In-place disk partition canonization and storage optimization
AssigneePowerQuest Corporation
InventorNiel Orcutt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for canonizing, defragmenting, and improving the storage efficiency of advanced file systems stored in one or more disk partitions. Partition and file manipulations are performed without destroying user data, making it unnecessary to copy data to tape or other intermediate storage and wipe the partition clean. Advanced file system features, such as relocatable file system structures and multiple data streams, are treated appropriately during the manipulations.
Claims30
A system for manipulating at least one formatted disk partition containing an advanced file system, the system comprising:
- a computer having a processor, a memory, and a partitionable storage medium;
- and
- a means for canonizing at least one formatted partition in-place by relocating at least a portion of a system file on the storage medium to a location at or near a predetermined canonical location.
A system for manipulating at least one formatted disk partition, comprising:
- a computer having a processor, a memory, and a partitionable storage medium holding an NTFS formatted partition;
- and
- a means for optimizing the NTFS formatted partition in-place by reclaiming directory space.
A system for manipulating at least one formatted disk partition containing an advanced file system, the system comprising:
- a computer having a processor, a memory, and a partitionable storage medium;
- and
- a means for defragmenting system files in the formatted partition in-place.
A computer-implemented method for manipulating at least one formatted disk partition containing an advanced file system, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a formatted partition which holds at least part of the advanced file system and is located on at least one disk attached to a disk drive, the partition having a left edge and a right edge and containing a plurality of sectors organized according to an advanced file system into user data and system data;
- and
- modifying the selected partition in-place to produce a modified partition by canonizing the file system in the selected partition, the modified partition having at least one different system file location than the selected partition and being organized according to the same advanced file system as the selected partition.
A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which will cause at least a portion of a computer system to perform method steps for manipulating an NTFS formatted disk partition, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a formatted partition which holds at least part of an NTFS file system and is located on a disk attached to a disk drive, the selected partition having a left edge and a right edge and containing a plurality of sectors organized according to the NTFS file system into user data and system data;
- and
- modifying the selected partition in-place to produce a modified partition by canonizing the NTFS file system in the selected partition.
A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which will cause at least a portion of a computer system to perform method steps for manipulating an NTFS formatted disk partition, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a formatted partition which holds at least part of an NTFS file system and is located on a disk attached to a disk drive, the selected partition having a left edge and a right edge and containing a plurality of sectors organized according to the NTFS file system into user data and system data;
- and
- modifying the selected partition in-place to produce a modified partition by defragmenting at least one user file in the selected partition.
A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which will cause at least a portion of a computer system to perform method steps for manipulating an NTFS formatted disk partition, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a formatted partition which holds at least part of an NTFS file system and is located on a disk attached to a disk drive, the selected partition having a left edge and a right edge and containing a plurality of sectors organized according to the NTFS file system into user data and system data;
- and
- modifying the selected partition in-place to produce a modified partition by defragmenting a Master File Table of the selected partition.
A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which will cause at least a portion of a computer system to perform method steps for manipulating an NTFS formatted disk partition, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a formatted partition which holds at least part of an NTFS file system and is located on a disk attached to a disk drive, the selected partition having a left edge and a right edge and containing a plurality of sectors organized according to the NTFS file system into user data and system data;
- and
- modifying the selected partition in-place to produce a modified partition by reclaiming directory space in the selected partition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.