Disk defragmenting (was "Re: No Sound :(")

[Mark]

On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 3:18 PM, Douglas Pollard <dougpol1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> That is very intersting and I had certainly not thought about it in that
> light.  I am using FAT with the idea that both ubuntu and XP could work
> in it. Maybe there is another file type that both can work with?  The
> speed  does not matter to me a whole lot but there is an advantge For
> Premier if the drive is faster.   Of course even in need of
> defragmenting the drive is likely much faster than the usb cable It's
> running off of, I would guess.  Back when I was working with much
> smaller drives over time if not fragmented there would be a definite
> increase in crashing events.  I have not noticed that on the bigger
> drives I have been using the last couple of years. You are likely right
> the small percentage of loss is likely irrelevant today and especially
> with really large drives a 1tb or so.    I probably could use a faster
> computer too. This machine is 2003 model and they have come a long way
> since then.  One thing I have decided is to stay one upgrade behind all
> the time with Ubuntu.  By that time most of the bugs are out.
>                  Thanks  Doug

If it's critical to have XP and Linux work on it, I'd recommend NTFS -
it's as far above FAT and VFAT as any Unix file system.  There are
drivers for NTFS for Linux aplenty - check in Synaptic.  (I always
load an NTFS driver, but for other reasons, like repairing Windows
disks....  :-)

As for older not being as good, I'd have to agree.  I'm running an
ancient computer I originally built back in 1984 I think, but it has
had ever component in it upgraded many times over the years.  Right
now it's about as fast and powerhouse-like as anything currently new
on the market, at least for my needs.  I've never let it go more than
a year or two without upgrading something.