Performance Tools

Introduction

Information about TechTool Pro's performance tools: Directory Maintenance and Volume Optimization.

Directory Maintenance
The directory of a volume stores critical information about the files and folders stored on the volume and where they are located. As files and folders are added to and deleted from a volume, the data structures that hold this information may become inefficiently arranged. This lowers the speed at which this vital information can be accessed by the system. Rebuilding the directories on your volumes completely reconstructs these critical data structures, optimizing them and improving overall system performance.

You can also view a graphical representation of how fouled up your disk's directory is:

Volume Optimization
As files are written to and read from a volume, the file system instructs the drive mechanism on where and how to store and find the information. It can place this information anywhere there is available free space on the volume. If there is not a contiguous free area large enough to store a file, the file system file will fragment the file. This tool defragments your disks and consolidates the free space into one large block, improving read/write performance.

You can also view a graphical representation of how fragmented your volumes are: