JkDefrag (open source defrag for windows) shows the sector map on the left after installing Microsoft Windows Vista 64 and copying a few gigs of files to the drive using ntfs-3g. Is this Vista’s fault or ntfs-3g?

If you don’t know, ntfs-3g lets you mount a ntfs partition read-write from within linux (via fuse).

We installed a fresh copy of vista (64bit), then booted a knoppix livedvd, then copied, using the cp command, about 7gb to the ntfs partition using ntfs-3g.

Software:

Distro: Knoppix v5.3.1 dvd NTFS Mounting: ntfs-3gv 1.2129 Note that the same results also occurred with the ntfs-3g on SystemRescueCD.

Results:

It turns out that the culprit is ntfs-3g. (See screenshots below.)

Is ntfs-3g doing this intentionally? It would seem to be a bad idea because…

There are no large empty spans remaining, forcing large files to be fragmented. Even if the files are read in order (by name or order written), the disk must seek all over the drive to read them. The partition can not be shrunk without pushing data down to lower sectors. Beware when using ntfs-3g because it does this, seemingly for all types of files.

<p>Vista’s partition before ntfs-3g: A fresh installation</p>

Vista’s partition before ntfs-3g: A fresh installation

<p>Vista partition after ntfs-3g</p>

Vista partition after ntfs-3g