very slow deletions on ext3 USB drive

[Colin Law]

2009/9/18 Chris Jones <jonesc at hep.phy.cam.ac.uk>:
>
>>       Whatever turns you on. Nothing is as fast as format however. Did you
>> consider that?
>
> Did you miss the part in the OP that said
>
> "I don't want to delete ALL the backups - just the oldest ones - so I
> can't just reformat the disk."
>
> ??
>
> If it wasn't for that, your "advice" would be OK.

It would rather depend on what proportion of the files the OP wanted
to keep.  If he only wanted to keep, say, 10% of the files then Karl's
suggestion might well have been the best.  Copy off the files to be
kept, format the drive (which has the benefit of cleaning up the file
system) and copy them back.  If, however, he wanted to keep 90% then
maybe the other technique is better.  Certainly Karl's technique does
not deserve the derision that some are casting on it.

Colin