I have a 60 gig drive as a secondary drive. My BIOS is limited to 32 gigs so I
used an overlay program to create a 2 gig FAT 32 partition for Slackware Linux.
The problem is that I made the cluster size 16 K and with so many small files the
2 gigs is not enough. Using 4 K partitions would fit all the files into less than 1.5 gigs.

So now I want to convert the 2 gig partition to 4 K clusters without losing data on the
other partition.

Can it be done and how?


-Barry
========
Web page: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~barry.og
Atheist, radio scanner, LIPD information.
Voicemail/fax number +14136227640

[This followup was posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> I have a 60 gig drive as a secondary drive. My BIOS is limited to 32 gigs so I
> used an overlay program to create a 2 gig FAT 32 partition for Slackware Linux.
> The problem is that I made the cluster size 16 K and with so many small files the
> 2 gigs is not enough. Using 4 K partitions would fit all the files into less than 1.5 gigs.
>
> So now I want to convert the 2 gig partition to 4 K clusters without losing data on the
> other partition.
>
> Can it be done and how?

Partition Magic should be able to do it. As always, BACKUP, BACKUP,
BACKUP before trying anything so drastic.

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.att.net/~andyross

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 16:17:45 -0500, Andrew Rossmann <andysnewsreply@no_junk.comcast.net> wrote:

>[This followup was posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage and a copy
>was sent to the cited author.]
>
>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
>(E-Mail Removed) says...
>> I have a 60 gig drive as a secondary drive. My BIOS is limited to 32 gigs so I
>> used an overlay program to create a 2 gig FAT 32 partition for Slackware Linux.
>> The problem is that I made the cluster size 16 K and with so many small files the
>> 2 gigs is not enough. Using 4 K partitions would fit all the files into less than 1.5 gigs.
>>
>> So now I want to convert the 2 gig partition to 4 K clusters without losing data on the
>> other partition.
>>
>> Can it be done and how?
>
> Partition Magic should be able to do it. As always, BACKUP, BACKUP,
>BACKUP before trying anything so drastic.

Thanks. The data in the other partition is a backup of important files.



>
>--


-Barry
========
Web page: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~barry.og
Atheist, radio scanner, LIPD information.
Voicemail/fax number +14136227640

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:17:11 +1000, Barry OGrady <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 16:17:45 -0500, Andrew Rossmann <andysnewsreply@no_junk.comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>[This followup was posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage and a copy
>>was sent to the cited author.]
>>
>>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
>>(E-Mail Removed) says...
>>> I have a 60 gig drive as a secondary drive. My BIOS is limited to 32 gigs so I
>>> used an overlay program to create a 2 gig FAT 32 partition for Slackware Linux.
>>> The problem is that I made the cluster size 16 K and with so many small files the
>>> 2 gigs is not enough. Using 4 K partitions would fit all the files into less than 1.5 gigs.
>>>
>>> So now I want to convert the 2 gig partition to 4 K clusters without losing data on the
>>> other partition.
>>>
>>> Can it be done and how?
>>
>> Partition Magic should be able to do it. As always, BACKUP, BACKUP,
>>BACKUP before trying anything so drastic.

OK. I used Partition Magic.

>Thanks. The data in the other partition is a backup of important files.
>
>
>
>>
>>--
>
>
>-Barry
>========
>Web page: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~barry.og
>Atheist, radio scanner, LIPD information.
>Voicemail/fax number +14136227640


-Barry
========
Web page: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~barry.og
Atheist, radio scanner, LIPD information.
Voicemail/fax number +14136227640

[Cetus35]

Change Increase Check Windows XP NTFS Cluster Size

If you have the same situation as me and are simply trying to increase the cluster size on a Windows XP partition (up from the default of 4k), after much searching and trial and error
here is how I successfully did it:
(First back up all data or better yet use Norton Ghost 12 and back up the total partition or drive. My C: drive is around 300Gb with about 30Gb of applications, files, operating system, documents, photos, movie clips, etc. and it backs up in about 16 minutes to a USB external drive and restores completely in about 11 minutes)

Next, you will need a utility to actually increase the cluster size, such as Paragon, PartitionMagic, Acronis, etc

Here is where I had problems...every forum post recommended PartionMagic
to do this which can be accomplished by (in PartitionMagic) going to Partition>Advanced> Change cluster size
After about 2 hours it finally finished.
What resulted was an error message of "Disk read error" every time I tried to re-boot into Windows. In fact, my system was crashed. It would not boot at all. I tried FIXMBR and FIXBOOT and some other drive utility to fix it and still nothing.

I restored my drive with Norton Ghost 12 (bootable CD) as mentioned before ( I was up and ready to roll in about 11 minutes, absolutely nothing lost...except my time) and tried PartitionMagic's "Cluster resize" again. Same thing. Unbootable PC.

I happen to have a bootable CD of Acronis Disk Director Suite 10 from when I used it for something last summer. (Get the trial, if you want to try it HERE )
I booted with it, and lo and behold, it ALSO has a "Cluster resize" feature. I set my cluster size to be increased from 4k to 64k and it finished in about 3 minutes.
I thought something had to be wrong, since it finished so fast, but it booted into WinXP just fine and the cluster size was now 64k!

Couple of notes:

1) You can no longer use NTFS file compression if you raise cluster size above 4k.

2) At least 2 ways to check the cluster size used by a drive:
a) Run WinXP built-in Disk Defragmenter, select the drive, Analyze,
then View Report. (cluster size is 2nd item in top window)

b) Type chkdsk at a command prompt. For example, to see the cluster size of D:,
C:\Docume~1\Cetus>chkdsk d: (and hit the Enter key), where it
says "____ bytes in each allocation unit," that is the cluster size.

3) You can use Acronis to decrease the cluster size as well as increase it



4) This may matter a lot or not much at all, but my specs are: Windows XP installed on drive C:, which is a RAID 0 array of (2) WD Raptor 150Gb Serial ATA (SATA) drives. My drive D: is a Seagate (SATA) 7200.10 320Gb drive. My mobo is a EVGA NVIDIA 680i SLI. (I have WIndows Vista Home Premium installed on the D: drive and I dual-boot, but that has nothing to do with this "Cluster size" issue, AFAIK

[snodgrss1984]

how do i back up using acronis disk director suit and then change cluster size there is no user guide and by the way thank you

[shun]

When format a partition, you can change the cluster size, but it will cause data losing. To non-destructively change cluster size, you need third party software, for example, partition magic, partition manager, disk director, etc.
http://www.hdd-tool.com/hdd-optimise...rive-space.htm