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User Manual
Diskeeper
®
for Windows
®
August 2003
This document describes the installation and operation of Executive Software
International’s Diskeeper,
The Standard in Entire Network Defragmentation
™
for
Microsoft
®
Windows. It is intended primarily for Windows system administrators and managers.
Revision/Update Information:
Software Versions:
This is a new manual
Diskeeper 8.0 Professional Edition
Operating Systems: Windows Server
™
2003
Windows XP Professional
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows NT 4.0 Server (SP 6 or higher)
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation (SP 6 or higher)
Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
Windows 98
Windows 95 (OSR 2 or higher)
Executive Software International, Inc., Burbank, California, USA
________________________
August 2003
__________
© 2002 – 2003 by Executive Software International, Inc.
The Software described in this document is owned by Executive Software
International, Inc. and is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Therefore, you must treat the Software like any other copyrighted material (e.g. a book or musical recording) except that you may either (a) make one copy of the Software solely for backup or archival purposes, or (b) transfer the
Software to a single hard disk provided you keep the original solely for backup or archival purposes. You may not copy the user documentation provided with the
Software, except for your own authorized use.
RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND
The software and documentation are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial
Computer Software-Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19 as applicable.
Manufacturer is Executive Software International, Inc., 7590 North Glenoaks
Boulevard, Burbank, California 91504.
Executive Software, Diskeeper, Sitekeeper, Undelete, “Set It and Forget It,” “Smart
Scheduling,” and “Focused development of system management tools,” and “The
Standard in Entire Network Defragmentation
” are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Executive Software International, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Microsoft, Active Directory, Windows, Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 are either registered trademarks or trademarks owned by Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contents
CONTENTS
iii
iv Contents
Contents v
TABLE OF DISKEEPER EDITIONS 87
ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DISKEEPER AS A CLUSTER-AWARE APPLICATION ON A
Preface vii
Preface
What This Book is About
Welcome to the Diskeeper User Manual. We realize software manuals tend to be one of the least-favorite pieces of reading material around, so we intend to make this one as painless as possible. This book will first help you get Diskeeper quickly installed and running. Next, it describes the various Diskeeper features and how to use them.
Finally, it explains about disk fragmentation on your Windows system.
Structure of This Book
Chapter 1 describes how to install Diskeeper.
Chapter 2 explains how to start using Diskeeper and how to see the amount of fragmentation on your disk volumes.
Chapter 3 gives a brief overview of Diskeeper.
Chapter 4 explains the various features of Diskeeper in detail.
Chapter 5 presents the theory of Diskeeper operation.
Appendix A has tables showing the different Diskeeper editions, and the operating systems, features and capacities they support.
Appendix B provides answers to frequently asked questions.
Appendix C explains how to contact your Executive Software Customer Service
Representative for Support Services.
Appendix D discusses methods you can use to install Diskeeper network-wide,
Appendix E explains how to run Diskeeper as a cluster-aware application on a cluster server.
The Glossary provides definitions of technical terms used in this manual.
viii Preface
Introduction
Throughout its history, Diskeeper has improved with each new version. Diskeeper version 8.0 continues this tradition with the introduction of an expanded product line with innovative new features and approaches to solving fragmentation problems for everyone, from home users to huge enterprise IT departments.
Since the introduction of Diskeeper for Windows NT in 1995, disk capacities have increased significantly, particularly in server environments. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see disk volumes in the terabyte range (approximately 1,000 gigabytes, or approximately a thousand billion bytes) with millions of files. Highcapacity disks need a specialized approach to defragmentation, since it can take a
‘typical’ defragmenter days to analyze and defragment such a disk volume. To address this specialized need, Executive Software has expanded its family of defragmentation products to match the broad range of operating system choices now available from Microsoft, particularly the Windows Server 2003 offerings. Each
Diskeeper edition in this expanded product lineup was specifically designed to maximize the potential of the operating systems it supports.
This User Manual describes the operation of these Diskeeper editions:
Diskeeper Professional Edition
—
for desktop systems running Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and all Windows
XP editions.
Diskeeper Server Web Edition
—for systems running Windows NT
Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, All Windows XP editions, and
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition.
Diskeeper Server Standard Edition
—
for systems running Windows NT 4.0
Server, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, all Windows XP editions, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003 Web
Edition, Windows 2000 Server w/Server Appliance Kit, and Windows Server
2003 w/Server Appliance Kit.
Diskeeper Server Enterprise Edition
—for systems running Windows 2000
Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP
Media Center Edition, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Windows
Server 2003 Web Edition, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Windows
2000 Server w/Server Appliance Kit, and Windows Server 2003 w/Server
Appliance Kit.
Diskeeper Server Datacenter Edition
—for systems running Windows 2000
Server, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003 Web
Edition, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Windows 2000 Datacenter
Edition, and Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition.
Preface
In addition to these versions, the Diskeeper family of products also includes
Diskeeper Home Edition
for home users and
Diskeeper Administrator Edition
, an administrative console for controlling Diskeeper installations throughout your network.
ix
Diskeeper Home Edition incorporates simplified controls, and does not support the network defragmentation capabilities available in the other Diskeeper editions.
Diskeeper Administrator Edition is not a defragmenter, but an application that provides a single point of control by which you can control all the Diskeeper 8.0 installations on your network.
See
Appendix A
for tables showing all the Diskeeper editions with the features and operating system versions they support.
About Fragmentation
As used in this manual, the term
disk fragmentation
means two things: a condition in which pieces of individual files on a disk volume are not contiguous, but rather are broken up and scattered around the disk; and a condition in which the free space on a disk volume consists of little pieces of space here and there rather than a few large free spaces.
The effects of excessive fragmentation are twofold as well: file access takes longer because a file must be collected in pieces here and there, requiring several disk accesses instead of just one; and file creations take longer because space for the file must be allocated in little pieces here and there instead of just one contiguous allocation.
The bottom line
fragmentation slows Windows system performance. The longer you wait to defragment your disk volumes, the slower your computer runs.
With Diskeeper, all the disks in a Windows operating system can be kept defragmented indefinitely. Diskeeper cleans them up and keeps them that way. This includes disks with compressed, encrypted and sparse files on NTFS volumes.
Running either invisibly as a background job or as a manual defragmenter,
Diskeeper carefully rearranges files and free space on a disk volume so they consist of as few pieces as possible. Because Diskeeper runs online, there is no need to lock users off a disk while it is being defragmented.
Diskeeper is the complete “Set It and Forget It”® solution to the loss in system performance caused by disk fragmentation!
x Preface
Other Important Products
Executive Software is known throughout the computer industry for its focused development of system management tools. If you are running Windows NT,
Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you should also use:
Undelete
®
for Windows
Instantly recover files that have been accidentally deleted anywhere on your network. Undelete sets up a Recovery Bin that caches all deletions—even versions created between backups—and saves you the time and money of wading through backups. Undelete also includes a recovery tool for files that have been deleted before Undelete was installed. Data is your business. Complete your data protection solution with Undelete, available from your local reseller or directly from Executive
Software.
Sitekeeper
®
System Management Software
Get at-a-glance updates on every software version, build, update and patch. Also see detailed hardware information including processor speed, RAM, hard drive size, logical free space and asset management tags from the BIOS and motherboard.
Install/uninstall programs with a few clicks of the mouse.
Installation 1
C h a p t e r 1
Diskeeper Installation
This chapter provides information you need before, during, and after installing
Diskeeper.
Before the Installation
Windows Versions and Platforms Supported
Diskeeper runs on the Intel® x86 platform (including Pentium™ and compatible
CPUs from other manufacturers) running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP
Professional, Windows 2000 Professional or Server, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation or Server, Windows Me, Windows 98, or Windows 95 (OSR 2).
File Systems Supported
Operating System
Windows Server
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows Server 2003
Windows NT (SP 6 or higher)
Windows Me
Windows 98
Windows 95 (OSR 2 or higher)
File Systems
NTFS, FAT16 and FAT32
NTFS and FAT16
FAT16 and FAT32
Note that the 12-bit FAT file system is not supported. (The 12-bit FAT file system is used on FAT volumes smaller than 16 megabytes in size, such as floppy disks). In addition, NTFS volumes formatted with a cluster size larger than 4 kilobytes are not supported (except on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, which support cluster sizes up to 64 KB).
2 Installation
Disks Supported
Diskeeper supports a wide range of SCSI and IDE disks, including:
Primary Partitions
Extended Partitions
Logical Drives
Volume Sets
RAID Arrays
Mirrored Disks
Resource Requirements
The disk space requirements for Diskeeper depend on several factors. On Windows
Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 systems, Diskeeper will need about
6.5 MB. Allow about 10 MB of extra free space for temporary files during the installation. If Internet Explorer is not present on your computer, some other needed files (hhupd.exe, 50comupd.exe, and wintdist.exe) may be added. Further, your system may require a new or updated version of DCOM (less than 3 MB) and/or
MMC (less than 6 MB).
Additional Software Requirements
On Windows NT 4.0 computers, Service Pack 6 is required for Diskeeper to function properly. Diskeeper will not install on Windows NT systems running
Service Pack 5 or lower.
Diskeeper relies on both the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the
Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
DCOM is used for communication between the various components that make up Diskeeper. For example, when a Diskeeper defragmentation operation is scheduled to begin, the Diskeeper controller module uses DCOM to send a message to the defragmentation engine to begin the defragmentation process.
The MMC provides a single point of control for system utilities such as
Diskeeper. The MMC is used as a central location for a variety of Microsoft and third party administrative tools.
Note:
In most cases, Windows 95 systems are not running either DCOM or the
MMC by default. On Windows 98/Me and Windows NT, Windows 2000,
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems, DCOM is installed by default when the operating system is installed. The MMC normally has to be installed separately, except on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
Installation
systems, where it is already built into the operating system. The Diskeeper setup process will automatically install DCOM and/or the MMC on your computer, if needed.
3
Installation Procedure—The Short
Version
The Diskeeper installation is typically fast and simple. Here are the basic steps:
Note:
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, make sure you are logged onto an account that is a member of the Administrators group.
1. Insert the Diskeeper CD-ROM into the appropriate drive on your computer. (If you are installing from a downloaded file, double-click the file you downloaded.)
2. Follow the screens displayed, answering the questions asked as prompted.
That’s it! It would still be a good idea to read
you’re done with the installation.
Installation Procedure—The Details
Installation Overview
Diskeeper is installed by the
SETUP.EXE
program supplied on the Diskeeper CD-
ROM. The
SETUP.EXE
program:
Confirms that you have Administrator privileges (on Windows NT, Windows
2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems).
Determines which Windows version you are running.
Checks for sufficient space on the disk for the installation.
Detects and removes any previously installed Diskeeper software.
Copies the Diskeeper files to the destination directories, updates the Windows registry, starts the Diskeeper service, and creates a link in the start menu for
Executive Software Diskeeper
.
4 Installation
Installation Procedure
Diskeeper can be installed from a CD-ROM, or it may be downloaded from the
Web. This procedure applies to both methods. Before you start the installation, please note the following:
Windows 95 machines must be OSR 2 or higher.
Windows NT 4.0 machines must have Service Pack 6 or higher installed
On Windows NT 4.0 machines, if you have previously installed Diskeeper Lite on your computer, Executive Software recommends that you uninstall it before proceeding with the installation of Diskeeper. If, however, you decide to leave
Diskeeper Lite on your system, be aware that uninstalling Diskeeper Lite after the installation will remove certain Windows NT registry entries used by
Diskeeper, and you will need to re-install Diskeeper. Use the Add/Remove
Programs applet in Control Panel to uninstall Diskeeper Lite.
On Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 machines, installing Diskeeper will not remove the built-in defragmenter, but Diskeeper will automatically become the default defragmenter. (The built-in defragmenter will be restored if you uninstall Diskeeper.)
To install Diskeeper on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or
Windows Server 2003 systems, you must be logged into an account that is a member of the Administrators group.
This installation procedure assumes you are installing from CD-ROM. If the
Diskeeper software was downloaded from the Web, double-click the executable file in the directory into which it was downloaded and go directly to step 3.
1. Insert the Diskeeper CD-ROM into the appropriate drive on your computer.
2. The Windows AutoPlay feature automatically displays a screen that allows you to install Diskeeper or choose from an assortment of trialware versions of
Executive Software products.
If you have disabled the AutoPlay feature, simply double-click the
Setup.exe
file in the root-level folder on the CD-ROM and follow the instructions displayed.
3. If you are installing an upgrade version of Diskeeper and do not have the previous version currently installed on your computer, you will be asked to verify your previous version. You can skip this step if you are installing a full or trialware version of Diskeeper.
If you do not have a full version installed, but have an ESD (Electronic
Software Distribution) version of Diskeeper on your system, you will be asked for its location. This must be the only file located in the folder
Installation
location. When Setup has verified the version is valid, the installation will continue.
5
If you do not have a full version installed but have a CD of a full version, you will be asked to insert the CD. After Setup checks the CD, you will need to re-insert the CD you are installing the new version from. Press the
SHIFT key when inserting the older CD as well as the newer CD, to disengage the AutoPlay feature.
4. Click when the welcome message appears.
5. After you have read and accepted the license agreement, click
Next
to continue.
6. As an option, you can change the destination location for the Diskeeper files. By default, Diskeeper is installed here:
\Program Files\Executive Software\Diskeeper
You can choose a different disk volume or directory for the installation as follows: a) Click . b) Make the desired changes to the destination and click
OK
to accept the new destination. If the directory you specify does not exist, a new directory will be created. c) Click .
7. If Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher is not installed on your computer, another installation program is started and a package of necessary components is installed on your computer. Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which is the interface for Diskeeper, requires these components. These components are a small subset of Internet Explorer
not the complete Internet Explorer product.
Installing these components (hhupd.exe, 50comupd.exe, and wintdist.exe) will not affect your current web browser. Note that you must restart your computer after installing Diskeeper if these components are installed.
8. If the MMC is not installed on your computer, the MMC Setup program is started automatically. After the MMC files are installed, the Diskeeper Setup program resumes.
9. The Setup program checks to confirm DCOM is installed on your computer. If it is not, the DCOM Setup program is begun. After a short period of copying files, the DCOM installation is complete.
10. Setup detects and removes any previously installed Diskeeper software. (Any previous Diskeeper settings are not saved.)
11. On a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system, after
Setup is complete, you can immediately start Diskeeper after clicking
Finish
.
6 Installation
On Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT systems, you may be required to restart your computer before running Diskeeper.
12. To run Diskeeper, click the Windows
Start
button, select
Programs
, and then
Executive Software Diskeeper
.
After the Installation
Check for Update
The first time you run Diskeeper, it automatically checks to see if a more recent version of Diskeeper is available. If so, you are given the option to download and install the newer version. When the download screen is displayed, click
Run this program from its current location
to begin installing the update. Or, click
Save this program to disk
to save the Diskeeper update installation package on your computer for later installation. (To install an update stored on your computer in this manner, simply double-click the file you download and follow the instructions displayed.)
You can check for Diskeeper updates any time you want. Use the
Check for update
option in the Change your settings menu to see if a newer version of Diskeeper is available.
Registering Diskeeper
After the Diskeeper installation is complete, you may be given the option to register your Diskeeper purchase online. You can also register Diskeeper by mailing or faxing the registration card that comes with the CD.
Be sure to register your Diskeeper purchase to receive the free 90 days of telephone support included with Diskeeper.
About Windows Service Packs
Since Diskeeper uses mechanisms built into Windows NT, Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 that allow the safe movement of files on a disk that is actively being accessed by users, there is no need to upgrade Diskeeper each time you install a new Windows Service Pack upgrade.
Installation
Repairing Windows Systems
Performing an emergency repair of a Windows system can possibly change or disable certain system information or services, which may make it necessary to reinstall Diskeeper after repairing your Windows system.
7
About the Diskeeper Service
Diskeeper is primarily designed as a “Set It and Forget It” disk defragmenter. In order to accomplish this goal, it creates a Windows service. The service allows
Diskeeper to run in the background while other applications are running. As long as your operating system is up and running, Diskeeper can defragment your disks, whether you are logged on or not.
After installation, the Diskeeper service starts automatically each time your computer is restarted. The Diskeeper service runs all the time, whether or not defragmentation is occurring. This service consumes negligible system resources, and in most cases will never need to be disabled.
The Windows Application Event Log
When running under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows
Server 2003, Diskeeper places messages in the Windows Application Event Log. By default, this log is 512 kilobytes in size (except on Windows Server 2003), and is set to overwrite events older than 7 days old. Diskeeper can quickly fill the log file if these default settings are used. To prevent this, perform these steps to change the size and overwriting characteristics of the Application Event Log:
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
the icon on your desktop and select
Manage
.
2. When the Computer Management Console is displayed, select
System Tools
, and then
Event Viewer
.
3. Expand the Event Viewer (by double-clicking it) and select
Application
.
4. Next, click the
Action
menu and select
Properties
. the to
2048
KB. the option. c) Click .
Diskeeper allows you to specify what information is written to the Application Event
Log. For more information, see
Windows NT/2000/XP/Server 2003 Event Log
page 71.
8 Installation
On Windows NT 4.0
1. From the Windows NT
Start
button, choose
Programs
, then the
Administrative Tools
Program Group. the Program Group, choose the
Event Viewer
. the , open the
Log
menu and choose the
Log Settings
option. the dialog box, perform these steps: the to
Application Log
. the to
2048
KB. the option. d) Click .
Event Logging under Windows 95/98/Me
When running on Windows 95/98/Me, Diskeeper provides the option of logging
Diskeeper events into a text file. When Diskeeper logs an event, the event and its message are appended to the Diskeeper log file. These events are written as a text file, which can then be viewed with Notepad, or your choice of text editor programs.
The Diskeeper log file is named
DkEventLog.txt
and it is stored in the directory folder where Diskeeper is installed. The file is limited to 1 MB in size. When it reaches this size, the log is purged completely and the event log is started from scratch.
Remote Installation
Diskeeper can be installed simultaneously on multiple computers in a network, using
Diskeeper Administrator Edition.
Remote installation can be a tremendous time saver for system administrators, especially on large networks, where they may have to install Diskeeper on hundreds, or even thousands of computers.
For more information on remotely installing Diskeeper, see
Appendix D
.
Uninstalling Diskeeper
To uninstall Diskeeper on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
Windows Server 2003 systems, you must be logged into an account that is a member of the Administrators group.
Installation
Note that the controls may have slightly different names, depending on your version of Windows.
Follow these steps to completely remove and uninstall Diskeeper from your computer: the , double-click
Add/Remove Programs
. (On Windows
95/98/Me or Windows NT systems, click the
Install/Uninstall
tab.) the entry.
3. Click or
Add/Remove
(Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT). This removes the Diskeeper program files from your computer. In most cases, the
Diskeeper installation directory will not be removed.
9
4. On Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 systems, the
Windows Disk Defragmenter is restored to the state it was in before Diskeeper was installed.
5. Manually delete the Diskeeper installation directory if it exists.
Note:
If DCOM and/or the MMC have been installed on your computer, they will not be removed when Diskeeper is uninstalled.
Getting Started 11
C h a p t e r 2
Getting Started
This chapter explains how to analyze the fragmentation on a disk volume, save the results, defragment the volume, and do a “before and after” comparison.
Introduction
Recent marketing research has shown that computer system performance and reliability are major concerns among system administrators. Disk fragmentation is a major cause of these performance and reliability problems. Diskeeper is designed to not only handle the fragmentation problem, but to give you information about the performance and reliability status of your disk volumes.
Keep in mind the primary purpose of a defragmenter is not to make your disks look
“pretty”, but to improve the operating condition of your disk volumes. So while
Diskeeper does provide a graphic view of your disks and any fragmentation found, more importantly, it shows you performance measurements and reliability data that you can apply to proactively keep your disk volumes in top shape.
Diskeeper performs a comprehensive analysis of the fragmentation on your disk volumes. After analyzing a disk, Diskeeper shows you the amount of performance improvement you will get by defragmenting the disk, and rates the reliability of the disk, based on the analysis results. Diskeeper also provides multiple methods by which to see the extent of the fragmentation—several graphic displays giving a graphic representation of the fragmentation on your volumes and a fragmentation report view showing statistical information about the fragmentation on your volumes.
After installing Diskeeper, you are ready to start Diskeeper and begin defragmenting your disk volumes. In order to see the actual gains from defragmentation, analyze the condition of your volumes before you begin defragmenting them. By reviewing the Diskeeper displays both before and after running Diskeeper, you will be able to see the actual reduction of file fragmentation and improvement in performance and reliability.
12 Getting Started
Quick Tour
When you start Diskeeper for the first time after a successful installation, you’ll see this welcoming message:
Read the message—it contains simple instructions on how to start using Diskeeper.
After you have read the message, you can prevent it from displaying in the future by clearing the check box in the bottom left corner. Click
OK
to continue.
Getting Started
After the Welcome screen is displayed, Diskeeper checks to see if a more recent version is available.
13
Click
OK
to check to see if an update is available for Diskeeper. (Note that you must have an active internet connection in order for Diskeeper to check for a more recent version.)
If a newer version of Diskeeper is available, you are given the option of downloading it. When the download screen is displayed, click
Run this program from its current location
to begin installing the update. Otherwise, click
Save this program to disk
to save the Diskeeper update installation package on your computer for later installation. (To install an update stored on your computer in this manner, simply double-click the file you download and follow the instructions displayed.)
You can also check for Diskeeper updates any time you want. Use the
Check for update
option in the Diskeeper
Help
menu.
14 Getting Started
After checking for updates, it’s time to start learning about Diskeeper.
Toolbar
Menu Bar
Disk
Volume
Pane
Tab
Controls
Command
Pane
Status
Bar
Information
Pane
When you first start Diskeeper, the Performance tab pane is displayed. Like the other tab-controlled panes, this one gives quite a bit of information. This pane gives instructions for analyzing your drives, and also give you some background information about the effects of fragmentation.
Let’s analyze a disk volume before we continue with the tour. Select a disk volume and click
Analyze selected drive
, then
Start
in the Command pane.
Tip:
You can also use the Analyze button selected disk.
to start the analysis of the
Getting Started
After Diskeeper analyzes or defragments a disk volume, the Performance pane displays a graph showing the performance loss on that disk due to fragmentation.
Here’s an example after analyzing drive C:
15
As you can see, the Performance pane now shows a performance analysis for drive
C. The upper bar graph shows the current read times for only the fragmented files on the drive and the lower graph shows read times for all the files on the drive. The graphs also show the expected optimum read time for both cases, based on drive performance measurements. This view gives you a detailed picture of your disk performance losses due to fragmentation, and the expected improvement you will see after defragmentation.
It should be noted that the first performance analysis is based on pre-determined disk performance values measured as a part of disk performance research done by
Executive Software. To get a more accurate performance measurement of your actual disks, Diskeeper must scan your drives to measure their performance. Since this measurement can briefly slow down your computer, this scan operation is disabled by default, but you can turn it on easily. The
Set performance data options
option is described in the
Change your settings
menu section on page 54.
16 Getting Started
Now that we see how the performance of drive C is impacted by fragmentation. let’s look at reliability issues. Click the
Reliability
tab to see the Reliability pane:
Reliability
Tab
The Reliability pane gives a reliability analysis and rating, the reasons for that rating, and recommendations for improving or maintaining the reliability of the disk volume.
In this example, the reliability analysis for drive C shows a considerable amount of fragmentation, warranting a “Warning” rating. The ratings are based on several factors. You may see different conditions on your disks, such as too little free space or a badly fragmented paging file.
Getting Started
Next, click the
Fragmentation
tab to see the Fragmentation pane:
17
Fragmentation
Tab
Useful information about the disk volume is shown in the Fragmentation pane. Note that most of the information here can also be recorded in the Diskeeper Event Log.
For more information, see
18 Getting Started
Now we’ll look at a picture of the fragmentation on drive C. Click the
Drive Map
tab to open the Drive Map pane shown here:
Drive Map
Tab
The group of horizontal bars in the Drive Map pane gives a graphic representation of the fragmentation of your disk volume. The color legend in the Command pane shows what the colors in the display mean. Of particular interest in this example, the red areas show the fragmented files on the disk.
Next, let’s defragment drive C and see what type of improvement Diskeeper can provide. Click
Defragment selected drive
, then
Start
in the Command pane to start the defragmentation process. (Notice that drive C is still selected)
Tip:
You can also use the Defragment button selected volume.
to start defragmenting the
You can watch the progress of the defragmentation if you keep the Drive Map pane open while Diskeeper is defragmenting your disk
1
.
1
Note that in order to provide the fastest defragmentation possible, the graphic drive map display is not available when the Terabyte Volume Engine (TVE) is used. Instead, the
Drive Map pane shows numerical defragmentation information. The TVE is available in selected Server editions of Diskeeper. See Appendix A for a table showing the Diskeeper editions with TVE support.
Getting Started
After the defragmentation is complete, it’s time to see how Diskeeper has improved the condition of the disk. Open the Performance pane by clicking the
Performance
tab. You will see a display similar to this:
19
Performance
Tab
In this example, you can see that defragmenting drive C has restored its performance back to the optimum level. The dotted lines in the graph display shows a good
“before and after” picture of your drive's performance.
20 Getting Started
Next, check the reliability rating (or index) after defragmentation. Click the
Reliability
tab to open the Reliability pane. You’ll see a display similar to this:
Reliability
Tab
Now that drive C has been defragmented, its reliability index is “Healthy.”
A quick review of the Fragmentation pane and the Drive Map pane will also show improvement to the condition of the disk. Keep in mind that badly-fragmented disks may need more than one defragmentation run to completely handle the fragmentation problem.
Now, if you set up and start scheduled “Set It and Forget It” defragmentation jobs for your disk volumes, Diskeeper can maintain your disks in optimum condition automatically by running occasionally in the background without further intervention from you! For more information, see page 43.
Overview of Diskeeper 21
C h a p t e r 3
Overview of Diskeeper
This chapter provides important general information about Diskeeper.
Diskeeper Features
The following list summarizes the most important Diskeeper features:
Wide Array of Diskeeper Editions
—Starting with version 8.0, the Diskeeper family of products has been expanded to offer specialized defragmentation of
Windows operating systems ranging from Windows 95 through Windows Server
2003 Datacenter Edition. See the tables on page 87 for the complete Diskeeper
lineup.
New Descriptive Interface
—The Diskeeper interface has been completely redesigned to be more intuitive and informative. Common commands are grouped together in the Command pane, and a group of tabbed panes show you a wide variety of information. Diskeeper shows you the condition of your disks, and provides suggestions for improving or maintaining your disks.
Performance and Reliability Analysis
—Diskeeper now collects and displays data regarding the performance and reliability of your disk volumes. This information allows you to be more proactive in the management and maintenance of your
computers. See pages 30 and 33 for more information about the Performance pane
and the Reliability pane.
Terabyte Volume Engine
—A Diskeeper exclusive, the terabyte volume engine
(TVE) is designed to efficiently defragment extremely large (larger than 100 GB) disk volumes. This feature is available in selected Diskeeper Server editions. The
table on page 87 shows the Diskeeper editions with TVE support, and more
information about the TVE is available on page 80.
Set It and Forget It Operation
—Diskeeper is designed to operate without your intervention. Set a schedule for the times you want Diskeeper to run, then sit back and let Diskeeper take care of your disk fragmentation. Of course, you can also run
Diskeeper manually. (But you probably have better things to do with your time— that’s what Set It and Forget It is for!)
22 Overview of Diskeeper
Smart Scheduling
®
—This feature allows Diskeeper to automatically determine the optimum defragmentation schedule for each disk volume individually, and adjust that schedule as disk usage changes.
Selectable Run Priority
—You can select the Windows priority at which Diskeeper defragmentation jobs run. Set the priority independently for both “Set It and Forget
It” and “Manual Defragmentation” jobs.
Exclusion Lists
—Diskeeper exclusion lists allow you to specify files and directories that will not be allowed to be processed by Diskeeper.
Event Logging
—Diskeeper can record information about its activity in a log file. A wide variety of information can be saved for future reference.
Simultaneous Analysis or Defragmentation Operations
—You can analyze and/or defragment more than one disk volume at a time. Different Diskeeper editions
support different numbers of simultaneous operations. See page 87 for more
information.
Boot-Time Defragmentation
—Defragment files at boot-time that cannot be moved safely when Windows is running.
64-bit Processor Support
—Diskeeper is compatible with 64-bit versions of
Windows Server 2003.
Other Things to Know
When running Diskeeper in the Set It and Forget It or Manual Defragmentation modes, you can run other tasks while defragmentation is occurring.
When Diskeeper runs at higher priority levels, performance of other active processes will usually be affected.
When Diskeeper runs at lower priority levels, defragmentation may take longer, since Diskeeper “backs off” for higher-priority processes, including screen savers.
In the online mode, Diskeeper runs as a Windows Service and it optionally logs useful defragmentation information into either the Windows Application Event
Log (under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server
2003) or to a text file (under Windows 95/98/Me).
Diskeeper can be uninstalled in the standard manner using the Add/Remove
Programs applet in the Windows Control Panel. For more information, see page
8.
Due to limits built into the Windows NT/2000 file systems, in its online, Set It and Forget It and Manual Defragmentation modes, Diskeeper cannot defragment files on NTFS volumes with a cluster size greater than 4KB (4096
Overview of Diskeeper 23
bytes). This limitation has been removed in Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003, where Diskeeper can defragment NTFS volumes with cluster sizes of up to 64 kilobytes. Note the boot-time defragmentation operations are not affected by this limit.
You must be logged into an account that is a member of the Administrators group to run Diskeeper on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003 systems.
Diskeeper relies on both the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), both of which are available for
Windows 95 and Windows 98. MMC is built into Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. DCOM is built into Windows NT 4.0, Windows
2000 and Windows XP. For more information about DCOM and the MMC, see the
Defragmentation Modes
Diskeeper is designed to operate in three different ways. The “Manual
Defragmentation” and “Set It and Forget It” modes run while your disk volumes are online and available to other users. The Boot-Time defragmentation mode runs only when you restart your computer
2
.
Manual Defragmentation
—Manual defragmentation gives you direct control over
Diskeeper operation. You have control over which disk volumes are defragmented, when defragmentation is started and stopped, and the priority at which manual defragmentation jobs run. You can also choose between different defragmentation methods, to emphasize system performance or defragmentation speed.
Highlight the disk volume of your choice, then click
Defragment
in the
Diskeeper toolbar to do a manual defragmentation. (Alternatively, you can click
Defragment selected drive
, then
Start
in the Command pane, or right-click the highlighted disk volume and select
Defragment
.)
Click
Pause
,
Resume
or
Stop
in the Diskeeper toolbar if you want to pause, resume or stop manual defragmentation at any time. These options are also available in the Action menu. For more information, see
page 58.
Set It and Forget It
—“Set It and Forget It” allows Diskeeper to run automatically in the background, either after hours or while users and other processes are active on
2
Boot-Time defragmentation is not available when running Diskeeper on Windows 95/98/Me.
24 Overview of Diskeeper
the system, according to a predetermined schedule you set. As with manual defragmentation jobs, you can select several different defragmentation methods to suit your needs. You can also use the Smart Scheduling option to allow Diskeeper to automatically determine the optimum defragmentation schedule for your disk volumes.
Tip:
Select
Set It and Forget It
from the Command pane to select from several commonly-used schedules.
This option is also available from the Action menu. For more information, see page
43.
Boot-Time Defragmentation
—The Boot-Time defragmentation feature is useful for the occasional times when you need to defragment files that cannot be safely moved when Windows is running. Note that Boot-Time defragmentation is not available when running Diskeeper on Windows 95/98/Me.
The Boot-Time option is accessed by clicking the
Change your settings
option in the Command pane then selecting
Set a boot-time defragmentation
. (Or, you can access this option from the Action menu.) Boot-Time defragmentation has three main parts:
Directory (Folder) Consolidation
—In Windows NT (and FAT volumes in
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003), a directory (or folder) is actually a file, which cannot be moved safely while the operating system is active. These directory files are usually scattered over the disk volume, presenting a barrier to effective defragmentation. Directory
Consolidation, done at boot-time, before Windows starts up, moves directories together to a single location on the disk, which frees up larger portions of the disk for defragmenting.
In Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, NTFS directories can safely be moved online, but FAT file system directories still need to be defragmented at boot-time.
Paging File Defragmentation
—The paging file is a file that the Windows NT,
Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems use that cannot be defragmented safely while Windows is active, but it
can
be defragmented at boot-time, using the Boot-Time Paging File Defragmentation feature. For more information, see
MFT Defragmentation
—The Master file Table (MFT) is another critical system file on NTFS volumes that cannot be defragmented safely while
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 are active, but it
can
be defragmented at boot-time, using the Boot-Time MFT
Defragmentation feature. For more information, see
page on 59.
Overview of Diskeeper 25
Exclusion List
In some cases, you may have files or directory folders you do not want to defragment. For example, you may not want to defragment temporary files that will soon be deleted. Any files or directories can be excluded from Diskeeper processing by adding them to the exclusion list.
To use this feature, click
Change your settings
in the Command pane and select
Exclude selected files and folders
, or select the same option from the Action menu.
For more information, see
Priority
The default priority for scheduled Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs is
“Lowest.” while manual defragmentation jobs run at “Normal” priority. You can change the priority independently for both Set It and Forget It and manual defragmentation jobs. If you raise the priority, defragmentation runs tend to complete faster, but may also slow down the users on the system. Lowering the priority will have the opposite effect. Click
Change your settings
in the Command pane then select
Set defragmentation priority
to change the priority at which
Diskeeper defragmentation jobs run. This option is also available in the Action menu. For more information, see
Defragmentation Methods
Diskeeper allows you to choose the type of defragmentation that best suits your needs. Diskeeper provides defragmentation methods that emphasize:
Maximum disk performance
Quick defragmentation
Improved free space consolidation
Click
Change your settings
in the Diskeeper Command pane then select
Set defragmentation method
to select the method Diskeeper uses for both manual and
Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs. This option is also available in the Action menu. For more information, see
Using Different Defragmentation Methods
69.
Event Logging
Diskeeper allows you to record information about its activity in a log file. Click
Change your settings
in the Diskeeper Command pane then select
Set event logging options
to alternately enable or disable the logging of various events to the
Diskeeper Event Log. The logging method varies, depending on the version of
26 Overview of Diskeeper
Windows you are using. This option is also available from the Action menu. For more information, see
Command Line Interface
Diskeeper can be run from the Windows command prompt. To defragment your local disk volume C:, for example, you would enter this at the command prompt:
diskeeper C:
Diskeeper informs you when the defragmentation starts and completes. Press
CTRL+C if you want to stop Diskeeper before it completes the defragmentation run.
The Diskeeper command line interface supports optional control parameters. See
page 81 for more information about these options.
Getting the Most from Diskeeper
Diskeeper provides a variety of features, all of which are designed to help you get the best performance from your computer. While there are no “hard and fast” rules governing the use of Diskeeper, here are some general guidelines that will help you get the most from Diskeeper.
When you first install Diskeeper, analyze all the disk volumes on your computer. This gives you good information about the extent of fragmentation on your computer.
After you have analyzed your volumes, defragment them by running Diskeeper in its Manual Defragmentation mode. This provides the fastest method for defragmenting the files and free space on your volume. For more information on how to analyze and defragment manually, see page 11.
If you are running Diskeeper on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, you should next prepare for Boot-Time defragmentation to consolidate (move into one location) any disk directories that are scattered all over your volumes and to defragment MFTs and paging files. To do this, use the Diskeeper Boot-Time defragmentation feature. Since directories or paging files cannot be moved while your operating system is up and running, the Boot-Time defragmentation operation defragments the paging file and/or consolidates the directories on your volumes while your computer is booting. After running the Boot-Time operation once, regular online defragmentation by Diskeeper can help prevent the MFT and paging file from becoming fragmented again.
It is recommended you run the Boot-Time defragmentation operation on one disk volume at a time, because it can be time consuming and the computer cannot be used for any other purpose while the boot-time program is running.
Overview of Diskeeper
It is important to defragment your volumes before running the Boot-Time defragmentation in order to create a contiguous free space for your directories and/or paging files to be moved into. For more information, see
Boot-Time
27
When your directories have been defragmented, schedule Diskeeper to run in the background in Set It and Forget It mode. Running in the Set It and Forget It mode, Diskeeper works quietly, keeping your disks in prime condition. You can even let Diskeeper establish the optimum defragmentation schedule for any of your disks, using the Smart Scheduling feature. For more information, see
Smart
Diskeeper Operation 29
C h a p t e r 4
Diskeeper Operation
This chapter describes how to operate Diskeeper.
The Diskeeper Interface
As explained in Chapter 2, the Diskeeper user interface is made up of several distinct components. These are, in order of discussion:
Information Pane
—Shows information about your disks and lets you schedule defragmentation
Command Pane
—Quick and easy access to commonly-used Diskeeper features
Disk Volume Pane
—Shows all the detected disk volumes and information about them
Toolbar
—Another fast way to access common Diskeeper controls
Menu Bar
—Menu-based access to Diskeeper features
Status Bar
—Shows the status of any currently-running Diskeeper operations
30 Diskeeper Operation
Information Pane
The Information pane section of the Diskeeper display is the main “Operations
Center” for Diskeeper. Each tab pane shows a different aspect of your disks’ condition, or controls when Diskeeper runs.
Tabbed
Controls
Information
Pane
The Performance Pane
One of the main reasons for defragmenting a disk volume is to restore or maintain the performance of the disk. As files become more and more fragmented, it takes longer to read those files from the disk. Measuring the length of time it takes to read a set of files from a disk (known as read time) is a common way of determining the anticipated performance level of that disk.
Each time you analyze or defragment a disk, Diskeeper calculates the read time of the disk in two ways. First, it shows the predicted time to read all the files on the disk. Secondly, it shows the time to read only the fragmented files. Additionally, it determines the optimum (fastest) read time potential for the disk.
It should be noted that by default, the performance analysis is based on predetermined disk performance values measured as a part of disk performance research done by Executive Software. To get a more accurate performance measurement of
Diskeeper Operation 31
your actual disks, Diskeeper must scan your drives to measure their performance.
Since this measurement can briefly slow down your computer, this scan operation is disabled by default, but you can turn it on easily. The
Set performance data options
option is described in the
Change your settings
menu section on page 54.
When you first start Diskeeper, the Performance pane gives instructions for analyzing your drives, and also give you some background information about the effects of fragmentation. After a disk has been analyzed or defragmented, the performance pane changes to show a graph illustrating the performance characteristics of the disk, based on current read times calculated by Diskeeper— both for all the files on the drive and for only the fragmented files on the drive. It also shows the expected optimum read time for all the files and for only the fragmented files. This view gives you a detailed picture of your performance losses due to fragmentation, and the expected improvement you will see after defragmentation.
The Performance pane displays information for a single disk volume at a time. The disk highlighted in the disk volume pane is the disk described in the Performance pane.
Using the Performance pane, you can see at a glance how much disk performance is being lost to fragmentation, and equally important, you can confirm that Diskeeper is keeping your disk performance at peak levels.
Here is an example of the Performance pane before running an analysis or defragmentation:
Read the screen—it tells you how to get started analyzing your disks, and explains the effects of fragmentation.
32 Diskeeper Operation
After you’ve analyzed a fragmented disk volume, the Performance pane takes on a new look. Here’s an example:
Shows performance loss to read only the fragmented files
Recommendations
Shows performance loss to read all the files – uneven graph bars mean performance is being lost.
Summary of findings
After the fragmented disk has been defragmented by Diskeeper, the Performance pane helps show the real gain from defragmentation. Here’s an example:
Equal graph bars mean optimum performance!
Diskeeper Operation
All the information on the Performance pane is dynamic—it changes based on the condition of the disk.
33
The Reliability Pane
The Reliability pane gives a reliability analysis and rating, the reasons for that rating, and recommendations for improving or maintaining the reliability of the disk volume.
Executive Software has done extensive research into the causes of disk performance and reliability problems. This research has shown these factors play a significant role in regards to disk performance and reliability:
Overall fragmentation
3
MFT fragmentation
Paging file fragmentation
Available free space
Diskeeper uses these factors to determine a disk reliability index each time it analyzes or defragments a disk volume.
Disk reliability is rated into three categories—Healthy, Warning and Critical.
This table shows the Warning and Critical levels used in determining the reliability index.
Reliability Factor
Overall Fragmentation
MFT Fragmentation
Paging File Fragmentation
Free Space
Warning Level Critical Level
> 10% fragmentation > 50% fragmentation
> 250 fragments >2000 fragments
> 250 fragments
< 15% free space
>1500 fragments
< 5% free space
The Reliability pane displays information for a single disk volume at a time. The disk highlighted in the disk volume pane is the disk shown in the Reliability pane.
3
Overall fragmentation is calculated by dividing the time required to read the fragmented files on the volume by the time required to read all the files on the volume, and multiplying the result by 100.
34 Diskeeper Operation
Here is an example of the Reliability pane view after analysis of a disk that needs corrective action:
After analyzing a disk, the Reliability pane shows reliability index and the reasons behind it, and offers suggestions for correcting any problems found. In this example, the reliability analysis for drive C shows a high fragmentation level, warranting a
“Warning” rating.
Now here’s an example of the Reliability pane after defragmentation, showing a disk in good condition:
Notice that after defragmentation, the Reliability pane again shows the reliability index, but it changes to show the current condition of the disk. Recommendations for maintaining the condition of the disk (or for further improvement, if necessary) are also shown.
Like the Performance pane, the information shown in the Reliability pane is dynamic, changing as the conditions on your disks change.
Diskeeper Operation
The Fragmentation Pane
The Fragmentation pane shows useful information about your disk volume after either analysis or defragmentation. Note that most of the information shown in the
Fragmentation pane can also be recorded in the Diskeeper Event Log. For more information, see
35
The Fragmentation pane displays information for a single disk volume at a time. The disk highlighted in the disk volume pane is the disk shown in the Fragmentation pane.
Here is an example of the Fragmentation pane after analyzing a disk volume:
The Fragmentation pane shows this information:
Volume Section
Volume Size
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total amount of space on the disk volume. This includes files and free space, as well as disk space used by the operating system (such as directory files and the Master File Table) but not reported in “Used Space.”
Cluster Size
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the cluster size for the volume. A disk cluster represents a number of disk sectors treated as a single unit. The entire disk is divided into clusters, each one a minimum increment of storage.
36 Diskeeper Operation
Used Space
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total amount of disk space (in kilobytes) currently occupied by files. This does not include zerolength files, or certain files used by the operating system, such as directory files and the Master File Table.
Free Space
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total amount of free space on the disk volume.
Percent Free Space
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the percentage of space on the disk volume that is free. This includes the free space in the area reserved for the Master File Table (MFT) on NTFS volumes.
Fragmentation Percentage Section
Volume Fragmentation
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the overall percentage of fragmentation on the disk volume.
The Volume fragmentation figure gives you an overall view of the fragmentation on your volume, by taking both the file fragmentation level and the free space fragmentation level into account. These two values are weighted depending on the ratio of free space to used space on the disk. The formula is:
Fragmented space on the volume * 100 / Total space on the volume
Where
Fragmented space on the volume
is the summed cluster count of all fragmented files times the bytes per clusters.
Data Fragmentation
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the percentage of file fragmentation on the disk volume.
File fragmentation is calculated like this:
Volume Fragmentation * Total Space on the Volume / Used Space on the volume
Note:
The calculations are for both Data fragmentation and Volume fragmentation are done based on the uncompressed size of the files.
If a volume has a large number of fragmented compressed files, these values can exceed 100%.
This is similar to looking at files in Windows Explorer—if a large number of files are compressed, the total size of the data can exceed the volume size. This is why you can compare the
Diskeeper Operation
volume size in Disk Management to the total number of bytes on a volume, and they don’t “add up”.
37
File Fragmentation Section
Total Files
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total number of files on the disk volume. This number does not include zero-length files or (in most cases) files less than one cluster in size on NTFS volumes. Files less than one cluster in size may be included, depending on the file size and the cluster size.
Average File Size
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the average size of all the files on the disk volume. This number does not include any zero-length files or paging files.
Total Fragmented Files
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total number of fragmented files on the disk volume.
Total Excess Fragments
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total number of file fragments on the disk volume. Contiguous files are not counted in this total, but each additional piece of any fragmented file
is
counted.
Average Fragments per File
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the average number of fragments per file on the disk volume. This is a good index of how fragmented the files on the volume are.
If the average fragment per file figure is 1.00, the files are contiguous. If the figure is
1.10, then 10% of the files, on average, are in two pieces. 1.20 means 20%, 1.30 means 30%, etc. A figure of 2.00 means the files average two fragments each. 1.00 is the best figure attainable, indicating that all files or nearly all files are contiguous.
Paging File Fragmentation Section
Paging/Swap File Size
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the size of the paging file (or swap file on Windows 95/98/Me systems) on the disk volume. This section displays zero when no paging file is present.
38 Diskeeper Operation
Total Fragments
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the number of fragments the paging file is broken into (if it exists on the disk volume).
Directory Fragmentation Section
Total Directories
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total number of directories present on the disk volume.
Fragmented Directories
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the number of fragmented directories on the disk volume.
Excess Directory Fragments
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the total number of directory fragments on the disk volume. Contiguous directories are not counted in this total, but each additional piece of any fragmented directory is counted.
Master File Table (MFT) Fragmentation
Section
Total MFT Size
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the size of the
Master File Table (MFT).
Since the MFT is only used on NTFS volumes, this section is not displayed for FAT volumes in the text analysis display, and shows as zeros in the event log.
MFT Record Count
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the number of individual file records found in the Master File Table (MFT). This figure will not necessarily correspond with the number of files presently on the volume, since the file records remain in the MFT, even after a file is deleted.
Since the MFT is only used on NTFS volumes, this section is not displayed on FAT volumes.
Percent of MFT In Use
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the percentage of the Master File Table (MFT) in use.
Diskeeper Operation
The MFT grows as the number of files on the volume increases, but is not reduced in size when files are deleted from the volume.
39
Since the MFT is only used on NTFS volumes, this section is not displayed on FAT volumes.
Total MFT Fragments
This section of the Fragmentation pane or event log entry shows the number of fragments the Master File Table (MFT) is broken into.
Since the MFT is only used on NTFS volumes, this section is not displayed on FAT volumes.
Most Fragmented Files
Click the
…most fragmented files
link at the bottom of the Fragmentation pane to show a list of the most fragmented files on the disk volume. For each fragmented file listed, this option shows:
Fragments
Shows the number of fragments associated with the most fragmented files on your disk volume.
File Size
Shows the size of the most fragmented files on your disk volume.
File Name
Shows the names of the most fragmented files on your volume.
If these files are ones that users access frequently, the impact to your system performance may be worse than indicated by the Average Fragments per File figure.
In addition to the names of the most fragmented files, the Most Fragmented Files report also shows information explaining reasons why certain files were not moved or defragmented. The following “tags” may be added to specific filenames in the
Most Fragmented Files listing:
40 Diskeeper Operation
Tag Displayed
After
[Cannot Open] Defragmentation
Only
File
System
NTFS and FAT
[Excluded] Defragmentation NTFS
Only and FAT
Description
This file cannot be opened (and thus moved) by Diskeeper. This is often the result of the access controls (permissions) on the file being set to prevent Diskeeper from accessing it. File permissions must allow SYSTEM to have full control of a file in order for Diskeeper to defragment it.
This file is listed on one of the
Diskeeper exclusion lists. This can be either the user-specified exclusion list or the internal exclusion list.
[Excess
Allocation]
Analysis and
Defragmentation
[Partially
Defragmented]
Defragmentation
Only
NTFS
Only
NTFS and FAT
With the NTFS file system, a file can be allocated more clusters than its data is actually using. On
Windows NT 4 and Windows
2000, only the data portion of the allocation can be defragmented.
As a result, even though a file is reported as fragmented, the data portion of the file may in fact be contiguous. This most commonly occurs with registry files and
(under Windows 2000) files that have been decompressed. In some cases, files of this type can be defragmented after a system restart
This file has been partially defragmented. Its fragments have been reduced in number, but the file is not yet contiguous.
Diskeeper Operation 41
Tag
[Insufficient
Contiguous
Free Space]
[Move refused by OS]
Displayed
After
Terabyte
Volume Engine
Defragmentation
Only
Terabyte
Volume Engine
Defragmentation
Only
File
System
NTFS
Only
Description
There was insufficient free space to defragment the file.
NTFS
Only
Although Diskeeper requested the file move, the operating system denied the request. This can happen when free space previously located by Diskeeper is overwritten by other file activity, or if a file is deleted or extended during the defragmentation attempt.
Saving a Fragmentation Report
Click the
Save report
link at the bottom of the Fragmentation pane to save the fragmentation report to a text file. When you click the link, a dialog box is displayed allowing you to specify the name of the report and the location where you want to store it.
The saved report shows all the information available from the Fragmentation pane.
Printing a Fragmentation Report
Click the
Print report
link at the bottom of the Fragmentation pane to print the fragmentation report. When you click the link, a dialog box is displayed allowing you to specify the printer on which you want to print the report.
The printed report shows all the information available from the Fragmentation pane.
Drive Map Pane
The Drive Map pane gives an overall view of the fragmentation on your disk volume. See below for an example of a typical Drive Map pane display. (This example shows a moderately fragmented volume).
42 Diskeeper Operation
The Drive Map pane displays information for a single disk volume at a time. The disk highlighted in the disk volume pane is the disk reflected in the Drive Map pane.
What the Colors Mean
The group of horizontal bars in the Drive Map pane gives a graphic representation of the fragmentation of your disk volume. The colors of the display indicate the type and condition of the data on your volume.
Green areas show unmovable system files. On Windows NT, Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, green areas particularly show the Master File Table (MFT), but also several other unmovable files. These files cannot be moved safely by Diskeeper (or any other defragmenter), except at boot-time. Keep in mind, however, although these area are referred to as
“system files”, these are not the files that make up the operating system (which
Diskeeper can successfully defragment online). Instead, they make up the NTFS file system. The green areas of the display appear only on NTFS volumes.
Green-striped areas (on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
Windows Server 2003 systems only) show space on the volume reserved for expansion of the MFT. This space is reserved when a volume is formatted, and cannot be used by applications, including Diskeeper. However, the operating system will write files to this area when the volume becomes extremely full and no other free space is available. Windows provides the capability for Diskeeper to move files out of this reserved area, but does not allow Diskeeper to move files into it. These areas appear only on NTFS volumes.
Yellow areas show the paging file (for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
XP, and Windows Server 2003) or the swap file (for Windows 95/98/Me) if it exists on the volume.
Light blue areas show the directory folders on the volume (and their fragments).
Diskeeper Operation
Red areas show fragmented files.
Dark blue areas show contiguous (non-fragmented) files.
White areas show free space on the volume.
43
Set It and Forget It Pane
The “Set It and Forget It” feature allows Diskeeper to run automatically in the background while users and other processes are active on the system. The Set It and
Forget It pane shows the details about any schedules you have set, and it’s where you set custom defragmentation schedules for your disk volumes.
A defragmentation schedule specifies the times or days of the week that Diskeeper will (or will not) be allowed to run. You can specify separate defragmentation schedules for individual disk volumes, or you can create a single schedule for more than one volume.
Click the
Set It and Forget It
option in the Command pane to pick from one of several commonly-used schedules, or to create a custom schedule of times when “Set
It and Forget It” defragmentation jobs will be forced to run (or times they will not be allowed to run). When you click the
Set It and Forget It
option, the Set It and
Forget It pane is displayed.
Schedules only affect “Set It and Forget It” defragmentation jobs. Any active defragmentation job previously started on a disk volume will complete. After it completes, the new schedule takes effect.
When you use the Set It and Forget It pane, always select one or more volumes in the disk volume pane before clicking any of the other Set It and Forget It controls.
You can select more than one volume by holding the CTRL key while clicking on the volumes listed in the disk volume pane.
Here is an example of the Set It and Forget It pane when you first start Diskeeper:
44 Diskeeper Operation
And here’s an example after choosing the
Set a custom schedule
option from the
Set It and Forget It menu:
Setting a custom schedule for one or more disks is easy. Here are the basic steps after clicking
Set It and Forget It
in the Command pane and selecting
Set a custom schedule
:
1. Select the disk(s) to schedule
2. Select the type of schedule
3. Select which days to run
4. Select the starting time
5. Select the ending time
6. Click the
Set
Schedule
button
Diskeeper Operation
The following controls are available in the Set It and Forget It pane:
Select type of schedule
Use this section of the Set It and Forget It pane to specify how often Diskeeper should run on the selected disk volumes. You can specify any of these run frequencies:
45
One Time
Continuously
Every 2 hours
Every 4 hours
Every 8 hours
Every 12 hours
Every 24 hours
Every 48 hours
Every 72 hours
Smart Scheduling (see the description of Smart
Scheduling later in this chapter)
Screen Saver (see the description of Screen Saver mode later in this chapter)
Select which days to run
Use this section of the Set It and Forget It pane to specify days the Diskeeper job will (or will not) be allowed to run on the selected volumes. You can specify any of these time periods to control when Diskeeper is allowed to run:
Everyday Except Everyday
46 Diskeeper Operation
Select a starting time
Use this section of the Set It and Forget It pane to specify the beginning of a time period the Diskeeper job will (or will not) be allowed to run on the selected volumes.
You can specify any of these time periods to specify the beginning of a Diskeeper schedule period:
All Day
12:00 midnight through 11:00
P
.
M
., in one hour increments
Select an ending time
Use this section of the Set It and Forget It pane to specify the end of a time period the Diskeeper job will (or will not) be allowed to run on the selected volumes. You can specify any of these time periods to specify the end of a time period Diskeeper will (or will not) be allowed to run:
12:00 midnight through 11:00
P
.
M
., in one hour increments
Set Schedule
Click
Set Schedule
to accept the specified run schedule for the selected volumes.
You must click
Set Schedule
for each schedule you specify.
Any defragmentation job previously started on a volume will complete the current run through the volume before the new schedule takes effect.
Clear Schedule
Click
Clear Schedule
to clear the currently active Set It and Forget It defragmentation schedule on the selected volumes. If Diskeeper is in the process of defragmenting a volume at the time the
Clear Schedule
button is clicked, it will run to completion.
Smart Scheduling
With Smart Scheduling, you no longer have to decide how often to defragment your disks—Diskeeper will automatically determine the optimum defragmentation schedule for each of your disk volumes and adjust it accordingly.
The method used to determine how often Diskeeper should run is elegant in its simplicity. When Smart Scheduling is enabled, Diskeeper keeps track of the number of files moved every time it runs on each disk volume. When the number of fragmented files moved during a defragmentation run increases, Diskeeper is
Diskeeper Operation
automatically scheduled to run more often. When the number of files moved decreases, the time between defragmentation runs is increased.
The Smart Scheduling option is available within the
Select type of schedule
dropdown list in the Set It and Forget It pane.
47
You can also set exclusion times when the Smart Scheduling option will be prevented from scheduling a defragmentation run. When Smart Scheduling is selected, the
Select which days to run
drop-down option list will be limited to these times:
Except Everyday
Except Weekends
Except Weekdays
Except Monday
Except Tuesday
Except Wednesday
Except Thursday
Except Friday
Except Saturday
Except Sunday
You can use the “starting” and “ending” time drop down lists to further define times when the scheduling of automatic defragmentation runs will not be allowed. For example, a schedule set like this:
Type of Schedule
Smart Scheduling
Starting Time
1:00 am
Which Days
Except Weekdays
Ending Time
3:00 am will allow Diskeeper to automatically determine how often to run, but will also prevent it from running between 1:00 am and 3:00 am on weekdays (i.e., when your nightly backup is running).
48 Diskeeper Operation
Here’s another example, showing a Smart Schedule that will run everyday, but only between the hours of 7:00 pm and 7:00 am:
Type of Schedule
Smart Scheduling
Starting Time
7:00 pm
Which Days
everyday
Ending Time
7:00 am
Tip:
The
Set It and Forget It
option on the Command pane includes several commonly-used defragmentation schedules, pre-configured and ready to use. See
page 50 for more information about the Set It and Forget It option in the Command
pane.
Screen Saver Mode
When enabled, Screen Saver mode automatically starts defragmenting the selected disk volume(s) any time the screen saver starts on your computer. The defragmentation operation is paused whenever keyboard or mouse activity is detected on the computer. This option is available under the
Select type of schedule
drop-down list in the Set It and Forget It pane. Note that you must have a screen saver enabled for this option to function.
If you only have a single disk volume selected for Screen Saver mode, the defragmentation operation is re-started at the logical "beginning" of the volume each time the screen saver re-starts after being interrupted (by keyboard activity, for example).
When more than one disk volume is selected for Screen Saver mode, the volumes are handled in a round-robin manner. If a defragmentation pass is stopped, the operation resumes on the next volume when the screen saver starts again. For example, if you select volumes C and D for Screen Saver mode, when your screen saver starts, Diskeeper begins a defragmentation pass on volume C. If that pass is interrupted, and then the screen saver starts again, Diskeeper will begin a pass on volume D.
If the screen saver has not been interrupted after Diskeeper completes the defragmentation pass on each of the selected disk volumes, Diskeeper is automatically scheduled to re-start the defragmentation operation in one hour.
Because of the "start and stop" nature of the Screen Saver mode, it is not recommended on disk volumes that are heavily fragmented, unless you expect the
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computer's screen saver to be on for several hours. In cases where your screen saver activity is only for short periods of time, a thorough manual defragmentation or scheduled Set It and Forget It defragmentation should be performed before running Diskeeper in Screen Saver mode.
49
Note:
Screen Saver mode is not recommended for servers. Many servers spend a good deal of time with the screen saver active, which could cause Diskeeper to run more often than necessary. This can cause unnecessary system resource use on the server at times when it is under heavy demand.
Command Pane
The Command pane is where you’ll find easy access to the commonly-used
Diskeeper features, as well as several shortcuts for performing common tasks.
Command
Pane
The Command pane is made up of these parts:
Set It and Forget It Menu
—Gives you several pre-configured defragmentation schedules with just a few mouse clicks, or gives you the option to create your own custom schedules
Analyze Selected Drive
—Start the analysis of the drive selected in the disk volume pane
50 Diskeeper Operation
Defragment Selected Drive
—Start the manual defragmentation of the drive selected in the disk volume pane
Change Your Settings Menu
—Change Diskeeper settings
Help Menu
—Get help about using Diskeeper
Set It and Forget It Menu
Click the
Set It and Forget It
menu in the Command pane to expand it and reveal the different options available. Here’s an example:
Click here . . .
. . . to access these options.
Set Smart Schedule
Use this option to quickly set a Smart Schedule for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane. A Smart Schedule lets Diskeeper automatically determine when it
should run on each disk. See page 50 for more information about Smart Scheduling.
Set Smart Schedule after hours
Similar to the Smart Scheduling option above, this option also quickly sets a Smart
Schedule for any selected disk(s). However, this specialized schedule will only run after normal office hours. When set, this schedule will only allow defragmentation to run between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am. Keep in mind though, since this is a Smart
Schedule, Diskeeper will only run as often as necessary to keep fragmentation minimized on the chosen disks.
Diskeeper Operation 51
Set to run every night
Use this option to quickly set a schedule that runs every 2 hours, but only between the hours of 10:00 pm and 4:00 am, for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane.
Set to run on weekends only
Use this option to quickly set a Smart Schedule, which runs only on Saturday and
Sunday, for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane.
Set Screen Saver mode
Use this option to quickly set defragmentation to run only when the screen saver is active on your computer. Like the other options in the Set It and Forget It menu, when clicked, this option is set for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane. See
page 48 for more information about Screen Saver mode.
Set a custom schedule
Use this option to set a custom schedule for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane. You can set the days and times when Diskeeper will (or will not) be allowed to
run. See page 43 for more information about creating a custom schedule.
Clear a Schedule
Use this option to clear a previously-set schedule for any selected disk(s) in the disk volume pane. This option removes any schedule set for the selected volume(s), but any ongoing defragmentation jobs will continue until completion.
If you need to stop (but not clear) a scheduled defragmentation job when it is running, simply highlight the volume in the disk volume pane and click the
Stop
button in the toolbar.
52 Diskeeper Operation
Analyze Selected Drive
This option on the Command pane is self-explanatory—select a disk in the disk volume pane, then click
Analyze selected drive
, then
Start
in the Command pane to see the extent of fragmentation on the disk. After the analysis is complete, click the different tab controls in the Information pane to see the condition of the disk.
Select a disk volume . . .
. . . click here to open the menu . . .
. . . and click Start.
Tip:
You can also use the Analyze button selected disk.
to start the analysis of the
When you are analyzing a disk, the Command pane displays options to
Pause
,
Resume
or
Stop
the analysis. You can also perform these functions with the equivalent toolbar buttons.
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Defragment Selected Drive
This option on the Command pane is also self-explanatory—select a disk in the disk volume pane, then click
Defragment selected drive
in the Command pane to run a manual defragmentation job on the disk. After the defragmentation is complete, click the different tab controls in the Information pane to review the condition of the disk.
Select a disk volume . . .
. . . click here to open the menu . . .
. . . and click Start.
Tip:
You can also use the Defragment button selected volume.
to start defragmenting the
When you are defragmenting a disk, the Command pane displays options to
Pause
,
Resume
or
Stop
the defragmentation. You can also perform these functions with the equivalent toolbar buttons.
54 Diskeeper Operation
Change Your Settings Menu
Click the
Change your settings
menu in the Command pane to expand it and reveal the different options available.
Here’s an example:
Click here . . .
. . . to access these options.
Exclude selected files and subfolders
Diskeeper allows you to specify files and directory folders that you do not want moved. Click this option in the
Change your settings
menu to create or modify an exclusion list.
This option is also available from the Action menu. For more information about exclusion lists, see
Set defragmentation priority
You can select the Windows priority at which Diskeeper defragmentation jobs run.
Click this option in the
Change your settings
menu to set the priority for both “Set
It and Forget It” and “Manual Defragmentation” jobs.
This option is also available from the Action menu. See
on page 68 for more information about setting the Diskeeper priority.
Keep in mind—when Diskeeper runs at higher priority levels, performance of other active processes will usually be affected.
Diskeeper Operation 55
Set event logging options
Diskeeper allows you to record information about its activity in a log file. Click this option in the
Change your settings
menu to alternately enable or disable the logging of various events to the Diskeeper Event Log. The logging method varies, depending on the version of Windows you are using.
This option is also available from the Action menu. For more information, see
Set defragmentation method
With Diskeeper, you can choose the type of defragmentation that best suits your needs. Diskeeper provides defragmentation methods that emphasize:
Maximum disk performance
Quick defragmentation
Improved free space consolidation
Click this option in the
Change your settings
menu to select the method Diskeeper uses for both manual and Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs.
This option is also available in the Action menu. For more information, see
Using
Different Defragmentation Methods
Set power management options
This option is intended for users of laptop or portable computers. When enabled, this option prevents Diskeeper from running when the computer switches to battery power. Click this option in the
Change your settings
menu to enable or disable this option.
This option is also available in the Action menu. For more information, see
Using
Set a boot-time schedule
Use the option to set up the defragmentation of files that can only be moved safely at
boot-time, before Windows up and is running. See page 59 for full information
about running boot-time defragmentation.
Set performance data options
Use this option to enable or disable the scanning your disk drives to gather disk performance data. When enabled, the scan runs one time on each disk volume detected, and runs any time a new disk volume detected on your computer. This option is disabled by default.
Diskeeper uses the data gathered during the performance data scan to measure the performance of each of your disk drives. It uses this information to determine how
56 Diskeeper Operation
much performance you are losing due to fragmentation, and shows the results in the Performance pane when you run an analysis or defragmentation.
Allowing this scan to take place improves the accuracy of the performance data displayed by Diskeeper after the analysis or defragmentation of a disk. When this option is disabled, Diskeeper uses default disk performance values when calculating your performance loss due to fragmentation.
This performance scan may take as much as 1 to 10 minutes per volume to perform an accurate scan and may temporarily slow down your computer, but only while the scan is running.
Help Menu
Click the
Help
menu in the Command pane to expand it and see the different options available. Here’s an example:
Click here . . .
. . . to access these options.
Help Topics
Click this option to open the main Diskeeper Help system. The Diskeeper Help provides quick access to useful information about Diskeeper.
About Diskeeper
Click this option to see information about the specific version and build number of the Diskeeper version installed on your computer.
View Readme
Click this option to read the Diskeeper
Readme.txt
file. This file contains the most current information about the version of Diskeeper installed on your computer, and gives information that may not be included in the other published documentation .
The Diskeeper Readme file contains late-breaking information that could not be
Diskeeper Operation
included in other published documentation like this manual or the Diskeeper Help system.
57
Diskeeper FAQs
Click this option to see to a list of Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) about
Diskeeper, and the answers to them.
Check for update
Click this option to check for a more recent version of Diskeeper. If a newer version of Diskeeper is available, you are given the option of downloading it. When the download screen is displayed, click
Run this program from its current location
to begin installing the update.
Otherwise, click
Save this program to disk
to save the Diskeeper update installation package on your computer for later installation. (To install an update stored on your computer in this manner, simply double-click the file you download and follow the instructions displayed.)
Disk Volume Pane
The disk volume pane section of the Diskeeper display shows all the supported disks detected on your computer.
The disk volume pane is a quick way to see:
Volume letter and name
Session status (shows what Diskeeper is doing or has done on the volume)
File system on the volume
Capacity of the volume
Free space available on the volume
Percentage of volume size that is free space
When you are viewing the Set It and Forget It pane, the columns in the disk volume pane change to shows different information:
58 Diskeeper Operation
Volume letter and name
Next scheduled defragmentation
Schedule type
Days
Starting time
Ending time
Toolbar Buttons
By default, Diskeeper displays a toolbar of commonly-used controls above the disk volume pane. (The toolbar and other display components can be hidden by using the
Customize
option in the
View
menu.)
Note:
Many of the functions described in this section can also be activated from the menu that appears when you right-click on a selected disk volume in the disk volume pane.
Analyze Button
Click
Analyze
in the Diskeeper toolbar, the
Analyze selected drive
option in the Command pane or on the Action menu to begin the analysis of the selected disk volume.
Defragment Button
Click
Defragment
in the Diskeeper toolbar, the
Defragment selected drive
option in the Command pane or the Action menu to start the manual defragmentation of the selected volume.
Pause Button
Click
Pause
in the Diskeeper toolbar or the
Pause
option in the Action menu to temporarily pause a fragmentation analysis or the manual defragmentation of the selected volume.
Resume Button
Diskeeper Operation 59
Click
Resume
in the Diskeeper toolbar or the
Resume
option in the Action menu to continue a paused Diskeeper analysis or defragmentation operation.
Stop Button
Click
Stop
in the Diskeeper toolbar or the
Stop
option in the Action menu to stop a fragmentation analysis or the manual defragmentation of the selected volume.
Any file movement in progress will be safely ended as Diskeeper stops.
Help Button
Click Help in the Diskeeper toolbar or the Help option in the Action menu to access the Diskeeper Help system.
Boot-Time Defragmentation Overview
Note:
The Boot-Time defragmentation option is only available in Diskeeper when running on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003.
Boot-Time defragmentation consists of three independent activities:
Directory Defragmentation and Consolidation
—moves directories to a single location. Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server
2003 write directories into random locations all over a volume. This, in effect, breaks up the free space on the volume. By grouping all the directories into a single location on a volume, larger areas of contiguous free space become available. Therefore, new files are more likely to be written to the volume in a contiguous manner. This also helps make Diskeeper more effective when it is run in either the Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation modes.
Note that on NTFS volumes on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003 systems, directories can be moved and defragmented online, which makes directory consolidation on these volumes unnecessary. This is also why directory consolidation is not necessary on Windows 95/98/Me systems.
In most cases, you should run Boot-Time directory consolidation shortly after the first time you use Diskeeper defragmentation on a volume, or after any operation (such as installing a new application), that creates multiple directories.
By moving all the directories together, you create more contiguous free space for file defragmentation.
60 Diskeeper Operation
Master File Table (MFT) Defragmentation
—defragments the Master File
Table (MFT). The MFT is a critical section of Windows NTFS disk volumes.
The MFT is used by the NTFS file system to locate files on a volume, so fragmentation of the MFT slows the retrieval of files on the disk
whether these files themselves are fragmented or not. Defragmenting the MFT will improve the overall performance of the volume.
Note that on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems, most, but not all of the Master File Table can be defragmented by Diskeeper online during normal Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation operations. The boottime process is still required to fully defragment the MFT, but it usually does not need to occur as often as it does on Windows NT and Windows 2000.
Paging File Defragmentation
—defragments the paging file. Fragmented paging files can slow Windows performance. They can also hurt the effectiveness of Diskeeper, since the unmovable paging file fragments break up the free space on the volume. By defragmenting your paging file, you can help maintain peak Windows performance, and help Diskeeper run better at the same time. After a paging file has been defragmented, it should remain contiguous unless its size is changed.
Boot-time defragmentation opens up larger areas of contiguous free space for new file creation and modification.
Important:
For best results with the Boot-Time defragmentation feature, Executive
Software strongly recommends:
1. Do a full backup of the disk volume before running any Boot-Time operations.
This provides an additional level of safety in case of a disk drive failure.
2. Make sure you have sufficient contiguous free space. Delete unneeded files and perform one or more manual defragmentation runs to defragment the volume as much as possible. the option. This will help prevent vital files from being moved to bad disk sectors.
4. Boot-Time defragmentation can take a long time, especially on very large disk volumes that are severely fragmented. Therefore, before running Boot-Time operations, you should:
Schedule the Boot-Time operation on weekends or other time when the machine is not needed immediately.
Perform the Boot-Time operation on only one disk volume at a time.
On Windows NT, directory consolidation, MFT defragmentation and paging file defragmentation are done at boot-time, because the directories, the MFT, and the paging file cannot be moved safely while Windows NT is active. (Note that under
Diskeeper Operation
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, directories on NTFS volumes can be moved and defragmented online, which makes directory consolidation on these volumes unnecessary.)
61
Several points about Boot-Time defragmentation:
Keep in mind that for maximum efficiency, the Boot-Time defragmentation operation concentrates only on files that cannot be defragmented online. It is not intended to defragment all the files on your disk.
Boot-Time defragmentation relies on having a contiguous free space into which to move the directories and/or paging file on your volume. Therefore, it is important to run Diskeeper in either the Set It and Forget It or Manual
Defragmentation mode
before
running Boot-Time defragmentation.
Boot-Time defragmentation is a one-time operation. After it runs on a volume, it is not automatically set up to run again. You must set it each time you want it to run on a volume. It is usually not necessary to run Boot-Time defragmentation repeatedly on a volume.
It is safe to restart your computer midway through the Boot-Time defragmentation operation. However, if you do so, you should use the Error
Checking option in
Drive Properties | Tools
on the volume that was being processed when you restarted your computer, and enable both the fix and the scan options, or (if you are running from the Windows Command Prompt) run
CHKDSK
, using the
/F
qualifier. This ensures the files and free space on the volume are correctly allocated.
After running the Boot-Time defragmentation, use the Set It and Forget It option to keep the volume defragmented.
Running a Boot-Time Defragmentation
Select
Set up a boot-time defragmentation
from the
Set It and Forget It
menu in the Command pane to display the
Schedule Boot-Time defragmentation
dialog box: (This option is also available from the Action menu.)
62 Diskeeper Operation
1. Choose a disk volume
2. Specify when you want it to run
3. Choose your options
4. Click OK
The following controls are available in the
Schedule Boot-Time Defragmentation
dialog box:
Available Volumes
Use this section of the
Schedule Boot-Time Defragmentation
dialog box to specify the volume(s) upon which you want to consolidate the directories and/or defragment the paging file and Master File Table (MFT). You can select more than one volume at a time, but be aware that the volumes will be processed one at a time, and your
Diskeeper Operation
computer will be restarted automatically after each volume is processed. This will substantially increase the time needed to complete the operation.
63
Always select at least one volume
before
choosing any of the other options in the
Schedule Boot-Time Defragmentation
dialog box.
Schedule boot-time defragmentation
Use this section of the
Schedule Boot-Time Defragmentation
dialog box to specify when you want the boot-time defragmentation operation to occur. You can choose from any one of these options:
On next manual reboot
—The boot-time operation will take place the next time the computer is rebooted
At scheduled time
—Use the Date and Time controls to specify when you want the computer to be automatically rebooted.
About one hour before a scheduled Boot-Time defragmentation is due, a message is broadcast at regular intervals to all users logged on to the computer, informing them that a scheduled reboot is about to take place and requesting them to log off. If at the scheduled time someone is still logged on and
Perform boot-time defragmentation even if this drive is being used by remote users
is cleared, the computer will not reboot, but will instead perform the Boot-Time defragmentation the next time the computer is rebooted manually. If this option is set, however, the machine will reboot at the scheduled time, regardless of whether or not any users are logged on.
Don’t run boot-time defragmentation
—Use this option to clear a previouslyscheduled boot-time operation. This option is useful for cases where you’ve scheduled a boot-time defragmentation, then decided to postpone the operation.
Put all folders together on the volume
Check this box to defragment and consolidate the directories of the selected volumes, next time your computer starts up.
Run the system “CHKDSK” utility before defragmentation
Use this control to specify whether the Windows CHKDSK disk error checking utility is run (using the /F qualifier) before the Boot-Time operation. Running
CHKDSK adds time to the Boot-Time defragmentation operation, but it can correct disk errors that otherwise would hamper effective directory consolidation.
Note:
Enabling the CHKDSK option will cause CHKDSK to run on each selected volume before the Boot-Time defragmentation process. The time increase can be considerable and Executive Software therefore recommends performing boot-time defragmentation on one volume at a time.
64 Diskeeper Operation
Also Note:
After enabling the CHKDSK option, you will not be able to run either
Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation on the disk until you reboot. For this reason, Executive Software recommends waiting to enable this option until just before you are ready to reboot your computer.
Defragment the Paging File
Check this box to defragment the paging file of the selected volume the next time your computer starts up.
Defragment the Master File Table (MFT)
Check this box to defragment the MFT of the selected volume the next time your computer starts up.
Pause to view screen after defragmentation
When enabled, this option causes the Boot-Time operation to pause after completion. It remains in this paused state until you manually restart your computer
(by either pressing the
Reset
button or turning off the power switch). If this option is not enabled, the Boot-Time defragmentation operation pauses a short 15 seconds (to allow you to read any messages on the monitor screen), then automatically restarts your computer.
Produce a summary log file
Use this option to cause a text file to be written that summarizes the Boot-Time defragmentation operation. When this option is enabled, a default volume letter, directory, and file name are shown in the dialog box similar to this:
By default, the summary file is written to your floppy drive (A:). This dialog box can be edited to specify another volume, directory path, and filename. However, the summary file cannot be written to the volume upon which you are running Boot-
Time defragmentation. Also note that the filename should not contain any spaces.
Note:
Some computers read the floppy drive at boot-time. We therefore recommend not writing the summary file to the A: drive, unless no other volumes are available.
Perform boot-time defragmentation even if this drive is being used by remote users
When this option is set, the computer will force a reboot at the scheduled date and time, if the
At scheduled time
option has been selected, regardless of whether or not anyone is logged on to the machine. Users who are logged on will be notified at regular intervals, starting one hour before the scheduled reboot, to give them an opportunity to log off.
Diskeeper Operation 65
If this option is cleared, a scheduled reboot will not occur at the scheduled date and time if one or more users are still logged on when the reboot due. In that case, the Boot-Time defragmentation run will occur the next time the machine is rebooted manually.
OK
Click
OK
to schedule Boot-Time defragmentation of one or more selected volumes and close the
Schedule Boot-Time defragmentation
dialog box. Boot-Time defragmentation will be run as scheduled on any volumes that are set.
Apply
Click
Apply
to schedule Boot-Time defragmentation of one or more selected volumes without closing the
Schedule Boot-Time defragmentation
dialog box.
When a volume has been scheduled, it will be noted in the Available Volumes box.
Also, use the
Apply
button to change the characteristics of a previously set Boot-
Time defragmentation (such as enabling/disabling the Summary File option).
Boot-Time defragmentation will be run as scheduled on any volumes that are set.
Cancel
Click
Cancel
to close the
Boot-Time defragmentation
dialog box without making any changes.
Help
Click
Help
to view context-sensitive help about using Boot-Time defragmentation.
Setting an Exclusion List
Diskeeper exclusion lists allow you to specify files and directories that will not be allowed to be processed by Diskeeper in the Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation modes. For example, you might not want to defragment temporary files that will soon be deleted.
Keep in mind that fragmented files that are excluded from defragmentation can
“skew” the analysis results displayed in the Performance and Reliability panes.
Choose the
Exclude selected files and folders
option from the
Change your settings
menu in the Command pane to open the
Exclude
dialog box shown below:
(This option is also available from the Action menu.)
66 Diskeeper Operation
Note
: Wildcard file specifications such as
*
or
?
are allowed.
The following controls are available in the
Exclude
dialog box:
Files
Use this section of the
Exclude
dialog box to choose specific files (by name) to be excluded from defragmentation. Highlight the file(s) to be excluded, and then click
Add Files
to add the file to the exclusion list.
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Path
Use this section of the
Exclude
dialog box to choose specific directories to be excluded from defragmentation.
67
Select a directory by highlighting it, and then click
Add Folder
to add the directory to the exclusion list.
When a directory folder is added to the exclusion list, any subdirectories below the directory in the tree are also excluded.
Volumes
Use this section of the
Exclude
dialog box to choose the disk volume from which you want to exclude files or directories from defragmentation.
Add Files Button
Click
Add Files
to add the selected file(s) to the Diskeeper exclusion list.
Add Folder Button
Click
Add Folder
to add the selected directory path to the Diskeeper exclusion list.
Exclusion List Box
This box shows the files, directories, and volumes that will be excluded from defragmentation.
Remove Button
Click
Remove
to remove specific files, directories, or volumes from the Diskeeper exclusion list. To remove one or more items from the list, highlight the items in the
Exclusion List Box and click Remove.
Save Button
Click
Save
to save the exclusion list and return to Diskeeper.
Cancel Button
Click
Cancel
to cancel any changes you have made to the Diskeeper exclusion list and return to the main Diskeeper display.
Help Button
Click
Help
for context-sensitive help about the Diskeeper file exclusion list option.
68 Diskeeper Operation
Diskeeper Internal Exclusion List
There are certain files that should not be moved under any circumstances. These files may be system files or files related to specific applications. Moving these specific files can cause system or application failure. As a result, Diskeeper uses an
“internal” exclusion list to ensure these files are always excluded from Diskeeper processing. This list is fixed in memory and cannot be modified. These are the files that are currently in the Diskeeper internal exclusion list: bootsect.dos hiberfil.sys memory.dmp safeboot.fs safeboot.csv safeboot.rsv
Note that these files are not displayed in the Diskeeper user-defined exclusion list.
See
Diskeeper won't move some files no matter what I do. Is there a problem with
on page 90 for more information about the Diskeeper internal exclusion
list.
Setting Diskeeper Priority
Select the
Set defragmentation priority
option from the
Change your settings
menu in the Command pane to select the Windows priority at which Diskeeper defragmentation jobs run. (This option is also available from the Action menu.) You can set the priority independently for both “Set It and Forget It” and “Manual
Defragmentation” defragmentation jobs.
By default, scheduled, Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs run at the lowest
possible Windows priority. Also by default, manual defragmentation jobs run at the normal Windows priority. The priority for either type of defragmentation job can be changed with the Priority option.
Running at the lowest priority minimizes the system performance impact when
Diskeeper is defragmenting a disk volume. However, defragmentation jobs running at the lowest priority can take substantially longer to complete than those running at higher priorities, since Diskeeper “backs off” for any process running at a higher priority (even screen savers).
For this reason, you may have occasions where you want to run Diskeeper at a higher priority. Keep in mind, though, that your system performance may be impaired when Diskeeper is run at higher priorities.
Diskeeper Operation 69
To change the priority setting for either Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation, click the appropriate option button and then click
OK
.
Using Different Defragmentation
Methods
Diskeeper allows you to choose different types of defragmentation algorithms (or patterns) to suit your needs. Use the
Set defragmentation method
option in the
Change your settings
menu to open the
Defragmentation Options
dialog box shown below. (This option is also available from the Action menu.) Use this option to select the method Diskeeper uses for both manual and Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs.
Diskeeper provides defragmentation methods that emphasize:
Maximum disk performance
—This is the default, proven and balanced mix of file defragmentation and free space consolidation. It is designed to gain the best disk performance without using excessive system resources. (This is the algorithm used by Diskeeper Professional Edition and Diskeeper Home
Edition.)
Quick defragmentation
—This method provides the fastest defragmentation. It reduces the defragmentation time by placing the emphasis on defragmenting the fragmented files, rather than free space consolidation, since this returns the greatest system performance gain. This defragmentation method will complete
70 Diskeeper Operation
faster and use fewer resources, but note that the free space consolidation will not be as thorough as the other methods.
Improved free space consolidation
—This defragmentation method performs additional free space consolidation. This method performs a normal Diskeeper defragmentation, but then additionally performs extra processing to further improve free space consolidation. It is important to note this method requires additional processing and time, and free space consolidation improvement will be gradual as the option is used over time. Because of this, the Improved Free
Space option is only available for Set It and Forget It defragmentation jobs.
On Windows NT 4.0 systems, you should run a boot-time directory consolidation before using this option, to make more contiguous free space available.
On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems, free space consolidation may be improved by running a boot optimization from the Windows Command Prompt
before using this option. See page 81 for more information about boot optimization
and the command prompt.
To change the defragmentation method for either Set It and Forget It or manual defragmentation, click the appropriate option button and then click
OK
.
Using Power Management
The Power Management option is intended for users of laptop or portable computers.
Use the
Set power management options
option in the
Change your settings
menu to enable or disable this feature. (This option is also available from the Action menu.)
Diskeeper Operation 71
When this option is enabled and the computer is running on battery power, any scheduled defragmentation jobs are postponed, and a message noting this is written to the Windows Application Event Log. If you manually start a defragmentation job when this option is enabled (and the computer is running on battery power), a message is displayed asking if you want to continue, even though running Diskeeper on battery power may reduce the available battery time.
When this option is enabled and the computer switches from normal power to battery power, any ongoing scheduled analysis or defragmentation jobs are safely stopped and a message noting this is written to the Windows Application Event Log.
If you are running Diskeeper manually and the computer switches to battery power when this option is enabled, a message is displayed informing you that Diskeeper has stopped running.
Logging Diskeeper Activity
Use the
Set event logging options
option from the
Change your settings
menu in the Command pane to open the
Event
Logging dialog box. (This option is also available from the Action menu.) Use this option to enable and disable the logging of various Diskeeper events to the Windows Application Event Log.
Windows NT/2000/XP/Server 2003 Event Log
When Diskeeper is running on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or
Windows Server 2003, a log of Diskeeper activity is stored in the Application Event
Log file.
When Diskeeper logs an event, the event and its message are appended to the
Windows Application Event Log file, along with the date, time, user, and other identifying information.
72 Diskeeper Operation
These events can then be viewed with the Windows Event Viewer by choosing the
Application
option in the
Log
menu of the Event Viewer. This can be done on either local computers or remote computers on your network. The Event Viewer is found in the Windows Administrative Tools group on Windows NT 4.0 and in the
Computer Management Console on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003.
By default, the Application Event Log is 512 kilobytes in size and is set to overwrite events older than 7 days. Diskeeper may quickly fill the log file if these default settings are used. To make this log a more useful size, perform the steps described in
“The Windows Application Event Log,” page 7.
Windows 95/98/Me Event Log
When Diskeeper is running on Windows 95/98/Me systems, it provides the option of logging Diskeeper events into a text file. When Diskeeper logs an event, the event and its message are appended to the Diskeeper log file. These events are written as a text file, which can then be viewed with Notepad, or your choice of text editor programs.
The Diskeeper log file is named
DkEventLog.txt
and it is stored by default in the directory folder where Diskeeper is installed. The file is limited to 1 MB in size.
When it reaches this size, the log is purged completely and the event log is started from scratch.
Specifying What Gets Logged
Use the
Set event logging options
option from the
Change your settings
menu in the Command pane to open the
Event Logging
dialog box. (This option is also available from the Action menu.)
The
Event Logging
dialog box displays a list of events for which logging can be enabled or disabled. Click the check boxes for the following options to alternately enable or disable each option.
Diskeeper Operation 73
Service start and stop
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log each time the
Diskeeper service starts or stops. This option is enabled by default.
Defragmentation start and stop
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log whenever a defragmentation run starts or stops. The Event Log entry for this option also includes information about files that cannot be moved, either because the files are on a
Diskeeper exclusion list, or the files cannot be opened. Common causes preventing a file from being opened include access controls or permissions on the file being set to prevent Diskeeper from accessing it. File permissions must allow SYSTEM to have
full control of a file in order for Diskeeper to defragment it. See page 93 for more
information about setting access permissions.
This option is enabled by default.
74 Diskeeper Operation
Defragmented files
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log listing each file that is defragmented by Diskeeper. Note that enabling this option can cause the Event
Log to fill rather quickly, especially if Diskeeper defragments a high number of fragmented files. (This will be particularly likely when Diskeeper is first run on a volume, since Diskeeper will probably be defragmenting a large number of files.)
This option is not enabled by default.
Moved files
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log each time a file is moved for reasons other than to defragment the file. This would include cases where files are moved in order to create more contiguous free space. This option also notes when files could not be moved, such as files that are on a Diskeeper exclusion list or files that cannot be opened. Common causes preventing a file from being opened include access controls or permissions on the file being set to prevent Diskeeper from accessing it. As mentioned previously, file permissions must allow SYSTEM to have full control of a file in order for Diskeeper to defragment it. See page 93 for more information about setting access permissions.
Here again, enabling this option can cause the Event Log to fill quickly. This option is not enabled by default.
Disk information
Diskeeper Operation 75
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Application Event Log at the end of each defragmentation run showing general information about the disk volume that was defragmented. This appears in the Windows Event Viewer as Diskeeper
Event 15. When you double-click Diskeeper Event 15 in the Event Viewer, information similar to this example is displayed. This option is not enabled by default.
On Windows 95/98/Me:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made in the
Diskeeper EventLog.txt file containing the information shown in the example above.
This option is not enabled by default.
For a description of information contained in the Description box, see page 35.
76 Diskeeper Operation
File information
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log at the end of each defragmentation run showing information about the files on the disk volume that was defragmented. This appears in the Windows Event Viewer as Diskeeper Event
16. When you double-click Diskeeper Event 16 in the Event Viewer, information similar to this example is displayed. This option is not enabled by default.
On Windows 95/98/Me:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made in the
Diskeeper EventLog.txt file containing the information shown in the example above.
This option is not enabled by default.
For a description of information contained in the Description box, see page 35.
Paging File information
Diskeeper Operation 77
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log at the end of each defragmentation run showing information about the paging file on the volume that was defragmented (if it exists on the volume). This appears in the Windows Event
Viewer as Diskeeper Event 17. When you double-click Diskeeper Event 17 in the
Event Viewer, information similar to this example is displayed. This option is not enabled by default.
On Windows 95/98/Me:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made in the
Diskeeper EventLog.txt file containing the information shown in the example above.
This option is not enabled by default.
For a description of information contained in the Description box, see page 35.
78 Diskeeper Operation
Directory information
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log at the end of each defragmentation run showing information about the directories on the volume that was defragmented. This appears in the Windows Event Viewer as Diskeeper Event
18. When you double-click Diskeeper Event 18 in the Event Viewer, information similar to this example is displayed. This option is not enabled by default.
On Windows 95/98/Me:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made in the
Diskeeper EventLog.txt file containing the information shown in the example above.
This option is not enabled by default.
For a description of information contained in the Description box, see page 35.
MFT information
Diskeeper Operation 79
On Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003:
When this option is enabled, an entry is made to the Event Log at the end of each defragmentation run showing information about the Master File Table (MFT) on the volume that was defragmented. (Keep in mind, since only NTFS volumes have an
MFT, this information will only apply to NTFS volumes.) The entry appears in the
Windows Event Viewer as Diskeeper Event 19. When you double-click Diskeeper
Event 19 in the Event Viewer, information similar to this example is displayed. This option is not enabled by default.
This option does not exist on Windows 95/98/Me machines, as MFT files are unique to Windows NT through Windows Server 2003.
For a description of information contained in the Description box, see page 35.
80 Diskeeper Operation
Terabyte Volume Engine
Some editions
4
of Diskeeper include the Terabyte Volume Engine (TVE), which is a
specialized defragmentation engine for very large disk volumes (100 GB or larger in size). The TVE is designed to efficiently handle volumes containing millions of files.
The TVE operates differently from the standard Diskeeper defragmentation engines since it is designed specifically for very large volumes. For example, when the TVE is defragmenting a disk, the graphic display usually shown in the Drive Map pane is replaced with numerical data showing the progress of the defragmentation operation.
This reduction in system resource usage pays off in lower CPU consumption and faster defragmentation of very large volumes.
Also, the TVE may or may not examine the whole volume in a single process. This saves system memory resources.
Here is a description of the information displayed in the Drive Map pane when the
TVE is defragmenting a disk volume:
File record examinations
This is the number of times a file record (MFT record) was examined and is basically used to show that progress is occurring. The number may be larger than the number of file records on the volume if a full job runs, because a file record may be examined more than once, or it may be smaller than the number of file records on the volume if the job didn't run to completion.
Fragmented file examinations
This is the number of the above file record examinations that located fragmented files. Again, a file may be examined more than once during a defragmentation job, so this number will not match the number of fragmented files reported in the
Fragmentation pane report.
Fragments eliminated
This is the number of fragments that were eliminated by the TVE. It may not match the number of fragments reported in the Fragmentation pane report because the job was only partially completed, or because files became more or less fragmented as the result of other processes during the period when the engine runs.
Contiguous file examinations
This is the number of the above file record examinations that located contiguous files that could be moved to help consolidate free space. Not all files on the volume
4
See the Table of Diskeeper Editions on page 87 for a list of the Diskeeper editions with the
Terabyte Volume Engine.
Diskeeper Operation
are candidates for this action, so the number will most likely be far less than the number of contiguous files in the Fragmentation pane report.
81
Files that could not be processed
This is the number of times that a file couldn't be moved. The most common reasons for a file not moving are:
Diskeeper was denied permission to open the file (the file did not allow the
SYSTEM process Full Control)
The file was open for exclusive use by another process
Free space was no longer available when the move was attempted.
The Windows application event log stores the reason(s) for the first fifty files that could not be processed.
Running Diskeeper From the Command
Prompt
In addition to its Graphical User Interface (GUI), Diskeeper supports commands from the Windows command prompt. This provides an alternative method of defragmenting disk volumes. The single command supports several optional command qualifiers.
To use this command, follow these steps:
1. Open the Windows command prompt window.
2. Type at the command prompt, followed by a drive letter and any of the optional command parameters.
The Diskeeper command defragments the files of the selected volume. Use the command in this form:
Diskeeper <volume> [/b] [/?]
Parameters
<volume>
This is a required parameter that will accept any valid drive letter. A colon after the drive letter is not required.
82 Diskeeper Operation
/b
Boot
—On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems, this option causes specific files that are critical to booting your system to be moved adjacent to each other into a contiguous piece of free space, and defragments them if necessary.
Using this option can decrease the time needed to boot your computer.
/?
Help
—Displays the command prompt Help text.
Examples
Diskeeper D
Defragments volume D.
Diskeeper D /b
Defragments volume D and performs a boot optimization.
Diskeeper /?
Displays the following Help text:
Copyright (c) 2001 - 2002 by Executive Software
International, Inc.
Diskeeper <volume> [ /b ] [ /? ]
<volume> is a required parameter that will accept a valid drive letter.
The switches are:
/b Boot - On Windows XP systems, defragments the files used to boot your computer, if needed.
/? Help - Displays this help message.
Theory of Operation 83
C h a p t e r 5
Theory of Operation
This chapter describes the Diskeeper design goals and how those goals were met.
Introduction
As described in the introduction of this manual, the term
disk fragmentation
means two things: a condition in which pieces of individual files on a disk are not contiguous, but rather are broken up and scattered around the disk volume; and a condition in which the free space on a disk volume consists of little pieces of space here and there rather than a few large free spaces.
The effects of excessive fragmentation are twofold as well: file access takes longer because a file must be collected in pieces here and there, requiring several disk accesses instead of just one; and file creation takes longer because space for the file must be allocated in little pieces here and there instead of just one contiguous allocation.
Before the introduction of Diskeeper, there was no method for completely correcting the problems of file and free space fragmentation on Windows NT computers or in a mixed Windows network.
Design Goals
In designing Diskeeper for Windows, the following goals were established:
The product must be completely safe to use.
It must improve Windows system performance. It is not designed to make the disk look “pretty”—it is designed to improve disk performance and, as a result, overall system performance.
It should process live disks without interfering with user access to files.
It should run without operator intervention.
84 Theory of Operation
It must defragment all possible files and consolidate free space into the smallest possible number of large spaces.
Diskeeper defragments files and free space on a disk, allowing access to the files on the disk at any time while Diskeeper is running.
Safety
Diskeeper is designed with
safety
as the highest priority.
To ensure the safe movement of files on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, Diskeeper uses mechanisms built into the operating system that were developed and implemented by Executive Software, and fully incorporated into Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows
Server 2003 by Microsoft. On Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me systems, Diskeeper uses similar mechanisms used by Microsoft and others.
By using these built-in mechanisms, Diskeeper maintains cache coherency, file security and permissions information, and file content integrity no matter how fragmented the files on the disk are.
The foremost design goal for Diskeeper is to make sure that no data is ever lost. To accomplish this goal Diskeeper uses the following criteria for accessing files: the contents of data files are never modified under any circumstances only one file is processed at a time, not the whole disk each processing pass is independent of the other passes no information is stored on any other device or in a “scratch space”
Diskeeper accesses a file in such a way that no user access can conflict with
Diskeeper during the critical portion of the relocation process file relocation is aborted if any error is encountered, leaving the file in its original state
Diskeeper was designed to err on the side of caution. In other words, it only moves a file on the volume when it is absolutely certain that no data will be lost, including file attributes. The only change to file attribute-type information is the physical location of the file on the volume. None of the file dates are changed and no other fields in the file record header are used to store Diskeeper information.
Diskeeper never defragments or moves files that are specifically stored at a specific physical location on the volume.
If anything causes your computer to crash while Diskeeper is running, or if you abort the Diskeeper defragmentation run in the middle of the file relocation process, no data is ever at risk.
Theory of Operation 85
Windows 95/98/Me Note:
Stopping or pausing a Diskeeper job through its menus or toolbars is completely safe. Note, however, that in the event of a system crash or other non-standard termination of the Diskeeper process while it is running, it is possible for free space and file information to be stored incorrectly. Executive
Software strongly recommends running the Windows Scandisk error checking utility immediately when Diskeeper is stopped abnormally. Scandisk will correct any potential file errors.
Performance
When running in the “Set It and Forget It” mode, Diskeeper is designed to run in the background, without adversely affecting performance of your Windows computer.
Steps have been taken to assure that, by default, Diskeeper overhead has the lowest possible impact on system performance. Diskeeper can be run at the lowest possible
Windows priority, using only otherwise unused CPU cycles. Diskeeper was designed in such a way to ensure it will not interfere with other processes on your
Windows computer.
However, for cases where you want to defragment disks more quickly, Diskeeper allows you to increase the defragmentation priority. For more information, see
Process Live Disks
It is not acceptable to force users off the disk while performing routine defragmentation. To do so would be a case of the cure being worse than the disease.
Access to fragmented files is better than no access at all.
The best solution is to defragment online with users active on the same disk volume.
Diskeeper was designed with this in mind. During most of the time Diskeeper is processing a file, it shares the file with any other users that may access the same file.
The last step of processing the file, however, involves locking the file for a very brief period, a matter of milliseconds. If another user requests a file that Diskeeper has locked, that request is suspended for the brief period until Diskeeper releases the file. Then the request is serviced. There is never an interruption of either process as a result of this delay.
This solution allows Diskeeper to defragment open files safely, regardless of whether they are open for read operations or for write operations.
Note:
Due to the Windows NT 4.0 design, directories, MFT and paging files cannot be moved safely on live disks. (NTFS directories
can
be moved on Windows 2000,
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.) Therefore, Diskeeper performs these operations at the only safe time, while the computer is starting up.
86 Theory of Operation
No Operator Intervention
In keeping with the design goals, after Diskeeper has been started in the “Set It and
Forget It” mode, it runs automatically in the background, without the need for operator intervention. It runs indefinitely, unless told otherwise by you.
Diskeeper Editions 87
A p p e n d i x A
Table of Diskeeper Editions
The table below shows the different editions of Diskeeper available, as well as the features and capabilities of each:
88 Diskeeper Editions
This table shows the different Diskeeper editions available and the Windows operating systems they support:
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 89
A p p e n d i x B
Answers to Frequently Asked
Questions
Why won’t my volume defragment completely?
This can be the result of several situations. If your volume is extremely full, there may not be sufficient free space to defragment the files completely. In that case, we recommend temporarily moving some of the files off the volume, particularly large files. This temporary measure often allows Diskeeper the “working room” it needs to complete the defragmentation process. It also allows Diskeeper to defragment the free space on the volume, increasing the possibility that the temporarily-moved files can be moved back to the volume in a contiguous or less fragmented condition.
Another cause of incomplete defragmentation is a fragmented paging file. For more information, see
Can Diskeeper defragment paging files?
A volume that, at some time, has been filled to capacity may have a severely fragmented Master File Table (MFT). Volumes that have been converted from FAT to NTFS often also have a fragmented MFT. A White Paper describing the causes and effects of MFT fragmentation is available from the Executive Software Web site at http://www.execsoft.com/whats-new/whitepaper.asp. Use the Boot-Time defragmentation option to defragment a fragmented MFT. For more information, see
Another situation that can prevent complete defragmentation of a volume is the existence of a large number of directories on the volume. For more information, see
Can Diskeeper move directories?
Yet another cause for incomplete defragmentation on Windows NT, Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems can be a security access situation.
Both SYSTEM and ADMINISTRATOR must have full control over a file (or the directory folder it is in) in order for Diskeeper to have access to move the file. This is because the Diskeeper service runs under the Administrator account, and System access is necessary to defragment files safely. This security feature is governed by the Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 C2 security requirements. Included with Diskeeper is a batch file that sets the access permissions on a disk volume to allow Diskeeper to run properly. See
How do I set
access permissions to allow Diskeeper to defragment my files?
information about using this batch procedure.
90 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Diskeeper won't move some files no matter what I do. Is there a problem with Diskeeper?
Diskeeper has a built-in list of files that it will not move under any circumstances.
This list is referred to as the Diskeeper internal exclusion list.
The most common reason for a file existing on the Diskeeper internal exclusion list is safety. The file cannot or should not be moved in order to maintain the integrity of your system.
For example, the file memory.dmp is on the Diskeeper internal exclusion list. This file is on the exclusion list because the disk locations where this file is stored are loaded by the kernel when the system boots and stored in memory. These disk locations are then used to write the dump file should it need writing. If Diskeeper were to move this file, then the system failed, the dump file would be written over other files or in space considered to be free space. This could result in a very corrupted disk.
The same situation applies to hiberfil.sys. When your system goes into hibernation mode, the pre-fetched disk locations are overwritten with the hibernation data. If
Diskeeper moved hiberfil.sys out and moved other files into those disk locations, then disk corruption would occur.
Why doesn't Diskeeper move all of the files into one place on the volume?
Our primary philosophy with Diskeeper is improving and maintaining the performance of your computer. The disk drives are the primary bottleneck in your computer's performance. Diskeeper restores the disks to top speed by eliminating fragmentation.
It is a common misconception that a defragmented disk should look very neat and tidy in the Drive Map pane, with solid blue bars all the way across the screen
(representing fragmentation-free files) and the rest white space (representing consolidated space).
Clearly, the speed of the disk (meaning how fast you can access the data on it) is more important than the prettiness of the display or the consolidation of all the free space into one place. Free space consolidation might be important if the next file that you plan to create needs to be one gigantic contiguous file, but it has no effect on performance. Because of this, Diskeeper uses algorithms that achieve the highest speed from your drive regardless of the arrangement of the free spaces on the drive and on the screen—and it does so without wasting time on excessive consolidation of free space. We simply go for the fastest possible file access times and then stop.
Even so, you might ask why we don't continue and rearrange the files further to get a neat display? Because it takes computer power to do so. We long ago decided that it would be wrong for Diskeeper to consume more of your computer's performance
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
than it gives back. So Diskeeper defragments until the disk is in top shape performance-wise and then stops. Any further work is a waste of your computer resources.
91
Now this might not be important to you if you like to sit and watch the display as
Diskeeper defragments your drive, but it is a very big deal to large corporate data centers and people who depend on their computers for their work. They need all the performance they can get and can't hold up production while the defragmenter works to enhance the “look” of the disk but not improve its performance. This is why
Diskeeper is designed to run in the background at the lowest possible priority, giving way to any other program that needs to run. And it is also why Diskeeper stops defragmenting when maximum performance has been achieved.
Can Diskeeper move directories?
Windows NT 4.0 does not allow directories to be moved, because of data integrity issues related to how Windows NT maintains directory information. Since Diskeeper runs while other processes are active on the system, it does not attempt to move directories online.
However, directories on Windows NT 4.0 volumes can be moved safely while your computer is being started—a time when Windows has not yet taken complete control of the files and directories on your disk. For more information on how to consolidate
Windows NT 4.0 directories, see
On Windows 95/98/Me computers, and NTFS volumes on Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, Diskeeper can safely move and defragment directories, which makes consolidation unnecessary.
Can Diskeeper defragment paging files?
Diskeeper does not defragment active paging files, since paging files must be open for exclusive use by Windows at all times. However, Diskeeper can defragment paging files safely when your computer is being started—a time when the operating system has not yet taken full control of the files and directories on your disk. For more information, see
Can Diskeeper defragment the Master File Table?
The Master File Table (MFT) is the area on an NTFS disk volume where Windows
NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 keep the necessary information for retrieving files from the disk volume. The MFT also contains information such as file creation, modification, and backup dates and times. Because the MFT is held open for exclusive use by Windows, Diskeeper does not move any pieces of this critical system file while Windows is running, but can do so safely at boot-time. For more information, see
92 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn’t Diskeeper completely consolidate the free space on my volume?
Several factors can prevent the free space on a volume from being defragmented:
A fragmented paging file. For more information, see “Boot-Time
A large number of directories on the volume. For more information, see “Can
Diskeeper move directories?” on page 91.
On NTFS volumes, a portion of the free space on the volume is reserved by
Windows for the Master File Table (MFT). For more information, see
Why don’t my
files get moved to the beginning of the volume?
Having all of the free space in a single, contiguous piece provides very little (if any) performance benefit. Free space fragmented into hundreds of pieces will affect disk performance, but free space that’s in a few pieces should not have any effect on the performance of your volume.
Why don’t my files get moved to the beginning of the volume?
On NTFS volumes, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows
Server 2003 reserve a portion of the free space on a disk volume for the Master File
Table (MFT). This free space is usually most noticeable at the physical “beginning”
of the volume (easily seen using Drive Map pane), but space is also reserved for use by the MFT in other areas of the volume.
Since this space is reserved for exclusive use, Diskeeper will not move files into these areas of the volume, but will move them out of these areas.
Why don't all of my NTFS volumes appear in the Diskeeper
Volume List?
Both SYSTEM and ADMINISTRATOR must have full control over a file (or the directory folder it is in) in order for Diskeeper to have access to move the file. This is because the Diskeeper service runs under the Administrator account, and System access is necessary to defragment files safely. This is a security feature governed by the Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 C2 security requirements.
If the root-level directory folder does not have SYSTEM and ADMINISTRATOR set for full control (as seen in the Permissions section under the Security tab in the
Properties dialog box) Diskeeper will not display the disk volume in the Volume list under some circumstances.
How do I determine how often to run Diskeeper on my volume?
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 93
This depends on many factors, including the level of file activity, the sizes and types of files used, and the amount of free space available on the volume. While there are no set rules on how often to defragment your disk volumes, here are some guidelines.
Of course, the first suggestion is to let the Diskeeper Smart Scheduling feature automatically and dynamically determine the optimum run frequency for your particular disk volumes. Smart Scheduling monitors the fragmentation levels of your volumes and adjusts the defragmentation schedule to best fit your needs, even as those needs change. See
Disk volumes on busy file servers should be defragmented more often than those on single-user workstations. You may need to run Diskeeper on a server volume as often as every two to four hours to maintain optimum system performance, while on a workstation, you may only need to run Diskeeper once a day or less. As a general rule, the busier the disk—the more often it will need to be defragmented.
To determine how often to run Diskeeper on your disk volumes, you can use the logging function of Diskeeper to monitor the number of files moved during each
Diskeeper run. For information about how files that are moved by Diskeeper are
logged, see “Logging Diskeeper Activity” on page 71. In general, if Diskeeper
moves fewer than 50 files per run, you are running Diskeeper frequently enough to maintain the performance of your Windows system at an optimum level. If the number of files moved during each run is greater, or is increasing, schedule
Diskeeper to run more frequently. (Here again, you can automate this by letting the Diskeeper Smart Scheduling feature control when to run Diskeeper.)
How do I set access permissions to allow Diskeeper to defragment my files?
In order for Diskeeper to have access to move files, both SYSTEM and
ADMINISTRATOR must have full control over a file (or the directory folder it is in). This version of Diskeeper includes a batch file that sets the access permissions on a disk volume to allow Diskeeper to run properly. This batch file is called
setdkacls.bat
, and it is located in the directory folder where Diskeeper is installed.
If you find you have made files inaccessible to Diskeeper, or that you have some files inaccessible to Diskeeper, open a command-prompt window, change directory to the Diskeeper installation directory, and type:
setdkacls
x:
where
x:
is the letter name of the disk volume on which you want to change access permissions.
The
setdkacls.bat
procedure automates the following sequence of commands: cd /d
x:
94 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
cd \ cacls * /e /t /c /g Administrators:F System:F
For more information about the
cacls
command, type
cacls /?
at a command prompt.
This batch procedure will only work if the account you are logged onto has been granted access to the file(s) you are wanting to defragment.
Why don’t my defragmentation jobs all start at the same time?
Most editions of Diskeeper allow you to defragment more than one disk volume at a time. However, when the defragmentation of two or more disks is scheduled to begin at the same time, Diskeeper will start each job separately, in one-minute intervals.
For this reason, you will notice the start times for each Diskeeper job run in the
Application Event Log can vary by several minutes. This is no cause for alarm.
Why doesn’t the free space reported by the post-analysis
(or post-defragmentation) summary pop-up screen match what the Diskeeper Fragmentation pane shows?
Several post-analysis and post-defragmentation summary screens include information about the amount of free space available on the volume for defragmentation. This figure is based on the space available to Diskeeper, which may be less than the total free space on an NTFS volume. NTFS volumes reserve a percentage of the total volume for the Master File Table (MFT), which Diskeeper cannot use for defragmenting files. Because of this, the figure shown in the
Diskeeper post-analysis and post-defragmentation summaries on NTFS volumes will not match the total free space figure displayed in the Diskeeper Fragmentation pane
(or other utilities like Disk Properties in Windows Explorer).
Should I use Diskeeper on RAID arrays?
Yes—Diskeeper supports all levels of software- and hardware-based RAID arrays.
RAID arrays are often used to increase system performance. In a RAID array of four disk drives, for example, a file can be accessed up to four times as fast as on a single drive. This is because the file is spread between the four drives, and all four drives can be accessed at the same time, so the file can be retrieved much faster. However, like the files on a single disk drive, these file parts can become fragmented on the individual drives, which reduces the speed advantage of RAID. In fact, the effects of fragmentation can be more obvious in a RAID array than in a single disk drive.
Diskeeper defragments RAID arrays just as it does single disk drives. Diskeeper improves the speed and performance of a RAID environment by eliminating wasteful and unnecessary I/Os from being issued by the file system. In our fourdrive array example, it would defragment the pieces of the file on each separate drive as though they were separate files, and as directed by the RAID controller.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I get an incorrect excess fragment count after defragmenting an NTFS drive under Windows 2000?
Under Windows 2000, NTFS files that have been compressed, then decompressed, accumulate excess space allocations that Diskeeper cannot move. (The defragmentation APIs can only move actual data, not unused allocated space in the file.)
95
Microsoft states in knowledge base article Q228198 "Disk Defragmenter Analysis
Shows More File Fragments Than File Size Suggests" that the "excess allocation" is released when the file is closed. Experiments performed in our labs show that this is not the case. The disk must be dismounted and remounted (or the system rebooted) followed by an open and a close of the file for the excess allocation to be released.
Therefore, when this condition exists on an NTFS volume, Diskeeper moves the data portion of a file, and if the file has an excess allocation, it can actually fragment the file—one piece being the data just moved, the other piece being the excess allocation
“left behind”. Diskeeper notes this properly in its statistics. However, sometime after the file movement is completed and the file is closed, the excess allocation is released by Windows 2000. Thus, a subsequent analysis shows the fragmentation figures reported at the end of the defragmentation run to be wildly wrong.
This excess allocation phenomena was introduced in Windows 2000, but is not present in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.
Diskeeper engineers are working on a solution for this inconsistency. Until it is found, you can (1) avoid using NTFS disk compression or (2) perform a subsequent disk analysis to get the correct information.
Does Diskeeper support Windows clustering?
Diskeeper is certified for Windows clustering. To run Diskeeper in a clustered environment, perform the following steps:
1. On the system that has control of the clustered disk(s), install Diskeeper and schedule it.
2. Fail the clustered disks over to the other system, install Diskeeper and schedule it.
After you perform these steps, Diskeeper will run on the clustered system that remains in operation after the other clustered system has experienced a system failure. Diskeeper will also run on the clustered disk/partition in an active-active cluster, defragmenting the clustered disk/partition on the system that currently has control of the disk/partition.
Note:
the Diskeeper Boot Time Defragmentation will not run on clustered partitions.
96 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
How can I run Diskeeper from an account that is not a member of the Administrators group?
If the account you are using is not a member of the Administrators group, you will not be able to install or operate Diskeeper. We recommend that you simply use the
Set and Forget It feature to set a schedule to allow Diskeeper to run in the background on all systems. Since the Set It and Forget It operation runs under the
SYSTEM process, there is no need for an administrator to be logged in when it is running.
Do I need to have the Diskeeper service running all the time?
Yes.
DkService
is the program that actually runs Diskeeper defragmentation jobs. It monitors the Diskeeper schedule file and starts defragmentation jobs when they are needed. If the Diskeeper service is disabled or not present, you will not be able to run Diskeeper at all.
That said, if you look at the DkService process using Task Manager, you will see that it uses only a few seconds of CPU time each week. The fact that it is running all the time is not going to use up system resources, or cause any problems.
Since installing Diskeeper, the number of disk errors I get has increased. Why is that?
Diskeeper tends to increase disk activity, and just by running, it can make weak points in the system break. In this case, you have some disk error, most likely in the free space where the Windows disk error checking utility (CHKDSK) cannot find it.
Run CHKDSK/R on your operating system volume at least, preferably on all volumes. That should correct any errors. (CHKDSK/F may not correct this issue.)
If CHKDSK itself aborts when it reaches the bad block, it indicates a disk problem which CHKDSK can't handle, and which will likely cause more trouble in the future.
You should back up the volume and reformat (or replace) it to prevent the possibility of data loss due to drive failure.
If you are running Windows 95/98/ME, run Scandisk Thorough instead of
CHKDSK.
How can I find which version of Diskeeper I have installed?
Open Diskeeper, click the
Action
menu, then select
About
. This tells you which
Diskeeper edition, version and build is installed.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 97
Support Services 99
A p p e n d i x C
Support Services
U.S. Support Services
Registered users are entitled to 90 days of free telephone support, as well as special upgrade pricing, from Executive Software. Our free U.S. technical support is available Monday through Friday during the first 90 days from 7:00
A
.
M
. to 5:30
P
.
M
. Pacific time. If you have not yet registered your Diskeeper for Windows purchase, use the registration card in your Diskeeper box and do so now. Or, register your purchase online via our Web site at:
http://www.executive.com
Most technical support questions can be answered from the Technical Support section of our Web site at the address shown above.
You can also contact our technical support team via the Internet at:
Or via FAX at:
818-252-5514
If you are within your 90-day free support period, or have purchased telephone support, you can call:
818-771-1600
When your 90-day free support period has expired, you can purchase the support plan which best suits your needs. Executive Software offers 24-hour, 7-day support plans. Contact Executive Software to find out which support options suit you best.
Executive Software’s address is:
Executive Software
7590 North Glenoaks Boulevard
Burbank, California 91504, USA
100 Support Services
European Support Services
Registered users are entitled to 90 days of free telephone support, as well as special upgrade pricing, from Executive Software. Our free European technical support is available Monday through Friday during the first 90 days from 8:30 to 17:30 GMT.
If you have not yet registered your Diskeeper for Windows purchase, use the registration card in your Diskeeper box and do so now. Or, register your purchase online via our Web site at:
http://www.execsoft.co.uk
Most technical support questions can be answered from the Technical Support section of our Web site at the address shown above.
You can also contact our technical support team via the Internet at:
Or via FAX at:
+44 (0) 1342-327390
If you are within your 90-day free support period, or have purchased telephone support, you can call:
+44 (0) 1342-327477
When your 90-day free support period has expired, you can purchase the support plan which best suits your needs. Executive Software offers 24-hour, 7-day support plans. Contact Executive Software to find out which support options suit you best.
Executive Software’s address is:
Executive Software UK Inc.
Kings House, Cantelupe Road
East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3BE
England
Remote Installation 101
A p p e n d i x D
Remote Installation
Here are some methods for installing Diskeeper on multiple computers in a network.
Diskeeper PushInstall
The preferred method for installing Diskeeper on computers across your network is the PushInstall feature, available in Diskeeper Administrator Edition. Using the Push
Install feature, Diskeeper Administrator Edition can install Diskeeper Professional
Edition or Diskeeper Server Standard Edition simultaneously to multiple computers on a network from a single machine acting as an administrative console. Diskeeper
PushInstall can save you a tremendous amount of time and effort, especially on large networks, where the same software needs to be installed on hundreds, or even thousands of computers.
To make use of the PushInstall feature, you must install Diskeeper Administrator
Edition on a computer that will act as the administrative console for all your
Diskeeper installations network-wide. You must also be logged into a domain administrator account. The receiving computers must be running a Windows version supported by Diskeeper Professional Edition or Diskeeper Server Standard Edition.
Refer to the Diskeeper Administrator Edition User Manual or Help system for detailed instructions on using the PushInstall feature.
Diskeeper as a Cluster-Aware Application 103
A p p e n d i x E
Diskeeper as a Cluster-Aware
Application on a Cluster Server
Diskeeper can be run as a cluster-aware application on a cluster server. To do this, you must set up the DkCluster.exe executable image as a cluster resource and bring it online. DkCluster.exe is supplied with Diskeeper, and is located in the directory where Diskeeper is installed.
Requirements
Note:
This feature is only available on Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 systems. Diskeeper must be installed on all the nodes of the cluster upon which you want to run Diskeeper, under the same drive names and directories.
Setting Up the Cluster Resource and
Bringing it Online
Follow these steps to set up the cluster resource and bring it online:
1. Start the Cluster Administrator from the
Start | Administrative Tools
menu.
2. Create a new group by selecting
New
, then
Group
from the
File
menu.
3. Specify for the group name, optionally add a description for the new group and click
Next
.
4. Select the nodes that Diskeeper is going to run on from
Available nodes:
list and
Add
them to the
Preferred owners:
list.
5. Click to create the new cluster group.
6. Select the newly created group from the
Groups
tree.
7. Create a new resource by selecting
New
, then
Resource
from the
File
menu.
104 Diskeeper as a Cluster-Aware Application
8. Specify for the name and optionally add a description for the new resource.
9. Choose for the
Resource type:
and click
Next
.
10. The
Possible Owners
dialog box will display the nodes chosen in step 4 shown in the
Possible owners:
list box. Click
Next
.
11. Click
Next
on the
Dependencies
dialog box.
12. Under
Command line
, specify the path for the
DkCluster.exe
executable image which resides in the Diskeeper install directory.
13. Enter the Diskeeper install directory path under
Current directory
.
14. Check the
Allow application to interact with desktop
box and click
Next
.
15. Click
Finish
in the Registry Replication dialog box.
16. You can move the ESI group to the node on which you want to bring the
DkCluster
cluster resource online by right clicking on the ESI group in the
Move Group option box.
17. To bring
Dkcluster.exe
online, select the
DkCluster
resource and select
Bring online
from the
File
menu.
18. Right-click
DkCluster
and select
Properties
.
19. Click the
Advanced
tab.
20. Select
Restart
.
21. Set
Threshold
to
0
(fails over immediately), or decide what value is wanted here. (The threshold value is the number of times the application will return to the same computer before it fails over to the next computer.)
22. Set
Period
to
1000
. (Period is the time interval in seconds, during which the threshold count is tracked. After that time has elapsed, the threshold count starts over.)
23. Click
OK
.
Glossary 105
Glossary
access:
To store
data
on, or retrieve data from, a
disk drive
or other
peripheral device
. See also
file
.
administrator:
See
system administrator
.
applet:
A small
application
program that is usually built into an
operating system
or a larger application program. For example, the built-in writing and drawing programs that come with
Windows
are sometimes called “applets.”
application:
A computer
program
, which causes a computer
system
to perform some useful work for the user.
AutoPlay:
A feature of some
Windows
applications on
CD-ROM
that causes the program to start automatically when the CD-ROM is placed in the drive.
background processing:
The execution of certain operations during momentary lulls in the primary (foreground) process. An example of a background process is printing while a word processor is waiting for keystrokes.
binary:
From Latin “bini,” meaning two by two and “ary,” meaning of, or pertaining to. Computers use the binary number system, which is a way of counting in which only two
digits
(0 and 1) are used. Contrast with the familiar decimal number system, in which we count with 10 digits (0 through 9).
bit:
Short for
binary digit
. The smallest unit of information handled by a computer.
Like a light switch, a bit is either on or off, which corresponds to a numerical value of one or zero. Larger numbers are expressed by groups of bits. See also
byte
.
boot:
Refers to the initial start-up of a computer, such as when you turn on the computer’s power. From the word “bootstrap,” indicating the computer “lifts itself by the bootstraps;” that is, it gets itself going.
boot-time:
The time during which a computer
boots
; that is, the computer is starting up and the
operating system
has not yet taken over control of the computer.
browser:
A software program, such as Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer
, designed to locate and view Web pages on the
Internet
. In addition to displaying text, modern browsers also can display pictures and play sounds.
byte:
A group of eight
bits
, which can represent a number from zero through 255, a letter of the alphabet, or a variety of other things.
cache:
From the French word
cacher
, meaning “to hide.” A temporary storage facility designed to speed things up by providing information to software that would
106 Glossary
otherwise have to be obtained from a slower
medium
. Caches exist for Web browsers,
disk drives
and
CPU
s. See also
cache memory
.
cache coherency:
A condition where the
data
contained in the
cache memories
in a computer with multiple processors is kept consistent at all times.
cache memory:
In computers, a cache is a small amount of very fast
memory
that is placed close to (or inside) the
CPU chip
, in order to improve performance. The cache memory holds copies of recently accessed
data
. Because computer programs often run the same instructions repeatedly, many times the CPU will find the data it needs in the cache and therefore will run faster because it does not need to access the computer’s main memory.
CD-ROM:
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory. A stiff plastic disk commonly used by
software
manufacturers to distribute software to customers. As the name implies, the original contents of a CD-ROM cannot be changed.
central processing unit (CPU):
The part of the computer hardware that controls the computer’s overall operation and performs computations. Most modern CPUs are built into a single
integrated circuit
or
chip
. See also
Pentium, x86
.
chip:
See
integrated circuit
.
CHKDSK:
A program (supplied with Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003) that checks the integrity of a disk and corrects disk errors such as lost
clusters
. See also
scandisk
.
client:
In a computer
network
, a computer that uses the services of another computer, called a
server
. For example, a client can “ask” a server to provide it with needed data, or to print a file for the client. See also
server, workstation
.
cluster:
Smallest addressable unit of space on a disk. A one-byte file will actually use a cluster of disk space. The minimum size of a cluster depends on the size of the disk
volume
. The
FAT file system
allows a maximum of 65,536 clusters per volume, which means that the cluster size on a 64-megabyte disk volume is one kilobyte, while a 128-megabyte volume uses two-kilobyte clusters. Thus, the FAT file system can be very wasteful of disk space on large volumes. The
NTFS
file system does not suffer from this limitation.
COM:
Acronym for Component Object Model, a specification developed by
Microsoft for building software
components
that can be made into programs or add functionality to existing programs running on Microsoft Windows platforms.
component:
A small modular
program
that performs a specific function and is designed to work interactively with other components and
applications
. See also
applet, COM, DCOM.
Glossary 107 contiguous:
Adjacent; placed one after the other. A contiguous file is not fragmented; that is, it takes up a single “chunk” of disk space. See also
fragmentation
,
defragmentation
.
control file:
A file (
Diskeep.ctl
) used by
Diskeeper
to keep track of and control scheduled defragmentation of disk volumes. See also
Set It and Forget It
.
controller:
A specialized electronic circuit, which serves as an
interface
between a
device
, such as a
disk drive
, and a computer. See also
IDE
,
SCSI
.
CPU:
see
central processing unit
.
data:
Information, as processed by a computer. Plural of the Latin word
datum
, meaning an item of information.
database:
A collection of related information about a subject, organized in a useful manner that provides a base or foundation for procedures such as retrieving information, drawing conclusions, and making decisions.
datum:
Singular of
data
.
DCOM:
Acronym for Distributed Component Object Model, a version of the
Component Object Model (
COM
) software developed by Microsoft to support
objects
distributed across a network. For example, the
Set It and Forget It
feature of
Diskeeper
uses DCOM to start a scheduled
defragmentation
.
defragmentation:
The reduction or elimination of
fragmentation
, by making files and/or free disk space more
contiguous
.
device:
A machine, such as a printer or a
disk drive
.
digit:
From Latin “digitus,” meaning finger. Any of the numbers 0 through 9 in the decimal number system, called a digit because people originally used their fingers for counting. Computers use a
binary
number system with only two digits (0 and 1).
directory:
A file that contains a catalog of files and other directories stored on a disk, which allows you to organize your files into groups, making them easier to find.
directory consolidation:
A
Diskeeper
feature which, at
boot-time
, gathers (almost) all
directory
entries on a disk
volume
into a single area on the disk, instead of scattered in many places. Directory consolidation makes
defragmentation
more effective than it would otherwise be. Directory consolidation requires sufficient contiguous free disk space into which the directories can be moved.
disk drive:
A
device
containing one or more disks, treated as a unit by a computer.
Diskeeper:
A
software
product that increases
system
performance through disk
defragmentation
. It eliminates
resource
-wasting
file fragmentation
safely, by consolidating fragmented files and free space.
108 Glossary diskette:
See
floppy disk
.
domain:
In
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
, a group of
workstations
and
servers
, defined by an
administrator
, that share a common directory database and allow a user to log onto any
resource
in the domain with a single user ID and password. Each domain in a network has a unique name.
drive:
See
disk drive.
drive letter:
In
Windows
and
MS-DOS operating systems
, the naming convention for
disk drives
, consisting of a letter, followed by a colon. Drives A: and B: are normally reserved for
floppy disk
drives and C: typically indicates the first
hard drive
. See also
volume
.
encrypted file:
A file that has been scrambled and made unrecognizable by anyone who does not have the proper “key” to decode it. The Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Encrypting File System (EFS) allows users to encrypt files and folders on an NTFS volume to prevent access by unauthorized individuals.
event logging:
The process of recording audit information when certain events occur, such as
services
starting and stopping, users logging on and off and accessing
resources
. When running Diskeeper on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, logged events can be viewed with the
Event
Viewer
utility (in Administrative Tools.) When run on Windows 95/98/Me systems,
Diskeeper logs events to a text file that can be viewed with a variety of text editor programs such as Notepad.
Event Viewer:
A utility available on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, which permits the viewing of logged events. See also
event logging
.
extended partition:
A type of
partition
that permits the limitation of four partitions per disk drive to be overcome. A disk drive may be partitioned into a maximum of four
primary partitions
, or three primary partitions plus an extended partition. One or more
logical drives
may be created within an extended partition.
FAT:
See
file allocation table
.
FAT file system:
The
file system
used by
MS-DOS
and adapted for
Windows
to store information on disks, which makes use of a
file allocation table
. There are three types of FAT file system. The FAT12 (12-bit) is used on FAT volumes smaller than 16 megabytes in size, such as
floppy disks
—it is not supported by Diskeeper.
FAT16 can be found on all versions of Windows from
Windows 95
through
Windows Server 2003
. Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows Me,
Windows 98, and the later OSR 2 version of Windows 95 also support FAT32;
Windows NT does not.
Glossary 109 field:
A subdivision of a
record
in a
file
. For example, a record in a customer file may contain a name field, an address field and a phone number field.
file:
A complete, named collection of
data
, such as a
program
, a set of data used by a program, or a user-created document. See also
record, field
.
file allocation table (FAT):
A table or list maintained by some
operating systems
, to keep track of how
files
are stored on a disk.
file system:
The method used by an
operating system
, of naming,
accessing
and organizing
files
and
directories
on a disk. See also
NTFS
,
FAT file system.
floppy disk:
A removable storage
medium
, consisting of a small magnetic disk made of flexible plastic, housed in a square protective envelope or cartridge. Originally, floppy disks really were “floppy,” because they were enclosed in a paper envelope.
Also called a
diskette
, which is a better name for the more recent design that uses a stiff plastic cartridge. Contrast with
hard disk
.
formatting:
A method of preparing a disk surface for use by placing certain magnetic patterns on it, which are used by the
file system
in storing and retrieving
data
.
fragmentation:
The word
fragmentation
means “the state of being fragmented.”
The word
fragment
means “a detached, isolated or incomplete part.” It is derived from the Latin “fragmentum,” which in turn is derived from “frangere,” meaning
“break.” So,
fragmentation
means that something is broken into parts that are detached, isolated or incomplete.
gigabyte:
A measure of computer storage capacity equal to approximately a billion bytes. A gigabyte is two to the 30th power, or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
graphical user interface (GUI):
Pronounced “gooey.” A user
interface
, as used in the
Windows operating systems
, which uses a mouse and graphic displays to interact with the user, with the purpose to make the computer system easier to use than other operating systems, such as
MS-DOS
.
GUI:
See
graphical user interface
.
hard disk:
One or more rigid metal platters, coated with magnetic material. Contrast with
floppy disk
, or
diskette
, which is made of plastic. Also used to refer to the physical unit that makes up a
disk drive
.
hardware:
The physical parts of a computer
system
, including
devices
such as printers and
disk drives
. Contrast with
software
.
IDE:
Integrated Device Electronics. One of two common types of
interfaces
between a
disk drive
and a computer, where the
controller
is built into the disk drive, which eliminates the need for a separate controller card in the computer. See also
SCSI
.
110 Glossary integrated circuit:
Also called a
chip
. A collection of electronic parts with a specific purpose, built into a single physical package. See also
central processing unit
.
Intel:
Manufacturer of
processor chips
, known especially for the
Pentium
and
x86
processors.
interface:
The connection and interaction between
hardware
,
software
and/or the user. For example, a disk
controller
provides a physical interface between a computer and a
disk drive
. The keyboard, mouse and display are an interface between a computer and the user.
Internet:
A global
network
that links millions of computers. One popular section of the Internet is the World Wide Web, which allows computer users to view text and pictures with the aid of a browser, such as
Internet Explorer
. E-mail (electronic mail) is another popular part of the Internet, which allows computer users to send and receive written messages.
Internet Explorer:
A software package developed by Microsoft for browsing the
Internet
, but increasingly used with other applications.
job:
A request to have the computer or its
peripherals
perform some activity. In relation to
Diskeeper
, it is a request to have a disk
defragmented
.
log file:
A
file
that keeps track of certain events as they occur. The
Windows
NT/2000/XP operating system
maintains several log files that can be viewed with the
Event Viewer
. On
Windows 95/98/Me
systems,
Diskeeper
uses a specially created text file for the same purpose. See also
Event Logging.
logical drive:
That portion of the space on a
disk drive
that is considered by the
software
to be a single unit. In this context,
logical
means “conceptual.” because there is no direct relationship between the name and a physical object. See also
partition, volume
.
long filenames:
In the DOS operating system, filenames were limited to a maximum of eight characters, followed by a period and up to three characters to indicate the type of file. This is also referred to as the 8.3 file naming convention. The Windows
95/98/Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems allow filenames that are over 200 characters long. In addition, these filenames may contain a mixture of upper- and lowercase characters and embedded spaces.
master file table (MFT):
On an
NTFS volume
, the master file table is a
file
, which contains information about all other files in that volume. This includes the name of each file, its physical location on the disk, and other information.
Glossary 111 media:
A collective word for the physical material on which computer-based information is stored, such as a
CD-ROM
or
floppy disk
. Media is the plural of
medium
, but like
data
is often used in the singular form.
medium:
See
media
.
memory:
The computer’s temporary working storage, where
program
instructions and
data
are kept, permitting the
CPU
to process the instructions.
MFT:
See
master file table
.
Microsoft:
A computer
software
company, with its head office in the state of
Washington; creators of the
MS-DOS
and
Windows operating systems
.
MMC:
Microsoft Management Console. MMC can be used to create, save and open administrative tools (called
snap-ins
), such as Diskeeper. MMC provides a common user interface for system tools, as well as a system for managing hardware, software and network components.
MS-DOS:
Microsoft Disk Operating System. An
operating system
designed for a small computer with a single user running one
application program
at a time.
multitasking:
A feature of an
operating system
, where the computer can work on more than one
task
at a time. See also
background processing
.
network:
A group of computers that are connected together and capable of exchanging data with each other. See also
server, client
.
NTFS:
New Technology File System. A file system designed specifically for use with Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
OEM:
Acronym for original equipment manufacturer. The term is misleading, because an OEM typically buys computers from another manufacturer, customizes them for a particular application, and then sells them under the OEM’s own brand name.
operating system:
A collection of
programs
, which perform
system
functions and control the running of
application
programs and the allocation of
resources
.
OSR 2:
Acronym for
OEM
Service Release 2
,
a version of
Windows 95
released in late 1996, which features an improved file system, called
FAT32
, while the original version of Windows 95 used FAT16.
page file
or
paging file:
An area of a disk that is set aside to hold
data
intended to reside in the computer’s
memory
. Portions of the paging file are copied to memory as needed. This mechanism requires a much smaller amount of physical memory than would be required if the entire
program
were to be loaded into memory all at once. See also
swap file
.
112 Glossary partition:
A subdivision of the space on a
disk drive
that is treated as though it were a separate physical unit. A computer with only one hard disk drive can have a single partition, often called drive C:, or it can have several partitions, such as drive
C:, drive D:, and drive E:. See also
volume, drive letter, primary partition, extended partition, logical drive
.
Pentium:
The name of a type of
processor
, introduced by
Intel
in 1993. It is the successor to the 80486 and equivalent to the 80586 chip in the
x86
series.
peripheral device:
(Related to
periphery
, roughly meaning “on the outside.”) A
device
, such as a
disk drive
, printer, keyboard or mouse, connected to and used by a computer.
permission:
The ability of a user on a computer
system
to
access
or modify
files
, especially those that he or she did not create. Permissions exist for security reasons, to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. The
system administrator
assigns permissions, or “who has access to what.”
platform:
The environment, in which a computer system operates, either based on the computer’s CPU or its operating system. For example: the
x86
platform, or the
Windows Server 2003
platform.
platter:
A
disk drive
consists of one or more platters, each of which can receive magnetic recordings on both sides. The platter spins like a phonograph record on a turntable.
primary partition:
In
Windows
and
MS-DOS operating systems
, the disk space on a
disk drive
may be divided into a maximum of four primary partitions; or three primary partitions plus an
extended partition
, which in turn can contain one or more
logical drives
.
priority:
On a
Windows system
, several
programs
can appear to be running at once, even though the
CPU
can only process one instruction at a time. With the help of the
operating system
, the CPU processes a few instructions from one program, then a few instructions of the next program, and so on, over and over. Without priority assignments, each program would be given about the same amount of time in each
“time slot.” but by assigning priorities, the more important programs can be given longer time intervals than the less important ones, allowing them to complete faster.
process:
A
program
, along with the system
resources
the program requires to run. A process represents a unit of resource ownership and work to be done. The
operating system
creates processes to keep track of resources and to ensure the proper scheduling of
tasks
.
processor:
See
central processing unit
.
program:
A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do. Synonym:
software
.
Glossary 113
RAID:
Redundant Array of Independent Disks. A method of combining several
disk drives
to make one large volume. Typically used on a
network file server
to achieve faster
access
, greater protection against disk failure, or both.
record:
A collection of related
data
items, treated as a unit. For example, in a
file
containing information about a company’s customers, one record would consist of the particulars (name, address, phone number, etc.) of one customer. See also
field
.
registry:
A
database
that contains information about current
hardware
settings, installed
software
, user preferences and associations between
file
types, and
applications
that
access
those files.
resource:
Any part of a computer system, such as a
disk drive
, printer, or
memory
, which can be used by a
program
.
scandisk:
A program (supplied with Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me) that checks the integrity of a disk and corrects disk errors such as lost
clusters
. See also
CHKDSK
.
SCSI:
Small Computer System Interface. One of two common methods of
interfacing disk drives
and other
devices
to computers. See also
IDE
.
server:
On a computer network, a computer that makes
resources
available to other computers (
clients
or
workstations
.) For example, all the computers on a network can be set up to share a single high-speed printer, which is connected to the server.
Usually, the server is faster and more powerful than the client computers connected to it.
service:
A process that performs a specific system function and often provides an application programming interface (API) for other processes to call.
Diskeeper
uses a
Windows
service, which allows Diskeeper to run in the
background
while other applications are running.
Service Pack:
A collection of
software
used to issue corrections and updates to software between major releases. Usually refers to compilations of corrections and updates to a Windows operating system.
Set It and Forget It:
A term that was created by Executive Software, which is a registered trademark and hallmark of the company. A “Set It and Forget It” product can operate transparently (unseen by the user) and in the
background
(concurrent with other
applications
). After a schedule is set up for its operation, it thereafter performs its functions at predetermined times, without further intervention or attention from the user or
administrator
.
Smart Scheduling:
A feature, introduced with Diskeeper 6.0, which has a built-in mechanism to determine how frequently a disk
volume
needs to be
defragmented
.
With Smart Scheduling, Diskeeper automatically schedules defragmentation runs to
114 Glossary
occur more often when a disk volume becomes more fragmented, or less often when it becomes less fragmented.
SMS:
System Management Server. A
software
product from
Microsoft
, which permits the
system administrator
on a Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows
Server 2003
network
to do such things as install and run new software on different computers on the network, all from a single location.
snap-in:
A program, such as Diskeeper, that can be used with the Microsoft
Management Console (
MMC
). For more information, see the MMC Help facility.
software:
A generic term for computer
programs
, taken collectively. Contrast with
hardware
. Software can be categorized into
application
software and
system
software.
sparse files:
A method of storing large files—that contain mostly empty space and not much data—in a way that uses much less disk space than would otherwise be used. Sparse file support allows an application to create very large files without committing disk space for every byte.
swap file:
A
file
on a
disk drive
that
Windows
95/98/Me uses to hold temporary
data
that will not fit into
memory
. When needed, the
operating system
moves data from the swap file to memory. See also
paging file
.
system:
The collection of one or more computers and
peripheral devices
. Sometimes used as a synonym for
operating system
, or the combination of
hardware
and
software
, as a logical unit.
system administrator:
The person in charge of maintaining a multi-user computer
system
.
system file:
In general, a
file
that is part of, or
accessed
by, the
operating system
.
The Diskeeper Drive Map display shows certain system files in green, particularly the
master file table
(MFT) and several other files that cannot be moved safely by
Diskeeper (or any other defragmenter). These are not the files that make up the
Windows
operating system
, but the files that make up the
NTFS file system
.
task:
A
program
or portion thereof that is run as an independent entity.
terabyte:
A measure of computer storage capacity equal to 2 to the 40th power or approximately a thousand billion
bytes
(or a thousand
gigabytes
).
trialware:
A free software package from Executive Software, such as Diskeeper, that has the same functionality as the official version of the software, but which works for a limited time period, after which it expires. Trialware allows you to try the software before making a buying decision.
utility:
A
program
that provides basic services or functions.
Glossary 115 volume:
A subdivision of the space on a
disk drive
that is treated as though it were a separate physical unit, or a combination of physical disks treated as a single unit. A computer with only one hard disk drive can have a single volume, often called drive C:, or it can have several volumes, such as drive C:, drive D:, and drive
E:. See also
drive letter, logical drive, partition
.
volume set:
In
Windows
, a single
logical drive
, which is composed of up to 32 areas of free space on one or more
disk drives
. Volume sets can be used to combine small areas of free space on one or more disk drives into a larger logical drive, or to create a single large logical drive out of two or more small disks.
Windows:
A family of
operating systems
, first introduced by
Microsoft
in 1983, with a
graphical user interface
and which ran on
MS-DOS
based computers. See also
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003
.
Windows 2000:
Originally named
Windows NT
5.0, Windows 2000 is a family of operating systems for desktop computers and network servers, announced by
Microsoft
in 1998. Windows 2000 resembles
Windows NT
4.0 and
Windows 98
, but has many enhancements and new features. Windows 2000 is available in several editions, ranging from Windows 2000 Professional to Windows 2000 Advanced
Server.
Windows 95:
A version of
Windows
released in 1995. New features in Windows 95 with regard to its predecessor, Windows 3.1, include a new user interface and support for 32-bit applications. See also
OSR 2
.
Windows 98:
Successor to the
Windows 95
operating system, Windows 98 features support for the
FAT
32
file system
, greater Internet integration, and supports recent hardware developments.
Windows Me:
Short for Windows Millennium Edition, an operating
system
released by
Microsoft
in September 2000. Successor to
Windows 98
and designed for home use, Windows Me offers enhancements in the areas of digital
media
,
user interface
, home
networking
, and the
Internet
.
Windows NT:
An
operating system
released by
Microsoft
in 1993 (NT stands for
New Technology.) It has a similar
graphical user interface
to
Windows
, but it does not run over
MS-DOS
and has been designed specifically for computer
network
environments.
Windows Server 2003:
An operating system released by Microsoft in 2003 as the follow-up version to Windows 2000 Server. Like its predecessor, it has a similar graphical user interface to Windows, but it does not run over MS-DOS and has been designed specifically for computer network environments. Windows Server 2003 is available in Standard, Web, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions.
116 Glossary
Windows XP:
An operating system released by
Microsoft
in 2001 as the followup version to
Windows 2000
. Like its predecessor, it has a similar
graphical user interface
to other Windows versions, but it does not run over MS-DOS and has been designed specifically for computer network environments. Windows XP is available in several editions for different uses, such as Windows XP Professional for corporate use, or Windows XP Home Edition for home users.
workgroup:
In
Windows NT
,
Windows 2000
,
Windows XP
, or
Windows Server
2003
, a workgroup consists of one or more computers that do not participate in a
domain
and are therefore responsible for their own security and administration.
workstation:
A computer that has been set up for use by an individual typically connected to a
network
. The term is also used to indicate a
client
computer, in contrast with a
server
.
x86:
Symbol to represent a series of
CPU
s, manufactured by
Intel
and others, including model numbers 8086, 80286, 80386, 80486 and 80586 (
Pentium
). All of the CPUs in this series have certain characteristics in common, which permits
software
to be written that will run on any of them.
Index 117
Index
A
About Diskeeper option ...................... 56
About the Diskeeper Service................. 7
Access permissions setting ............................................. 93
Additional software requirements ......... 2
Analysis fragmentation.................................. 11
Analyze Button ................................... 58
Analyze selected drive ........................ 52
Application Event Log ........
See
Logging
Automating Diskeeper ........................ 43
AutoPlay ............................................... 4
Average File Size................................ 37
Average Fragments per File ................ 37
B
Background process ...... 7, 20, 23, 43, 85
Before the Installation........................... 1
Boot-time defragmentation ................. 55
Boot-Time defragmentation .......... 24, 26
Directory Consolidation ..... 24, 59, 60
Master File Table defragmentation. 60 overview ......................................... 59
Paging File Defragmentation24, 60, 91 running a......................................... 61 scheduling....................................... 63
C
cache coherency .................................. 84
CD-ROM .......................................... 3, 4
Check for updates ................................. 6
CHKDSK program........................ 61, 63
Clear a schedule .................................. 51
Cluster Server.................................... 103
Colors, what they mean....................... 42
Command Line Interface .................... 26
Command pane ................................... 49
Command prompt operation................ 81
Consolidating free space ..................... 92
Control, tabbed.................................... 30
Custom schedule ................................. 51
D
DCOM......................................... 2, 5, 23
Defragment Button.............................. 58
Defragment selected drive................... 53
Defragmentation and the Master File Table ............... 91 at boot-time.................See Boot-Time boot-time......................................... 55 changing the method....................... 55
Directory Consolidation
See
Boot-Time files not moved to beginning of disk92 free space consolidation.................. 92 how often to run.............................. 93 incomplete ...................................... 89 jobs not starting at the same time.... 94 manual ............................................ 23 method ............................................ 55 modes.............................................. 23 of paging file...............
See
Boot-Time power management................... 55, 70 priority ............................................ 68
Set It and Forget It .......................... 23 using different methods ............ 25, 69
Design Goals ....................................... 83
Directory Consolidation ..
See
Boot-Time
Disk space required............................... 2
Disk Volume pane............................... 57
Diskeeper before and after comparison ........... 11 design goals .................................... 83 directories not moved ..................... 91
FAQs option ................................... 57 features ........................................... 21 getting started ................................. 11 getting the most from...................... 26 how often to run.............................. 93 installation ........................................ 1
118 Index
interface ........................................... 29 logging activity............................... 71 overview ......................................... 21 priority ............................................ 25 program group .................................. 4 reinstalling ........................................ 7 running from the prompt operation. 81 seeing reduction in fragmentation... 11 service............................................... 7 uninstalling ....................................... 8
Diskeeper Lite....................................... 4
Disks supported..................................... 2
DkEventLog.txt............................... 8, 72
Drive Map pane................................... 41
E
Event Log............................
See
Logging setting up the..................................... 7
Event Logging setting options................................. 55
Event Viewer ...................................... 72
Exclusion List ..................................... 25 dialog box ....................................... 66 internal...................................... 68, 90
User-defined ................................... 54
Extended partitions ............................... 2
F
FAQs option........................................ 57
File record examinations..................... 80
File Systems Supported......................... 1
Files not moved to beginning of disk .. 92
Fragmentation analysis ........................................... 11 definition of ............................... ix, 83 effects of .................................... ix, 83
Fragmentation pane............................. 35
Fragmented file examinations ............. 80
Fragments eliminated.......................... 80
Free Space consolidation................................... 92 mismatch in reporting..................... 94
Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) option.............................................. 57
G
Getting Started .................................... 11
Getting the most from Diskeeper ........ 26
Glossary ............................................ 105
H
Help Button......................................... 59
Help Topics option.............................. 56
I
Information pane ................................. 30
Installation before the .......................................... 1 details................................................ 3 overview ........................................... 3 remote ............................................... 8 short version ..................................... 3
Installing
Service Packs.................................... 6
Interface user ................................................. 29
L
Logging
Application Event Log7, 22, 25, 71, 94
Defragmentation start and stop ....... 73
Defragmented files.......................... 74
Directory information ..................... 78
Disk information............................. 75
Diskeeper activity ........................... 71
File information .............................. 76
MFT information ............................ 79
Moved files ..................................... 74 on Windows 95/98/Me...................... 8
Paging File information .................. 77
Service start and stop ...................... 73
Specifying What Gets Logged........ 72
Logical drives........................................ 2
M
Master File Table (MFT) .................... 91
Master File Table Defragmentation .... 60
Menu
Set It and Forget It.......................... 50
MMC........................................... 2, 5, 23
Most Fragmented Files........................ 39
N
NTFS.................. ix, 1, 22, 36, 37, 42, 89
P
Paging File Defragmentation .. 24, 60, 91
Partitions extended............................................ 2 primary ............................................. 2
Pause Button ....................................... 58
Pentium processor ................................. 1
Performance ........................................ 85
Performance data ................................ 55
Performance pane................................ 30
Platforms supported .............................. 1
Power management ....................... 55, 70
Preface ................................................vii
Primary partitions.................................. 2
Priority ................................................ 25 setting the ....................................... 68
Process Live Disks .............................. 85
PushInstall......................................... 101
Q
Quick Tour.......................................... 12
R
RAID arrays.......................................... 2
Registering Diskeeper ........................... 6
Registry................................................. 4
Reliability pane ................................... 33
Remote Installation ........................... 101
Repairing Windows............................... 7
Requirements, additional software........ 2
Resource requirements...................... 2, 7
Resume Button.................................... 58
Run every night................................... 51
Run weekends only ............................. 51
Index 119
S
Safety .................................................. 84
Schedule clearing a ........................................ 51 custom............................................. 51
Scheduling
Screen Saver mode ......................... 48
Set It and Forget It .......................... 43
Smart Scheduling............................ 46
Screen Saver mode........................ 48, 51
Select schedule type ............................ 45
Service Pack.................................. 2, 4, 6
Service, Diskeeper ................................ 7
Set It and Forget It .............................. 43 pane ................................................ 43
Set It and Forget It pane controls ........................................... 45
Setting up the Application Event Log ... 7
SETUP.EXE.......................................... 3
Sitekeeper.............................................. x
Smart Scheduling .......................... 46, 50 after hours....................................... 50
Software, additional requirements......... 2
Specifying What Gets Logged ............ 72
Stop Button ......................................... 59
Summary File...................................... 64
Support Services
Europe........................................... 100
U.S.................................................. 99
T
Tabbed Control ................................... 30
Terabyte Volume Engine .................... 80
Theory of Operation............................ 83
TVE..................................................... 80
U
Undelete ................................................ x
Uninstalling Diskeeper.......................... 8
Updates checking for ................................ 6, 57
User Interface...................................... 29
120 Index
V
Versions supported................................ 1
View Readme option........................... 56
Volume sets........................................... 2
W
Windows
Application Event Log.................... 71 disks supported ................................. 2 file systems supported ...................... 1 priority ............................................ 25 registry.............................................. 4 repairing............................................ 7 resource requirements....................... 2 service packs..................................... 6 versions and platforms supported ..... 1
Windows 95/98/Me
Event Logging .................................. 8
X
X86 processor family ............................ 1
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