Re: Focus drive on 2e

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

John King writes ...
> 
> Is disk fragmentation an issue?
>

     Not usually. IIe files are generally too small (and reasonably modern
hard disks are too fast) for fragmentation to have a noticable affect upon
access speed on a hard disk.

 
> Does ProDos take care of that like Linux does?

      ProDOS does not attempt to defragement existing files.

      When a file is first written, ProDOS tries to write it in a way which
optimizes access. Even on a disk with no fragmentation, the result will (to
some utilities) seem to be a fragmented file. However, tests show that
'ProDOS knows best' (which figures, since ProDOS is what will read the files
it creates).

      The best way, in terms of results, to defragment a ProDOS disk is to
copy the contents some place, erase the disk, and file-copy the contents
back. This works fine for diskettes and, especially for 3.5" diskettes, can
notably improve access speed.

      If you believe fragmentation is affecting hard disk access, your best
bet is likely to be a utility like ProSel which includes defragmentation
routines.



Rubywand