Windows Installation Slow to Copy Files

Symptoms:

A common problem with windows installations is the setup program being very slow to copy files. In the case this article is based around, the windows installer on Windows XP Professional would go through the fdisk and format stages, only to extremely slow when it started the “Copying Files…” sequence. Even if left alone for hours at a time progress is extremely slow and rarely moves more than one percent at a time.

The problem:

During setup the default mode for the installer is to quick format the disks with the NTFS file system.

The Solution:

Repeat the boot up process and start the windows installer again. When you reach the target partition installation dialog, make sure your format without the “Quick” option enabled. This will force the format to check for bad disk inodes and mark them in the allocation table as unusable. After this step your windows installation should copy files smoothly…

Enhancing Program Performance on Windows

Unix system administrators noticed a long time ago, that if you installed multiple partitions sized carefully, you could split your operating system data from your program and application data by partitioned drives. By doing this, you could prevent your application data from being intermingled with operating system data on the disk’s physical geometry, and since Unix or Linux won’t store data in a fragmented state, you could be sure that the OS data was (for the most part) “One continuous read” for the hard disk. The same could be said for the application data.

It also allows you to format and re-install your primary disk/OS without completely losing your application or program data, and visa – versa.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of this configuration is that if you inadvertently wipe out your partitions you might lose your OS, OR your applications/programs, but usually not both.

Long ago I started doing this on my windows systems, and I’ve had tremendous success. I’ve seen cases where my small outdated desktop at home ran much faster than my all powerful office desktop, mainly because of configuration customizations like this.

If you are installing a Windows XP or similar type system I recommend you do the following with regards to disk partitioning.

Primary partition 1 – 7.5 GB Size – Windows Installation and OS disk.

Partition 2 – 2.5 X the amount of RAM in your system.

Partition 3, 4, 5… Allocated as you wish, with at least one large NTFS partition to support your program file installations and applications data. I recommend not less than 50% of the drive, or more if you choose. If the system is not going to be multi-boot, then you might as well allocate at least 15GB blocks. You needn’t use the entire disk if you aren’t sure what you will need for a breakdown, you can always modify those later.

Install Windows and Critical Drivers

Format your drives as NTFS. You can format them all, or just the system disk (partition 1) for now, and format the others later. It might be smart to do it now to avoid getting lost later in the article. Install Windows to the C: drive (Partition 1). Install ONLY THE DRIVERS and critical device software needed for the system. Connect to update.microsoft.com and follow instructions to get your service packs (and OS patches) up to date as you desire. The service packs are important because SP3 for XP (for example) is over 250 MB, and is more of an OS “re-installation” than a service pack.

Move the system page file (swap file)

Right click on “My Computer”, and choose “Properties” (or simultaneously press the Windows Key + Pause Break) to reach the “System Properties” window.

Click on the “Advanced” tab, and then on “Performance” click “Settings”.

Click on the “Advanced” tab within the “Settings” window, and under the “Virtual Memory” settings click the “Change” button.

Disable the system swap file on drive C:.

Enable the system swap file on drive D (second partition). Set your swap file MIN and MAX to NO less than 1.4 X the amount of RAM in your system, and not more than 2.5 X your system RAM. I recommend using 2X the size of my system’s RAM, or 2048 MB, whichever is lowest. Some experts recommend up to 2.5 X the amount of your RAM be allocate for swap, so I have set that as the MAX for purposes of this article. The important part is to make the MIN and MAX the same, which will alleviate window’s propensity to continuously map swap space.

Click OK to save, and exit the properties dialogs.

Defragment the Windows Drive

Install Programs and Application Data

On your third partition, which should be at least 15 GB, install all your favorite programs. Make sure as you go through each program or application installation routine that you choose “Custom” installation type, and change the installation directory to be “E:\Program Files\programname” (or whatever drive letter you choose past the swap disk of D:).

All future software an add-ons should be installed here if possible.

Defragment the Applications Drive

That’s it! You are done! Now if you will be able to reap the benefits from the performance metrics I hit on at the start of this article.

Good luck, and happy computing!