Frequently Asked Questions

Chances are, others have the same questions that you do. Therefore, we have taken the common questions for Diskeeper, Sitekeeper and Undelete and provided the answers (and the questions) below in our Frequently Asked Questions section. Simply select the product below that you have questions about. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can submit a tech support question here.

Diskeeper | Sitekeeper | Undelete

Question
After running a defrag Diskeeper shows files remaining as fragmented due to Excess allocation.
Answer
A file marked as having excess allocation means that the file is one that is being held open by the Windows operating system kernel. In addition, it is being written and rewritten on a regular basis by the kernel. At some point in its lifetime, it was large enough to require 2 extents' worth of allocation. However, since then it was rewritten from the beginning with less data and never closed. Since the file is being held open, NTFS figures it might have more data written into it at some time in the future and doesn't release the extra allocated clusters, leaving them assigned to this file for possible future expansion. The excess clusters will be released when the file is closed, which, unfortunately, will be the next reboot.

Question

After running a defrag Diskeeper shows files remaining as fragmented due to Excess allocation.

Answer

A file marked as having excess allocation means that the file is one that is being held open by the Windows operating system kernel. In addition, it is being written and rewritten on a regular basis by the kernel. At some point in its lifetime, it was large enough to require 2 extents' worth of allocation. However, since then it was rewritten from the beginning with less data and never closed. Since the file is being held open, NTFS figures it might have more data written into it at some time in the future and doesn't release the extra allocated clusters, leaving them assigned to this file for possible future expansion. The excess clusters will be released when the file is closed, which, unfortunately, will be the next reboot.

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