Compressed C: drive

[Steele]

My problem:
I have run across a Windows 2000 server that has it's C: drive compressed.
It has a 2 GB partition (I'm assuming that's why it was compressed in the
first place), and there is currently about 350 MB free. The server has been
having several problems, and acting as if it was out of drive space. I was
able to free up some of the space, and defragment it quite a bit. However,
the MFT is still severely fragmented, and Diskeeper is still reporting heavy
fragmentation. At this point, Active Directory is having some serious
difficulty functioning (NTDS is on C. I can no longer get into Active
Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Sites and Services, or add
any new computers to the domain. This is the only server in the
organization.

My questions:
Has anyone else seen this happen?
Are my problems likely related to the compression and subsequent
fragmentation?
What are the ramifications of uncompressing C:?
Do I have enough room to uncompress?
How do I fix this for the short-term?
How do I fix this for the long-term?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My problem:
I have run across a Windows 2000 server that has it's C: drive compressed.
It has a 2 GB partition (I'm assuming that's why it was compressed in the
first place), and there is currently about 350 MB free. The server has been
having several problems, and acting as if it was out of drive space. I was
able to free up some of the space, and defragment it quite a bit. However,
the MFT is still severely fragmented, and Diskeeper is still reporting heavy
fragmentation. At this point, Active Directory is having some serious
difficulty functioning (NTDS is on C. I can no longer get into Active
Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Sites and Services, or add
any new computers to the domain. This is the only server in the
organization.

My questions:
Has anyone else seen this happen?
Are my problems likely related to the compression and subsequent
fragmentation?
What are the ramifications of uncompressing C:?
Do I have enough room to uncompress?
How do I fix this for the short-term?
How do I fix this for the long-term?

I would not touch file compression with a barge pole,
and especially not on a server. It makes no sense
whatsoever, with disk prices being as low as they are.

I would immediately clone the compressed disk onto
a larger disk. Normally you use tools such as Acronis
TrueImage or PowerQuest's PQMagic but I suspect
they won't touch a compressed drive. If so then you
have to do this:

- Connect the compressed and the new disk to the
secondary controller of some other Win2000 PC.
- Use xcopy.exe to copy everything from the old disk
to the new disk, including hidden and system files.
- Put the new disk back into the server. Do not under
any circumstances connect the old disk at the same
time as the new disk.
- Boot the server with your Win2000 Server CD.
- Select "Repair", then "Recovery Console".
- Run "fixmbr" and "fixboot".

Your server should now be up and running, with oodles
of disk space.

 

[Steele]

Thank you for that. I would try that except that the C: drive is actually
only a 2 GB partition that is on a RAID5 array - the array itself has plenty
of space, it's just that most of it is used for the D: partition. Any
utilities that can clone a partition that is part of an array? Also, even
after doing so, is my Active Directory most likely corrupted beyond repair?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Are you saying that there is plenty of free space on drive D:?
If so then repartitioning may be your answer.

 

[Steele]

Using something like Partition Magic?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I suspect PQMagic won't touch your server disk,
unless you manage to make a Rescue Disk (which
I could with my 4-year old version). They want you
to buy the server version! Acronis' PartitionExpert,
on the other hand, does not seem to care.

Whichever product you use, I would strongly
encourage you to to back up the lot beforehand,
and to test the backup. In your case I would purchase
a 120 GByte disk (they are cheap!) and copy drives
C: and D: to it with something like Acronis
TrueImage. If your RAID array is a hardware RAID
then the image program will see it as a single disk.

 

[Steele]

And I should re-partition, and the decompress?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yes.

As I said before, I know nothing about compression/
decompression. Whatever you do, make sure you
have a verified backup copy of the compressed partition.

 

[Guest]

I have to defragment a hard drive with a capacity of 200GB, any suggestion to do it without interupting user access. My office is workig 24 hours a day

Mail me at (e-mail address removed)

I appreciate any help

 

[nesredep egrob]

I have to defragment a hard drive with a capacity of 200GB, any suggestion to do it without interupting user access. My office is workig 24 hours a day.

Mail me at (e-mail address removed)

I appreciate any help

I cannot see why anyone would want to run a computer without
partitioning. At the very least, I would have C: with the System
sitting on a max of 8 GB of partition.

For your information, my stats are:
Win 2000, Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz
1 Gb memory,ADSL
200+200 GB disks partitioned C:E;as 7.81,80.84.97.65
F: G: as 88.65,97.66 for data
Borge Pedersen
Perth, Australia
mailto:[email protected]
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