On Saturday 21 August 2004 09:38 am, Jerry Feldman wrote:

So, My question still remains, do the partitioners require that the Windows file systems be defragmented before the partitioning operation.

I don't believe it does. It does (for most partitioning programs) require that the disk not be in need of a scandisk. (i.e. it has errors that can be fixed by scandisk) -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + Bruce S. Marshall bmarsh@bmarsh.com Bellaire, MI 08/21/04 11:44 + +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Levy's Ninth Law: "Only God can make a random selection."

Jerry: Based on the other responses, sounds like a resizing will result in a defrag, either done manually before, or by the resizer itself. It did not apply to my recent use since I was reloading XP anyway. And my W98 tasks, are, well, lost in Senior Moments. You mentioned the likely time loss during an install fest. Perhaps suggesting to participants wishing to have a dual boot system that they do a defrag prior to the fest would minimize the effect. Gene ------- Forwarded message ------- From: Jerry Feldman To: suse-linux-e@suse.com Subject: Re: [SLE] Need to resize XP partition Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:38:41 -0400

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 05:30:45 -0700 (PDT) ti@amb.org (Ti Kan) wrote:

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A full defrag of a windows filesystem (both FAT and NTFS) not only defragments files, but moves all files toward the beginning of the disk, so that the end of the disk is all free space (assuming that the disk is not full). This then allows reduction of the filesystem size without loss of data. If you're growing the filesystem then a defrag is probably not necessary.

A completely defrag'ed filesystem is easier to repair/recover if a catastrophic error occur. This is not entirely the case any longer. There is certainly some benefit to defragmenting the Windows file systems, but I believe that Partition Magic will take care of that during the move/resize operations.

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Of course, Linux filesystems rarely require the use of a degragmenter.

If blocks are allocated and used near the end of a Linux filesystem's partition, then I don't think you could reduce its size without the equivalent of a defragment operation. The aim here is not so much to make files contiguous, but to make as much contiguous free space as possible at the end of the partition. Is there such a thing as a defragmenter for any of Linux's filesystems? This is not true, blocks may be allocated anywhere in the file system. The partitioner must take care of moving files no matter where they lie in the file system. Linux and Unix file systems make an effort to reduce fragmentation. There is one defragmenter that I am aware of.

So, My question still remains, do the partitioners require that the Windows file systems be defragmented before the partitioning operation.

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On Sat, 2004-08-21 at 08:30, Ti Kan wrote:

Jerry Feldman writes:

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But, I have one question regarding the need for defragging before moving or resizing. For a long time, I remember that Partition Magic used to advise defragmenting a partition prior to moving or resizing, but in the newer versions this was no longer a requirement. The reason I am asking this is because during installfests, having a Windows user perform a defrag may be very time consuming. So, the real question is "does a Windows partition require a defrag before using a partitioner, such as: 1. Partition Magic (8+) 2. DiskWorks (Partition Commander) 3. Parted/QTParted

A full defrag of a windows filesystem (both FAT and NTFS) not only defragments files, but moves all files toward the beginning of the disk, so that the end of the disk is all free space (assuming that the disk is not full). This then allows reduction of the filesystem size without loss of data. If you're growing the filesystem then a defrag is probably not necessary.

A completely defrag'ed filesystem is easier to repair/recover if a catastrophic error occur.

...

Of course, Linux filesystems rarely require the use of a degragmenter.

If blocks are allocated and used near the end of a Linux filesystem's partition, then I don't think you could reduce its size without the equivalent of a defragment operation. The aim here is not so much to make files contiguous, but to make as much contiguous free space as possible at the end of the partition. Is there such a thing as a defragmenter for any of Linux's filesystems?

-Ti

It's also important which defragger you use. Norton system works defrag will leave files at the end of the partition, where as MS defrag will move them to the front. Mike

On Saturday 21 August 2004 12:14 pm, Jerry Feldman wrote:

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 11:42:07 -0400

Bruce Marshall wrote:

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You might also look at www.acronis.com It runs using a linux kernel.

it looks like it might be a decent product, and certainly less expensive than the the other two commercial products mentioned.

I've been using it for quite awhile and it works well. And since it runs a linux kernel, support for most filesystems are there. (and they tell me XFS is coming in the future) You *might* need a windows system to build the CD but maybe wine would handle it. -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + Bruce S. Marshall bmarsh@bmarsh.com Bellaire, MI 08/21/04 12:54 + +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ "He whose face gives no light shall never become a star." - William Blake, English poet and artist (1757-1827)