JJ wrote:
On Thu, 10 May 2018 13:28:12 -0600, Bill in Co wrote:
There is an option with some defrag utilites to select boot time
directory consolidation, which moves all the directories together at the
beginning of the disk partition, instead of leaving them scattered
throughout the disk (based on when they were created).

I read that doing so is beneficial, especially for FAT32 volumes
(presumably in terms of access times to get to the folders and files).

My current setup is this:
C: system and boot up (the main partition). NTFS (60GB)
D: FAT32 partition for misc files (40 GB)
E: FAT32 partition for music files (40 GB)
F: FAT32 partition for video files (80 GB)

My question is this. I did that on my D: FAT32 partition (C: is the NTFS
system partition). Is all the information on where the directories and
files are stored on D: contained on the D: partition, or is it also
stored in the root C: partition in its MFT?

If you meant software settings which are file paths, then yes. Most would
likely be stored in drive C: or the system partition. Some would be in
files within user profile folders, and some would be in the Windows
registry.

I don't really understand that. Maybe my rewording it will explain my
confusion.

I periodically make backup images of both my C: and D: partitions for backup
purposes using Acronis True Image. The C: is NTFS and is the main
partition. The D: is FAT32 and is just a secondary partition for misc work.
And on occasions I have had the need to restore them (depending on my
"software experiments")

I'm using Diskeeper for defragging, which does have the boot time option,
unlike many defraggers. It has the option of boot time defragging for
directory consolidation and MFT defragging and reducing Paging File
Fragmentation. I tried to do this on C:: but ran into some issues with that
(dirty bit and getting exclusive access, which is another story). So I
then decided to try it on the D: partition, and that worked.

So what I did was select the option to consolidate the directories at the
beginning of the D: partition on my D: FAT32 partition, and it worked (as
shown on the display).

My question is, is the MFT (on C updated after this change to show where
the directories are now located on the D drive? IF that is indeed the case,
then it seems to me I would not only have to make a backup image of D:, but
also a backup image of C:, in the event I wanted to do a future image
restore operation of D: Why? Because if I didn't, and I tried just
restoring the newly updated D: partition, the older existing C: partition
would have the incorrect information of where the directories are now stored
(on the newly updated D: partition).