FAT32-NTFS Conversion and Contiguous MTF

[jma]

I read this article on FAT32-NTFS conversion:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

but it didn't address creating space for a contiguous MTF with the
ctvarea command. Is this still a concern and are these commands
correct?

cvtarea c:\cvtarea.tmp 500 MB /contig /firstcluster 3 gb
convert c: /fs:ntfs /cvtarea:cvtarea.tmp

Will these commands erase data that presently exists on that part of
the hard drive? Thanks for any info!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I read this article on FAT32-NTFS conversion:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

but it didn't address creating space for a contiguous MTF with the
ctvarea command. Is this still a concern and are these commands
correct?

cvtarea c:\cvtarea.tmp 500 MB /contig /firstcluster 3 gb
convert c: /fs:ntfs /cvtarea:cvtarea.tmp

Will these commands erase data that presently exists on that part of
the hard drive? Thanks for any info!

- What's a "contiguous MTF"?
- What's the "cvtarea" command? Where does it come from?

 

[DatabaseBen]

there is more information
about this at microsoft.com

convert command with the
standard settings is likely
all that you need or want to
use. It worked perfectly for
me.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Contiguous MFT?


--

Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[John John]

It's too late to use cvtarea now, it should have been used when the
volume was created and formated FAT32, then it would have reserved
contiguous space at the beginning of the disk for the NTFS MFT. If
cvtarea was not used at that time files are now occupying the space that
would have been reserved for the MFT and they will not be moved after
the fact, the MFT will most likely be in one contiguous block in the
middle of the disk somewhere and hopefully in one block.

I would say to forget about the MFT issues but ensure that the clusters
are aligned to the 4 KB boundary. The performance hit from having the
MFT at the centre of the disk is somewhat debatable but the if not
properly addressed the 512 byte clusters will have a serious negative
impact on performance.

As for the MFT location my understanding is that the Vista NTFS version
will now place it somewhere near the center of the disk or partition. I
think that was more or less how the HPFS file system had it's bitmaps
arranged and apparently it makes file access faster if the MFT is
located nearer to them middle of the partition or volume.

John

 

[John John]

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

- What's the "cvtarea" command? Where does it come from?

It's mostly a tool designed for OEM's.

(It)... allows system manufacturers to implement a manufacturing process
that results in a properly located contiguous MFT for NTFS volumes.

[end quote]

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/ntfs-preinstall.mspx

John

 

[Gerry Cornell]

John

Is an MFT ever contiguous?


--

Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

- What's the "cvtarea" command? Where does it come from?

It's mostly a tool designed for OEM's.

(It)... allows system manufacturers to implement a manufacturing process
that results in a properly located contiguous MFT for NTFS volumes.

[end quote]

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/ntfs-preinstall.mspx

John

 

[John John]

Yes, almost always. It will become broken and no longer contiguous
(fragmented) if not enough space was reserved for it and if many small
files are created on the disk or partition. Microsoft has provided by
way of the registry for measures to increase the MFT zone in attempt to
prevent fragmentation. The registry edits however will only affect
partitions or volumes formatted after the changes.

John

 

[jma]

So aligning the clusters to the 4k boundary is the only thing I need
to do in advance, unless I'm doing a new install. Thanks for the
help!

 

[John John]

Yes, it is VERY important to take measures to avoid ending up with 512
byte clusters! When you do a new install you format NTFS right from
scratch before you install Windows and you don't have to bother with
conversions and the implied details. Thanks for the follow up.

John