Compacting disk

Hello

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Apr 11, 2013, 4:58:38 PM4/11/13

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The "Disk Defragmenter" utility that comes with Windows (dfrgntfs.exe)
does a great job of defragmenting the disk files but does a half-hearted
job of compacting the disk files. In order to minimize the size of a
Windows virtual machine image (VirtualBox) that is archived, I would like
a utility that does a great job of compacting the disk files. Does such a
utility exist?

Bert

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Apr 12, 2013, 11:11:47 AM4/12/13

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In news:516723fe$0$57924$c3e8da3$eb76...@news.astraweb.com Hello

<john.remov...@optimapowerware.com> wrote:

> I would like a utility that does a great job of compacting the disk
> files.

I'm not sure I understand what you're looking for.

Exactly what would this utility do to your files that defragmenting
didn't do?

[This really isn't the correct newsgroup for such a question, but I'll
leave it to you to set your Newsgroups and Followup-To headers to
something more appropriate]

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be...@iphouse.com St. Paul, MN

Asger Joergensen

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Apr 12, 2013, 12:20:59 PM4/12/13

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Hi Hello

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

Hello

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Apr 12, 2013, 9:31:11 PM4/12/13

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On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:20:59 +0000, Asger Joergensen wrote:

> http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

The "free space consolidation" feature looks like it might do the trick.
Thank you for the pointer.

Hello

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Apr 13, 2013, 12:24:39 AM4/13/13

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On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:11:47 +0000, Bert wrote:

> Exactly what would this utility do to your files that defragmenting
> didn't do?

Defragmentation improves the order of the disk blocks of each file. But
it can leave empty gaps between files. Compacting pushes the files
together. As I mentioned previously dfrgntfs.exe does a half-hearted job
of compacting leaving may gaps between files.

> [This really isn't the correct newsgroup for such a question

These seems like the perfect newsgroup to ask for a Windows specific low-
level system application. Perhaps you could suggest alternatives.

Jasen Betts

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Apr 13, 2013, 2:06:42 AM4/13/13

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ah, by compacting, you mean defragmenting the free space ?

can you make ntfsclone work on these drives?

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Hello

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Apr 13, 2013, 10:43:11 AM4/13/13

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On Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:06:42 +0000, Jasen Betts wrote:

> ah, by compacting, you mean defragmenting the free space ?

I had not thought of it that way but it would achieve the same end goal
if the free space was left at the higher disk block numbers. In my case
it is unnecessary if the free space is defragmented... I simply need all
free space at the higher disk block numbers. And in fact it is
unnecessary if the files are defragmented.

> can you make ntfsclone work on these drives?

I have instructions on how to mount the virtual machine image. So I
presume once mounted, ntfsclone would work on it. What switches did you
have in mind?

Jasen Betts

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Apr 14, 2013, 12:06:08 AM4/14/13

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On 2013-04-13, Hello <john.remov...@optimapowerware.com> wrote:

> On Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:06:42 +0000, Jasen Betts wrote:
>
>> ah, by compacting, you mean defragmenting the free space ?
>
> I had not thought of it that way but it would achieve the same end goal
> if the free space was left at the higher disk block numbers. In my case
> it is unnecessary if the free space is defragmented... I simply need all
> free space at the higher disk block numbers. And in fact it is
> unnecessary if the files are defragmented.

Ah,
I thought this was for backup.

One way force the files into the low blocks is to shrink the partition
don't use ntfsresize. for me it left the system in a confused (but
working) state and then I couldn't install a service patch

>> can you make ntfsclone work on these drives?
>
> I have instructions on how to mount the virtual machine image. So I
> presume once mounted, ntfsclone would work on it. What switches did you
> have in mind?

It's probably not going to help your goal, I thought you just wanted a
way to make space-efficient backups.

Deanna Earley

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Apr 16, 2013, 4:02:30 AM4/16/13

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This is for win32 programming, not win32 low level admin.

--
Deanna Earley (dee.e...@icode.co.uk)
iCatcher Development Team
http://www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/

iCode Systems

(Replies direct to my email address will be ignored. Please reply to the
group.)

Deanna Earley

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Apr 16, 2013, 4:05:47 AM4/16/13

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On 16/04/2013 09:02, Deanna Earley wrote:
> On 13/04/2013 05:24, Hello wrote:
>> On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:11:47 +0000, Bert wrote:
>>> [This really isn't the correct newsgroup for such a question
>>
>> These seems like the perfect newsgroup to ask for a Windows specific low-
>> level system application. Perhaps you could suggest alternatives.
>
> This is for win32 programming, not win32 low level admin.

A better location would probably be the support groups for whatever VM
system you're using.

Note that I expect answers would also vary based on the type of disk
image file.