Diskeeper is designed with SAFETY as the highest priority.
To ensure the safe movement of files on Windows NT/2000 systems, Diskeeper uses mechanisms built into Windows NT/2000 that were developed and implemented by Executive Software, and fully incorporated into Windows NT/2000 by Microsoft. On Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me systems, Diskeeper uses similar mechanisms used by Microsoft and others.
By using these built-in mechanisms, Diskeeper maintains cache coherency, file security and permissions information, and file content integrity no matter how fragmented the files on the disk are.
The foremost design goal for Diskeeper for Windows NT/2000 was to make sure that no data is ever lost. To accomplish this goal Diskeeper uses the following criteria for accessing files:
the contents of data files are never modified under any circumstances
only one file is processed at a time, not the whole disk volume
each processing pass is independent of the other passes
no information is stored on any other device or in a "scratch space"
Diskeeper accesses a file in such a way that no user access can conflict with Diskeeper during the critical portion of the relocation process
file relocation is aborted if any error is encountered, leaving the file in its original state
Diskeeper was designed to err on the side of caution. In other words, it only moves a file on the volume when it is absolutely certain that no data will be lost, including file attributes. The only change to file attribute-type information is the physical location of the file on the volume. None of the file dates are changed and no other fields in the file record header are used to store Diskeeper information.
Diskeeper never defragments or moves files that are specifically stored at a specific physical location on the volume.
If anything causes your computer to crash while Diskeeper is running, or if you abort the Diskeeper defragmentation run in the middle of the file relocation process, no data is ever at risk.
Windows 95/98/Me Note: Stopping or pausing a Diskeeper job through its menus or toolbars is completely safe. Note, however, that in the event of a system crash or other non-standard termination of the Diskeeper process while it is running, it is possible for free space and file information to be stored incorrectly. Executive Software strongly recommends running the Windows Scandisk error checking utility immediately when Diskeeper is stopped abnormally. Scandisk will correct any potential file errors.