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.

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.