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#1
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Disk directory consolidation question
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 the actual location of the directories on D: is stored on C: in its MFT, or whatever, I can see a potential problem if both C and D are not both archived properly in terms of making backup images (in case one needs to be restored and is unaware of the changes in the updated directory locations) I presume some of the information on the directories location is contained in C: too, since otherwise it seems to me you would NOT need to use a "boot time" directory consolidation option for the D: partition, but could instead do it live (with Windows running). |
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#2
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Disk directory consolidation question
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 the actual location of the directories on D: is stored on C: in its MFT, or whatever, I can see a potential problem if both C and D are not both archived properly in terms of making backup images (in case one needs to be restored and is unaware of the changes in the updated directory locations) I presume some of the information on the directories location is contained in C: too, since otherwise it seems to me you would NOT need to use a "boot time" directory consolidation option for the D: partition, but could instead do it live (with Windows running). Windows built in disk defragmentation engine can not defrag directories of FAT partitions. This doesn't apply to NTFS partitions. So, defragmenting FAT directories requires a boot-time defragmentation, or other method which can dismount, defrag, then remount FAT partitions. Both are not part of the Windows built in disk defragmentation engine. But so far, disk defragmentation softwares only provide a solution which is boot-time. |
#3
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Disk directory consolidation question
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. |
#4
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Disk directory consolidation question
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). |
#5
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Disk directory consolidation question
Bill in Co wrote:
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). No, each drive has its own "MFT" table. (Although different in NTFS and FAT) No need to worry about the C: drive knowing about the changes made to the D: drive. JT -- |
#6
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Disk directory consolidation question
JT wrote:
Bill in Co wrote: 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). No, each drive has its own "MFT" table. (Although different in NTFS and FAT) No need to worry about the C: drive knowing about the changes made to the D: drive. JT -- OK, thanks for the clarification. So on further reading, it seems that each disk partition stores its own directory information only on that very same partion, so it's as if the partitions are for all practical purposes, separate drives in that regard. And even with a mix of NTFS and FAT partitions (or even physical drives), each partition (and only that) contains the indexed directory structure infomation for that partition. And if I read you correctly, if you had a hard drive formatted into two NTFS partitions, there would be two MFTs on that drive, each responsible only for that particular partition. |
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