ARCHIVED: What is DriveSpace, and how does it work?
DriveSpace is Microsoft's disk compression software. It was included as part of Windows 95, 98, and Me, as well as DOS 6.20 and later. The latest version in Windows 98 and Me was version 3 (DriveSpace3).
Disk compression software compresses data on the fly when the data is to be stored on the hard drive or a floppy, and expands the data as it is read from the drive. The process happens in the background, and is transparent to the user.
With DriveSpace, compressed drives are actually one large hidden file
on a host drive. For instance, if you compress the C:
drive, you will find a Drive H on your computer
afterwards. This drive will appear to have no space on it, since the
hidden file (which you will not see, of course) is actually taking up
all the space. The hidden file is in reality Drive C.
Consider the following as you decide whether compression is appropriate for your computer:
- DriveSpace makes the computer run more slowly, since decompression
happens on the fly with every disk access.
- Some files (
.jpg/jpeg,.zip,.mp3, and.tar) are already compressed. If a majority of your files are of these types, then disk level compression will cause a major slowdown with little or no savings in hard drive space.
- Disk level compression creates one large file to represent the drive. If that large file gets damaged, all the information on that drive is lost.
Last modified on October 25, 2010.
