For those using the convert C: /fs:ntfs Command

Since it seems a lot of Acers come out of the factory formatted Fat32,
I've noticed a lot of people suggesting that you will get much better performance (along with the other advantages of the NTFS file system), by simply converting using the:

convert C: /fs:NTFS command

This is a nice way to convert without having to reformat and reinstall all of your programs.
And I agree that in most cases NTFS is better.

HOWEVER, I've looked into this quite a bit and have found that in many cases when you do this, you end up with an undesirable cluster size of 512 bytes instead of the default 4KB cluster size that you would get with a clean install of XP.

In fact, I've seen first hand on bench tests where the performance hit was quite noticeable.

How do you know what your Cluster size is?

One simple way is to run the defrag tool built into XP (No need to actually run a defrag, simply hit the "analyze" button and when it's done click on "View report").

If you see a cluster size of 4KB, you're all set.
My guess is that a lot of people who converted using the above method will see a cluster size of 512 Bytes.

If that's the case, then most likely you've done more harm than good when it comes to performance and efficiency.

Here is some more information from an older article by a Microsoft MVP, but one that still applies in many ways.

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php

And here is one of many Microsoft articles on Converting....Interesting to note that they don't mention anything about the cluster size in this particular article, although there are others where they do talk about selecting efficient cluster sizes depending on disk partition sizes and other factors.
http://support.Microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307881

I'm still looking around, but it appears the only way to convert to this more efficient Cluster Size of 4KB is with a third party utility like Partition Magic.
(Unless of course you do a clean install where you won't have this problem).

This is just a FYI thread, any suggestions or additions are of course welcome.
And if anyone knows a way to use this conversion method within XP WITHOUT a third party utility that would be wonderful.

But I suggest some of you take a look and see what you have for a cluster size....it may not be the ideal setup you had hoped for.

 

How does cluster size affect performance exactly? I've heard a lot about this and haven't really understood what it means.

 

Personally I repartition using Linux utilities to get a 30GB C drive and a 90GB D drive (this is on an 8200 with 120GB hard drive) and leave C drive as FAT32 (works better for Ghost, plus easier to fiddle with if my machine has issues, can still read the disk in DOS) and reformat the D Drive to be NTFS.

Works just great