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I have rebuilt my one machine, and low-level formatted the 160Gb drive on which I load the OS. I left the 320Gb drive as is, just data an' stuff.
Any case....
The 160Gb drive was cleaned and zeroed completely - and then I loaded XP SP2. No sweat.
Loaded my apps and whatnot, and after everything was done, I checked defrag. It should have been one solid blue line from front to back, right? 'Cause everything was written sequentially from a clean install - the machine have not been used at all since rebuild, there could not have been any funnies. Whatever - turns out my disk was fragmented to hell. So, I defragged. Could not understand how the heck it could get fragmented...
So, once it was defragged, everything was nice and dandy...
...and then I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
After installing FSX, I analyzed the disk again using Defrag. And since the last defrag I just installed FSX - haven't used any apps or anything, and the disk was fragmented worse than ever!
I thought that maybe it's a cock-up with Microshaft (WHAT?!?! THEY MAKE COCK-UPS?!?!) and then loaded DiskKeeper, and ran a fragmentation analysis with it - same story.
Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator X have fragmented a perfectly solid defragged drive to hell and gone. Something like 60% fragmented.
How the hell...?
Is it just me, or is there something seriously wrong with this?
seriously, even on windows you should not have to run the M$ flight sim, it SUCKS soo badly...
Lets see what x-plane has on M$ flight sim:
a realistic flying model
better physics
better models
more detail
all that equals proper feel of the plane
ability to land on water and fly on different planets and land space shuttles, etc
seven dual layer DVDs of scenery, actually 9 if you count their new Washington State scenery pack upgrade, this covers from +60 to -60 degrees lattitude
It's actually rather cheap for what you get
used by pilot training schools, us airforce is developing a version for themeselves based on x-plane engine, and its FAA certified, one of very very few flight sims ever certified by the FAA.
When you say you low-level formatted the drive, what exactly did you do? Do you have the same fragmentation issues with the 320 gig drive that you did not low level format?
The reason I ask is that modern drives are low-level formatted at the factory, and are not intended to be low level formatted. That's why I'm asking what you mean by "low level format".
Low level formatting went out when ide drives were introduced 10-15 years ago.
Editor and Forum Administrator stego anyone?
Add yourself to Hypography's Frappr. "There are only 10 kinds of people in the world -- .....Those who understand binary, and those who don't."
"Draw no conclusions before their time."
lol, overdog, i low level drives all the time... well, i have to, with multiple passes (7 for work, 34 for home) and random data and a zero over, over the top of that. nothing wrong with low-level format, besides, ide's used to come with low level format utils, and most makers recommended it. It does not hurt the drive, and nothing in the design of the drive prevents you from doing it, or detects that instead of writing data, you are writing randomness, and breaks it
clay ya know it tried and used ext2, ext3, reiserfs3, reiserfs4, hfs, hfs+, xfs, cryptfs, jfs, gfs, coda. Ofcourse i have obviously used fat12,16,32 and ntfs, but they just blow...
Always wanted to try Andrew, but i dont have multiple offices in other countries to reak the benefits of performance
lol, overdog, i low level drives all the time... well, i have to, with multiple passes (7 for work, 34 for home) and random data and a zero over, over the top of that. nothing wrong with low-level format, besides, ide's used to come with low level format utils, and most makers recommended it. It does not hurt the drive, and nothing in the design of the drive prevents you from doing it, or detects that instead of writing data, you are writing randomness, and breaks it
It's possible we're not talking about the same thing when we say "low level format" which is the reason I asked.
lol right, you were talking about a true low-level, like writing sections and tracks, etc (check the link a bit later)? Yeah, modern HDs come with integrated controllers, well some do anyhow, and, well some controllers do more then others too, that take care of all of that. I wouldn't think that most modern day utilities would run on the disk that could potentially be damaged by it, i mean, generally if there is a controller, the controller decides where to put the data, and keeps track of sections, etc.
Most utilities that are called "low-level" format tools, today anyhow, don't do that however, they only "wipe" the drive, about all they do...
Manufacturers DO, do low-level formatting, the thing is, since they have eliminated the platter that contained the track/zone and other layout info, the formatting utilities have become more and more complex. They still have to put this data on, though for speed, etc reasons they have started putting it on the platters themselves. this ofcourse increases the mechanical speed of the drive (less movement) and simplifies the design. Some manufacturers still provide tools for a low-level format, but, some no longer allow you access to that info, and a format of that level is simply no longer available, without specialized equipment, and thus the utility will no longer run, period. In either case, it shouldn't damage the drive....
gonna check out the link when i get home, or something...
Astronomical instruments needed to answer crucial questions, such as the search for Earth-like planets or the way the Universe expands, have come a step closer with the first demonstration at the telescope of a new calibration system for precise spectrographs. The method uses a Nobel Prize-winning technology called a 'laser frequency comb', and is published in this week's issue of Science. Read » | 0 comments
Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers. The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own. Read » | 0 comments
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