Another W2k Question

[Rex]

Hi there,

I have two ThinkPads, a T20 and T22.

The T22 has a 20gb hd, with a number of partitions, all FAT32. C: is about 7gb with 30% free space. The T22 has W2k/FAT32. From booting to the time the hd stops spinning is about 1min 45 secs.

The T20 has a 12 gb hd, currently formatted with three partitions; C: (OS) is NTFS, 6gb and about 66% free space, the other two partitions are FAT32 (at the moment.

I am currently rebuilding the T20 hd, trying out NTFS, so it only has a few programs on it. But from power-on to when the hd stops spinning is close to three minutes!

I also notice the some of the splash screens are very large; very different in appearance to the FAT32 splash screens. Additionally, programs appear to open rather slowly with a lot of hd activity.

Is this how W2k/NTFS should be? Or is it a function of the T20 being a slower computer? (My T20 does have the W2k sticker on it.)

Perhaps I am doing something wrong or should I reformat to FAT32, which at the moment, seems a better filing system.

Grateful for any advice,

Many thanks

Rex

[jdhurst]

NTFS is just as fast as FAT in my experience (and much more reliable as well). There may be some other issue since you say there is nothing much on the NTFS machine. Fragmentation may be an issue, for example. ... JD Hurst

[Rex]

jdhurst,

Thanks for your thoughts.

Don't think fragmentation is an issue; have defragged (many times!) However, there are too many (in my opinion) fragmented files that are listed as 'exclusively locked' and I have not idea why nor how to resolve this issue.

Have also run the IBM hd utility to see if the firmware needed updating and the result was that everything is OK.

Rex

[dsvochak]

Rex--

Have you tried booting to a safe mode command prompt and running defrag?

[Rex]

No, but that is a great idea. I virtually never use safe but I know I should use it more often for sys. maintenance.

Many thanks,

Rex

[K0LO]

I'd also suggest running PC-Doctor to check your hard disk for bad sectors.

[Rex]

Have done all the test and don't think there is anything wrong with the HD.

My (temporary) solution is to do the following. Mirror the W2k/NTFS os to the image partition, reformat C: as FAT32 and reinstall W2k as FAT32. See if that makes a difference. If so, then leave it as FAT32.


May be the T20 with 256 mb of RAM is just not quite up to what I expect. So if can become the 'entertainment' centre for running DVD's!

Thanks for the advice, it really is appreciated.

Rex

[davidspalding]

Your T20 C: sounds okay -- free space that is -- but you might want to run disk cleanup (cleanmgr) regularly. I just posted elsewhere how you can save settings for it. I'd select all but "Compress old files," unless you WANT to start running NTFS compression on some files. Wouldn't hurt much, I've done it on a P2-300 mhz machine without penalty.

I don't think FAT32 will give you better performance than NTFS. Your subjective experience may vary.

Your T20's 256 MB is sufficient (but not exceptional) for Win2k, but when you've booted up, how much is still available? CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to check in Task Manager. While we're talkin' memory, how much Virtual Memory have you got set? I'd recommend no less than 512 MB initial, 768 MB max.

Other issues that might slow performance: excessive services running, Norton a/v (or another a/v app which frequently spikes CPU load by checking all files loaded into RAM), malware/spyware, IM utilities and other goodies.

If you're worried about the few files that can't be defragged while booted, get Sysinternals' PAGEDFRG tool. It's free, and superb. Use it on all my Windows boxes. Otherwise, don't worry about defragging locked files.