Tech Tip: Save NT disk space with compression

by Guest Contributor | Jul 26, 2004 8:13:00 PM

Tags: Guest Contributor, Windows NT Newsletter

Takeaway: Follow these steps to compress a directory and the WINS database.

Regardless of the size of your network, disk space sooner or later becomes an issue. You can help mitigate this storage problem with compression, which decreases the amount of disk space required to store data.

Here's how to compress a directory and the WINS database.

Compress a directory

You can compress a directory formatted as NTFS in a few steps. Follow these instructions:

1. Using Explorer or My Computer, select a drive.
2. Right-click a directory, and choose Properties.
3. Select the Compress check box, and click Apply.
4. When Windows asks if you want to compress subdirectories, click OK.
5. Click OK to exit.

Compress the WINS database

Microsoft recommends compacting the WINS database whenever it approaches 30 MB. You can use the Jetpack.exe utility that ships with Windows NT Server to compress the WINS database. Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\WINS directory.
2. At the command prompt, type Net Stop WINS, and press [Enter] to stop the WINS service.
3. Type Jetpack WINS.MDB TMP.MDB, and press [Enter] to compress the database.
4. After the compression process completes, type Net Start WINS, and press [Enter] to restart the WINS service.

The Jetpack utility actually compacts Wins.mdb into Tmp.mdb. It then deletes Wins.mdb and copies Tmp.mdb to Wins.mdb.