Changing cluster size

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andrew Chalk
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A

Andrew Chalk

Is there a utility to change disk cluster size without corrupting data? One
of my logical disks has a cluster size of 64k. This means that disk
defragmenter cannot defrag. it.

Thanks!
 
Andrew said:
Is there a utility to change disk cluster size without corrupting data? One
of my logical disks has a cluster size of 64k. This means that disk
defragmenter cannot defrag. it.
Click to expand...

You don't say what the file system is.

If it is NTFS or FAT32, then Partition Magic can do the job for you.

If it is FAT16, then you are probably screwed unless you want to
convert the partition to NTFS or FAT32. If a FAT16 partition is
larger than 2 GB, then 64 KB is the only possible cluster size:
you will not be able to reduce the cluster size unless you first
reduce the partition size to 2 GB or less.

You also don't say what your defragger is and what service pack
level your W2K setup is. I, for example, have no problems with
64 KB clusters on a partition that I use for very large files -
but I did have problems a couple of years ago when I was using a
much older defragger that dated back to my NT4 days.
 
Good point. This is W2K with SP4. NTFS.

How come defrag cant handle it?

- Andrew
 
Andrew said:
Is there a utility to change disk cluster size without corrupting data? One
of my logical disks has a cluster size of 64k. This means that disk
defragmenter cannot defrag. it.
Click to expand...

I can't solve your problem, but I do admire it! How do you find out what your
cluster size is? I'm running on a used HD formatted by somebody else...
 
Defrag, Analyze, report.
I can't solve your problem, but I do admire it! How do you find out what your
cluster size is? I'm running on a used HD formatted by somebody else...
Click to expand...
 
I'd just like to know how safe the Partition Magic resize cluster
thing is. It seems totally unsafe to me. I'm scared to even think
about it. If changing cluster size without re-formatting is a trivial
thing then I believe more utils would be doing it.
 
Bob said:
Defrag, Analyze, report.
Click to expand...

Do you get the analyze/report thing only after defragging? I don't trust
defrag.

--
Cheers,
Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't need instructions, I have a hammer."
-- T.W. Wier
 
The said:
I can't solve your problem, but I do admire it! How do you find out what your
cluster size is? I'm running on a used HD formatted by somebody else...
Click to expand...

An easy way it to run ChkDsk and wait for the summary report
when it is done. You can speed it up a bit by using the /I and
/C switches.
 
I just bought and used it. The drive is still readable, so there's a sample
of one you can add.

- A
 
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