Smart Compress, Scan Drives For NTFS Compressable Files
Yesterday we ran a guide on how to make use of the NTFS compression feature of the NTFS file system to save disk space on hard drives. We have established that it may make sense to use the compression on uncompressed files, but not on files that already make use of compression, or are required for performance intensive tasks in the operating system.
The manual task can best be used to compress specific files and folders on the system. The software Smart NTFS Compress automates the task, by scanning for files on the system that can be compressed.
The developer is not offering explanations on how the program works, but it seems to be only compressing files that yield a large enough storage space gain.
The unregistered version of the program offers limited functionality. Only the drive letter and maximum file size in Megabyte can be configured in the program. A click on Smart Compress starts the scan of the selected drive.
Smart Compress will automatically compress files on the hard drive, and display statistics in the end about the operation.
The only problem that some users may have with the program is the inability to protect folders or files from being scanned by it. It would for instance make sense to protect the Windows directory from the scan, to avoid files being compressed in that directory. Smart Drive Compress is available for download at the developer website.
The developer claims that it can bring back between 10% to 30% of used space on the drive, depending on the files stored on it. Statistics in the end show the level of compression, the number of compressed files and the bytes that have been saved thanks to the comrpession. There is unfortunately no option to print out a list of processed files for safe keeping.
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windows used to have a good feature in disc cleanup wizard where files would be compressed based on days since last access, and you could set the value. sadly they removed it after xp
This program is open-source freeware and does a good job, and it’s not crippled.
http://ntfscompressor.sourceforge.net/
“The developer is not offering explanations on how the program works, but it seems to be only compressing files that yield a large enough storage space gain.”
=> Yes, the program scan all files system, data, etc… Check what would be the compressed file size and if the compressed file size (rounded to disk sector size) is smaller than uncompressed files, then it is compressed else not. As compression algorithm is the one of windows, the program is compatible with all software, dll, and system files… It can save precious space on Laptops, or on computers with several systems installed and running low disk.
Just a small correction:
“It would for instance make sense to protect the Windows directory from the scan, to avoid files being compressed in that directory.”
Compressing windows file system is possible and speed up the system.