On Sat, 07 Jul 2018 19:52:54 -0400, Paul wrote:
What I can't figure out, is how "dir" and FindNext
are able to sort a 40GB $MFT in no time at all, and
start outputting file names... in alphabetical order.
It's fast enough that "there's got to be a trick".


I think the file entries in an NTFS system are maintained in a
structure that lends itself to alphabetical searches. It's why pretty
much anything you do -- copy, for instance -- is in alphabetical
order in NTFS but not in FAT32.



--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://BrownMath.com/
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
Shikata ga nai...