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Defragmentation zones

Zones group files according to placement rules so O&O Defrag can apply a different optimization strategy to each group. They are intended for deliberate drive-layout management, particularly on HDDs.

Enable zone filing​

The global Settings → Optimization page provides File drives into zones (not recommended to use with SSDs). This is an all-volume enable/disable control, not a detailed rule editor.

For a job, open Drives → Zones… in the job editor. Configure the scope and rules there. Zone-based OPTIMIZE methods require zones to be enabled on their target volumes.

Configure a job's zones​

  1. Open or create a job in Schedules.
  2. Open its Drives tab and choose Zones….
  3. Select the scope, such as a default group or a particular drive.
  4. Enable zone filing for that scope.
  5. Review the program-files, user-data, and rarely-used-file zones.
  6. Set each enabled zone's method, large-file option, and file rules.
  7. Add or remove rules, or move a rule to the adjacent zone as needed.
  8. Confirm the zone editor and save the job.

A per-drive configuration lets one volume differ from the default group. Review the selected scope before editing so a drive-specific change is not mistaken for a global policy.

Rules and layout​

Zone rules assign matching file paths or masks to the chosen zone. Keep rules understandable and avoid overlapping broad rules without a clear intention.

The modern zone editor manages file groups and methods; it does not provide editable graphical zone sizes or boundaries. Moving a rule to another zone changes its classification, not a percentage slider for disk capacity.

When a file matches rules in more than one zone, the rule with the more specific path (more folder levels) decides. A file-type mask such as *.jpg therefore does not take pictures out of a folder that a path rule such as C:\Users\* assigns to another zone.

Zone methods and sorting​

The method selected for a zone takes effect only when the drive is processed with OPTIMIZE/Complete. OPTIMIZE consolidates every zone with the SPACE strategy, and OPTIMIZE/Quick moves files into their assigned zones and defragments them. Neither of them sorts files, whatever method the zone shows.

Sort by name arranges the files of a zone in the order of their full path: folder by folder, with the names in alphabetical order inside each folder. It does not group files by type or extension, so pictures stored in different folders end up next to the other files of those folders. To keep particular files together, assign them to a zone with a rule.

Verify the configuration​

Choose a zone-aware method in Drives and method…, save the job, and inspect its next completed report. If the action does not start because zones are disabled, inspect the target drive's zone configuration.

For everyday SSD maintenance, use SOLID and TRIM rather than introducing zone sorting.