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From: Chris_F_Chiesa@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications,comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Boot disk optimizer?
Message-ID: <41207@cup.portal.com>
Date: 12 Apr 91 11:12:21 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 35

Hello All.

   Had to edit the mountlist on the floppy-I-boot-from, last night, and 
now the disk seems to "grind" back and forth a lot more than it used to,
and take longer to boot.  (Well, it did last night when I first DID this
editing; this morning it seemed okay.  Is my mind playing tricks on me?)

   I don't really KNOW for sure why the disk might grind more after I
edited the mountlist file, but it's extremely full (no room even for a 
backup copy of the mountlist) and I remember reading somewhere a few
years ago that the disk could get "fragmented" causing the head to have
to jump all over the disk to pick up pieces of the file, and I am hoping
THAT is the plain explanation.  

  If you know/think otherwise, please let me know.  If I am correct,
then I have two questions.

   1) I remember also reading (on this Net) a few years ago, about a PD 
      "boot-floopy optimizer" utility that you could run, which would
      reorganize the boot disk to eliminate/minimize the back-and-forth
      "grinding" effect at boottime.  Does anyone else know of this utility,
      and can you point me at a copy of it?

   2) If there is no such animal as (1), can anyone suggest a workaround
      for (cringe, cringe) HAND reorganization of the disk?  Or other so-
      lutions to the problem? (Example: on the old Atari 800 you could
      recover certain disk-space wastage by copying all the files, one at
      a time, to another disk.  Is there an equivalent strategy here?)

Please e-mail as well as posting, as I have a devil of a time even GETTING
AT these groups, much less reading them with any regularity.  Thanks!

   Chris Chiesa
    Chris_F_Chiesa@cup.portal.com
      "Trying to become a knowledgeable Amigan!"