-------------------- Begin Original Message -------------------- Message text written by Robert Gray
"I seem to recall reading that there are at least two methods of optimization/defragmentation. One method, as used by Norton, is to rewrite files as described above. The other, as used by DiskWarrior, is to rewrite and consolidate the file pointers." -------------------- End Original Message -------------------- Don't understand what you mean here. The safe way to defragment a file is to copy first (to a 'hole' at least as large as the file) then delete the original. I once read that Norton can defragment if only a single disk block is free. That is definitely not the safe way. OTOH the safe way often fails if free space is scarce and fragmented (the very condition when you need to defragment most!). For safety you can backup first but then you can reinitialize and restore from the backup just as well (slow perhaps, but Speed Disk isn't so fast either). I can think of two ways to defrag and many ways to optimize file positions or the position of the free block created. Very few are useful to me. You can defrag the disk and leave files fragmented and vice versa or defrag both. You can create a big hole at the start for digitizing video or a hole at the end so your files end up at the start (where reading is faster). Myself I make a point of having at least two large disks which are at least half free (not counting movies). Each day I do a Retrospect duplicate of system, apps and docs to the other disk (in addition to a weekly incremental backup to DVD-RAM). Pics and movies are on CD backups. Much more convenient and much safer. If I wanted to defrag I can just delete some movies, then copy one disk to the other, clear the disk and copy back. But I rarely see the need for that. Haven't updated Norton Utilities for a long time. Jan. -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:pci-powermacs@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lowendmac.com> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
