NTFS Performance improvement for XP

[LS_Dragons]

I just ran across this article in the Scott Finnie Newsletter (highly recommended: h*tp://www.scotfinnie.com). I know there have been arguments/threads regarding the performance of NTFS on the board - so read and get your system performance back up to snuff. I will be interested to see some benchmark data ........

[b:ddd8da7fd1]LS_Dragons[/b:ddd8da7fd1]

NTFS PART III: HOW TO MAKE NTFS GO FASTER

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In the last two issues of this newsletter I've run one of my

inadvertent series -- this one on Windows XP's NTFS file system. I

had no idea I was about to touch off an avalanche of questions and

reveal a large problem for Windows XP users. Or even better, that I

was about to publish an NTFS performance solution.

I explained about cluster sizes in NTFS in the first in the series:

h*tp://www.scotfinnie.com/newsletter/19.htm#filesys

In short, Windows XP's NTFS file system is even more storage

efficient than Win98's FAT32. And it can be at least as fast as

FAT32. It's also more reliable. But there is one very big problem.

When you install Windows XP as an upgrade of a previous version of

Windows running FAT16 or FAT32 and convert to NTFS as part of setup

or after the fact, in most cases you end up with tiny 512-byte

cluster sizes. This occurs because of the way the data is aligned on

the disk and the NTFS conversion process as carried out by

Microsoft's Convert utility. PowerQuest's PartitionMagic 7.0 uses

the Microsoft utility, so it has the same issues.

The surprising truth is that some new PCs also arrive with 512-byte

cluster sizes. So if you've got a new Windows XP box that runs slow,

you should definitely check out what I'm about to explain.

In the last issue, I alluded to a possible solution:

h*tp://www.scotfinnie.com/newsletter/20.htm#filesys

A little-known program called Paragon Partition Manager, created by

a group of Russian programmers working for Paragon Software, has in

its latest version, 5.0, added the ability to dynamically adjust

cluster sizes.

Paragon Partition Manager 5.0: h*tp://www.partition-manager.com/n_pm_main.htm

Paragon Partition Manager 5.0 Features Details: h*tp://www.partition-manager.com/n_pm_requir.htm

Paragon Partition Manager isn't generally marketed in the U.S.,

although you can purchase it on the Internet, where it sells for

about $40:

Where To Buy Paragon Partition Manager: h*tp://www.partition-manager.com/n_pm_buy.htm

None of the popular disk utilities marketed in the U.S. is capable

of pulling off this feat yet. But Partition Manager does it, and

does it well.

To prove the point, I acquired a copy of Paragon Partition Manager

5.0 from the company and configured a test system. I had an existing

drive containing a clean Windows 98 Second Edition installation on

my trusty Compaq Armada 700 (the best Compaq product I've ever

worked with) notebook PC. I ran a standard Windows XP upgrade

installation, which took a while, but completed just fine. I also

converted to NTFS. When all the files were copied and the changes

made, it was immediately apparent to me that my performance eroded

markedly. It took Windows forever to load, and disk-intensive tasks

ran like molasses in January. In fact, I was surprised by how slow

the machine became. I had been led to believe that 512-byte clusters

slowed the machine down incrementally, but the reality was much

worse.

Next I used Windows' Disk Defragmenter to check the cluster size on

my hard disk. To do that, you open Disk Defragmenter from Start >

All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

Right-click the appropriate drive and choose Analyze. When the

analysis is complete, click the View Report button. There you see a

line that reads Cluster Size = XX KB. In my case, it showed 512- bytes, the smallest, slowest cluster size NTFS allows. The optimum

size is 4K clusters.

I was ready to try Paragon Partition Manager. I'll tell you upfront

that there are two problems with this product. The first is the user

interface, which needs help. But it's usable. The second is that

before you make the cluster size change, block out several hours of

time for your PC. Overnight might be a good idea. You may save

yourself some time by running a defrag before you run the cluster- size conversion, but you'll find that Disk Defragmenter also runs

very slowly when your cluster sizes are 512-bytes.

The time factor thing is variable. While it took me four hours to

convert the cluster size on a 12GB notebook drive, it took one SFNL

reader only a few minutes and another one over six hours. I asked

the Paragon people about that and they wouldn't commit to even a

range of time you can expect this process to take. Reading between

the lines, this large difference from PC to PC in the time it takes

to run the conversion is normal.

The user interface issue comes into play when you do the cluster

conversion because nothing says "Convert to 4K Cluster Size." But I

can save you that pain. Once you have Paragon Partition Manager

running, select the NTFS drive whose clusters you want to convert.

From the program menu, choose Partition > Modify > Change cluster

size. Dial the "Sectors/Cluster" spinner up to the number 8. Press

OK. (If you select 4 in this scroll box, you'll get 2K clusters --

not the desired outcome.) The conversion process requires that

Windows XP reboot.

Maybe you'll be lucky and have the fast-track conversion. If not, I

can promise you this, it'll be worth the wait. As soon as the

conversion completed for me my performance was back to FAT32 levels.

All that was left to do was run Disk Defrag again, both to check the

cluster size and also to defrag the disk. Do both things.

A couple final notes on NTFS this week. First, I've received a ton

of email about NTFS that I haven't had time to get to. Many offer

interesting info or questions deserving response. I will continue to

cover NTFS in future issues.

The other point is that Microsoft is continuing to investigate

issues people have had with slow NTFS performance on new Windows XP

PCs. The company is working with some of SFNL's readers on that

point. I hope to get some sort of report back from Microsoft -- and

if so, I'll publish it in a future issue. My take though? The steps

in this issue will probably fix your problem, assuming you're

willing to shell out for the Paragon product.

I'd like to thank SFNL readers Jerry Bass, Tom Synder, Tom Duda, and

literally scores of others who volunteered excellent information,

donated hours of their time, and asked smart questions. Many of the

best things in this newsletter come not from me, but from its

readers. And for that I'm eternally grateful.

[Conan]

Sounds like he's marketing that partition manager. My cluster sizes are at 4k because I alway Clean-Install.

[LS_Dragons]

Yeah - I always do a clean install too. Actually, I have been reading his newsletter for several years - he used to write for Windows Magazine - before they went kaput. He generally has some pretty interesting stuff in the newsletter.

LS