Usn Jrn Fragmented?

[Yezinki]

Hi there,

I have a question.........On a fresh install of XP created a Full Back up image......prior to imaging PD Pro displayed none excess fragments........when a I restore the back up, followed by CHKDSK & a defrag both boot time followed by Smart  Placement...... I get excess meta data fragment/s....Metdata C:\$Extend\$UsnJrnl:$J........btw before I create a full back up image, I defrag the drive using both Smart Placement & boot time.....what could the possible reasons be?

Support says its coz of " That file is used to track all of the changes to the drive and it can get fragmented fast if there are a lot of changes on the drive. PerfectDisk does defragment this file but sometimes it can re-fragment right after a defragmentation"
 
Hoping to hear your thoughts,
 
Regards,

[majoMo]

....what could the possible reasons be?

Useful info in MyDefrag page about.

When Update Sequence Number (USN) is too big I delete it with the command "fsutil usn deletejournal /n c:"

- The journal is disabled by default, and automatically enabled and used by the Indexing Service, File Replication Service (FRS), Remote Installation Service (RIS), and Remote Storage. Third party programs can also use the USN change journal.
- After deleting the journal Windows will automatically create a new journal and record volume changes from that moment on.

[Yezinki]

Thanks majoMo for your response & the link.

Personally what would you do........disable/delete the journal OR create a customized one........what other services need to be disabled if one goes ahead to delete it.....can one customize the already created one.......what should be the parameters of a customized one??

Where do I type the commands/ parameters......e.g  fsutil usn deletejournal /n c..........in windows command prompt?

Hoping to hear your views again.

[Yezinki]

This command "fsutil usn deletejournal /n c:"  .........has deleted that fragmented file & is no more there on XP...........I ran it using command prompt......what would its consequences be.........how do I recreate a cutsomized one........where is this Usn file located?

Thanks again.

[majoMo]

where is this Usn file located?

"in the root of a volume, and is invisible to (most) applications."

what would its consequences be

There are no need to delete it ever. There aren't need to disable services once your system and app. could need them. To have this file isn't an issue; like I said I only delete it sometimes when it is too big.

You can't "recreate a customized one"; the system do that for you... 

"Deleting the journal is usually safe, but can have consequences. Applications that are using it will not see file changes between the last time the application ran and when the journal was deleted. Well-programmed applications will detect that the journal was deleted and will revert to an alternative method of finding changed files."

[Yezinki]

Thanks again........

1. I deleted it using command "fsutil usn deletejournal /n c:"........I had no Usn on defrag but on a reboot had a new one which wasn't fragmented.......is that ok.....correct??

2. Than I typed this " fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 c:"..........for a customized one...........is that fine......?

OR the best is to delete it when it gets fragmented.........don't you delete it when it becomes too large?

What are your expert thoughts??

Regards!

[Yezinki]

When Update Sequence Number (USN) is too big I delete it with the command "fsutil usn deletejournal /n c:"

Dont you ever see any negative consequences of deleting it when it gets too large?

Thanks again.

[Yezinki]

Whats the approx size of Usn & what should be the paramaters for "fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 c:"...........should a reboot & CHKSK be performed after any command?

[Yezinki]

Finally running “fsutil usn deletejournal /n c:”

1. Usn is deleted in XP real time & recreated on a reboot which isn’t fragmented……….vs. Vista it is not deleted but defragmented in windows real time & on reboot is fragmented again…….strange?

2. Secondly running a command “fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 c:”   ……….should the values be set at Zero 0……….as discussed in the link…….http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc788042(WS.10).aspx.

Hoping to hear your experienced views.

Regards & Thanks again.

[majoMo]

@ Yezinki,

- Dont you ever see any negative consequences of deleting it when it gets too large?

No. But like the technical info says could there be "because it adversely affects other applications that are using the journal.". It's why I don't recommend to be used many times. Like USN "provides a persistent log of all changes made to files on the volume" and this info could be used for some operations and app., some undesirable effects could occur.

- running a command “fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 c:”

I don't use it; I leave the system to recreate the file. If after it is fragmented it's not a big issue; at least to me.

[Yezinki]

Thanks for your reply.

I did delete Usn & it got recreated on reboot.

When I restored the earlier image of a windows clean install with Windows XP SP3 & MS Off & their updates & performed a CHKDSK followed by defrag of the drive there were no excess meta data but Usn file was missing......on CHKSK stage 3 it only displayed Security descriptor verification completed......No mention of Usn.........& in PD log displayed excluded files, there again was no Usn.......is this normal........is the Usn created later?

Hoping to hear your views.