Any way to force placement of files on inside of HDD platter?

[rawdawg]

My MacBookPro's HDD was nearly full so I moved a bunch of my files off to an external. But I would now like to move my music (~130GB) onto my laptop from that external. I have 300GB free right now but realize moving over all that music will slow my drive down since the only free locations would be on the inside of the HDD platter.

Could I somehow move those files to the slower inside area where speed is slower, since my mp3s are small anyhow and wouldn't require the speed?

 

[old-wiz]

You have zero control over placement of files on the disk relative to the location.

 

[DannySmurf]

I know people like to customize their machines as much as possible, but I think this is the most over-the-top I've seen.

 

[snberk103]

I don't think you really need to worry about it.... but there is one way I can think of.... though it will be time consuming.

Move everything off the HD, and repartition it (partitioning it will erase all content, so move your data first, and double-check that your back up has worked.) Then repartition the HD .... I'm believe that the first partition listed is the "fastest" outer edge of the disk. See this page on MacPerformanceGuide for more details.

Anyway, create a "slow" partition at the middle of the disk, and then copy your music there.

 

[talmy]

The most control you can get is to reformat the drive into two or more partitions, then you can select the inner or outer partition.

 

[maflynn]

Personally, I prefer putting the binary zeros on outside of the platter and the binary ones on the inside. My thinking is that binary 1s are skinnier then 0s and so I can pack more of them on the inside of the platter

 

[snberk103]

Personally, I prefer putting the binary zeros on outside of the platter and the binary ones on the inside. My thinking is that binary 1s are skinnier then 0s and so I can pack more of them on the inside of the platter

It seems funny, but for some of us.... it makes a difference. I found one reference that claims that you can get up to 25% speed boost by using the inner tracks. Of course this only applies to reading/writing large files.

But the same sized partition on the outer bands is narrower than on the inner bands, and so reading data from a bunch of small files on the outer bands (vs the inner bands) results in far less "seek times" for the heads.

See here for more details....MacPerformanceGuide because I'm certainly not qualified to explain it.

 

[rawdawg]

good advice and ha ha to all the kidders. I've read enough thread that say placement on the platter is a big factor in speed to make me interested.

pity there isn't a simple way to do it. Sounds like a great spot for music files.