Question:
Questions about NTFS
Well, I've been reading quite a bit about how converting to NTFS will help speed things up on this laptop, and even that thread about the fact that we should be careful using the 'convert' command because we may get the 512 byte cluster size and actually take a performance hit. So, I converted by D: drive using the 'convert' command, and it went fine. I checked the cluster size - 4kb - perfect.
So, I went ahead and converted the c: drive, but when I checked that one, I saw that the cluster size is 512 bytes, and the system does seem slower, especially at start up.
So, how can I fix this? Is there a way to convert it to NTFS with a 4kb cluster size w/o having to wipe the disk and start over?
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Not sure, but you can use utilities like Acronis Disk Director, or another partition manager to change the cluster size. As with any disk operation it is recommended to do a backup of your files.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Yes, I had the same problem when converting my C partition.
Using Partition Magic (or I'm sure Acronis Disk Director as mentioned above would also work), I was able to change the Cluster size from 512bytes to the desirable 4kb and everything ran a whole lot better.
Only problem is, they aren't free programs. (One or the other may offer a functional trail period so you'll have it long enough to make the change...not sure).
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Thanks very much for the replies. I went ahead and restored from the recovery partition (of course, after backing up all of the data), and it changed the C: drive back to FAT32. I think I'm going to leave the C: drive as FAT32, as it is very fast. If I need to burn a DVD (and therefore need to have files greater than 4gb), then I'll just put them on the D: drive (which is NTFS w/4kb clusters). I think that ought to solve most of my problems. By the way, through all of this, I did find out that even after converting to NTFS, the recovery disks (if you burn them) or the recovery partition will both restore C: to FAT 32, and it all works flawlessly.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Wow! I never knew about the 512 and 4096 cluster difference. This is great! I was wondering why my drive was so much slower after converting. Same as robertlewisca, my D: drive converted to 4096 no problem but my C: went to the 512 size. I do have Partition Magic somewhere so I'll post after converting my drive again to see if I have a speed difference.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Of course, like most other, I didn’t know about this cluster thing and how it would affect speed. Two questions come to mind: -
1. How to I check my drive’s cluster size?
2. Could the data get corrupted when changing cluster size?
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Wow! I never knew about the 512 and 4096 cluster difference. This is great! I was wondering why my drive was so much slower after converting. Same as robertlewisca, my D: drive converted to 4096 no problem but my C: went to the 512 size. I do have Partition Magic somewhere so I'll post after converting my drive again to see if I have a speed difference.
I just noticed this myself. I eargerly await your results :)
@Wail
1. I'm sure there are more elegant ways to do this, but if you run analyse in Disk Defragmenter from the System Tools menu, the report will give you the cluster sizes.
2. I believe so as the utility would be changing how the hard drive is supposed to store data.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Well I went to a neighbour who said Paragon's Disk Management (I think that's what it was called) was better so he came over and we set up the convert from 512bytes to 4096bytes. It was simple and straightforward but took about an hour to do.
The startup of the computer is nowhere near as fast as it was with Fat32 though, might even be a little slower than when the it was NTFS with 512 bytes.
Starting up programs though is much faster. About twice as fast as when my computer was on 512 bytes.
I do not index my drive so I'm not sure if that would help speed up the loading process.
There were not problems converting but I still don't have much on the computer.
Good luck to all! And if someone could explain why the computer loads so much faster in Fat32 I would greatly appreciate it.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
Of course, like most other, I didn’t know about this cluster thing and how it would affect speed. Two questions come to mind: -
1. How to I check my drive’s cluster size?
2. Could the data get corrupted when changing cluster size?
I can answer question 1, thanks to this forum. You can check cluster size by analyzing the disk with the disk defragmentation utility in windows. You don't need to defrag. the drive, just analyze the drive, and then click "View Report". It will tell you the cluster size on the drive.
Answer:
Re: Questions about NTFS
i just got an asus. it came with two partitions and both were fat32. there is a batch file on the desktop to convert to ntfs. the question now is:
from what i read ntfs is faster in general but slower at start up. which i dont care too much. but I also read on asus forum that a converted fat32 into ntfs is slower than a brand new ntfs XP installation.
what do you guys think about that? because at this point i've been thinking about formatting everything and reinstalling creating 2 new ntfs partitions.
comments?