PerfectDisk & FirstDefense

Discussion in 'FirstDefense-ISR Forum' started by TonyW, Dec 17, 2005.

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  1. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    To FD users out there, when using PerfectDisk to defrag a system, is it better to do this from the Primary snapshot, or doesn't it matter which snapshot you use?
     
    TonyW, Dec 17, 2005
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  2. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Good question, Tony, and I am afraid that I cannot answer that. But I can relay one bit of info. When you do a defrag using PerfectDisk ALL Snapshots get defragged; I asked tech support about this once. Maybe all defraggers do all Snapshots also, I don't know, but PerfectDisk definitely does. Hmmm, yet I bet the GoBack bin does not get defragged, so again, maybe the Snapshots are not completely 100% protected.

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 17, 2005
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  3. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Tony

    I always do it from the Primary. As we discussed in another thread, the primary really is different, even though all snapshots can be interchangeably.

    To refresh. If you have two snapshots, called Primary and secondary, and you were to uninstall from secondary. You would be left with just one shapshot and it would be the one that had been named Primary.

    For that reason, I do all imaging, defragging, etc from the primary. Also I still disable preboot for imaging. Do this just so the image has a clean MBR. Raxco tech support has told me technically this isn't necessary, but isn't a bad idea.

    Pete
     
    Peter2150, Dec 17, 2005
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  4. WWS

    WWS Registered Member

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    Check it out. Perfect Disk and FDISR
     

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    WWS, Dec 17, 2005
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  5. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Interesting, WWS, thank you; I never checked into those PerfectDisk settings, I should have.

    EDIT: which one of those $ISR0-9 is the Primary, you don't want to exclude that one!
    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 17, 2005
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  6. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    By default, they are not excluded, which means they all get defragged as has been said. You can, of course, exclude them as it looks like WWS has done. But I wonder if Raxco don't want them excluded - otherwise I'm sure Tech Support would have said surely.

    The one file that isn't moved during PerfectDisk's boot time defrag pass is $ISR.BIN in version 6 build .28 and up.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2005
    TonyW, Dec 17, 2005
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  7. WWS

    WWS Registered Member

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    Beats me.

    All the snapshots will be excluded except the one you're in.
    Just be sure you're in the Primary when firing up PD.
     
    WWS, Dec 17, 2005
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  8. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    But I fired up PD, and 0-9 showed up in the exlusions; one of those would have to be the Primary! Will PD ignore the exclusion if you accidently mark the Primary for exclusion? :doubt:

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 17, 2005
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  9. WWS

    WWS Registered Member

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    I seems to me that even if you have 10 snapshots and you put that little red x in the box, 9 of those snapshots will be excluded.
    So, if you are in your Primary, that's the one that's not excluded.
    Nothing to uncheck.
    If your Primary was excluded, what would you be defragmenting?

    Wonder how long a 9 snapshot defrag session would take.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2005
    WWS, Dec 17, 2005
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  10. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Fascinating. when I check excluded files by looking at drive properties, I don't have a single red check box, not one. Even $ISRbin isn't checked. But when I run analyze on the drive and then look at the files excluded c:\$isr\0\$ISRBIN is excluded. Interesting.

    Pete

    PS. I think both of my snapshot are infact being defragged.
     
    Peter2150, Dec 17, 2005
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  11. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Not sure what this means; what is PD doing? o_O

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 17, 2005
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  12. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    It means if I defrag that file won't be moved. That makes sense, but what puzzles me is there is no red check mark when I look at the exclusion list under the drive properties.

    Pete
     
    Peter2150, Dec 17, 2005
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  13. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Interesting, Peter, I just tried the same thing. There NEVER appeared a red check by that file, either before or after Analyze! o_O
     
    Acadia, Dec 17, 2005
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  14. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Interesting, but not a big deal. It works, thats what matters.

    Pete
     
    Peter2150, Dec 17, 2005
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  15. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    PD has been set to not move $ISR.BIN because in versions below 6 build .28 the file was moved, and the MBR could not find it at the new location resulting in problems rebooting the system.

    According to the FDISR website:
    However:
     
    TonyW, Dec 18, 2005
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  16. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Yeah, Tony, I knew all that, what I was questioning was why his file was being excluded AFTER analyze. Mine does not appear to do that.

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 18, 2005
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  17. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Acadia

    Only thing I can guess is that PD automatically excludes it so it doesn't show up on drive properties where you can manually select stuff, but once you run analyze or defrag for that matter it is automatically included. Just a guess.

    Pete
     
    Peter2150, Dec 18, 2005
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  18. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    Probably a pretty good guess. Note that PD ALWAYS precedes a defrag with an analysis.

    I've done a lot of monkeying around excluding different combinations of snapshots and defragging FROM different snapshots, including tagging each snapshot by placing an empty directory with a special name off of the root so i can tell which snapshot is which when exploring the $ISR structure from within the "Excluded Files" directory structure. This was a simple way for me to track PD's behavior during all these permutations.

    I concluded it was best to defrag only from the Primary in my case because I find the Smart Placement strategy best for me. The snapshots ARE all intimately entwined and all sorted together by frequency of modification, but if you have a special snapshot set up -- say a clean Windows XP test bed -- the contents aren't identical nor are the files in the "boot" and "soon after boot" files classes and so you may have a slightly different file layout upon defrag depending on which snapshot you're in if you're letting PD manage the prefetch sorting and file placement.
     
    crofttk, Dec 19, 2005
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  19. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    crofttk, thanks for all that info (and work!) :cool:

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Dec 19, 2005
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  20. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Amen.

    Pete
     
    Peter2150, Dec 19, 2005
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  21. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    I have been trying out PD, and it seems to work quite well. However, after doing my first offline and online defrag 20 days ago (using the Smart Placement option), each analysis I have done since has recommended no action to be taken. I presume this is good. It makes setting up schedules a moot point tho, and I'm glad I haven't set any up with the results thus far.
     
    TonyW, Jan 7, 2006
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  22. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Yes, eventually PD will notify you to do the offline boot whatever it is called, but not very often, at least not in my case.

    Acadia
     
    Acadia, Jan 7, 2006
    #22
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