oooops! (mucked up computer)

[5614]

but how can a disk not become fragmented?

 

i mean, think of a HDD as an image... as soon as you remove a file there's a hole in that image... how can linux get around this?

 

even if there is a different HDD format i cant see how it works.

[Jordie]

http://mandrakeuser.org/docs/mdoc/ref/ext2fs.html#AEN3291

 

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdext/is_200112/ai_ziff19913

 

If you look up journalized file systems you get a lot of results for Linux file systems.

I am on Linux now and love it. It supports all my hardware, 99.9% of the software is free and provides me with all the programming tools I could ever need and want and allows me to pick what kind of window manager I have (kde, gnome, flux) etc.

[Jordie]

but how can a disk not become fragmented?

 

i mean' date=' think of a HDD as an image... as soon as you remove a file there's a hole in that image... how can linux get around this?

 

even if there is a different HDD format i cant see how it works.[/quote']

 

It's the file system....

 

The methods and data structures that an operating system uses to keep track of files on a disk or partition; the way the files are organized on the disk. Also used about a partition or disk that is used to store the files or the type of the filesystem.

 

Not the hard drive itself. Think about it like this. I tell two people to organize my files. Let's call these two people Person 1 and Person 2. Now I give them both the same amount of files. I tell them to organize them in two stacks. One stack for trash and one stack for mailing.

 

Person A organizes all the files alright without problems and even makes sure that no files get dis-organized.

 

Person B trys to organize all the files but in the end somehow gets three stacks and tons of files are out of place.

 

Person A = say ext3 and Person B = Fat32. I am sure there is more detail to it then that but it gives you the general idea.

[5614]

those sites didnt actually answer my original question of how when a file is removed can the space not make the drive fragmented.

 

however one website suggested that it was because "open" space was used up first with the next program installed, although it was a forum and the guy said he didnt know but thought he had heard someone say it once.

[Artorius]

5614 glad you enjoyed screwing your comp up,but your version of formatting your comp isnt really formatting.All you were really doing is a fresh install of xp.Formatting is done from DOS,you really need a millenium boot up disc.btw BSOD is almost always a memory fault.

If you had been unfortunate to get a serious virus you would not be able to get rid of it formatting the way you describe.Yt seemed to be up to scratch on defrag but FAT32 is oh so crap NTFS is the kiddie.

[5614]

Person B trys to organize all the files but in the end somehow gets three stacks and tons of files are out of place

 

i cant see how that represents FAT32 in comparison to ext3 however most computers running windows (incl. XP) have an NTFS format HDD, so could you please compare ext3 to NTFS and unless that last post it correct i still dont understand how ext3 doesnt need compression.

 

even if that last post was correct then it would mean that the linux HDD would have data scattered everywhere and that wouldnt be good.

[5614]

5614 glad you enjoyed screwing your comp up' date='but your version of formatting your comp isnt really formatting.All you were really doing is a fresh install of xp.Formatting is done from DOS,you really need a millenium boot up disc.btw BSOD is almost always a memory fault.

If you had been unfortunate to get a serious virus you would not be able to get rid of it formatting the way you describe.Yt seemed to be up to scratch on defrag but FAT32 is oh so crap NTFS is the kiddie.[/quote']

NTFS is way better than FAT32 agreed.

 

XP installation comes complete with an option for formatting your computer... so yes my computer was formatted.

 

reminder: formatted data can still be recovered using special programs, if you are selling your computer on, a format is not enough to keep your data private.

 

ive done formats from DOS before on my 98 computer, although as ive said, XP can format your HDD before installation.

 

indeed the BSOD was a memory fault but i wont bore you by typing the exact address of it out!

 

it was not a virus.

[YT2095]

ok' date=' sorry, i worded that wrongly.... what i meant is that if you think of your HDD as an image... before defrag there's bits of the image everywhere at the end its all in one place.

 

if you think of the HDD imag as a horizontal rectangle and the data as coloured parts of it... it starts of with coloured dots everywhere, by the end of it they've all been shunted up to one end of the HDD.

 

ok, it was a crap way of putting it, i assure you, i didnt mean the data was compressed... i merely meant that it is all placed into one area.

 

i thought of it as taking all the data and pushing it together to get rid of all the gaps in between it... i said "compression" thats a crap word... thanks for correcting me as i worded it badly in the first place... although i do know what i mean! but it was worded wrongly.[/quote']

 

erm... I KNOW how a HDD works dude, I used to teach Computer architecture and have designed and built Floppy drives with my OWN format system , Sectors and headers and blocks probably before you left nursery school! LOL

 

HDDs work on a very much similar principal!

 

thanks anyway, and btw, those colored dots aren`t REAL! seriously they`re not!

[Artorius]

yes fine 5614,i wasnt being argumentative just letting you know.I build comps for people and get rid of nasty microsoft stuff,all im saying is xp only does a 'soft' format.If you had a serious virus unfortunately it would still be there.Do you know how to format and partition your HD from DOS.This is more effective but tiresome,Powerquest drive image is an excellent program to have.After you actually do a full format and have installed all the programs you need,wait a week or so to see if you have a stable setup,then you image your comp to cd's using powerquest.Then whenever you do a full format again you simply load the disc image and your comp is perfect again in around 30 mins.I always use this method as i format my comp at least once a month.I loath all the crap the internet shots on my puter.

I have Adware/reg mechanic/w,washer/search n destroy/cw shredder/kill this/spyware shredder etc,etc....but nothing is as refreshing as a format heh heh

[Jordie]

i cant see how that represents FAT32 in comparison to ext3 however most computers running windows (incl. XP) have an NTFS format HDD' date=' so could you please compare ext3 to NTFS and unless that last post it correct i still dont understand how ext3 doesnt need compression.

 

even if that last post was correct then it would mean that the linux HDD would have data scattered everywhere and that wouldnt be good.[/quote']

 

I think this is what you want

 

http://linux.org.mt/article/filesystems

 

http://lists.slug.org.au/archives/slug/2004/09/msg00278.html

 

You would be suprised what google and show you. Linix has tons of file systems you can use. So even if ext3 isn't the best one out there you can pick one of the many diffrent ones.

[5614]

Do you know how to format and partition your HD from DOS.

yes im fully aware of how to use DOS - as i didnt have a virus i felt no need for a full format... or as you may call it a hard format.

 

I KNOW how a HDD works dude, I used to teach Computer architecture and have designed and built Floppy drives with my OWN format system , Sectors and headers and blocks probably before you left nursery school! LOL

cool!

 

those colored dots aren`t REAL! seriously they`re not!

nah.. ya think? [/sarcastic] but its still a good way of visualising a HDD none the less.