XDA

Oct 02

WizTree scans my entire 1TB drive in less than a second, because it skips the way Windows normally reads files

xda-developers.com/wiztree-scans-entire-drive-in-a-second-skips-the-windows-way/

Photo: xda-developers.com · view article

WizTree scans NTFS drives in seconds using the MFT

The article reports typical scan times of two to three seconds, even when SSDs contain millions of files.

Key FactsOct 2, 2026 · Reading time: ~30 sec.
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: xda-developers.com

Windows’ standard method checks directories individually and often needs several minutes for drives containing hundreds of thousands of files.

WizTree instead reads the Master File Table (MFT), which records filenames, sizes, physical locations, and timestamps.

As a result, a scan typically takes only two to three seconds even with millions of files.

SquirrelDisk needed about seven seconds for the C: drive, while WizTree completed the same scan in 0.9 seconds.

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Main Topics

Windows 11

#windows-11

personal computer operating system by Microsoft released in 2021

Application software

#application-software

software program or group of programs designed for end-users

Solid-state drive

#solid-state-drive

semiconductor-based data storage medium, often used for auxiliary memory to store data

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XDA

Oct 02

WizTree scans my entire 1TB drive in less than a second, because it skips the way Windows normally reads files

xda-developers.com/wiztree-scans-entire-drive-in-a-second-skips-the-windows-way/

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Key FactsWindows Fast Startup causes avoidable SSD writes

Aug 19, 2026 · Reading time: ~45 sec.
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: xda-developers.com

With Fast Startup enabled, Windows creates a compressed snapshot of the kernel and drivers during shutdown and stores it as hiberfil.sys on the boot drive.

On the system described, hiberfil.sys occupied 12.5GB, while hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys together used 24GB of storage.

Repeated writes can contribute to drive wear over its working life, and an SSD with little free space may be affected more because of higher write amplification.

Fast Startup can be disabled through Power Options, while powercfg /h off deletes hiberfil.sys and powercfg /h on reverses the change, but laptops then lose automatic hibernation protection if the battery runs out.

The problem is the fact that, over time, these become thousands of writes over the drive's working life, and every single one of them is avoidable.
— Abhinav, the article's author; describing the wear caused by hiberfil.sys writes and the impact of Fast Startup.

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