Calclus 2.0 Freeware

© 1997 Hannu Pohjanheimo, All Rights Reserved

OVERVIEW

As many know, PC uses clusters when it save files. Cluster is the smallest unit which is used out of the disk space when a file is saved. The size of the cluster depends of the size of the HD and varies from 2048 bytes to 64 kb. One 100 bytes file or empty directory need one cluster. In 850 Mb hard disk this means 16 kb of disk space. If file is bigger than one cluster, used disk space is rounded up to full clusters. In 850 Mb HD, a single file of 18 kb uses two clusters which means 32 kb of disk space.  Large hard disk may have over 30% of unused space, although FileManager reports 0 bytes free.

The size of the cluster is determined when the HD is formatted. There is two ways to change the size of the cluster. First, you can repartition your drive to several drives, not always very usefull. The other way is commercial application called Partition Magic. It can change the cluster size.

The following table shows the cluster sizes, which DOS uses when it formats a drive.

Disk size in bytes	Cluster size

up to	128 MB  =     134,217,728	2048 bytes

256 MB  =     268,435,456	4096

512 MB  =     536,870,912	8192

1024 MB = 1,073,741,824	16 KB

2048 MB = 2,147,483,648	32 KB

over	2048 Mb	64 KB

More information of repartitioning is available in Internet, see:

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/1791/hd-partn.htm

For more information of Partition Magic see:

http://www.powerquest.com/

INSTALLATION

No installation required, just execute CALCLUS.EXE.  Calclus is 16-bit application but seems to work in all Windows version towards 3.1 ( Win 3.1, Win 95, Win NT 4.0 ).

FILES

CALCLUS.EXE

CALCLUS.HLP

FILE_ID.DIZ

MY ADDRESS

Hannu Pohjanheimo

Saarenmaantie 90

FIN-40220 Keski-Palokka

Finland

email pohjanheimo@jyfl.jyu.fi

HOW TO USE

Once you have started Calclus, select the drive you want to examine and press CALCULATE button and wait. When the results are ready, you can also check other drives.

The results screen.

 Information of drive	Examined drive

 Cluster size	Current cluster size

 Number of files	Number of files in drive

 Number of directories 	Each need at least one cluster

 Number of clusters	Number of clusters available in drive

 Used clusters	Clusters used by files

 Size of drive	Size of the drive

 Free space	Free space available on drive

 -----------------------------------------------------

 Total space used	The space the files and directories reserve off the drive

 Real size of files	The total true size of the files

 -----------------------------------------------------

 Lost space	Empty, actually unused space

Second table shows how much disk space these same files need, if you change the cluster size smaller or bigger.

 Cluster	Size of cluster

 Total space used	Disk space needed with the cluster size above

 Lost space	Lost, unused space

 Clusters req	Number of clusters the files need

Before you start repartitioning your drive, be sure that there is enough clusters available. Otherwise you need to move some files to the second partition. This means more work, working directories in Program Manager must change and maybe some INI-files too.

When DOS formats a drive, it calculates the number of clusters with the following formula:

number of clusters = drive size in bytes / cluster size in bytes

Example:

 a 620 Mb drive is divided in to two partitions, 400 + 220 Mb. In original drive 354 Mb of files need 449 Mb and 28752 clusters of 16kb.

In new configuration 400Mb drive has enough space but only 51200 clusters of 8 kb, while the files need 51236 clusters. Some of the files must move to the second partition.

KNOWN BUGS

If you have a very much files and subdirectories in some directory, it is possible that Calclus miss some clusters.

COPYRIGHT

Calclus is copyrighted material. You may not make any changes or

modifications to Calclus or this text. You may not decompile,

disassemble, or otherwise reverse-engineer the software in any way.

You may make copies of Calclus only under the following terms:

No fee, charge or other compensation may be accepted or requested by

anyone.

Public Domain Disk Vendors May NOT CHARGE a fee for Calclus itself.

However you may include Calclus on a diskette/CD-ROM for which you

charge a nominal distribution fee. The purchaser of said diskette must

be informed that the payment to the vendor covers only distribution

costs and does not include Calclus itself.

Operators of electronic bulletin board systems (Sysops) may post Calclus

for downloading by their users only as long as the above conditions are

met.  A fee may be charged for access to the BBS as long as no specific

fee is charged for downloading Calclus files.

DISCLAIMER

The author is not responsible nor liable in anyway for any problems or

damage caused by the licensed or unlicensed software that may result

from using the software. This includes, but is not limited to, computer

hardware, computer software, operating systems, and any computer or

computing accessories. End user agrees to hold the author harmless for

any problems arising from the use of the software.

THIS SOFTWARE AND ALL THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND

WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED

TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR

PURPOSE. ANY LIABILITY OF THE AUTHOR WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO

PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF THE PRODUCT PURCHASE PRICE.