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Fragmented backup image (Read 5280 times)

aeioufu

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	Fragmented backup image Jan 21^st, 2006 at 7:58am I use Ghost 10 with encryption and backup to a Maxtor external hard drive. When I use XP's disk defragmenter to analyze the disk, it shows the backup image file as very heavily fragmented. Should the disk image be defragmented or is it best to leave as is. Thanks
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Rad

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Sufferin' succotash

Posts: 4090
Newport Beach, California

Re: Fragmented backup image
Reply #1 - Jan 21^st, 2006 at 12:41pm

"Check" the image to verify its integrity.

I never (never!) defrag images, as some have reported problems afterwards.

That's why I have a separate partition dedicated only for Ghost images.

I think the fact that it is an *external* hard drive has something to do with it. Is it formatted at NTFS or FAT32? I bet if it were formatted as the other, you wouldn't have that problem. Christer did some tests a while back and discovered heavier fragmentation with FAT32 when compared to NTFS. Not sure why. But that was with Ghost 2003 (runs from DOS) and you have Ghost 10 (runs from Windows).

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aeioufu

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	Re: Fragmented backup image Reply #2 - Jan 21^st, 2006 at 2:33pm I'll partition my drive and leave the Ghost image file as is. Thanks for the quick reply.
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John.

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Re: Fragmented backup image
Reply #3 - Jan 21^st, 2006 at 6:03pm

Most USB external drives are pre-formatted as FAT32 for compatability with Windows 9x.

You can change them to NTFS without destroying the data using XP commands:

First run chkdsk
chkdsk e: /f (substitute your drive letter for e: )

Then look up the syntax for convert by:
convert /?

or

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/convertfat.mspx

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt
1. Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

2. In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.

Ghost4me Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7

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Rad

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Sufferin' succotash

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Newport Beach, California

	Re: Fragmented backup image Reply #4 - Jan 21^st, 2006 at 10:10pm i've heard it's better to reformat to ntfs than convert .. that you should convert only if not possible to reformat (back-up info and replace after reformat). but, yes, i agree that most external drives come pre-formatted as fat32.
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John.

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Re: Fragmented backup image
Reply #5 - Jan 21^st, 2006 at 10:46pm

Quote:

i've heard it's better to reformat to ntfs than convert

You're probably right in that there is always some danger that there *could* be a problem during the convert process. That is why I always first did a chkdsk /f if I ever had to do a convert.

There was a bad performance problem with Windows 2000 that when you did a convert from FAT32 to NTFS, Windows 2000 created 512 byte clusters which gave poor performance.

With Windows XP, I believe that has been fixed and you get the normal 4096 byte clusters using the convert command in XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/ntfs-preinstall.mspx

Yes, it's better to use the Disk Management of XP to create the partitions from scratch if possible.

Ghost4me Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7

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Pleonasm

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Re: Fragmented backup image
Reply #6 - Jan 22^nd, 2006 at 3:45pm

Aeioufu, a defragmentation of the image files should do no damage, since from the perspective of the defragmentation utility, an image file is no different than any other type of file. However, perhaps more importantly, a defragmentation of the image file should yield minimal benefit.

The primary purpose of defragmentation is to improve performance by clustering together segments of frequently used files. Since image files are accessed rarely, the degree of their defragmentation matters little one way or the other.

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aeioufu

Ex Member

	Re: Fragmented backup image Reply #7 - Jan 23^rd, 2006 at 12:55pm I reformatted my external drive (NTFS) and created two partitions with one them exclusive for Ghost, so I won't be doing any defragmenting.
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