GENWiki

STACKER NOTE Stac Electronics Technical Note Subject: Third party defragmentation programs and STACKER 2.0 and 1.x Tech001 - 2/20/92 Page 1 of 1 Writing to disk can cause file fragmentation over time. Third party defragmentation programs such as Norton Speedisk, PCtools Compress, and VOPT can remedy this condition on uncompressed drives, but should NOT be run on STACKER drives.

Q: Why can't I run third party Defragmenters on a STACKER drive? A: STACKER's special method of storing compressed data cannot be

 interpreted by these programs.  If run on a STACKER drive, they can 
 actually increase fragmentation.  It is O.K. to run third party 
 defragmenters on the noncompressed drive.

Q: How do I defragment a STACKER drive? A: Stacker version 2.0 includes a defragmentation utility called SDEFRAG. It

 is specifically designed to defragment STACKER drives.  It will not 
 defragment a noncompressed drive.  To defragment a STACKER version 1.x 
 drive, it is necessary to back up the data on the drive, delete the data 
 on the drive, then restore from the backup.  A recommended alternative is 
 to upgrade to STACKER 2.0 and use SDEFRAG .

Q: What if I accidently ran a third party defragmenter on a STACKER drive? A: Your data remains safe, however, the fragmentation may have been

 increased.  Run SCHECK /f to correct any errors on the drive.  Then run 
 SDEFRAG to defragment the drive.