Walter R.

How do I know what size clusters I have?

--

Walter
www.rationality.net
"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
news:96pdj4lo63908du8qobn4ha6hpsu18o1jl@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 10:34:15 -0800, "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote:
>
>> I used the win xp convert program and it went very smoothly. Thanks
>
>
> If you did that without first reading my message and without going to
> the site I pointed you to and taking its advice, you very likely now
> have 512-byte clusters, and your performance will suffer as a result.
>
>
>
>> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
>> news:OJt3Q$PVJHA.6116@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> > Using Win XP SP2.
>> >
>> > One of the backup partitions on my hard disk is still in FAT 32. The
>> > boot
>> > partition (C) is NTFS.
>> >
>> > How can I convert the Fat 32 partition to NTFS without losing all its
>> > contents?
>> >
>> > Walter
>> >
>>
>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

R. McCarty

A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
_____ Bytes in each allocation unit

"Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
news:OvjVDmbVJHA.1184@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> How do I know what size clusters I have?
>
> --
>
> Walter
> www.rationality.net
> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:96pdj4lo63908du8qobn4ha6hpsu18o1jl@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 10:34:15 -0800, "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I used the win xp convert program and it went very smoothly. Thanks
>>
>>
>> If you did that without first reading my message and without going to
>> the site I pointed you to and taking its advice, you very likely now
>> have 512-byte clusters, and your performance will suffer as a result.
>>
>>
>>
>>> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
>>> news:OJt3Q$PVJHA.6116@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> > Using Win XP SP2.
>>> >
>>> > One of the backup partitions on my hard disk is still in FAT 32. The
>>> > boot
>>> > partition (C) is NTFS.
>>> >
>>> > How can I convert the Fat 32 partition to NTFS without losing all its
>>> > contents?
>>> >
>>> > Walter
>>> >
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup
>
>

Ken Blake, MVP

On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
<PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:

> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit




Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
checking how much the free disk space changed by.



> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
> news:OvjVDmbVJHA.1184@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> > How do I know what size clusters I have?
> >
> > --
> >
> > Walter
> > www.rationality.net
> > "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> > news:96pdj4lo63908du8qobn4ha6hpsu18o1jl@4ax.com...
> >> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 10:34:15 -0800, "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I used the win xp convert program and it went very smoothly. Thanks
> >>
> >>
> >> If you did that without first reading my message and without going to
> >> the site I pointed you to and taking its advice, you very likely now
> >> have 512-byte clusters, and your performance will suffer as a result.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
> >>> news:OJt3Q$PVJHA.6116@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> >>> > Using Win XP SP2.
> >>> >
> >>> > One of the backup partitions on my hard disk is still in FAT 32. The
> >>> > boot
> >>> > partition (C) is NTFS.
> >>> >
> >>> > How can I convert the Fat 32 partition to NTFS without losing all its
> >>> > contents?
> >>> >
> >>> > Walter
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> >> Please Reply to the Newsgroup
> >
> >
>

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Bill in Co.

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
> <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
>> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
>> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit
>
>
>
>
> Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
> checking how much the free disk space changed by.

If they are 512 bytes, can he convert them to 4K with the MS tools, or will
he need a third party tool, Ken?


>
>> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
>> news:OvjVDmbVJHA.1184@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> How do I know what size clusters I have?
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Walter
>>> www.rationality.net
>>> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
>>> news:96pdj4lo63908du8qobn4ha6hpsu18o1jl@4ax.com...
>>>> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 10:34:15 -0800, "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I used the win xp convert program and it went very smoothly. Thanks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you did that without first reading my message and without going to
>>>> the site I pointed you to and taking its advice, you very likely now
>>>> have 512-byte clusters, and your performance will suffer as a result.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> "Walter R." <wr@example.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:OJt3Q$PVJHA.6116@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Using Win XP SP2.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One of the backup partitions on my hard disk is still in FAT 32. The
>>>>>> boot
>>>>>> partition (C) is NTFS.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> How can I convert the Fat 32 partition to NTFS without losing all its
>>>>>> contents?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Walter
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
>>>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup
>>>
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Ken Blake, MVP

On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:56:39 -0700, "Bill in Co."
<not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> > On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
> > <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:
> >
> >> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
> >> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
> >> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
> > checking how much the free disk space changed by.
>
> If they are 512 bytes, can he convert them to 4K with the MS tools, or will
> he need a third party tool, Ken?


I don't know for sure, but http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm would
seem to suggest that it's not possible to do so after converting to
NTFS.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Terry R.

The date and time was 12/4/2008 1:27 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

> On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:56:39 -0700, "Bill in Co."
> <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>>> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
>>> <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
>>>> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
>>>> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
>>> checking how much the free disk space changed by.
>> If they are 512 bytes, can he convert them to 4K with the MS tools, or will
>> he need a third party tool, Ken?
>
>
> I don't know for sure, but http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm would
> seem to suggest that it's not possible to do so after converting to
> NTFS.
>

Partition Magic 8 allows clusters to be resized, and also shows the
waste factor in clusters from 512 to 64k. On one 50 gig partition, 512k
clusters waste 11.5 meg. Using 64k clusters, 1,485 meg are wasted.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

Ken Blake, MVP

On Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:43:34 -0800, "Terry R." <F1Com@NOSPAMpobox.com>
wrote:

> The date and time was 12/4/2008 1:27 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
> pounded out on the keyboard:
>
> > On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:56:39 -0700, "Bill in Co."
> > <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> >>> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
> >>> <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
> >>>> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
> >>>> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
> >>> checking how much the free disk space changed by.
> >> If they are 512 bytes, can he convert them to 4K with the MS tools, or will
> >> he need a third party tool, Ken?
> >
> >
> > I don't know for sure, but http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm would
> > seem to suggest that it's not possible to do so after converting to
> > NTFS.
> >
>
> Partition Magic 8 allows clusters to be resized,


OK, thanks for the info.


> and also shows the
> waste factor in clusters from 512 to 64k. On one 50 gig partition, 512k
> clusters waste 11.5 meg. Using 64k clusters, 1,485 meg are wasted.


The standard NTFS cluster is 4K, and I wouldn't suggest that anyone
use anything else. Moreover the amount of waste is no longer a
significant factor in making decisions like this. The difference
between 11.5MB and 1,485MB is about 1.5GB. At today's drive prices,
that's something like $1.50 US worth of disk space--insignificant to
almost everyone.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Terry R.

The date and time was 12/5/2008 7:07 AM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

> On Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:43:34 -0800, "Terry R." <F1Com@NOSPAMpobox.com>
> wrote:
>
>> The date and time was 12/4/2008 1:27 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
>> pounded out on the keyboard:
>>
>>> On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:56:39 -0700, "Bill in Co."
>>> <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:44:21 -0500, "R. McCarty"
>>>>> <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> A Chkdsk C: ( from a Command Prompt Window ) will show
>>>>>> the cluster size as part of the volume summary.
>>>>>> _____ Bytes in each allocation unit
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, or he could do it more quickly by creating a small file and
>>>>> checking how much the free disk space changed by.
>>>> If they are 512 bytes, can he convert them to 4K with the MS tools, or will
>>>> he need a third party tool, Ken?
>>>
>>> I don't know for sure, but http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm would
>>> seem to suggest that it's not possible to do so after converting to
>>> NTFS.
>>>
>> Partition Magic 8 allows clusters to be resized,
>
>
> OK, thanks for the info.
>
>
>> and also shows the
>> waste factor in clusters from 512 to 64k. On one 50 gig partition, 512k
>> clusters waste 11.5 meg. Using 64k clusters, 1,485 meg are wasted.
>
>
> The standard NTFS cluster is 4K, and I wouldn't suggest that anyone
> use anything else. Moreover the amount of waste is no longer a
> significant factor in making decisions like this. The difference
> between 11.5MB and 1,485MB is about 1.5GB. At today's drive prices,
> that's something like $1.50 US worth of disk space--insignificant to
> almost everyone.
>
>

On a drive that stores a lot of video editing data, it could be
worthwhile to have the largest clusters possible. For general usage 4k
should be fine.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
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