TVPast Forums - Hard drive File Fragmentation While Copying Files

i suppose this topic doesn't really belong here. perhaps not on this site at all. so mods, do your thing if need be.

i backup files from my internal hard drives to external hard drives.
during the copy or move process, the files become fragmented.

ok, i know this is not a big problem.
the fragmentation is only a little bit per file.
and being backups, there is no "performance" issues at all.

however, if you still want to copy/move the files and avoid fragmentation, then use "double commander".

DC has an option to "reserve space" during the copy/move process.

run DC.
go to configuration -> options.
next, find the "drag & drop" node in the tree view.
then, tick the "show confirmation dialog after drop" option in the right hand pane.

now, when you drag & drop a file, you'll get a confirmation dialog box.
from that, click the "options" button.
tick the "reserve space" check box.
finally click the "save these options as default" button.

so now when you use DC to drag & drop, it will copy/move files over without fragmentation.

i'm unsure what will happen if your hard drive is already highly fragmented and DC cannot reserve the space. when/if i get there, i'll let you know :)

DC may not be everyone's cup of tea for everyday usage but you could use it just for the purposes of avoiding fragmentation during file copy/move.

hope this helps some of you.

ps. let me know if there are other tools that do a similar "reserve space" as DC. ta.