Contig (defragmentation utility)

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Contig
Developed by Mark Russinovich, Sysinternals
Latest release 1.54 / Q1 2007
OS Windows
Genre Defragmentation
License Proprietary Freeware
Website Microsoft Technet

Contig is a command line defragmentation utility for Windows currently owned by Microsoft subsidiary SysInternals.

Contents

[edit] Operation

Contig is designed to defragment[1] individual files and does not attempt to move files to the beginning of the partition. Contig is especially useful for individual files that are often changed and become fragmented quickly because it can be targeted at these individual files without defragmenting the entire partition or drive.

Contig does not move any data except that belonging to the file in the question, so the amount it can defrag a file is limited to the largest contiguous block of free space on a system. Use of contig exchanges decreased file fragmentation for increased free space fragmentation.

Combined usage of the -s parameter and the wildcard symbol * allows for defragmenting of whole directories and drives: for example,

contig -s C:\*

will defrag all the files on hard drive C.[2] A small change to the Windows registry allows for entire folders to be defragmented from Windows Explorer[3].

Derivative programs that use Contig include Power Defragmenter GUI and Multiple Applicator 6.8. A related freeware product by the same author is PageDefrag.

[edit] Limitations

Contig can't defragment files accessed through directory mount points (as opposed to drive letter mounts).[citation needed] Using an additional (temporary) drive letter will circumvent this problem. See subst command.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Windows NT Magazine column, "Inside the Object Manager" October 1997
  2. ^ Documentation on TechNet page
  3. ^ "Making Contig Easier to Use" blog article, Sept 2007
    REGEDIT4
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\contig]
    @="Contig Defrag Folder"
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\contig\command]
    @="cmd.exe /c contig.exe \"%L\\*.*\" -v -s"

Winternals: Defragmentation, Recovery, and Administration Field Guide by Dave Kleiman, Laura Hunter, Mahesh Satyanarayana, Kimon Andreou, Nancy G Altholz, Lawrence Abrams, Darren Windham, Tony Bradley and Brian Barber (2006) - Syngress (ISBN 1-597490-792)

[edit] External links

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