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    Installing on outer HDD tracks for max speed

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by wearetheborg, Mar 27, 2009.

  1. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'm installing linux, and I'm trying to install on the outer tracks for max speed.

    How are the tracks arranged ?
    Eg., in debian lenny, it gives me the HDD view as:

    partition 1: windows installed
    180GB free.
    Is windows installed on the outer edge or inner edge ?
     
    wearetheborg, Mar 27, 2009
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  2. jas

    jas Notebook Evangelist

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    Most systems write to HDDs from the outside tracks in. So the first partition is the one on the outermost part of the platters. In your case, Windows is installed on the outermost part of the platters.

    However, before you spend a lot of time moving things around for little to no benefit, you should probably test your drive with HdTach and see if your HDD performance is pretty consistent across much of the drive, making this exercise moot.

    Good Luck..
     
    jas, Mar 27, 2009
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  3. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Thanks, I used HdTach, and the performance diff between the innermost tracks and near-outermost (next to windows) tracks was 5:7
    So I reinstalled linux on the tracks next to windows, and the bootup speed improvement was 3s (25s vs old 28s).
     
    wearetheborg, Mar 27, 2009
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