System Volume information "exclude" problem.

[switchs]

Hi even though I have system restore points excluded, I still have system volume information come up when I scan with defraggler.

 

Is this a reason for this happening and is there a another way to have it now show up?

[mta]

have you tried Settings, Options, Exclude?

[DennisD]

Just to add to mta's suggestion, if you're already using that option as opposed to the "Exclude restore point file" checkbox in "Use custom fragmentation settings\Define" under "Settings\Options\Advanced", then bear in mind that individual drives\partitions have their own "System Volume Information" folder.

 

I don't have "System Restore" active on my pc so I can't check this, but if you have more than one drive\partition, I imagine you would have to set a "System Volume Information" exclude for each one.

[lmacri]

Hi DennisD:

 

Just to follow up to switchs' original question, I have "Exclude restore point files" enabled under my advanced settings. If I understand the online help file here, this means that the restore points will not be defragged during a disk defrag. However, is there some setting that will force Defraggler to ignore the restore points when the total % fragmentation of a drive is calculated during a drive analysis?

 

When I updated to v. 2.13.670 on 18-Feb-2013, the disk analysis did not include my restore points in my list of fragmented files and Defraggler reported that my C: drive was only 1% fragmented. I assumed was a feature improvement for v. 2.13, since I'd never seen previous versions of Defraggler ignore my restore points during the initial disk analysis.

 

When I updated to v. 2.14.705 on 18-Apr-2013, my restore points were back in the list of fragmented files and Defraggler reported that my C: drive was 30% fragmented (see attached .JPG). I updated to v. 2.14.706 today and I'm still at 30% fragmentation.

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MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[DennisD]

Hi Imacri.

 

There was an issue with version 2.14.705 and it was pulled very quickly by the developers. There's now a version 2.14.706 which is available here ...

 

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download

 

We don't have any official word as to what the major issue was apart from running extremely slow, so I can't say as to whether it was the cause of your problem or not, but please try the latest version and let us know here if you still have the issue.

 

Thanks.

[lmacri]

Hi DennisD:

 

I updated to v. 2.14.706 (installed over old v. 2.14.705) and I don't notice any difference - the disk analysis runs very slowly and my restore points still appear in the list of unfragmented files (i.e., disk 30% fragmentation). I confirmed that "Exclude restore point file" is still enabled in my advanced settings.

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MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[Alan_B]

You could try the Portable version - unzip into a different location so it will not conflict with your "normal" installation.

installed over old

Bad move.

In general for most applications :-

An update ontop of the old is intended to preserve your old settings/choices - BUT may also preserve all that went bad in the past.

An un-install then install should give you a fresh start.

[DennisD]

As Alan says, it's often better to make a clean install, and you can try that if you wish.

 

My next suggestion was to exclude System Volume Information manually which is the way I used to do it when I had System Restore active.

 

A picture and a thousand words etc ...

 

 

You'll need to "Show Hidden Files and Folders" and uncheck the "Hide protected system files" box first (this is on my XP) for the System Volume Information folder to display in Defragglers dialogue box shown above ...

 

 

I've no idea why the other option isn't doing the job, but I never had that option checked and the manual exclude always worked.

 

Let us know if this does the trick.

[lmacri]

Hi DennisD:

 

Partial success.

 

I performed a clean re-install of v. 2.14.706 (uninstall from Control Panel, re-boot, re-install with a new installation file downloaded from the FileHippo mirror site). The disk analysis seemed to run faster, but my restore points were still in the list of fragmented files and Defraggler reported that my C: drive was 31% fragmented.

 

I then followed your instructions and added the C:\System Volume Information\ folder to my list of exclusions (thanks for the hint about disabling the "Hide protected system files" checkbox). This solved part of the problem, since my restore points no longer appear in my list of fragmented files after a disk analysis. However, Defraggler still reports that my C: drive is 31% fragmented (see new .JPG).

 

I'll try Alan_B's idea to try the portable version of Defraggler tomorrow unless someone has any further suggestions.

 

Edit: Sorry, attached the wrong image. The correct .JPG is now posted below.

 

------------

MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[lmacri]

You could try the Portable version - unzip into a different location so it will not conflict with your "normal" installation.

 

The portable version of Defraggler 2.14.706 seems to be working correctly, but it took a bit of trial and error. Here's what I did:

 

Trial 1: Portable Build Run with Standard Defraggler Installed on Hard Drive

 

Failure. I ran the 32-bit version of the portable build (with default settings) from my USB thumb drive while the standard "normal" build was still installed on my hard drive and the portable build also reported that my C: drive was 31% fragmented.

 

 

Trial 2: Portable Build Run with Standard Defraggler Removed From Hard Drive

 

Success. I uninstalled the standard version from my hard drive, re-ran the portable build (with default settings) from my USB thumb drive, and eureka - % fragmentation for C: drive had dropped to 1% and restore files in C:\System Volume Information\ had disappeared from the list of fragmented files.

 

 

Trial 3: Portable Build Run with Standard Defraggler Re-ininstalled on Hard Drive

 

Success (unexpected). So I re-installed the standard v. 2.14.706 on my hard drive and re-ran the portable build (with default settings) from my USB thumb drive, assuming that % fragmentation for C: drive would jump back up to 31%. Instead - the portable version continued to correctly report that my C: drive was 1% fragmented.

 

 

So I'm still not sure why the portable version didn't work correctly in Trial # 1. I should mention that I ran the standard installation of Defraggler v. 2.14.706 from my hard drive throughout my testing (including Trial # 3), and % fragmentation for the standard Defraggler installation was always reported incorrectly as 31%, even if I added C:\System Volume Information\ to my list of excluded folders.

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MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler Portable v. 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[Alan_B]

Congratulations on your perseverance leading to success.

 

It seems weird that the problem stops when you remove the installed version, and does not restart when you reinstall.

 

I always blame weird things on Windows.

 

I do not know about Vista, but on Windows 7 there is a service called "Disk Defragmenter" which uses

C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k defragsvc

I have that service disabled and it causes me no grief.

Is it possible that your service is not disabled and that allowed the Windows Defragger to become entangled with the Piriform Defraggler ?

 

I always use Portable software if possible so that it is never influenced by Windows doing stupid things to hidden registry keys.

[lmacri]

..on Windows 7 there is a service called "Disk Defragmenter" which uses C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k defragsvc...Is it possible that your service is not disabled and that allowed the Windows Defragger to become entangled with the Piriform Defraggler ?

 

Hi Alan_B:

 

I think you might have isolated the problem. When I install Defraggler I always disable the following three options in the installation wizard:

a) Add Defraggler menus to Windows Explorer,

Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter

c) Automatically check for updates to Defraggler

 

I normally disable the Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter option since I usually do my full defrags with the built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter (WDD) (which I believe is dfrgntfs.exe on my 32-bit Vista OS) and only use Defraggler for quick defrags and defrags of individual files.

 

So I ran two more tests with the standard "normal" Defraggler v. 2.14.706 installed on my hard drive.

 

Trial 4: Standard Build Run with Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter Enabled (Checked)

 

Success. I enabled the advanced option to Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter and the standard installation finally worked correctly (C: drive 1% fragmented, no restore points in the list of fragmented files).

 

 

Trial 5: Standard Build Run with Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter Disabled (Unhecked)

 

Success (unexpected). I then disabled the advanced option to Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter, expecting that % fragmentation would jump back up to 31%. Instead - the standard version continued to correctly report that my C: drive was 1% fragmented. I re-booted my system and the standard build of Defraggler is consistently reporting that C: drive is 1% fragmented, regardless of whether the Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter is disabled or enabled (which seems odd, but I'm not complaining). I'm going to permanently re-enable the Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter option and use Defraggler as my only defragger and hope that the problem doesn't re-appear.

 

 

I should apologize for using the misleading phase "with default settings" in post # 10 when I was testing the portable build. In that post, I intended "default settings" to mean that "Exclude restore point file" was enabled under my advanced settings and that I had not manually added C:\System Volume Information\ folder to my list of excluded folders.

------------

MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[Alan_B]

Happy to help. Thanks for the feedback

[DennisD]

Well done on finding a solution Imacri, and we always appreciate updates like that.

[mta]

as a side note;

is it worth pinning this so others can find it easier.

 

or adding Make sure Windows Defragmenter is disabled to the Looking for help with Defraggler thread or similar.

[lmacri]

DennisD / Alan_B:

 

Thanks for your excellent advice and support.

 

It would be great if switchs or other users having a similar problem excluding system restore points from their Defraggler drive analysis could post some feedback. I'm curious if anyone else with this problem is using a Vista OS or found that disabling/enabling the advanced Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter option fixed the problem.

 

I'd be happy to post a summary of this thread in the Defraggler Bug Reporting subforum if anyone thinks this is a legitimate software bug.

------------

MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 20.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.3.1.22 * Defraggler 2.14.706

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[DennisD]

The solution to your problem just doesn't seem to be a standard fix which would work for everyone, which Is why I'm reluctant to pin the topic as a "fix" for this issue. The seemingly inconsistent results from the installed version tests are odd.

 

What I will do is move the entire thread to the "Defraggler Bug Reporting" section which I think will be easier and more informative than you having to go through the entire thing again. (I'll save you that chore).

 

I'll also add to the topic title to make it more clear. I'm sure you won't mind.

 

To me it sounds more like a bug than an individual issue, simply because the original poster has the same problem, and the devs will no doubt pick up on it.

 

I'll leave a link to the moved topic for the OP, switchs, if and when he comes back to it.

 

 

EDIT: I agree it would be useful if others experiencing this problem posted about it.

[lmacri]

Just posting an update to let everyone know that I had the same problem when I upgraded to Defraggler v. 2.15.741. I performed a clean install and disabled (unchecked) the option to Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter during the installation process. Multiple disk analyses with Defraggler incorrectly reported that my disk was 33% fragmented and all my system restore points appeared in the fragmented files list (see .jpg), despite the fact that the option to Exclude restore point files (Settings | Options | Advanced | Use custom fragmentation settings | Define) was enabled.

 

 

Same fix as with v. 2.14.706 - I enabled the Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter option (Settings | Options | Advanced) and the next disk analysis correctly showed 1% disk fragmentation and the system restore points had disappeared from the fragmented file list. I then restarted Defraggler and disabled the Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter option (again) and everything works correctly - I'm back to 1% disk fragmentation with Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter disabled.

 

I still don't know if this fix would work for anyone else, but at least it's consistent on my system.

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MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 22.0 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.4.0.40 * Defraggler 2.15.741

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[DennisD]

Hi Imacri,

 

Thanks for the update, and as the thread is now in the "Bug Reporting" section, the devs will be taking notice of your comments although they don't always reply directly.

 

I would hazard a guess and say others probably have benefited from your efforts and kindly updated posts, but sadly not everyone takes the time and trouble to tell us this.

 

Thanks again for the update.

[lmacri]

I updated to Defraggler v. 2.15.742 today (clean install) and had the same problem I described in post #18 of this thread. I disabled (unchecked) the option to Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter in the installation wizard, and Defraggler incorrectly displayed all my system restore points and reported that my disk was 33% fragmented.

 

The same workaround - enabling the option to Replace Windows Disk Defragmenter, closing Defraggler, and disabling the option again - fixed the problem and I'm back to 1% fragmentation.

------------

MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 23.0.1 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.4.0.40 * Defraggler 2.15.742

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

[DennisD]

Thanks for the update Imacri.

 

All I can say is the devs do pertain to read all bug reporting issues although don't always respond, but I'm wondering if they have actually been able to replicate your experience.

 

Thanks again.

[resiczek]

Hello, sorry for reopening the old thread but I would like to let you know that this bug still persists. My version of defraggler is  2.18.945 (64bit). Analyze was showing me 30% of fragmentation. When I was searching for solution I found this thread, followed steps suggested by Imacri (disabling/enabling replace...)  and now it says 0%. I would say it is only a small defect in other very brilliant piece of software, you guys doing great job and I would like to thank you for it. Cheers.