MFT placed in middle of disk

[rp1915]

Hi,

I've been using MyDefrag for some months, always on the standard scripts (ie optimise weekly or monthly). When I first used it, zone 1 and the MFT were at the beginning of the disk, however now they are roughly half way through the area of the disk with data on it (~30% of the way through the total disk area). The beginning of the disk is occupied with data in zone 5. Is this normal? I thought zone 1 and the MFT were meant to be at the start of the disk to give the fastest access times. If I need to move the MFT back to the beginning of the disk, how do I do this?

[Darlis]

The scripts (since 4.3.0 I guess) put the MFT 30% into the used space of the disk.
Since the MFT is frequently accessed, it should be placed where the files are accessed/created. Usually the beginning of the disk contains the boot files. If the MFT is at the beginning, these files can be accessed very fast, but not the other files which you need while working. MyDefrag therefore moves the MFT closer to these files, so that you only get a slight decrease in booting, but a performance gain while working normally. The same applies for the directories.

If you want to place the MFT (and directories) at the beginning of the volume, edit the SystemDisk scripts and search for

Code:

  /* Place files at 30% into the data on the disk. */
  MakeGap(RoundUp(VolumeUsed * 0.3,VolumeSize * 0.01), DoNotVacate)

Remove these lines or place an "#" at the beginning of every line.

[rp1915]

Ah, that'll be the reason then I was using an older version when I switched to MyDefrag, which is why I remember the MFT at the start of the disk. If there's an advantage to it being 30% of the way through, I'll leave it alone. Thanks for the quick reply - hopefully this topic might be useful for a few more puzzled souls out there...

[jeroen]

An extra note: only the SystemDisk (and Automatic scripts) will place the MFT at 30% into the data. The DataDisk scripts place the MFT at the beginning of the disk.