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

That is a lot of RAM

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to bring Task Manager and select the Performance
Tab. What is the Total, the Commit Charge and the Peak?

You managed to use a lot of disk space on a fairly large hard drive.
Have you considered a partitioned second hard drive to archive or backup
data files?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Will Denny]

Hi

Some files can't be defragmented as you've already found out. Please have a
look at the following article:

http://tinyurl.com/eyg33

Be very sure what you are doing if you access the SVI folder!! Altering
anything in there will render System Restore inoperable!!

--


Will Denny
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[John Smithe]

I tried running disc defragmenter today and I received a message
saying some files could not be fragmented. This is the report I was
shown.

There is a tool that can defrag some of the system files at boot time. For
more info go here:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html

Many other good freeware tools are available at sysinternals.

Good Luck

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Will

It is I believe quite common for the MFT to be in 3 fragments rather 2.
Any idea why? I do not think it is for the reason inferred by the
Resource Kit Article.

--


Regards.

Gerry

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[Guest]

Commit Charge (K)
Total = 428772
Limit = 2727772
Peak = 1795752

I have thought about adding a second drive, but I want to upgrade my video
card and that will take the last plug on my power supply. I could uninstall
my floppy drive and just use a usb flash card to give me another plug for a
second drive.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

What programmes are you using that use so much memory?

Is your hard drive formatted as FAT32 or NTFS?

Do some of the files on your hard disk represent data archives, which
might be backed up to a CD?

Do you have any Norton utilities?

FileSize -a useful tool for use with Windows Explorer when investigating
how disk space is being used.
http://markd.mvps.org/

In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, Temporary Internet
Options, Settings. What is the disk space allocation?

Web site addresses added to Favourites. When adding to Favourites do you
check the box before "Make available Offline" always often or
occasionally?

You could change your hard disk for a larger disk.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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Stourport, Worcs, England
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[Guest]

I checked out the processes list in the task manager to see how much memory
was being used by what. Here's a list of everything that is using more than
10,000 K:
AcctMgr.exe 11,864 K
aim.exe 35,832 K
CCAAgent.exe 16,752 K
CCAPP.EXE 23,352 K
CLI.exe 10,520 K
explorer.exe 23,892 K
iexplorer.exe 39,364 K
PCMService.exe 20,892 K
svchost.exe 22,820 K

The svchost.exe is listed in the process list 5 times. Twice it is being
used by SYSTEM, twice by NETWORK SERVICE, and once by LOCAL SERVICE.


My hard drive is formatted as NTSF.

About 2 GB of files could be moved to CD, I just haven't gotten around to it.

Yes, I have Norton Internet Security 2005 and Norton Password Manager.

I only have 256 MB allocated to temporary Internet files and I never check
the box to make my favorites offline.