defragmenter won't defrag some files, esp outlook pst files

  • Thread starter Thread starter curious
  • Start date Start date
C

curious

Please excuse, I posted on another windows board, but didn't realize it
didn't get much traffic. Here is my question-
When I defragment, my outlook files and some other large files 2gb + will
not drfragment. I don't believe they are in use, and even when I defrag at
boot time, they still do not defrag. Does anyone have a fix or explanation
for this.

curious
 
In Outlook Express place the cursor on Local Folders and select File,
Work Offline followed
by File, Folder, Compact All and do not interupt the process until it
has fiinished. It may take quite some time. It is essential NOT to
interupt the process or try to use the computer whilst compacting is in
process as this often leads to file corruption of what is being
compacted at the time.

When you compact Outlook Express now copies all dbx files to your
Recycle Bin. Given that dbx files can be fairly large it is a good idea
after compacting is done to run Disk CleanUp followed by Disk
Defragmenter.

Given your problems I also suggest you carry out the followwing.

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore
on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700
mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System
Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this
time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

After running Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View
Report and click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My
Documents
Folder and post a copy.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
some files like
the pagefile, mft, et al
won't defrag with the
most basic defrag programs.

a suggestion is to
try cleaning your disk
from trash files first, no
point in defragging garbage:

click on start>run>cleanmgr

also, you might want to
initiate a checkdisk before
defragging as well.

also, you might try using the
defrag in safemode

also try using a program
from microsoft.com called
pagedefrag and set it to run at
boot time.

and if you get bored
there is another free defrag
program from auslogic:

http://www.download.com/Auslogics-D...503.html?part=dl-Auslogics&subj=dl&tag=button

other than the above, you
may not want to loose any
sleep over this issue, especially
if your pc is running excellently.
--

db ·´¯`·.¸. said:
<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
Click to expand...


..
 
* curious said:
Please excuse, I posted on another windows board, but didn't realize it
didn't get much traffic. Here is my question-
When I defragment, my outlook files and some other large files 2gb + will
not drfragment. I don't believe they are in use, and even when I defrag at
boot time, they still do not defrag. Does anyone have a fix or explanation
for this.

curious
Click to expand...

My experience with Acronis True Image was that Windows simply could not
defrag files of several gb. About a year ago I reduced the default image
size to 1.5gb and haven't had a problem since. Don't know what the size
limitation is in windows, but if there is a way to limit file size in
Outlook, that could be your easy solution.
Miles
 
Hi, thanks for the reply, could you provide a little more info. I am using
the defragmenter provided by windows. I am not sure I know what acronis
true image is. When you say limit size, are you referring to the pst or a
setting for the defragenter to look at?
 
"Yes it is true that the outlook.pst files never get defragmented."

That's because in Outlook, the term "defragment" has been replaced by
"compact." Two names for the same thing. To compact your Outlook data
files (.pst) go to Control Panel > Mail > Data Files button > select a
data file and click on Settings.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est
Hello All,

Yes it is true that the outlook.pst files never get defragmented. Thus
Microsoft technet recommends a very small 100kb tool to complete the
incomplete task of defragmenting pst files. The tool is known as
contig.exe. At first, it might sound like some kind of a virus; but
then I assume it to be named after "contigous files" and so the name
contig.

It is a small DOS executable file not many know about.

You can follow the link below to get a better idea.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897428.aspx


Using Contig

Contig can be used to defrag an existing file, or to create a new file
of a specified size and name, optimizing its placement on disk. Contig
uses standard Windows defragmentation APIs so it won't cause disk
corruption, even if you terminate it while its running.


To make an existing file contiguous use Contig as follows:

Usage: contig [-v] [-a] [-q] [-s] [filename]
-v Use the -v switch to have Contig print out information about the
file defrag operations that are performed.
-a If you want to simply see how fragmented a file or files have
become, use the -a switch to have Contig analyze fragmentation.
-q The -q switch, which over-rides the -v switch, makes Contig run in
"quiet" mode, where the only thing it prints during a defrag run is
summary information.
-s Use the -s switch to perform a recursive processing of
subdirectories when you specify a filename with wildcards.


For instance, to defragment all DLLs under c:\winnt you could enter
"contig -s c:\winnt\*.dll".

To make a new file that is defragmented upon creation, use Contig like
this:

Usage: contig [-v] [-n filename length]

How it Works

Contig uses the native Windows NT defragmentation support that was
introduced with NT 4.0 (see my documentation of the defrag APIs for more
information). It first scans the disk collecting the locations and sizes
of free areas. Then it determines where the file in question is located.
Next, Contig decides whether the file can be optimized, based on free
areas and the number of fragments the file currently consists of. If the
file can be optimized, it is moved into the free spaces of the disk.

I hope it helped you guys...

For those of you who are lazy... I've also attached the tool for your
perusal.

Warm Regards,

Bijoy.

curious;3305532 said:
Please excuse, I posted on another windows board, but didn't realize it
didn't get much traffic. Here is my question-
When I defragment, my outlook files and some other large files 2gb +
will
not drfragment. I don't believe they are in use, and even when I
defrag at
boot time, they still do not defrag. Does anyone have a fix or
explanation
for this.

curious
Click to expand...


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