Bugs in Defraggler

[trium]

- I overlooked that DF already has an option called "Disable Benchmarking After Defrag".

 

 

nice option, i use it. of course it goes only with complete defrag

[Willy2]

Bug in DF v2.19 ????

 

- I have a folder called "C:\Recovery" with the attributes "Hidden", "System" (and, of course,) "Directory". This folder shows up when it's fragmented, DF can defragment it but I am not able to add it to the folder list of the "Defrag" tab & "Exclude" tab.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Willy2

[trium]

the folder "recovery" by me too. perhaps secured from manufacturer

[Willy2]

I think I know why DF v2.19 fails to move files to the end of the drive, in say 90 to 95% of the cases. Yes, DF does move files to the end of the drive but I had to put DF to work a considerable amount of times (> 20 times) before I actually was able to persuade DF to (more or less) flawlessly execute that particular procedure/feature one time. So, it SEEMS the "Move File" algorithm/subroutine(s) itself/themselves does/do function properly..

 

When the user puts DF to work then the following happens:

1) DF builds a file list.

2) DF seems to sort that file list (???).

3) DF starts to move files. Both to the beginning of the drive or the end of the drive. At the same time DF starts calculating the (estimated !!!!) remaining time needed for the defrag process.

4) When finished the message about the health of the drive emerges (e.g. "Good").

 

Comments:

- Between step 1) & 2) a message about the health of the drive (see step 4) ) shows up for a VERY brief moment. It shows up just long enough to be noticed.

 

- Perhaps calculating the "Remaining time" (somehow) interferes with/messes up the movement of files (in both directions) ?? Perhaps there's a memory conflict and as a result a bunch of pointers gets messed up ? or it messes up an array ?

 

- Or perhaps there's a (memory ??) conflict that already interferes in step 1) or/and 2) ???

 

- I presume that if the DF info in the memory "survives" all these DF "conflicts" then and only then DF starts moving files towards the end of the drive. Do these conflicts also have an impact on moving files to the beginning of the drive ?

 

- I have installed a program called Cleanmem that reduces memory usage every 15 minutes but I have excluded DF from having its memory usage reduced. So, Cleanmem can't be the cause of this (memory) conflict. At least, I would assume it isn't.

 

- It looks like a number of metadata files are being moved as well in step 3). These files/folders all start with a "$" character. E.g. "C:\$Extend". I think these should be skipped while DF is busy building the file list. Or perhaps these files are marked in a special way and those markers are "messed up"/overlooked in step 2) or/and 3)  ?

 

- Perhaps instead of calculating the remaining time DF can show the amount of files to be moved ? Or the total filesize of all files remaining to be moved ? After all, DF builds a file list in step 1) and there this kind of counting can be done as well.

 

- Another thing that bothers me. When moving files (in both directions) some (defagmented) files remain in one fragment and others get fragmented or see a higher fragmentation rate (again). I, of course, would like to see that all files remain defragmented (even when moved to the end of the drive) but I don't know if that's possible.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Willy2

[Willy2]

- Here's the proof that DF's "Move Files to End Of Drive" does work. I made a tale telling screenshot. I selected/highlighted all *.mp4 files that were larger than 1 Mb. See inside the red boxes.

- But, that's IF this option/feature works !!!!

Edited April 13, 2015 by Willy2

[mta]

you should work for the Beta Testers @Willy2

[Willy2]

- I don't think I would qualify to be a Piriform BETA Tester.

 

- Found more bugs in DF v2.19 !!!!!

1) Start DF and maximize the GUI & close DF.

2) Re-start DF and it will open maximized. So far, so good.

3) Now click on the "Previous GUI size" button (on the left hand side of the "Close Program" (or "X") button.) and the DF GUI is doing some unwanted things:

   - The drive map is reduced to one row of blocks. But enlarges the pane below the drive map way too much.

   - It ignores the fact that I have the Taskbar on the left hand side of the screen. That means that a part of the DF GUI disappears under the Task Bar. Keep in mind: DF isn't the only program that doesn't check everytime where the Task Bar is located.

[Willy2]

- About becoming a BETA tester: If the Piriform developers think I can be of help then they know where to find me.

 

- In a previous post I mentioned that something "throws DF off the rails" when it comes to moving files to the end of the drive. But DF also keeps track, in real time, of the amount of free & used disk space. I could imagine that that also could "interfere" with the file moving subroutine(s).

 

- If the developers want to speed up the program then introduce an option that can turn off all "real time tracking" stuff. Then the user can decide whether or not he/she wants this kind of information. I personally don't care (too much) about this information (I thinks it's a nice gimmick, nothing more) and would like to see that DF uses all the computing power available for the main tasks (i.e. moving files).

[Willy2]

-  Somehow I ended up with these lines in Defraggler.ini

 

Excluded32=PATH|R|C:\Win 7 Pro 64bit - Nieuw|*

Excluded33=PATH|R|C:\Win 7 Pro 64bit - Nieuw|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles1=PATH|R|C:\Een Rotterdamse Aziaat|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles2=PATH|R|C:\Videos1|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles3=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*

Excluded34=PATH|R|C:\Windows|*

Excluded35=PATH|R|C:\Windows|*

 

I removed the duplicates (with the "Exclude" GUI), closed and restarted DF again and those lines changed to this (See "Excluded33=....."):

 

Excluded32=PATH|R|C:\Win 7 Pro 64bit - Nieuw|*

Excluded33=PATH|R|C:\Windows|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles1=PATH|R|C:\Een Rotterdamse Aziaat|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles2=PATH|R|C:\Videos1|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles3=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*

Excluded34=PATH|R|C:\Windows|*

Excluded35=PATH|R|C:\Windows|*

 

Do those 3 lines "MoveToDriveEndFiles" throw DF off the rails, because they're between 2 "Excluded...." lines ??

 

- DF's "MoveToDriveEnd" doesn't work "too well". With these lines in Defraggler.ini

 

MoveLargeFilesToEndOfDrive=1

MinLargeFileSize=0

MoveOnlySelectedLargeFileCategories=1

LargeFilesCategories=Videos;1|Movie files;0|Disk images;0|Archives;0

LargeFilesExtensions=*.mp4<*.avi|*.mkv|*.mpg|*.mov|*.mp4|*.mpeg|*.wmv<*.bin|*.iso|*.mdf|*.vhd<*.arj|*.tar|*.rar|*.zip|*.cab|*.7z

DefragFreeSpaceMoveLargeFiles=1

DontApplyMinimumFileSizeToFilesFolders=1

MoveToDriveEndFiles1=PATH|R|C:\Een Rotterdamse Aziaat|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles2=PATH|R|C:\Videos1|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles3=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*

 

I expected DF would move ALL *.mp4 files (in "C:\Videos2") to the end of the drive. But instead, DF moved a number of *.mp4 files only, DF didn't move ALL *.mp4 files. But DF also moved a number of "*.flv" video (in "C:\Videos2") files to the end of the drive.

 

Combined with the fact that DF shows the names of a number metadata files (e.g. "C:\$Extend\.... ", suggesting that DF moves those files as well) strongly suggests that something messes up/interferes with the file list DF uses to move those files. (Does this also happen when moving to the beginning of the drive ?)

Edited April 18, 2015 by Willy2

[Willy2]

- More proof that DF needs improved "Collect Info" & "Write Info To Disk" subroutines. I had these lines in Defraggler.ini:

 

MoveToDriveEndFiles1=PATH|R|C:\Een Rotterdamse Aziaat|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles2=PATH|R|C:\Videos1|*

MoveToDriveEndFiles3=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*

 

I removed the first line with the "Defrag" GUI. Closed DF & restarted DF again. Then I saw these 3 lines:

 

MoveToDriveEndFiles1=PATH|R|C:\Videos1|*
MoveToDriveEndFiles2=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*
MoveToDriveEndFiles3=PATH|R|C:\Videos2|*

[Willy2]

In other words, in this case, DF failed/overlooked to remove the last line

 

"MoveToDriveEndFiles3=......."

 

from Defraggler.ini.

[Willy2]

In reply #22 I wrote:

 

"- Get rid of the option "Have smaller fragments than". Because DF doesn't show how large the fragments of a defragmented file is. That remains a mystery for the user."

 

Another possibility is to not remove that option but apply the "Have smaller fragments than" rule BEFORE showing the file list.

[Chiquinho]

I have installed the lastest version of deffragler and him only defrag one file and stop. For defrag all I need select all files in list of files and choose defrag selected.

[Andavari]

I have installed the lastest version of deffragler and him only defrag one file and stop. For defrag all I need select all files in list of files and choose defrag selected.

 

Better if you make your own unique topic, this one is Willy2's bug observations about Defraggler.

[Willy2]

@Andavari: I don't mind someone else posts in this thread as well. The more users posting their bugs the more pressure for the Piriform developers to improve the software. Seems not too many users are using these features.

[Nergal]

Except that the forum wishes each bug to have its own thread (makes it a heckuva lot easier to provide the support and attention a "bug" may need). We tolerate this thread from you because only you post in it - you are a well regarded participant throughout this forum - and you seem more comfortable doing it this way.

Edited to make read easier.

[mta]

I have installed the lastest version of deffragler and him only defrag one file and stop. For defrag all I need select all files in list of files and choose defrag selected.

is this what you want;

 

start DF, then click;

• File list tab,
• Analyse,
• sort the column headings (Filename, Fragments, Size, Type, Last Modified or Path) to get the order you want
• select the files you want to defrag (either Ctrl+click or Shift+click depending on where your files are in the list)
• right click and select Defrag Highlighted.

[Willy2]

Deleted.

[Willy2]

- Came across another bug in DF v2.19 !!!!

 

After a fresh re-install DF shows the "Modern" style of displaying the drive map (and file list ?????). Then I switched to the "Original" look (I DO NOT like the "Modern" view. Too fuzzy IMO). But the checkboxes in the file list somehow got overlooked by DF and continued to be displayed in the "Modern" look/style. See picture in the attachment.

 

It suggests that DF has 2 separate subroutines for changing the view/style. One for the drive map and a separate second one for the file list. And that somehow sometimes one of these 2 subroutines isn't executed when the user changes the style of the GUI.

 

Suggestion: Perhaps DF is able to display both the filelist & drivemap in the same style/look/view, directly after a fresh re-install. This means that when the user selects/switches back to the "Modern" style the checkboxes of the filelist should displayed in/changed to the "Modern" view/style as well.

 

Another option could be that the user can choose "Modern" for drive map and "Original" for the file list (and/or the other way around).

 

(Putting all bug reports/thoughts regarding DF in one thread allows me to keep track of the bugs I came across and were reported by me. I thought (and more or less hoped) I would come across more than one bug and I was right.)

Edited May 11, 2015 by Willy2

[Willy2]

More bugs in DF v2.19 ???

 

At least I came across more odd behaviour in DF.

 

- I tried to add "C:\ProgramData" to the "Exclude" list but that folder didn't show up in the window/menu. So, I wasn't able to add that folder to that list. Odd. Bug in Windows or a bug in DF ?? "Rogue" registry setting ??

- I have been "torturing" DF again. I excluded all folders (including "c:\Videos") on my C: drive except for "c:\Regbackup". Since I couldn't exclude "C:\ProgramData", that folder was "taken care of" as well when I choose "Defrag". But to my surprise some files from another folder ("C:\Videos") were moved to a spot towards the end of the drive. I assume, that was meant to create room/space for files in the 2 other folders that weren't excluded. But they weren't moved back, more to the beginning of the drive and remained fragmented.

Odd. I would have expected that DF wouldn't move/"touch" those video files at all, since those files/folders were in the "Excluded" list. Bug ? Or un-intended consequence of the algorithms ?

 

(System set up in my signature (SPECCY)).

[mta]

I think the CC variable %commonappdata% points to C:\ProgramData

I added %commonappdata%\NortonInstaller\logs\ to my INCLUDE's and seem to recall that's where they were living.

[Nergal]

Remember not all the ccleaner supported variables are system supported and thus may not be supported by defraggler.

[mta]

Shoot!, sorry, totally forgot the thread I was in.

Yep, agreed, unless DF has the same internal variables as CC, then %commonappdata% won't work as it's not a Windows system variable.

BUT - as luck would have it, they do provide one that will take you there  - %allusersprofile%

[Willy2]

I can report some good news. I tried DF v2.19 today and I was able to add "C:\ProgramData" to the "Exclude"list, again. So, I assume it was a "rogue" registry setting that messed things up.

[Willy2]

- A follow up on post #44 in this thread. And it has become more clearer where DF goes "off the rails".

 

After a fresh re-install of Win 7, I also re-installed DF v2.19. DF starts with the "Modern" view but the user can switch to "Original" but the checkboxes remain in "Modern" view. Only when I restart DF it will show the "Original" checkboxes. So, DF doesn't update/refresh the file list pane when the users switches between views.