Chapter 3 Managing Disk and File Systems

File Storage Basics Windows XP supports two types of storage Basic Dynamic Basic storage system Centers on partitioning a physical hard drive Partitioning is the process of dividing the hard drive logical divisions Each division can contain a different file system Each division is assigned a unique drive letter

File Storage Basics Dynamic Storage is a method supported by Windows XP and newer Windows Operating systems Dynamic storage is based on volumes A volume functions no different then a partition Dynamic storage allows for more flexibility in drive configurations

File Storage Basics Dynamic Storage can create Expanded volumes Fault-tolerant configurations Fault-tolerant configurations allows the volume to be increased in size without the lost of data.

Basic Storage The traditional system for dividing a hard drive is partitions. Each partition can be formatted with a different file system Partitions must be formatted before they can be used by the OS

Basic Storage A primary partition is a division of a hard drive. An extended partition is division of a hard drive the can be further subdivided into logical drives. A hard drive can host Up to four primary partitions Or three primary partition and one extend partition

Basic Storage Only primary partitions and logical drives can be formatted with a file system A primary partition can be marked active, this informs the computers BIOS that this partition contains the starting information for the computer Only one partition can be active at a time

Basic Storage Typically a partition should be created to the maximum storage allowed by the file system chosen. FAT4 GB FAT 3232 GB NTFS4 TB

Basic Storage Basic storage can support many types of disk configurations from Single formatted partitions Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID-3)

Basic Storage Windows XP can only be installed into a basic storage partition. There are two partition associated with Windows XP System partition Boot partition

Basic Storage The system partition is where the boot files are stored The boot partition Is where the main Windows XP system files are located The default location for the paging files The boot partition can be the same partition as the system or it can be a separate partition.

Dynamic Storage Is a standard that creates a single partition that encompasses the entire hard drive. The hard drive that is initialized for dynamic storage is considered a dynamic disk. Dynamic disks are divided into volumes A volume can be a portion or portions of one or more physical disks.

Volume A portion of one or more hard drives Formatted with a single file system Accessed through a single drive letter (mount point)

Simple Volumes Contains space from a single dynamic disk Is not fault tolerant You can extend a simple volume to include unallocated space on a single disk You can format it with NTFS, FAT 32 or FAT

Simple Volumes Can be a designated drive letter Can be left disconnected Can be mounted as a folder on an existing NTFS volume as long as the mounted simple volume is formatted in NTFS Can be disconnect from one volume and move to a different NTFS volume.

Spanned Volumes Includes space on multiple disks (up to 32) Windows will write data to spanned volume filling one disk then the next Spanned volumes are not fault tolerant, if one drive fails all the data is lost in the spanned volume.

Striped Volumes Combines free space from multiple hard drives into a single volume This system maximized performance by adding data to all of the drives at the same time Striped volumes in Windows XP are not fault tolerant. If one drive fails all data is lost.

Changing Storage Type You can upgrade from basic storage to dynamic storage at any time with no loss of data. You can convert dynamic storage to basic but all data will be lost on the disk.

NTFS Compression A system that allows files and folders to compresses to take up less space on a drive. It is not use much on stand alone computers.

Encryption File Systems Used to provide additions security for data stored on a disk.

Using Disk Maintenance Tools There are three maintenance tools Disk Defragmenter Check Disk Disk Cleanup

Used to free up disk space by deleting temporary files and uninstalling programs Will scan disk and produce list of files and programs that you could delete. You make the final decision.

ChkDsk attempts to repair file system errors, locate bad sectors recover readable information from those bad sectors

Disk Defragmenter Is used to unfragment disk drives. How fragmentation occurs To start disk defragmenter by going to Start | All Programs | Accessories |System Tools | Disk Defragmenter. The Disk Defragmenter window looks like this

The upper pane of the window lists the volumes that you can analyze The middle pane provides a graphic representation of how fragmented the selected volume is. The lower pane provides a dynamic representation of the volume that continuously updates during defragmentation.

Analyze Button Analyzes the disk for fragmentation After the analysis, the Analysis Display band provides a graphic representation of how fragmented the volume is.

Defragment Button Defragments the disk. provides a graphic representation of the defragmented volume

Using Defragmenter Effectively Run Disk Defragmenter when the computer will receive the least usage. Make sure that virus scan software is turned off before you start the process Make sure that the disk has enough free space to do the defragement efficiently If you do a lot of deleting and adding of data to the disk you should do defragmentation more frequently.