daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) (02/17/91)
Hi, My question is about using Norton Speed Disk or similar programs on my 200 MB IDE hard disk. From what I know of IDE disks, they use translating controllers which do not necessarily arrange data on the disk the way that DOS thinks it does (ie: setup says disk has < 1024 tracks or 17 SPT for compatibility, when it actually differs). The question I have is: Will this affect a program like Speed Disk in the sense that what it thinks is making contiguous sectors of a file is actually scattering the file about the disk, possibly worse than originally? Thanks, Bryon Daly daly@ecs.umass.edu
mamos@uafhp.uark.edu (Mark _E_ Amos) (02/19/91)
daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) writes: > >My question is about using Norton Speed Disk or similar programs on my 200 MB I use Norton 5.0 SD on my Conner 3184 82Meg IDE regularly with no noticeable problems - it seems to do as promised... ============================================================================== Mark _E_ Amos | University of Arkansas Computer Science Engineering mamos@uafhp.uark.edu | mea1@engr.uark.edu | (emphasise the Computer Engineering please) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Man's mind, when stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimension." -Oliver Wendell Holmes ==============================================================================
mamos@uafhp.uark.edu (Mark _E_ Amos) (05/12/91)
daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) writes: > >My question is about using Norton Speed Disk or similar programs on my 200 MB >IDE hard disk. From what I know of IDE disks, they use translating controllers The possible problems with this are very distinct. While I have no proof per se, I have some experiences you may analize however you like, and draw your own conclusions. In one of our labs, we have about 28 PCs with MiniScribe 40M IDE drives. We have used Norton SD 5.0 on them, and, whether by coincidence or not, about 5 or 6 of the machines have had either total HD failure or a multitude of sectors suddenly go bad. I would like to note at this point the drives have been in use about 1.5 years, with heavy use. They are also the hottest running drives I have ever encountered. On the flip side, I have a Conner 80M IDE in the machine in my office, and have used SD and the other Norton 5.0 utils on it regularly with no troubles and slight improvements in some file intensive operations after running SD. As I said, draw your own conclusions, as I have not yet drawn my own. Constructive addition to this thread would be appreciated. -- ============================================================================== Mark _E_ Amos | University of Arkansas Computer Science Engineering mamos@uafhp.uark.edu | mea1@engr.uark.edu | (emphasise the Computer Engineering please) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Man's mind, when stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimension." -Oliver Wendell Holmes ==============================================================================
Robert_Salesas@mindlink.bc.ca (Robert Salesas) (05/15/91)
I haven't tried SD 5, but I use PC-Tools' compress without problems on my IDE. It shouldn't cause any problems to use a de-fragmentation utility as it _should_ work on a high enough level that it doesn't mess with the controller. Rob -- \--------------------------------------------------------------------/ \ Robert Salesas + Usenet: Robert_Salesas@MINDLINK.bc.ca / \ Eschalon Development Inc. + CIS: 76625,1320 BYTE: newdawn / \--------------------------------------------------------------------/
orenalex@bimacs.BITNET (oren alex) (05/15/91)
In article <mamos.673993698@uafhp> mamos@uafhp.uark.edu (Mark _E_ Amos) writes: >daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) writes: > >> >>My question is about using Norton Speed Disk or similar programs on my 200 MB >>IDE hard disk. From what I know of IDE disks, they use translating controllers I had a problem with SD 5.0 on my machine once, it silently trashed a *lot* of vital files. Never used it since. Maybe it just couldn't handle my s.w/h.w combination? (PS/2 model 70, DOS 4.01, QEMM, 4DOS, super-pc-kwik) Any ideas? I won't go near SD 5.0 until i'm sure it works ok. Thanx Alex.
sci240s@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (mr w.j. ho) (05/15/91)
orenalex@bimacs.BITNET (oren alex) writes: >In article <mamos.673993698@uafhp> mamos@uafhp.uark.edu (Mark _E_ Amos) writes: >>daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) writes: >> >>> >>>My question is about using Norton Speed Disk or similar programs on my 200 MB >>>IDE hard disk. From what I know of IDE disks, they use translating controllers >I had a problem with SD 5.0 on my machine once, it silently trashed a >*lot* of vital files. Never used it since. >Maybe it just couldn't handle my s.w/h.w combination? >(PS/2 model 70, DOS 4.01, QEMM, 4DOS, super-pc-kwik) >Any ideas? >I won't go near SD 5.0 until i'm sure it works ok. It works for my Conner 100 MByte HDisk with DOS 4.01, smartdrv.sys, himem.sys, and without partition. >Thanx > Alex. -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ Wey Jing Ho Tel: 61-3-5732567 E-mail : sci240s@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au ^ ^ Physics Dept., Monash University ( Caulfield Campus ), Melbourne, AUSTRALIA ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TEMNGT23@ysub.ysu.edu (Lou Anschuetz) (05/16/91)
In article <5871@mindlink.bc.ca>, Robert_Salesas@mindlink.bc.ca (Robert Salesas) says: > >I haven't tried SD 5, but I use PC-Tools' compress without problems on my IDE. >It shouldn't cause any problems to use a de-fragmentation utility as it >_should_ work on a high enough level that it doesn't mess with the controller. > If I recall correctly, I have read that SD (and PC-Tools version) will work correctly on the Connor IDE drives, but may cause disastrous results on IDE drives from other manufacturers. I could be wrong on this, but I did write a note in my "tips & tricks" file not to EVER do SD on an IDE drive. I'll look for the reference in the meantime.... Lou Anschuetz temngt23@ysu.edu