George,
SNIP
>
>I'm well aware of the premise of this thread. The answer is still the same: Fragmented files are not, and cannot be more efficient than those that are not for the reason I stated. If you want to know the exact reasons why, then post back.

I just completed some testing on this today, and though I'm still thinking through all the results, it is pretty clear that your statement above is not ALWAYS true.

Have a look at thread #737567 for (limited) details.

cheers, and Happy New Year