Locate system files at the fastest part of the disk

[Super Fast]

Defraggler seems not to care whether it consolidates regular files & system files together.

Everyone knows that fragmentation reduces drive life + drive access time, due to the drive working harder to find all the pieces.

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But what about when all the files are defragmented & consolidated, but the system files are spread all over the drive? I noticed as my HDD gets fuller, file operations slow way down because of this. I can move files off the drive, & it speeds back up after a defrag. What I noticed is, a system file may be defragged & consolidated to the fastest part of the disk, &, as the drive fills up, it may also through huge 1 GB files inbetween system files, causing Windows to increase access time(s) for doing things, because it has to span across a 1 Gb, or 5 GB, or 30 GB chunk to read & find the next system file it uses.

 

So, even though the drive becomes defragged & consolidated, the system files are still spread apart, causing just as much slow down as fragmentation normally does. I can look at Defraggler Defragmenting, & I can see a system file being moved, then a user file, then another user file, then a system file, etc.

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Wouldn't a computer run much faster if you keep all the system files together? Perhaps target all the files that are marked System + Microsoft under their hidden attributes, then move them to the fastest part of the drive, along with the system Paging file?

 

If Defraggler can at least keep all the system files together, Windows will not have to skip Multi-GB chunks in order to operate, which will reduce drive access time, & increase drive life. It also will enable people to be able to store much larger data sets on a drive, because the drive stays fast!

 

Defraggler can perhaps store all system files at the fastest part of the drive, then move all other files in behind it. Future defrags could focus on keeping the drive fast, by moving non-system files away from the faster part, tacked back onto the end of the data stream, instead of plugging them all right back into the system area. And system files that get added, could be moved back into the fastest again.

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This seems entirely logical to me, so I wonder what you all think? My drive slowed way down after getting around 80% full, but it still had large contiguous free space blocks, so I believe the slowdown is coming from Windows having to jump across user files to access other system files. Very similar to the effect that fragmentation has on things, since Windows also has to jump around when fragmented files exist. Eliminate the need for Windows to jump user files to find system files, & I believe this will fix the remaining slow spots!

 

XP SP3 & Windows 7 32 Bit

[TechHarmony]

This sounds like a good request.

 

Would especially benefit those of us running on slightly older computers that have slightly slower drives.

(I am trying not to make myself feel too bad about my computer, by calling it only "slightly" older/slower... )

 

Some of the other defrag programs I have used over the years have had a similar feature, moving either system or program or "most-used" files to the prime access hot zone on the drive. Which, if I am understanding my tech reading, is not actually the very first sectors but more like about 20% into the drive. (though, there may be different opinions on where, but I would think it lies somewhere in that range of first-to-20% area.)

 

I know that some defraggers have attempted to use the Layout.ini file which allegedly lists the most used/last used files. But my own periodic review of the Layout.ini file itself shows that it often has files I rarely access, and don't need superfast, but they just happen to have been accessed recently. Anyway, reason I mention this is that Layout.ini seems not to be the best way to accomplish this.

 

[Vaio RS530G, Win XP Pro SP3, 160 G HD, 2 GB RAM, Defraggler 2.7.0.346]