about layout.ini support

[rdsu]

Hi Jeroen,

I know that adding support for "layout.ini" is on top of your list for JkDefrag, and I would like to suggest to put that files next to directories (zone 1).

What you think?

Regards

[jeroen]

I am thinking about placing them after the regular files and before the spacehogs. The layout.ini file is a list of all the files that are needed to boot the computer, in the order in which they are accessed. If they are placed in that order on disk then the harddisk head doesn't have to move about so much.

Most of those files will never be accessed again after booting. From then on only the "regular files" will be accessed. By placing the layout.ini files after the regular files I think there will be a small speed penalty when booting, and a big speed gain when running.

[rdsu]

You can try both methods and tell us the results to compare...

[Astroman]

Just looking for one of these layout.ini posts.  I have a question that has to do with a suggestion.  Currently, Jkdefrag does not support the layout.ini, I use a registry file that I made, that has over 300 tweaks to win xp and vista (haven't tested on 2000), for the computers that I work on. Anyway, since jkdefrag does not support that layout.ini function.  And ProccessIdleTasks runs every 3 days by default, (undoing what jkdefrag does) I change the following registry keys


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OptimalLayout]
"EnableAutoLayout"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction]
"Enable"="N"

that way, jkdefrag's work isn't undone, now my question is when Jkdefrag finally supports the layout.ini for prefetching, should those registry keys be set back, or set to how they are now, or certain ones.  Basically what i'm asking is, how is jkdefrag going to go about implimenting the layout.ini  I hope I worded this correctly, from what I have read/experienced.  Or am I using the wrong keys, etc.

[jeroen]

My advise is Don't Mess About In The Registry. Instead see the "How do I disable Vista's build-in defragger?" question in the frequently asked questions chapter on the JkDefrag homepage. And disabling the prefetcher is a bad idea, your system will be noticeably slower.

[Astroman]

Ooops, a typo, I have it set to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000003

But what about, i remember discussing this before, that JKdefrag undoes what this work does.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OptimalLayout]
"EnableAutoLayout"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction]
"Enable"="N"

What I have noticed is that after JKdefrag has run, then ProcessIdleTasks, it puts several files in the middle of the disk to make room for what it wants to put in the front.  I believe ProcessIdleTasks does the same thing as BootVis

[Lundholm]

The layout.ini file is only created, if the Windows boot prefetch is enabled. This means that JkDefrag and Windows will fight forever about the placement of the boot files.

The only scenario that works, is disabling boot prefetch and basing the Jkdefrag optimization on implicit knowledge about the boot process.

Cheers

[Astroman]

so what you're saying, in order to prevent this "fighting" the prefetch needs to be set to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000001

But what about the defualt settings that Windows optimizes the hard disk every three days?

[Lundholm]

But what about the defualt settings that Windows optimizes the hard disk every three days?

Yes, you have to accept this in order to get the layout.ini file. This means that a JkDefrag run will last only 3 days or less.

Anyway, there are lots of posts on this subject in various threads. It seems simple, but it isn't. The project preconditions are wrong.

Cheers

[Lundholm]

so what you're saying, in order to prevent this "fighting" the prefetch needs to be set to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000001

Yes, that is what I have done. I don't want Windows to blow away my JkDefrag optimization.

Jeroen should make this a general recommendation, but he will never do that!    :wink:

Cheers

[Ash]

...And disabling the prefetcher is a bad idea, your system will be noticeably slower.

Jeroen is correct. People need to hear this one loud and clear. There is a lot of misinformation on the board about exactly how the prefetching in XP works, and a belief by some that it slows your system down.

[Lexar]

I believe this is something that hasn't really come up in the version 4 scripting language topic. If this is something that is already planned for the scripting, please ignore this message.

Since C:\Windows\Prefetch\Layout.ini, (which seems to contain not only the names of the files read into memory at the boot time but also the names of those that applications opens to read from or write to), is maintained by Windows itself, we would be able to do a quick daily optimization if JkDefrag were able to read from a text file what items to defrag or not to defrag.

Suppose "@" were to be used to tell JkDefrag to read items from a file, the commandline would be something like:

Code:

JkDefrag.exe -a 3 @ "C:\Windows\Prefetch\Layout.ini" -e@ excludes.txt -u DisableDefaults -u@ spacehogs.txt

[jeroen]

If this is something that is already planned for the scripting, please ignore this message.

Thanks for sharing your idea, I appreciate it! But yes, this is already on the wishlist.

Suppose "@" were to be used to tell JkDefrag to read items from a file

The scripting language is designed to replace the commandline, because the commandline is simply not flexible enough for all the things that people want to do. I will keep the current commandline for backward compatibility, but will not add more arguments.

[CeeJay.dk]

Could someone find out what it is the "Ultrafast booting (rearrange boot files)" option in TuneXP does ?
I suspect that it's reading the layout.ini and moving all the files to the start of the disk in the sequence they are loaded.
In any case , it's extremely effective and really speeds up booting.
It's freeware - you can find it here :
http://www.download.com/TuneXP/3000-2086_4-10290928.html

I'd like to see whatever it does , duplicated in JKdefrag.

BTW .. it is really necessary to disable the BootOptimizeFunction ? - Couldn't you just find out where Windows prefers those files and put them there in the first place so they are never moved , even if BootOptimizeFunction is enabled ?

[JDPower]

I suspect that it's reading the layout.ini and moving all the files to the start of the disk in the sequence they are loaded.

I thinks that's what it does. And yes, it does work very well (I used it a while back)