Chapter 9 Managing Disks MICROSOFT EXAM OBJECTIVES COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER Monitor, manage, and troubleshoot access to files and folders. Configure, manage, and troubleshoot file compression. Control access to files and folders by using permissions. Optimize access to files and folders. Configure and manage file systems. Convert from one file system to another file system. Configure file systems by using NTFS, FAT32, or FAT. Implement, manage, and troubleshoot disk devices. Install, configure, and manage DVD and CD-ROM devices. Monitor and configure disks. Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot volumes. Monitor and configure removable media, such as tape devices. Encrypt data on a hard disk by using Encrypting File System (EFS). Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com W hen you install Windows 2000 Professional, you choose how your disks are initially configured. Through Windows 2000 Profes- sional’s utilities and features, you can change your configuration and per- form disk-management tasks. For your file system configuration, you can choose FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. You can also update a FAT or FAT32 partition to NTFS. This chap- ter covers the features of each file system and how to use the CONVERT utility to upgrade to NTFS. Another factor in disk management is choosing how your physical drives are configured. Windows 2000 supports basic storage and dynamic storage. When you install Windows 2000 Professional or upgrade from Windows NT, the drives are configured as basic storage. Dynamic storage is new to Windows 2000 and allows you to create simple volumes, spanned volumes, and striped volumes. Once you decide on how your disks should be configured, you implement the disk configurations through the Disk Management utility. This utility allows you to view and manage your physical disks and volumes. In this chapter, you will learn how to manage both types of storage and upgrade from basic storage to dynamic storage. The other disk-management features covered in this chapter are data compression, disk quotas, data encryption, disk defragmentation, disk cleanup, and disk error checking. The procedures for many disk-management tasks are the same for both Windows 2000 Professional and Server. The main difference is that Win- dows 2000 Server also supports mirrored and RAID 5 volumes. Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com Configuring File Systems 373 Configuring File Systems E ach partition (logical drive that is created on your hard drive) you create under Windows 2000 Professional must have a file system associated with it. You configure file systems by using NTFS, FAT32, or FAT. You choose the file system you will use when you create and format the partition. If you have a FAT or FAT32 partition and want to update it to NTFS, you can use the CONVERT utility. The features of each file system and the procedure for converting file systems are covered in the following sections. File System Selection Your file system is used to store and retrieve the files stored on your hard drive. One of the most fundamental choices associated with file management is how your file system is configured. As explained in Chapter 1, “Getting Started with Windows Professional,” Windows 2000 Professional supports the FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file sys- tems. You should choose FAT16 or FAT32 if you want to dual-boot your computer, because these file systems are backward compatible with other operating systems. You should choose NTFS if you want to take advantage of features such as local security, file compression, and file encryption. Table 9.1 summarizes the capabilities of each file system, and they are described in more detail in the following sections. Microsoft Exam Objective Configure and manage file systems. Convert from one file system to another file system. Configure file systems by using NTFS, FAT32, or FAT. TABLE 9.1 File System Capabilities Feature FAT16 FAT32 NTFS Supporting op- erating systems Most Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 Windows NT and Windows 2000 Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com 374 Chapter 9 Managing Disks Windows 2000 Professional also supports CDFS ( Compact Disk File System ). However, CDFS cannot be managed. It is only used to mount and read CDs. FAT16 FAT16 was first used with DOS (Disk Operating System) in 1981. With FAT16, the directory-entry table keeps track of the location of the file’s first block, the filename and extension, the date and time stamps on the file, and any attributes associated with the file. It is similar in nature to a card catalog at a library. When the operating system needs a file, the FAT listing is consulted. Long filename support? Yes Yes Yes Efficient use of disk space? No Yes Yes Compression support? No No Yes Quota support? No No Yes Encryption sup- port? No No Yes Support for local security? No No Yes Support for net- work security? Yes Yes Yes Maximum volume size 2GB 32GB 2TB TABLE 9.1 File System Capabilities (continued) Feature FAT16 FAT32 NTFS Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com Configuring File Systems 375 The main advantage of FAT16 is that almost all operating systems support this file system. This makes FAT16 a good choice if the computer will dual- boot with other operating systems (see Chapter 1 for more information about dual-booting). FAT16 is also a good choice for small partitions (FAT16 par- titions can be up to 2GB). Because FAT16 is a very simple file system, the over- head associated with storing files is much smaller than with NTFS. The problem with using FAT16 is that it was designed to be used as a single- user file system, and thus it does not support any kind of security. It also does not support long filenames. Other file systems, such as NTFS, offer many more features, including local security, file compression, and encrypting capabilities. FAT32 FAT32 is an updated version of FAT. FAT32 was first shipped with Win- dows 95 OSR2 (Operating System Release 2), and it currently ships with Windows 98. It is supported by Windows 2000. One of the main advantages of FAT32 is its support for smaller cluster sizes, which results in more efficient space allocation than was possible with FAT16. Files stored on a FAT32 partition can use 20 to 30 percent less disk space than those stored on a FAT16 partition. FAT32 partitions can be up to 32GB. The main disadvantage of FAT32 is that it is not compatible with previ- ous versions of Windows NT, including NT 4. NTFS NTFS , which was first used with the NT operating system, now offers the highest level of service and features for Windows 2000 computers. NTFS partitions can be up to 2TB. NTFS offers comprehensive folder and file-level security. This allows you to set an additional level of security for users who access the files and folders locally or through the network. For example, two users who share the same Windows 2000 Professional computer can be assigned different NTFS per- missions, so that one user has access to a folder, but the other user is denied access to that folder. NTFS also offers disk-management features—such as compression, disk quotas, and encryption services—and data-recovery features. The disk- management features are covered later in this chapter. The data-recovery fea- tures are covered in Chapter 15, “Performing System Recovery Functions.” Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com 376 Chapter 9 Managing Disks The main drawback of using NTFS is that only the Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems recognize the NTFS file system. If your computer dual-boots with other operating systems, such as Windows 98, the NTFS partition will not be recognized. File System Conversion In Windows 2000, you can convert both FAT16 and FAT32 partitions to NTFS. File system conversion is the process of converting one file system to another without the loss of data. If you format a drive as another file system, as opposed to converting that drive, all the data on that drive will be lost. In order to convert a partition, you use the CONVERT command-line utility. The syntax for the CONVERT command is: CONVERT [ drive: ] /fs:ntfs For example, if you wanted to convert your D: drive to NTFS, you would type the following from a command prompt: CONVERT D: /fs:ntfs When the conversion process begins, it will attempt to lock the partition. If the partition cannot be locked—perhaps because the partition contains the Windows 2000 operating system files or the system’s page file—the conver- sion will not take place until the computer is restarted. You can use the /v switch with the CONVERT command. This switch specifies that you want to use verbose mode, and all messages will be displayed during the conversion process. In Exercise 9.1, you will convert your D: drive from FAT16 to NTFS. EXERCISE 9.1 Converting a FAT16 Partition to NTFS 1. Copy some folders to the D: drive. 2. Select Start Programs Accessories Command Prompt. Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com Configuring Disk Storage 377 Configuring Disk Storage W indows 2000 Professional supports two types of disk storage: basic storage and dynamic storage. Basic storage is backward compatible with other operating systems and can be configured to support up to four partitions. Dynamic storage is a new system that is configured as vol- umes. The following sections describe the basic storage and dynamic stor- age configurations. Basic Storage Basic storage consists of primary and extended partitions. The first partition that is created on a hard drive is called a primary partition . The primary par- tition uses all of the space that is allocated to the partition. Each physical drive can have up to four partitions. You can set up four primary partitions, or you can have three primary partitions and one extended partition. With extended partitions , you can allocate the space however you like. For exam- ple, a 500MB extended partition could have a 250MB D: partition and a 250MB E: partition. At the highest level of disk organization, you have a physical hard drive. You cannot use space on the physical drive until you have logically partitioned the physical drive. A partition is a logical definition of hard drive space. An advantage of using a single partition on a single physical disk is that you can allocate the space however you want. For example, if you had a 1GB 3. In the Command Prompt dialog box, type CONVERT D: /fs:ntfs and press Enter. 4. After the conversion process is complete, close the Command Prompt dialog box. 5. Verify that the folders you copied in step 1 still exist on the partition. EXERCISE 9.1 (continued) Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com 378 Chapter 9 Managing Disks physical drive and you created a single primary partition, you could allocate the space on the drive as needed. On the other hand, if you created two 500MB partitions called C: and D:, and C: was full and D: had space left, you could not take space from the D: drive without deleting the partition first. One of the advantages of using multiple partitions on a single physical hard drive is that each partition can have a different file system. For example, the C: drive might be FAT32 and the D: drive might be NTFS. Multiple par- titions also make it easier to manage security requirements. Laptop computers support only basic storage. Dynamic Storage Dynamic storage is a new Windows 2000 feature that consists of a dynamic disk divided into dynamic volumes. Dynamic volumes cannot contain parti- tions or logical drives, and they are not accessible through DOS. Dynamic storage supports three dynamic volume types: simple volumes, spanned volumes, and striped volumes. These are similar to disk configura- tions that were used with Windows NT 4. However, if you’ve upgraded from NT 4, you are using basic storage, and you can’t add volume sets. Fortu- nately, you can upgrade from basic storage to dynamic storage, as explained in the “Upgrading a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk” section later in this chapter. To set up dynamic storage, you create or upgrade a disk to a dynamic disk. Then you create dynamic volumes within the dynamic disk. You create dynamic storage with the Windows 2000 Disk Management utility, which is covered after the descriptions of the dynamic volume types. Simple Volumes A simple volume contains space from a single dynamic drive. The space from the single drive can be contiguous or noncontiguous. Simple volumes are used when you have enough disk space on a single drive to hold your entire volume. Figure 9.1 illustrates two simple volumes on a physical disk. Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com Configuring Disk Storage 379 FIGURE 9.1 Two simple volumes Spanned Volumes A spanned volume consists of disk space on two or more dynamic drives; up to 32 dynamic drives can be used in a spanned volume configuration. Spanned volume sets are used to dynamically increase the size of a dynamic volume. When you create spanned volumes, the data is written sequentially, filling space on one physical drive before writing to space on the next phys- ical drive in the spanned volume set. Typically, administrators use spanned volumes when they are running out of disk space on a volume and want to dynamically extend the volume with space from another hard drive. You do not need to allocate the same amount of space to the volume set on each physical drive. This means that you could combine a 500MB parti- tion on one physical drive with two 750MB partitions on other dynamic drives, as shown in Figure 9.2. Because data is written sequentially, you do not see any performance enhancements with spanned volumes, as you do with striped volumes (dis- cussed next). The main disadvantage of spanned volumes is that if any drive in the spanned volume set fails, you lose access to all of the data in the spanned set. Physical Disk 0 2GB Simple Volume C:\ 1GB Simple Volume D:\ 1GB Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com 380 Chapter 9 Managing Disks FIGURE 9.2 A spanned volume set Striped Volumes A striped volume stores data in equal stripes between two or more (up to 32) dynamic drives, as illustrated in Figure 9.3. Since the data is written sequen- tially in the stripes, you can take advantage of multiple I/O performance and increase the speed at which data reads and writes take place. Typically, admin- istrators use striped volumes when they want to combine the space of several physical drives into a single logical volume and increase disk performance. FIGURE 9.3 A striped volume set Physical Disk 0 1GB Physical Disk 1 500MB Physical Disk 2 750MB Physical Disk 3 750MB Data written sequentially Spanned Volume Set D:\ Striped Volume Set D:\ Physical Disk 1 Data Physical Disk 2 Data Physical Disk 3 Data Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com [...]... you install Windows 2000 or upgrade your computer from Windows NT 4 to Windows 2000, your drives are configured as basic disks To take advantage of the features offered by Windows 2000 dynamic disks, you must upgrade your basic disks to dynamic disks Upgrading basic disks to dynamic disks is a one-way process If you decide to revert back to a basic disk, you must first delete all volumes associated with... SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 392 Chapter 9 Managing Disks 4 The Select Disks dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9.14 Here, you select the disks and specify the maximum volume size, up to the amount of free disk space that is recognized Choose the disk that you want the volume to be created on and click the Next button FIGURE 9.14 The Select Disks dialog box 5 The Assign Drive Letter or Path... for managing disks and volumes within the Windows 2000 environment In this section, you will learn how to access the Disk Management utility and use it to manage basic tasks, basic storage, and dynamic storage Microsoft Exam Objective Implement, manage, and troubleshoot disk devices Monitor and configure disks Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot volumes This chapter covers the material related to managing. .. www.sybex.com Using the Disk Management Utility FIGURE 9.18 397 The Upgrade to Dynamic Disk dialog box 3 The Disks to Upgrade dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9.19 Click the Upgrade button FIGURE 9.19 The Disks to Upgrade dialog box Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 398 Chapter 9 Managing Disks 4 A confirmation dialog box warns you that you will no longer be able to boot previous versions... delete the data within the volume Managing security is covered in Chapter 10 Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com Using the Disk Management Utility FIGURE 9.10 The Sharing tab of the volume Properties dialog box FIGURE 9.11 The Security tab of the volume Properties dialog box Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 389 390 Chapter 9 Managing Disks Quota Like the Security... FIGURE 9.25 Confirming volume deletion Managing Basic Storage The Disk Management utility offers limited support for managing basic storage You can create, delete, and format partitions on basic drives You also can delete volume sets and stripe sets that were created under Windows NT Most other disk-management tasks require that you upgrade your drive to dynamic disks (The upgrade process was described... the Next button 3 The Select Disks dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9.26 You can specify the maximum size of the extended volume The maximum size you can specify is determined by the amount of free space that exists in all of the dynamic drives on your computer Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com Managing Data Compression FIGURE 9.26 403 The Select Disks dialog box 4 The Completing... Expand the Storage folder to see the Disk Management utility The Disk Management utility opening window is shown in Figure 9.4 Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 382 Chapter 9 Managing Disks FIGURE 9.4 The Disk Management window The main window shows the following information: The volumes that are recognized by the computer The type of partition, either basic or dynamic The type... If you need to change any of them, click the Back button to reach the appropriate dialog box Otherwise, click the Finish button Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 394 Chapter 9 Managing Disks FIGURE 9.16 The Format Volume dialog box FIGURE 9.17 The Completing the Create Volume Wizard dialog box Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com Using the Disk Management Utility... area of free storage and select the Create Partition option 3 The Create Partition Wizard starts Click the Next button to continue Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA www.sybex.com 396 Chapter 9 Managing Disks EXERCISE 9.2 (continued) 4 The Select Partition Type dialog box appears Choose Primary Partition and click the Next button 5 The Specify Partition Size dialog box appears Specify a partition . material related to managing disks and volumes, for the “Implement, manage, and troubleshoot disk devices” objective. The subobjec- tives for managing DVD devices,. configure disks. Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot volumes. Copyright © 2000 SYBEX Inc., Alameda, CA. www.sybex.com 382 Chapter 9 Managing Disks FIGURE