Copyright: Copyright © Golden Bow Systems, 1997-2002.


Contents
VoptXP [image] Help contents

System requirements

Capabilities

Frequently Asked Questions

Conflicts

Shortcuts

Scheduling

Upgrading or reinstalling

File menu

   Analyze

   Defragment

   Batch defrag

   Global defrag

Preferences menu

   Batch defrag

   Defragment

   Schedule

   View

Status menu

Tools menu

   Clean restart

   Close apps

   Error checking

   File search

   Privacy and cleanup

   Tuneup

   Virtual memory

   Windows tools

Help menu

   About VoptXP

   Check for an  update

   Registration

Copyright© 1997-2003, Golden Bow Systems.  All Rights Reserved.

Golden Bow Systems

PO Box 3039

San Diego, CA 92163

Sales and Information: (800) 284-3269

Customer Service: (619) 298-9349

Web site:  www.goldenbow.com

E-mail:  hi@goldenbow.com

Vopt, VoptMe, VoptNT, and VoptXP are trademarks of Golden Bow Systems. Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.


Defragment

Defragments and packs the current disk by moving fragmented files into contiguous blocks and closing up gaps between files. (See Defrag preferences.) Defragmenting may be stopped by pressing the Esc key or clicking on the Stop button.

The following information is displayed:

     Disk size and free space.

     File and folder statistics.

     Fragmentation statistics.

A drive map is displayed with a legend identifing the meaning of the map colors.

Files which cannot be defragmented because they are fixed or there is insufficient contiguous free space, will not be moved.

Windows 9x/Me defragmentation may automatically restart if another application modifies the disk.


Analyze

Analyzes the file system structure on the selected disk. Analyze may be stopped by pressing the Esc key or clicking on the Stop button.

The following information is displayed:

     Disk size and free space.

     File and folder statistics.

     Fragmentation statistics.

     Disk space used by cookies.

     Disk space used by System restore files.

     Disk space used by temporary files.

     Disk space used by the URL cache.

A drive map is displayed with a legend identifing the meaning of the map colors.


Registering
Registration

VoptXP is a copyrighted product of Golden Bow Systems, and may be used only under license, or for a trial period of thirty days.

To register your product, you may place an order at any of:

Golden Bow Systems

PO Box 3039

San Diego, CA 92163

Sales: 800.284.3269

Service: 619.298.9349

Email: hi@goldenbow.com

Website: www.goldenbow.com


FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1. - How can I get the latest version of VoptXP?

Updates to VoptXP may be downloaded from our website, goldenbow.com:

•	Minor updates (e.g. version 7.0 to 7.1) can be downloaded and installed with your current registration at no cost.

•	Major version updates (e.g. version 6 to 7) normally require a new license and registration. Special pricing is available for major version updates.

Use the Check for an  update link in the Help menu to go to our website's Updates page. Compare the current version number with your version number. If the version on the website is higher, download the new version, uninstall your current version, and then run the downloaded Setup program.

Question 2. - VoptXP keeps restarting while I'm trying to defragment a drive (Win9X/Me)?

VoptXP will automatically restart If another program modifies the disk while it is being checked or defragmented. Most applications do write to the boot drive when first started--and often when they end. To avoid restarts, you should defragment when other applications are not running. The most common cause of restarting is that an active anti-virus program is running in the background.

One of following should allow VoptXP to complete defragmentation:

•	Set the sharing preference to Disallow writes.

•	Click on Close apps.

•	Do a Clean restart.

Question 3. - Defragmenting leaves some gaps between files?

Vopt may not  remove all gaps if there is little free space on the drive or if there are fixed files which cannot be moved--see also Defrag preferences. Gaps do not affect system performance.

Leaving gaps on NTFS drives is generally preferable to minimize fragmentation. The Defrag preferences menu lets you control this.

Question 4. - Defragmenting leaves some fragmented files?

•	At all times, Windows is modifying some system log and security files, allowing them to fragment. This fragmentation has no effect on system performance.

•	The fragmented files may be fixed. If you are using Win9X/Me, we recommend that you shut down other applications while defragmenting or use Vopt's Clean restart function in this case.

•	You may have some large fragmented files with very little free disk space. For your protection, VoptXP makes an exact new copy of a fragmented file before releasing the space previously used by that file. If there is no free block large enough for the new copy, VoptXP will not move that file. In this case, you may wish to backup or copy the files to another drive, delete them from the current drive, defragment with VoptXP, and then restore the files.

Question 5. - The hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys files aren't moved or defragmented?

•	Pagefile.sys is your system's paging file (swapfile), and can not be accessed except at boot time. Use Virtual memory setup to optimize the paging file(s).

•	 Hyberfil.sys is only used when the system hibernates. It is a big ordinarily useless file, and you certainly don't want it cluttering up the frequently used part of the drive. When a defrag is started, hiberfil.sys is removed to get it out of the way. When the defrag is finished, we let Windows restore hiberfil.sys.

Question 6. - No red blocks are shown on the map for fragmented files?

The fragments are either in fixed files or share a map display block with a fixed file. In this case, the fixed map color (dark blue) covers the red. Click the File status button [image] to see the fragmented files.

Question 7. - Will VoptXP defragment a Win 9x/Me compressed drive?

No. VoptXP will, however, defragment the compressed drive's host volume--the physical drive which contains the compressed drive. There is no value in "defragmenting" a compressed drive, as the File Allocation Table is a virtual rather than a physical address space. The host volume can and should be defragmented.

Question-8. - VoptXP doesn't defragment as scheduled any more. What can I do?

Open Schedule preferences, then click Ok.

Question-9. - VoptXP spends a lot of time at the end of the disk moving file(s) around.

VoptXP is attempting to eliminate the last few gaps between files. If the files are very large, this may not be a good trade-off. You can eliminate this by using one or more of the following Defrag preferences:

•	Strategic placement

•	Packing style

•	Exclusion by size

•	Exclusion by path

Of course, you can also just click the Stop button to stop defragmenting!


Defrag preferences

Strategic placement - Allows positioning files for faster defragmentation.

Sharing (Win9X/Me) - Determines whether other applications can write to a drive during defragmentation.

Packing style (Win2000/XP) - Overrides loose-packing default for NTFS drives.

Exclusion by file size - Lets you exclude large files from moving or defragmenting.

Exclusion by path - You can keep individual files or folders from moving by adding the full file or folder path. You may also exclude entire classes of files by entering a quoted file extension such as "mp3".


Cookies
Cookies are written to your disk by web sites you visit to provide a means for storing and retrieving information on and from your system. Cookies come in different flavors; good cookies allow you to access your web subscriptions; bad cookies may allow others access to personal information.


Tools menu

Clean restart - Shuts down and restarts the system, then runs VoptXP before other applications are started.

Close apps - closes all open applications.

Error checking - checks drives for errors.

File search - useful file information.

Privacy and cleanup - helps secure your data.

Tuneup - tools to improve system performance.

Virtual memory -  lets you configure and optimize virtual memory.

Windows tools - easy access to useful Windows' tools which may otherwise be hard to find.


File menu

Analyze - Analyzes the selected drive structure.

Defragment - Defragments and packs the selected drive.

Batch defragment - Defragments and packs a list of drives.

Global defrag - Defragments all local drives.


Preferences menu

Batch defrag- Selects the drives you wanted defragmented when a Batch defrag is performed

Defrag - Lets you set preferences to speed-up and control defragmenting.

Schedule - Lets you select a schedule for automatic disk defragmentation.

View - Determines startup window style and tool-tip behavior.


Fixed files and folders
Fixed - A file or folder is "fixed" if it  cannot be moved or defragmented. Use the File status button to display the fixed and excluded files.

Files or folders are fixed for one of the following reasons:

•	Another application is modifying it, or prohibiting access to it.

•	The system is modifying it, or prohibiting access to it.

•	The system will not allow the file or folder to be moved. Note that Win2000/XP FAT folders cannot be moved, although they can be defragmented by appending the trailing fragments to the beginning, if there is room to do so.


File status button
Displays the fragmented, fixed, and excluded files on the selected drive.


Schedule preferences

Lets you select a schedule for automatic defragmentation.

Check the drives you wish to defragment. Select Daily to start Vopt once-a-day when your computer starts, or select Weekly to start Vopt once-a-week.

Clicking Ok saves your preferences and resets the schedule. Be sure to do this whenever you change the system date.

Note that you can also use Windows' Task scheduler or other means to schedule defragmenting. The command or run line for VoptXP should be something like this:

"C:\Program Files\Vopt v7\VoptXP.exe" *  to defrag the scheduled drives

1. Note that the " (quote) marks are required, and that a space separates the trailing * (star) character.

2. Note that you should substitute the path to the VoptXP folder that is appropriate for your system.

The Startup folder or "Start in" line should look something like this:

C:\Program Files\Vopt v7   where this is the path to the VoptXP folder in your system.

You can also use any of the target lines described in shortcuts with the Task Scheduler.


Stop

The Stop button is displayed in the center of the button pad when a disk is being analyzed or defragmented. Clicking on this button stops the current activity.

Clicking the Stop button may have no visible effect if a large file is being moved as virtually all system events are suspendeded during a file move. In this case, the button click will be recognized and processed as soon as the file move is completed.

Pressing the Esc key or clicking on the Close program box is exactly equivalent to clicking the Stop button and is subject to the same delay when a file is being moved.


Registry error
Registry error - Some Windows system configurations may display a message reporting that the Registry was damaged after defragmenting (rare). The message is caused by another application attempting to modify the registry while Vopt has the disk locked. The registry is not damaged, but this nuisance will require restarting the system, which is annoying.

If this problem persists, first be sure that Sharing is set to Allow writes. If that does not resolve the problem, then use Clean Restart when defragmenting the Windows drive.


Conflicts
Conflicts (see also FAQs)

Problem - The system reports errors when VoptXP is closing applications.

See Errors when closing applications.

Problem - Win9X/Me freezes when VoptXP starts or during defragmenting (rare).

Active virus hunting programs may interact with VoptXP to lock the system.

If VoptXP freezes when started, try the following:

1. Close any anti-virus program, or

2. Click on Vopt's Close apps, or

2. Reboot in Safe Mode.

If VoptXP freezes when defragging, try the following:

1. Close any anti-virus program, or

2. Click on Vopt's Close apps, or

3. Do a Clean restart, or

4. Reboot in Safe Mode.

Problem - Windows 9X/Me reported that the Registry was damaged during defragmenting (rare).

See Registry error.


Drive test

Measures the actual disk transfer rate on your system for the selected drive.

Typical disk transfer rates for newer drives are:

•	UDMA100 - from 20 to 35 Megabytes/second

•	UDMA66 - from 10 to 20 Megabytes/second

•	UDMA33 - from 5 to 10 Megabytes/second

Transfer rates may vary widely depending on drive rotational speed (3600, 5400, or 7200 RPM), system board, and disk driver.

If you have a UDMA66 or 100 drive, you may need to go to your system board chipset manufacturer's web site and obtain a special driver to achieve optimum results. This may improve performance by a factor of 2 to 4 times as compared with the standard Windows' driver.


Memory usage

Free memory tends to decrease as you run applications, even when you quit them, due to phenomena known as "memory leaks."  Memory leaks occur when applications or Windows internal functions do not properly release memory that has been acquired. Windows then loses track of that memory and it is no longer available for use by another application. When free memory drops below a few percent, you may experience a Windows "crash."

If memory utilization is consistently high, you may want to add more memory to your system.


Clean restart

Shuts down and restarts the system, then runs VoptXP before other applications are started. This allows defragmenting without interference from other applications. You may combine a Clean restart with a Batch defrag.

Some applications may not close or may report errors when VoptXP asks them to close. See Errors when closing applications.


Batch defrag

Lets you automatically defragment one or more drives. You can also tell Vopt to turn off your system when it is finished if you wish. See Batch defrag preferences.


Sharing
Sharing (Win9X/Me)

If Allow writes is selected, other applications may freely write to a drive during defragmenting.

If Disallow writes is selected, VoptXP will attempt to restrict other applications from writing to a drive during defragmenting.


Privacy and cleanup menu

These tools prevent others from access to private information:

Cookies - Lets you delete unwanted internet subscription information and avoid potential invasion of privacy.

History - Lets you view and delete the list of web sites you have recently visited.

Internet temp files - Lets you view and delete the list of temporary files created when visiting web sites.

URL cache - Lets you view and delete the record of web pages you have visited.

Web content - Lets you view and delete the list of links to local, internet, or network browser pages that your system has cached. Deleting a link removes the address from the cache, but does not delete the page or image itself.

Temporary files - Applications often store temporary information in the Windows temp folder. Some applications may not delete this information. You can safely delete the listed files to recover wasted disk space. Open files, read-only files, and files less than a week old will not be deleted.

X free space (Win9X/Me/XP) -  Overwrites the free space on the current drive with a special pattern to prevent others from viewing the remnants of moved or deleted files. We recommend closing other applications while the free space is being cleared. Otherwise, they may stop or behave strangely.


Virtual memory

Lets you configure and optimize your swap or paging files.

The selected drive must have 32MB or more of free space in addition to the desired minimum swap or paging file size.

We recommend that you enter a minimum virtual memory size of 2-1/2 times the amount of installed memory or 256MB, whichever is less. You may wish to specify a larger maximum value.

Note that if you specify a minimum size that is too small, the swap or paging file may grow and become split; this is not harmful, but may not be what you wanted. If you specify a maximum size that is too small, your applications may run out of memory.

Note that when setup is closing applications, some may not close or may report errors. See Errors when closing applications.

Optimizing the swap or paging file requires several system restarts. Some system settings are modified when setup begins and restored when setup is complete. If setup is interrupted, for any reason, these settings may not be restored. In this case, running VoptXP will initiate restoration of the modified system settings.


Status menu

Active windows - Lists the open windows on your computer. This may include windows that are not visible.

Open processes - Lists the system's current processes. There may also be hidden processes which are not visible.

LAN users - Identifies network users connected to your computer.

Net status - Displays and monitors internet and/or network processes. (N/A Win95.)

Drive test - Measures and displays actual disk performance under Windows.

Memory usage - Displays memory utilization data.

Performance - Displays real-time CPU utilization.

VoptXP log - summarizes recent VoptXP activity.


Error checking

Checks and fixes structural problems on disk drives.


File search

Lets you find:

Large files - large files.

Classes of files.

•	Documents - common document file types

•	Executable - executable file types

•	Office - common Office and other business file types.

•	Picture - common graphic file types

•	Sound - common music and sound file types

•	Video - searches for common video file types

•	Web - common internet file types

Note that files in the Recycled and Windows folders are not listed, nor are common file names such as Readme, etc..


System tuneup

DLL unloading - DLLs are system files which many programs use. Windows always unloads DLLs from memory when they are no longer in use, but  only after the DLL has not been used for a period of time. This inactive period might be unacceptably long for optimum system performance. This tool lets you speedup unloading of unused DLLs to decrease memory use.

System paging (Win 2000/XP) - Performance may be improved on systems with 256Mb of memory or more by keeping the Windows core programs resident in memory and not paging them to disk.

Swapfile use (Win 9X/Me) - Windows may be using the swapfile unnecessarily if you have more than 64 MB of memory. Selecting this option forces Windows to use the swapfile only when needed. This tool lets you enable conservative use of the swapfile, which may speedup your system.

File name cache (Win 9X/Me) - Windows saves the locations of the most recently accessed file names and paths. This cache improves performance by reducing the number of times the file system must search the disk. If you have more than 16 MB of memory, select a profile which maximizes the size of this cache.

Note that changes become effective the next time your system restarts.


Global defrag

Defragments all local disks and logs the result (stops on any error).


Close applications
Close apps

Requests all open applications  to close--including background applications. This may be helpful where an unknown application is modifying the disk and preventing defragmentation.

Note that not all applications allow closing, and that some applications generate errors when closing. See Errors when closing applications.


Errors when closing applications

Some applications may not close or may generate errors when VoptXP asks them to close. This has not caused a problem on those applications we have tested.

Should there be a problem on some untested application, you will simply have to close the application or even temporarily uninstall it manually.


Tuneup menu

Display - lets you eliminate some common aggravations.

Internet - for improving browser and download performance.

MFT - lets you reorganize the Master File Table if needed (WinXP).

System - for improving overall performance.


Internet tuneup

Lets you optimize your internet connection to achieve faster page loading and browser speed, subject to local internet conditions.

If you have a DSL connection and are not sure whether your ISP (Internet Service Provider) implements PPPoE, call or email your ISP to find out before using this tool.


Help menu

Help Topics - displays this help file.

What's This -  lets you get context sensitive help.

About VoptXP - version and license information.

Check for an  update - links to our web site.

Registration - information on registering this product.


Windows' tools menu

This menu enables easy access to useful Windows' tools which may otherwise be hard to find. The tools here are included with your Windows system, and vary, depending on the Windows version.


System requirements

Windows Service Pack requirements:

•	Win95 - SP1 or above required.

•	Win98 - None

•	WinMe - None

•	Win2000 - SP2 required.

•	WinXP- SP1 or above preferred.

Windows Service Packs can be located and downloaded from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com


Batch defrag preferences

Selects the drives you wanted defragmented when a Batch defrag is performed. Also lets you specify whether or not you want to shut your system down when batch defragmenting is complete.

Note that youi can initiate a Batch defrag either from VoptXP's file menu, or by clicking on the the start menu's VoptXP Batch defrag entry.


Upgrading VoptXP
Upgrading or reinstalling

Before installing an upgrade (newer version) or reinstalling VoptXP, it is good practice to uninstall the current version first.

To uninstall the current version, open the Windows Control Panel and click on Add/Remove Programs. Then find VoptXP in the list of installed programs, select it, and initiate the uninstall. After uninstalling, you must restart your computer before doing a new install.

Note that uninstalling removes your product registration key. After reinstalling, run the registration file (regkey.reg) that you received from Golden Bow Systems to re-register the product. If you fail to do this, you may get a trial expired message when you try to run VoptXP.


Shortcuts

You can create Windows shortcuts to VoptXP and put them on the desktop, your Startup folder, or wherever you want. To create a shortcut:

1. Open the VoptXP folder (where you installed VoptXP),

2. Right-click on VoptXP.exe and then click on Create shortcut.

3. Drag or cut and paste the shortcut to the desired location.

4. Right-click on the shortcut to edit it, and then add " (quote) marks around the target, followed by a space and then followed  by an action code.

The action code may be one of the following:

•	(none) to just start VoptXP, or

•	+  (plus) to defrag the drive list specified in your Batch defrag preferences, or

•	- (minus) to defrag--low priority-- the drive list specified in your Batch defrag preferences, or

•	a list of drive letters to defrag (for example, c,e,f)

Example:  "C:\Program Files\Vopt v7\VoptXP.exe" *


Capabilities

Win9x/Me

Defragments all files and folders, except those opened for exclusive access by Windows or another application. Adequate free space required.

Win2000

Defragments all files, except those opened for exclusive access by Windows or another application. Adequate free space required.

Defragments all NTFS folders. Adjacent space required.

Does not defragment FAT32 and FAT folders.

Does not defragment the MFT (Master File Table).

WinXP

Defragments all files, excepting a few reserved system files. Adequate free space required.

Defragments  all NTFS  folders. Adjacent space required.

Defragments all FAT32 and FAT folders. Adjacent space required.

Defragments the MFT (Master File Table). Adequate free space required.


MFT tuneup

For unknown reasons, Windows XP may move the MFT zone (the space reserved for MFT expansion) do that the MFT zone is bloated and the MFT itself is fragmented and ill positioned. This tool will attempt to correct this situation, but may not be able to do so under some conditions.


Selects the preceeding drive letter,


Selects the next drive letter.


Selects a drive letter.


Displays the percentage of fragmented files following an Analyze or Defrag operation.


Drive map

This displays a color-coded map of the currently selected drive with each block representing one or more disk allocation units. The legend at the top of the map identifies the meaning of each color.

Following an Analyze or Defrag operation, the map includes an expanded legend and more information about each block.

Clicking on a block will launch a listing of the files occupying that block.