In comp.os.linux.advocacy, [H]omer
<spam@xxxxxxx>
wrote
on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:01:41 +0100
<mgf3q4-ir8.ln1@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>> How Windows Vista almost destroyed my Laptop!
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | DON'T and I mean DO NOT install Windows Vista. If somebody tries to sell you
>> | Windows Vista then RUN! Windows Vista had due to it's intense
>> | background-processes heated up my CPU over such a long time to such a high
>> | temperature that the cooling systems of my laptop started literally FALLING
>> | APART!
>
> Vista is not unique in that regard. I've stated before that one such
> program no Windows user should *ever* use is Diskeeper. Defragging
> FAT/NTFS filesystems is a necessary evil, which should be done on a
> regular basis, but the degree to which Diskeeper thrashes hard drives is
> beyond ridiculous (using the default methods and schedule). One rapidly
> runs into the law of diminishing returns, and the result is a disk that
> reaches its MTBF *much* quicker than one would expect.
>
> Indeed it is symptomatic of much of the administration tools and methods
> under Windows - a case of taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
>
> To what degree the multifarious "activity" on Vista is necessary, only
> Microsoft knows, but I'd be willing to bet that most of it is gross
> overkill - probably with a /restrictions/ agenda somewhere in the mix.
>
The entire defragmentation problem is a little weird to
me personally. What, precisely, needs to be optimized?
The absolute best optimization method I can think of is
to do the following:
[1] Archive entire volume on some other disk. Something
along the lines of
find /usr -xdev -type f | cpio -oc | gzip > /somewhere/else/cpioarch.gz
If one wants to get clever one can split this up:
find /usr -xdev -type f > list-of-files.txt
[edit list-of-files.txt, changing the ordering]
cpio -oc < list-of-files.txt | gzip > /somewhere/else/cpioarch.gz
[2] Wipe the entire volume. Depending on which volume, one might have
to boot a LiveDisc to do this properly.
[3] Restore. Something along the lines of
gunzip < /somewhere/else/cpioarch.gz | cpio -icd
Presto...every file is almost guaranteed contiguous.
Whether the actual placement is optimal is an interesting
question. Head movement during read isn't all that good
(though it depends on how badly the filesystem needs
defragmentation), but during write it shouldn't have to
move all that much.
(Don't take these lines as gospel, BTW. I'm not that
familiar with cpio, and it has some odd quirks. The -c is
for portability; the -d creates directories on an as-needed
basis, and might not get the permissions quite right.
I'd have to research the issue, and have no idea whether
cpio recursively scans directory paths given to it.
If it doesn't, one might simply remove the '-type f'
in the archival step. If it does, find might not be
needed but one runs into other issues.
Other solutions such as 'tar', 'pax', 'zip', and even
'cp -a' might be used as well. All have their quirks.)
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Q: "Why is my computer doing that?"
A: "Don't do that and you'll be fine."
--
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