Please excuse also, the equally belated reply ;
But I had to let you "in" on the little bit of [free] software, that
compliments [defag.exe] perfectly!
Without the need to be so drastic (and, IMHO, anal about it) as to
introduce yet more 3rd-party code to your machine. The general idea, with
this tiny app, is to remedy a bad habit of the XP Disk Defragmenter's...
After it's "Analysis" run, [defrag.exe]** builds it's planned manoeuvres
on the basis of a compromise between the total size of continuity of data
it can achieve against the maximum number of files it can achieve in making
contiguous.
It will always end in compromise unless you happen to have approximately
enough free space, left on the disc, equivalent to twice the size of that
of the largest fragmented file.
These algorithms result, more often than not, in there being just one large
file, left fragmented into a very large number of parts, but not assessed,
by [defrag.exe] to be worth de-fragmenting.
One solution is to get hold of some 3rd-party application that may have
slightly differing algorithms to that of [defrag.exe] and so produce a
deferent outcome.
However, one tiny program [contig.exe] solves this problem without the need
for a large install of replacement defragmentation software...
After allowing defrag to complete it's run, turn to the "Report" button
(MMC Console interface), and look at the number of fragments belonging to
the remaining files, and select, by far and away, the file with the largest
number of fragments. It is this filename that becomes the target of our
small utility [contig.exe] typed at a Window's Command Prompt.
Type [cmd.exe] into the "Run" box on the Start Menu to start a Window's
Command Prompt.
contig.exe [[path][filename]]
E.G.;
contig.exe "C:\Program Files\Winimage\FlashBackup\FLASH01.IMA"
Also, type the following, at the "Prompt", for syntax usage and help :
contig.exe -?
The resulting graphical (MMC Interface) then change from a chaotic mix of
red, white and blue, to one that resembles the description imagined by Mr
"mp" .
[Contig.exe] can be downloaded [free] by clicking on the link below...
just unzip to a location on your hard-drive that is listed in your 'path'
variable : i.e.: [c:\windows]
Sysinternal's Contig.exe [102Kb] :
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/Contig.zip
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.
** Not strictly [defrag.exe] which merely initializes either the
[dfrgntfs.exe] or [dfrgfat.exe] modules, depending of type of filesystem
employed on the disk.
