Maintaining Disks and Volumes

Lesson

Introduction

 The storage functionality in Windows 10 can give you an overview of what types of files the volumes
are storing.
 When you first create a volume, you typically create new files and folders on a volume’s available
free space in contiguous blocks.
 This provides an optimized file system environment.
 As the volume becomes full, the availability of contiguous blocks diminishes.
 This can lead to suboptimal performance.
 This lesson explores file system fragmentation and the tools that you can use to reduce
fragmentation.
 You also will see how Windows 10 can compress files to take up less space on the hard disk.
 You will see how you can configure disk quotas to monitor and control the use of disk space.

Lesson Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

 Explain the primary characteristics of the Storage functionality in Windows 10.

 Describe how to use the Storage functionality.
 Describe how files stored on disks might fragment.
 Describe how to defragment volumes.
 Explain folder compression.
 Describe how to compress folders.
 Describe what disk quotas are.
 Describe how to configure disk quotas.

Monitoring Storage Usage

 Windows 10 simplifies the process of monitoring storage usage.
 In previous Windows versions, it was not easy to get an overview of what type of files took up space
on the hard disks.
 Windows 10 gives you that information in the Storage section of System Settings.
 Storage gives you an easy way to manage all your storage and the files that a particular drive is
storing.
 It presents a straightforward method to clean out the files you no longer need and an easy way to
select the drive where you want to store different categories of files.
Storage
 In Storage, you get an overview of all the volumes currently attached to your PC. This includes hard
disks, USB drives, and other external storage, except OneDrive. The drive that contains the Windows
installation has the label This PC.
 You identify the other drives by label and drive letter.
 When you select a drive, you will get a more detailed view of the categories of files that are taking
the most space.
 The categories are color-coded to make it easier to see how the space is divided.

Storage usage shows the size for the following categories of files:

System & reserved OneDrive

Apps & games Desktop
Documents Maps
Pictures Other people
Music Temporary files
Videos Other
Mail

 Depending on the drive and category that you select, you will have different management options.
 If you select one of the file type categories on drives other than This PC, you will see a list of
directories containing files from that category.
 For This PC, you have a choice to open File Explorer with that particular file type’s folder within the
user’s profile.
 System and Reserved This category gives you a list of disk space used by Windows system files,
virtual memory, hibernation file, and System Restore. You can select Manage System Restore to
configure System Restore and decide how much disk space System Restore can use.
 Apps and Games You can sort the application list by size, name, and install date. You can also search
for an app by name, and when you select the app, you have easy access to uninstall the app.
 OneDrive You will be able to select which folders synchronize to this device to save disk space. This
is particularly useful on devices with limited storage space, such as tablets.
 Temporary Files This category gives you a list of disk space used by temporary files, downloads, the
recycle bin, and previous versions of Windows. For each item, there is an option to delete the files.
 Save Locations Storage usage also allows you to choose the drive to save new files. You can choose
between the drives connected to your computer. If you are signed in with a Microsoft account, you
can also choose OneDrive.

Disk Optimization
 By default, Windows 10 will optimize internal storage devices automatically.
 The method of optimization depends on whether the drive is hard disk drive or a solid state drive.
Hard Disk Drives and Defragmentation
 Fragmentation of a file system occurs over time as you save, change, and delete files.
 Initially, Windows saves files in contiguous areas on a given volume.
 This is efficient for the physical disk, as the read/write heads are able to access these contiguous
blocks most quickly.
 As the volume fills with data and other files, contiguous areas of free space become harder to find.
 File deletion also causes fragmentation of available free space.
 Additionally, when you extend and save a file, such as editing a document or spreadsheet, there
might not be contiguous free space following the existing file blocks.
 This forces the I/O manager to save the remainder of the file in a noncontiguous area.
 Over time, contiguous free space becomes more scarce, leading to fragmentation of newly stored
content.
 The incidence and extent of fragmentation varies depending on available disk capacity, disk
consumption, and usage patterns.
 Although NTFS is more efficient at handling disk fragmentation than earlier file systems, this
fragmentation still presents a potential performance problem.
 Combined hardware and software advances in the Windows operating system help to mitigate the
impact of fragmentation and deliver better responsiveness.

Solid State Drives (SSD)

 Defragmentation is not needed on SSDs, as they work quite differently from traditional hard disk
drives.
 The Windows Storage Optimizer subsystem automatically uses TRIM to mark data blocks as not
being used and optimize the drive.
 While the Optimize Drives UI does not distinguish between defragmentation and retrimming,
Windows 10 detects the drive type and runs the appropriate optimization task when needed.

Optimizing a disk
 When you optimize a disk, files are relocated optimally.
 This ability to relocate files is beneficial when you are shrinking a volume, because it frees up space
that you can later reclaim.
 Windows 10 defragments drives automatically on a scheduled basis, running weekly in the
background to rearrange data and reunite fragmented files.
 You can check the status of a defragmentation or perform a manual optimization at any time by
launching the Optimize Drives tool.
 To optimize a volume or drive manually, or to change the automatic optimization schedule, right-
click a volume in File Explorer, select Properties, select the Tools tab, and then select Optimize. You
can perform the following tasks:
 Change settings, which allows you to:
 Enable or disable the automated optimization.
 Specify the automated optimization frequency.
 Set a notification for three consecutive missed optimization runs.
 Select which volumes you want to optimize.
 Analyze the disk to determine whether it requires optimization.
 Launch a manual optimization.
 You can also start the optimization process by launching Defragment and Optimize Your Drives from
the Administrative Tools section within the System and Security section in Control Panel.
 To verify that a disk requires defragmentation, in the Optimize Drives tool, select the disk that you
want to defragment, and then select Analyze.
 After Windows finishes analyzing the disk, check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the
Current status column.
 If the number is high, you should defragment the disk.
 The Optimize Drives tool might take several minutes to a few hours to finish defragmenting,
depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of the disk or USB device, such as an external
hard drive.
 You can use the computer during the defragmentation process, although disk access might be
slower and the defragmentation might take longer.
 You can configure and run disk defragmentation from an elevated command prompt by using the
defrag command-line tool.
 Use Defrag /? at a command prompt for available options. You can minimize file system
fragmentation by using the following methods:
 Partition a disk so that you isolate static files from those that users create and delete frequently,
such as some user-profile files and temporary Internet files.
 Use the Disk Cleanup feature (cleanmgr.exe) to free disk space that is consumed by each user’s
preferences for console files that the profile saves.

File and Folder Compression

 Windows 10 supports file compression on an individual-file basis on NTFS-formatted volumes only.
 The file compression algorithm is a lossless compression algorithm, which means that compressing
and decompressing a file results in no data loss.
 This is different from other types of compression algorithms, where compression and
decompression always cause some data loss.

Configuring Compression
 You set compression from the properties of a file or folder on the General tab.
 You select Advanced and set or clear the compression attribute.
 You can also configure compression from the command line by using the compact command.

Features of NTFS folder compression

 NTFS compression, which is available on volumes that use NTFS, has the following features and
limitations:
 Compression is an attribute of a file or folder.
 Volumes, folders, and files on an NTFS volume are either compressed or uncompressed.
 New files created in a compressed folder are compressed by default.
 The compression state of a folder does not necessarily reflect the compression state of the files
within that folder. For example, you can compress a folder without compressing its contents, and
you can compress some or all of the files in a compressed folder.
 NTFS compression works with NTFS-compressed files without decompressing them because they are
decompressed and recompressed without user intervention:
 When you open a compressed file, the Windows operating system automatically decompresses it for
you.
 When the file closes, the Windows operating system compresses it again.
 NTFS-compressed file and folder names display in a different color, by default, to make them easier
to identify.
 NTFS-compressed files and folders only remain compressed while an NTFS volume is storing them.
 You cannot encrypt an NTFS-compressed file.
 The compressed bytes of a file are not accessible to applications, which see only the uncompressed
data:
 Applications that open a compressed file can perform tasks on it as if the file was not compressed.
 If you copy compressed files to a file allocation table (FAT) or Resilient File System (ReFS) volume,
the copy of the file will not be compressed because those file systems do not support NTFS
compression.

Copying and moving compressed files and folders

 When you move or copy compressed files and folders, the method and destination can change the
compression state. The following list explains what happens when you move and copy files:
 When you copy a file or folder within an NTFS partition, the file or folder inherits the compression
state of the target folder. For example, if you copy a compressed file or folder to an uncompressed
folder, the file or folder is uncompressed automatically.
 When you move a file or folder within an NTFS partition, the file or folder retains its original
compression state. For example, if you move a compressed file or folder to an uncompressed folder,
the file remains compressed.
 When you move a file or folder between NTFS partitions, the file or folder inherits the target folder’s
compression state. Because Windows 10 treats a move between partitions as a copy followed by a
delete operation, the files inherit the target folder’s compression state.
 When you copy a file to a folder that already contains a file of the same name, the copied file takes
on the compression attribute of the target file, regardless of the compression state of the folder.
 Compressed files that you copy to a FAT partition are uncompressed because FAT volumes do not
support compression.
 However, when you copy or move files from a FAT partition to an NTFS partition, they inherit the
compression attribute of the folder into which you copy them.
 When you copy a file, NTFS calculates disk space based on the uncompressed file’s size. This is
important because files are uncompressed during the copy process, and the system must ensure
there is enough space. If you copy a compressed file to an NTFS partition that does not have enough
space for the uncompressed file, an error message notifies you that there is not enough disk space.

Compressed (zipped) folder

 In Windows 10, you can combine several files and folders into a single compressed folder by using
the Compressed (zipped) Folder feature.
 Use this feature to share a group of files and folders with others, without sending individual files and
folders.
 Files and folders that you compress by using the Compressed (zipped) Folder feature can compress
on both FAT-formatted and NTFS-formatted volumes.
 A zipper icon identifies files and folders that you compress by using this feature.
 You can open files directly from these compressed folders, and you can run some of these programs
directly from compressed folders without uncompressing them.
 Files in compressed folders are compatible with other file compression programs and files.
 You also can move compressed files and folders to any drive or folder on your computer, the
Internet, or your network.
 Compressing folders by using Compressed (zipped) Folder does not affect a computer’s overall
performance.
 Central processing unit (CPU) utilization increases only when you use Compressed (zipped) Folder to
compress a file.
 Compressed files take up less storage space, and you can transfer them to other computers more
quickly than uncompressed files.
 You can work with compressed files and folders the same way you work with uncompressed files
and folders.
 To compress files using zip and save hard drive space, do the following:
 Open File Explorer.
 Navigate to the location with the items you want to compress.
 Right-click on an empty space, select New, and click Compressed (zipped) Folder.
 Type a descriptive name for the folder and press Enter.
 Select the files and folders you want to compress.
 Right-click your selection, and choose Cut.

Comparing zipped folder compression and NTFS folder compression

 You should be aware of the differences between zipped folder compression and NTFS folder
compression.
 A zipped folder is a single file inside which Windows allows you to browse.
 Some applications can access data directly from a zipped folder, while other applications require
that you first unzip the folder contents before the application can access the data.
 In contrast, NTFS compression compresses individual files within a folder.
 Therefore, NTFS compression does not affect data access as zipped folders do, because it occurs at
the individual file system level and not the folder level.
 Additionally, zipped folders are useful for combining multiple files into a single email attachment,
whereas NTFS compression is not.

File and folder compression that uses the Send To Compressed (zipped) Folder command is different
from NTFS file and folder compression:

 For selected files or folders, the Send To Compressed (zipped) Folder command compresses the
selected content into a portable zip file.
 The original file or folder does not change, and a new, compressed zip file is created.
 NTFS compression does not create a second, compressed zip-type file.
 Instead, it actually reduces the size of the selected file, folder, or volume by compressing its
contents.

Disk Quotas
 You can use disk quotas to limit each user’s disk space usage.
 You configure disk quotas on a volume to conserve disk space.
 Disk quotas enable you to track and restrict disk consumption proactively.
 You can enable quotas on any NTFS-formatted volumes.
 When you configure disk quotas, you can configure a warning level, if you want to alert users before
they exceed their quota limit.
 You can configure disk quotas to log events, when users exceed both the warning and limit levels.
 You use the Event Viewer to configure scheduled tasks to start when events are logged.
 You can use quotas to track disk space usage and determine who is using disk space, without
restricting disk consumption at the same time.
 You configure disk quotas from the Quota tab on the properties dialog box of an NTFS-formatted
volume.
 You can also manage quotas by using the fsutil quota and fsutil behavior commands from the
command prompt.
 After you create a quota, you can export it and import it to a different volume.
 In addition to establishing quota settings on a single computer by using the methods outlined above,
you can use Group Policy settings to configure disk quotas.
 This enables administrators to configure multiple computers with the same settings.
 Over time, the amount of available disk space decreases, so make sure that you have a plan to
increase storage capacity.
 Note: An alternative to disk quotas is using quotas in File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) on
Windows Server 2012 R2.
 Quotas in FSRM can track disk space usage per folder instead of per volume.