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 category below that you have questions about.
That second bit of green
in the middle of the disk is the MFT Mirror. The first dozen or so blocks of the MFT (Master
File Table) are critical; if you lose them, you lose everything
on the drive. Those blocks are duplicated in the MFT Mirror, which is positioned in the middle of the disk. This makes it
very difficult to lose both copies. You may have noticed that the MFT always has at least two fragments; you can't get it to one fragment.
That extra fragment usually represents the MFT Mirror.
To guarantee 100% safety
and data integrity, Diskeeper uses mechanisms built into the
Operating System to perform the actual movement of file fragments in
a defragmentation job. These mechanisms, which are accessed by
defragmenters via the MoveFile API*, do not support a cluster size
greater than 4k on NTFS volumes in Windows NT4/2000.
Diskeeper is therefore bound by the limitations of these
operating system mechanisms. Please note that the built-in
defragmenter and all third party products that use the MoveFile API
will have identical limitations.
To allow Diskeeper to
operate on these volumes you can use Windows Disk
Administrator/Management to format/reformat partitions to the
default value of 4096bytes (or smaller). This may involve a backup
and restore of data if that volume is presently in
use.
Improvements to the MoveFile API/defragmentation
mechanisms in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 support cluster
sizes up to 64k.
*API: Application Programming Interface. It
is the interface which a program uses to accesses code in the
operating system and/or other services.
It is likely that you
have a mounted drive setup on a directory file BELOW the directory
file that is fragmented. In Windows 2000/XP, when you mount a drive to a specific directory location, a
process remains tied to that directory above the mount point. If the directory happens to get fragmented, the included Windows defragmentation API (Application Program Interface) for defragmentation that Diskeeper uses can not gain
access to the directory file and thus can not defragment it.
Below is an example of a
drive that is mounted to a directory just below the root of the partition. In this case the directory is called:
C:\mounted
drive.
Hiberfil.sys is the file
where Windows saves memory data when the system hibernates. This file cannot be moved at all. You
can either ignore it, or disable Hibernate Mode, which will delete the
file.
To disable Hibernation Mode, go to Control Panel, Power
Options. In the System Standby box at the bottom of the window,
select Never, then click Apply.
Our primary concern with
Diskeeper is the performance of your computer. The disk drives are
the primary bottleneck in your computer's performance. Diskeeper
restores the disks to top speed by eliminating fragmentation.
It is a common misconception that a defragmented disk should
look very neat and tidy in the analysis screen, with solid blue bars
all the way across the screen (representing fragmentation-free
files) and the rest white space (representing consolidated space).
Clearly, the speed of the disk, meaning how fast you can
access the data on it, is more important than the prettiness of the
display or the consolidation of all the free space into one place.
Free space consolidation might be important if you have to create
one gigantic contiguous file, but it has no effect on performance.
So Diskeeper uses algorithms that achieve the highest speed from
your drive regardless of the arrangement of the free spaces on the
drive and on the screen. And it does so without wasting time on
excessive consolidation of free space. We simply go for the fastest
possible file access times and then stop.
Even so, you might
ask why we don't continue and rearrange the files further to get a
neat display? The answer is, “Because it takes computer power to do
so.” We long ago decided that it would be wrong to consume more of
your computer's performance than we give back. So Diskeeper
defragments until the disk is in top shape PERFORMANCE-wise and then
stops. Any further work is a waste of your computer resources.
Now this might not be a big deal if you like to watch the
display as Diskeeper defragments your drive, but it is a very big
deal to people who depend on their computers for their work. They
need all the performance they can get and can't hold up production
while the defragmenter pretties up the disk. This is why Diskeeper
is designed to run in the background at the lowest possible
priority, giving way to any other program that needs to run. And it
is also why Diskeeper STOPS defragmenting when maximum performance
has been achieved.
Diskeeper is able to
defragment Exchange and SQL database files. However, there are times
when certain files are locked in such a way that Diskeeper is denied
access to them.If this should happen with your database files, you
can either try again later, or you can shut down the Exchange or SQL
Server services and defragment.
Often, Files created by
the System Restore functionality in Windows XP can be
created as compressed files with what is referred to as
Excess Allocation. This can cause the Microsoft defragmentationAPI used by Diskeeper to occasionally be unable to fully defragment the file.
If you would like to defragment these files, we advise the following
procedure to uncompress the files and thus allow the API to defragment the files:
1. Open the Command
Prompt interface; by Clicking Start, then Select Run and type in CMD into the run field.
2. Once the Command Window
(usually a black screen) opens, Type the following to set default to
the folder above these files:
CD C:\System Volume
Information (substitute C: with whatever drive actually being
performed on)
3. Type the following to uncompress the files
that exist below the System Volume Information
folder:
compact /u /f /s *.*
If the command for 'Compact' does not exist on the system, you will
see a message that says bad command or file name. If this occurs,
simply click the 'This Didn't Help' button below to send an email to
our support team. Be sure to reference the point on this
solution.
4. After the operation is complete, rerun
Diskeeper, it will now be able to defragment these files.
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.
The ''dirty bit'' is set
on this partition. The dirty bit is single point of entry that is
changed from a 0 to 1 to ensure that CHKDSK /F will be run during
the next restart of the system. You can check this by typing CHKNTFS
C: (assuming that the C: partition is the one in question) at the
Command Prompt. When you reboot the system, CHKDSK should run. When
it runs, the dirty bit setting will be reverted to its original
value. If it does not run, the dirty bit will remain set and thus
you will continue to see the message.
If CHKDSK does not run
during the restart, you are probably running a software licensing
service called ''Crypkey Service'', ''Crypkey License,'' and
possibly a driver ''NetworkX'' that lock the system drive. The
''Crypkey'' portion provides key-based copy protection and the
''NetworkX'' provides a means of transporting it across locally
connected networks. Here is a link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base
article on this: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;176504
The service and driver must be stopped and disabled, and then the
CHKDSK /F can run when the system restarts. The software protected
by this system will not operate correctly until the service and
driver are restarted and enabled.
We have also received
reports of a Kensington Mouse driver that inhibits the ability of
CHKDSK /F to run. If you are certain that you are not using Crypkey,
this may be the issue.
By request of Microsoft, Diskeeper
will not run on a partition that has the dirty bit set. The dirty
bit is not something to be taken lightly; it is the only way that
Windows NT based platforms has to attempt to make sure that you do
not get into serious trouble with a partition.
If none of
the above applies to your current configuration, we recommend that
you do a clean installation of Windows in a separate directory and
reboot to that installation. That will allow CHKDSK /F to run and
clear the dirty bit.
In Windows 2000 and
Windows XP, NTFS directories are moved online during normal
Diskeeper defragmentation. Therefore, there is no need to use
Boot-Time Directory Consolidation on Windows 2000 NTFS volumes. In
fact, should you decide to run Boot-Time Directory Consolidation on
a Windows 2000 NTFS volume, the consolidation will likely be
''undone'' as soon as you run an online defragmentation.
The Boot-Time
Defragmentation option will defragment the Paging File, Directories,
and MFT, depending on what you selected. It is designed to
defragment these files during boot-up because they could not be
defragmented while Windows was running.
Changes and
improvements in the Windows file system has resulted in the ability
for some of these file objects to now be defragmented as part of the
normal Diskeeper on-line defragmentation process.
For
example, in Windows 2000 the directory files can be moved on-line.
In Windows XP and later operating systems both the directories and
MFT (Master File Table) can be moved and defragmented on-line.
The Boot-Time Defragment is designed to be very fast and it
will ONLY defragment these three objects and perhaps a few other
files when sufficient contiguous free space is unavailable. For more
complete defragmentation make sure you have Automatic
Defragmentation enabled in Diskeeper.
Clustered partitions are
not available to the operating system early enough for Diskeeper’s
Boot Time Defragmentation to function. The Microsoft
Knowledge Base article below, and its subsequent links, will explain
the architecture of Clustered partition services (where and when it
loads, and what steps it takes).
Diskeeper’s Boot Time Defragmentation piggybacks off the same registry value that the operating system checks on
reboots to determine if chkdsk /f should run: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /
System / CurrentControlSet / Control / Session Manager /
BootExecute; which is prior to a clustered partition being
introduced during the boot process.
While with a chkdsk in
Windows 2000, (not Windows NT 4.0), you can dismount/unmount
(opposite of mounting) non-system volumes and then run chkdsk
/f, this doesn't help the case of Diskeeper as its Boot Time Defragmentation still requires a reboot. You will
need to break the cluster so that the system that you have set the
Boot Time Defragmentation on, upon reboot, loads the file
system for the shared volume prior to the above registry point being accessed by the boot
process.
Note: Windows 2000 has an improved defrag API that allows directories to be moved online so you do not need to use
Boot Time Defragmentation for directories while using
Diskeeper on Windows 2000.
If you check the Summary
Log box in setting up a Boot-Time run, it defaults to A:. You must
then insert a floppy into A: AFTER the boot phase has recognized the
operating system, and BEFORE the Boot-Time starts. If you also
select chkdsk (strongly recommended), you can insert the floppy as
chkdsk starts. Or, you can un-check the Log box. You can also
direct the log to a different drive (other than the one you are
running boot time on).
It is safe to restart your
computer midway through the Boot-Time Defragmentation operation.
However, if you do so, you should use the Error Checking option in
Drive Properties/Tools on the volume that was being processed when
you restarted your computer, and enable both the fix and the scan
options, or (if you are running from the Windows Command Prompt) run
CHKDSK, using the /F qualifier. This ensures the files and free
space on the volume are correctly allocated.
Boot-Time Defragmentation
runs very early in the boot process, before the USB (universal
serial bus) drivers have been loaded. This means the USB drives are
not yet available, so the Boot-Time Defragmentation cannot see this device. This
occurs because USB drives are not yet seen by Windows at this point
in time. It is recommended that you run Diskeeper online Defragmentation processes on this drive.
This happens due to an
error in the file system structure that causes the boot-time defrag
engines to terminate immediately. Because Diskeeper now has the
ability to defragment the MFT and directories as part of the normal
on-line defrag operation, it is no longer necessary to perform
Boot-Time defrags as frequently as before.
If a machine has and uses
a hard drive, it will fragment to varying extents. We recommend
using Diskeeper to analyze a cross section of machines to determine
fragmentation levels.
Usually, yes. However,
there are times when certain files are locked in such a way that
Diskeeper is denied access to them. If this should happen with your
database files, you can either try again later, or you can shut down
the Exchange or SQL Server services and defragment.
Diskeeper can't see the
partitions because the NTFS security settings have been set in a fashion that does not allow
Diskeeper access.
The problem is with using Windows Explorer
to modify security settings globally on a partition, directories, and files. This is in fact
an incorrect method of applying security settings. A more
appropriate method is to execute the following command line from the
root of the partition:
(Note: If you are not at
the root of the partition in question you must set your default
there: CD /D drive_name: )
1. First,
Launch a command window by Clicking Run then typing CMD in the field
and then click ok. A command window should then launch.
2
. Now the
command line:
CACLS * /e /t /c /g Administrators:F
System:F
(Note: If you see the message, ''Unable to perform a
security operation on an object which has no associated security,''
you are executing this from a FAT partition. You must set the default to an NTFS partition.)
This command will edit (/e) the ACL's,
rather than replace them, and recursively apply them (/t) to
subdirectories. CACLS will continue (/c) even when it hits an open
file. Any number of ACCOUNT:PERM parameters may follow the grant
(/g) switch. There is additional flexibility built into the CACLS
command—its only limitation is the dearth of selections for PERM
(permission levels) values.
You also may need to add System
and Administrators to the drive itself. Do that through Windows
Explorer with these steps:
(Steps for Windows NT
4.0)
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the
partition in question.
3. Click Properties.
4. Click the
Security tab.
5. Click the Permissions button.
6. If
Administrator is not listed, click Add and select
Administrator.
7. Highlight Administrator.
8. Set Type of
Access to Full Control.
9. If System is not listed, click Add and
select System.
10. Highlight System.
11. Set Type of Access to
Full Control.
12. Deselect the Replace Permissions on existing
files check box (it is checked by default).
13. Click
OK.
(Steps for Windows 2000, XP and 2003)
1. Start
Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the partition in question.
3.
Click Properties.
4. Click the Security tab.
5. If 'Everyone'
or 'Administrator and System' are not listed, click Add.
6.
Select local system name from the Look In: pull down menu.
7.
double click Administrators and double System.
8. Click OK.
9.
Highlight Administrators and select the checkbox for Full Control in
the Allow column.
10. Highlight System and select the checkbox
for Full Control in the Allow column.
11. Click OK.
If
you still have a problem, Close Diskeeper, go to Explorer to the
Program Files\Executive Software\Diskeeper folder and delete
Diskeep.ctl, after which all should be fine. Then if still running
into issues, please click 'This didn't Help' At the bottom of this
solution.
Keeping in step with the
forward thinking of Diskeeper’s fully automatic process of handling
fragmentation and improving the file system performance, FragShield
has been improved and made fully automatic. No longer do you need to
spend your time manually running FragSheild to get the benefits of
extending or preventing fragmentation the MFT (Master File Table).
FragShield does this automatically in the background using the
InvisiTasking technology. You must enable Automatic Defragmentation
on the selected volumes or else the FragShield properties are grayed
out.
Download and install the Diskeeper trial version from the web site.
Look for the licence.dal file in the folders created by the download manager and use this license to activate the software.
Copy the downloaded licence.dal file to the Diskeeper installation folder which is usually found at C:\Program files\Diskeeper corporation\Diskeeper and follow the instructions below to restart the Diskeeper service.
Restart the services of Diskeeper.
Go to Start --> run and type the following commands:
net stop Diskeeper (Stop the service wait for a few seconds)
net start Diskeeper (Start the service)
Once the service is restarted the licence.dal file is taken in by Diskeeper.
Proceed with the activation of your Diskeeper license.
We recommend trying manual activation if the automatic does not work.
If you continue
experiencing problems with the download, please respond by emailing csm@diskeeper.co.uk including
a screenshot of your desktop. This will help us assist you to get
your product.
Download and install the Diskeeper trial version from the web site.
Look for the licence.dal file in the folders created by the download manager and use this license to activate the software.
Copy the downloaded licence.dal file to the Diskeeper installation folder which is usually found at C:\Program files\Diskeeper corporation\Diskeeper and follow the instructions below to restart the Diskeeper service.
Restart the services of Diskeeper.
Go to Start --> run and type the following commands:
net stop Diskeeper (Stop the service wait for a few seconds)
net start Diskeeper (Start the service)
Once the service is restarted the licence.dal file is taken in by Diskeeper.
Proceed with the activation of your Diskeeper license.
We recommend trying manual activation if the automatic does not work.
If you continue
experiencing problems with the download, please respond by emailing csm@diskeeper.co.uk including
a screenshot of your desktop. This will help us assist you to get
your product.
Download and install the Diskeeper trial version from the web site.
Look for the licence.dal file in the folders created by the download manager and use this license to activate the software.
Copy the downloaded licence.dal file to the Diskeeper installation folder which is usually found at C:\Program files\Diskeeper corporation\Diskeeper and follow the instructions below to restart the Diskeeper service.
Restart the services of Diskeeper.
Go to Start --> run and type the following commands:
net stop Diskeeper (Stop the service wait for a few seconds)
net start Diskeeper (Start the service)
Once the service is restarted the licence.dal file is taken in by Diskeeper.
Proceed with the activation of your Diskeeper license.
We recommend trying manual activation if the automatic does not work.
If you continue
experiencing problems with the download, please respond by emailing csm@diskeeper.co.uk including
a screenshot of your desktop. This will help us assist you to get
your product.
To download and
install Diskeeper please follow these
instructions:
Click the
download link to start the download.
When the File
Download dialog box appears click the "Save" button and save to
Desktop.
After the download is completed, locate the Download Manager
icon on your Desktop and double-click to run.
Specify your destination folder where you would like to
download the installation package(s).
Select the "Save" button to start your download.
Once the Download Manager has completed downloading your
product, locate the installation package within the destination
folder and execute.
Follow the
prompts within the installer to complete the installation of
Diskeeper.
Note: Please
make sure the executable file and the license file are located
inside the same directory before executing the installation
process.
Additional
Instructions:
General Download
Instructions:
To ensure a
successful download, we recommend quitting / disabling any other
programs, including virus-protection / firewalls and any third-party
download managers. These programs can and may interfere with your
download process.
Try
downloading your product. If this fails please go to the next step
below.
Delete your Internet
Explorer Temporary Files:
1. Quit
Internet Explorer and quit any instances of Windows Explorer.
2.
Click Start, click Control Panel, and
then open (double-click) Internet
Options.
3. On the General tab, click Delete Files under Temporary Internet Files.
4.
In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box, and then click OK.
5. Click OK.
Try downloading your product. If this
fails go to the next step below.
Server error or file
not found error:
Sometimes, if the
link gets wrapped onto two lines in your email then the whole
link does not get used. If this appears to be the case, try
copying the first line of the address and pasting it into the
address bar of your web browser and then copying and pasting the
second line into your browser (at the end of what you already
pasted).
If you continue
experiencing problems with the download, please respond by including
a screenshot of your desktop. This will help us assist you to get
your product.
The situation appears to
be in the NTFS permissions of the Installer and/or on the temp
directory on your local system or that Diskeeper has left a key in
its registry.
Here are the steps to delete the registry
key:
1. From the Desktop, click Start, then Run.
2. Type
REGEDT32 for the command and click OK.
3. Select the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on local machine subtree.
4. Double-click the
SOFTWARE hive.
5. Double-click Executive Software.
6.
Highlight Diskeeper.
7. Select Delete from the Edit menu.
8.
Click Yes on the warning window that appears.
If this does
not work, see the following link to Microsoft's Knowledge Base
should supply you with a
solution:
It
recommends changing the permissions on the \Installer folder to Full
Control for the Everyone group. I also recommend that you set the
permissions on the folder where you expanded the download to
Everyone: Read, Administrators: Full, System : Full.
The
\Installer may be a hidden directory that you may not see. If you
can not see it, perform the following steps to make it
visible.
1. Open My Computer
2. Select the Folder Options
selection from the Tools menu
3. Select the View tab
4. Select
the Show hidden files and folders radio button
5. Un-check the
hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box
6.
Select Yes when the warning window comes up
7. Select the OK
button
Then check for the Install or Installer directory
in your %systemroot% (WinNT) directory. You should be able to see
and setup the above recommended permissions.
Sometimes a
reboot is necessary for the changes to take effect.
This error occurs because
there is a problem creating or writing to a folder. This could for
one or several of these reasons:
A) You do not have the
permissions required to install programs. To resolve this problem,
you must be logged in as an administrator.
B) The folder is
on a NTFS drive and permissions are set up for the folder that will
prevent installation. Change that folder back to the default
"EVERYONE" permissions.
C) The hard drive is full. You have
to free up hard drive space. For example, delete unnecessary files
or uninstall programs that you do not use.
A file you are trying
to update is in use. Make sure no programs are running while you are
installing the software.
