with so much HDD space at your disposal, make sure that you have a good think about how to sensibly partition it beforehand.

seperate partitions I think are a good idea:

-A seperate partition for each OS
-A seperate partition for games.
-A seperate partition for downloads such as mp3s, divx movies, etc...
-A seperate partition for data (documents, etc... downloaded program installation files, each....)
-A seperate partition for the swap file
-A seperate partition for assemblying CD layouts for burning.

Of course, this places you sometimes in the rather bad position of needing 600MB of space, but only having 400 MB on one partition and 200 MB on another. So think carefully first about what you do.

Certainly I would propose that the seperate data partition is a must, and also if you have a partition for downloaded files (if you have broadband and are always downloading) where you can then tidy up the downloads into CD layouts and then burn them, when all recent downloads have been burned you can quick format the partition and then start to download again.

Games frequently don't need reinstalled even if you reinstall the OS because all they do is unpack a bunch of files into a directory and maybe use the games own config files instead of the windows registry so its adviceable to have a games partition as well.

Use your imagination and certainly don't make the mistake of having all that 80 GB as one big partition. That path leads to data loss (in some scenarios) , silly large cluster sizes if using FAT32 and difficulties when you want to reinstall the OS.

What I would do is put the new WD HDD as master on the primary IDE channel. Then, I would place the least used drive as slave.

For example, if you don't plan on using that 8Gb anymore (except for maybe storage), then make it the primary slave, putting it on the same IDE channel as the WD.

It's generally recommended to keep your CD burner off off the same channel your primary HDD is on. So you'll want your CD burner on the secondary IDE channel (probably master).

Other than that, it doesn't matter much. Just put them in any old order that they work in. Some BIOSes are picky and won't let you have a CD-ROM master.. etc.. So you may have have to go though some trial error to get it working in a decent manner.

The JB is a great choice. I love mine. It's quiet, cool and really fast. Since you are upgrading from that ancient 8gb, you'll notice a HUGE difference.... That 8gb probably isn't 1/4th as fast as your new WD and you'll feel the difference in about everything you do.

Those two, IMO, are probably the most essential.

Well said Rick, this is the format I would follow.

And just curious, but why would you need a swap file with Windows XP, and why would you need to assemble CD layouts? This I don't really understand so if someone would clear it up for me I would be thankful.

You need virtual memory in some form or another in most if not all comtemporary PC operating systems. Windows XP is just as demanding of a page file as Windows 2000 and NT4 were....

Having the page file on its own dedicated partition means that the file does not become fragmented. page file fragmentation is a major cause of workstations and servers becomming slow and crappy.

As to the CD layouts, say I am slowly downloading episodes from my favourate TV show. I keep shoving them into a folder until it reaches 650 MB size and then I burn to CD. I then delete the folder and then start again. Its easier to organise burning downloads IMHO but others might work differently. I have found this so effecient that I am now choosing to delete some downloaded media rather than burn it because I have too many damn CDs in the place already. Its helped keep things together and sensibly written so that my resultant CD collection is not as mess (i.e. where one simply burns to CD as soon as any particular file download is finished, films in 2 files wind up on seperate CDs, etc...)

Thanks for the explanation Phantasm.

I believe I've cut off the page file in XP Pro or at least have in the past before I reformatted, because I have a good bit of memory. Or maybe it was the virtual memory, I'm not sure. I tend to keep things pretty clean on my computer so I don't really have this issue, but I do see where other's computers might become slow and fragmented because of an unattended page file that gets very large.

As for the CD layout issue, I tend to keep all my downloads on my comp in my media partition, because I have plenty of space. Again, I do see where this is handy for people with smaller hard drives who download tons of music or movies.

Thanks once again guys...

A few things though:

1>If i put my Swap File on a seperate partition, how large should i make that partition?? Is there a way to find out how big the swap file usually is, then add a bit for safety's sake??

2> I thought all Apps & Games etc wrote to the registry, requiring me to re-install after every re-format. Is that not so then, and how to tell??

3> I thought that having 2 drives on 1 cable makes them go as fast as the slowest (if you see what i mean). Is that right?? And if so, wouldn't that mean putting my WD 80 Gig drive & CD drive on 1 cable make the hard drive as slow as the CD Drive??

4> err Rick, i think you got me confused with someone else, my 2 Hard Drives are (will be) 80 Gig and 40 Gig, not 80 Gig and 8 Gig. Does that make any difference??

5> Pantasm66: Where do you download your episodes & movies from?? Are they of decent quality?? Because the ones i get are always of a crap quality and thumbnail size!! Any info??

6> I love you guys

7> err, scrap that last one

Take the amount of physical memory. Multiply by 1.5. That is the size you shall make the maximum size of the page file. Now, we want the partition to have a healthy 25% extra free space. So add 25% to the size.

Example:

I have 256 MB RAM.
1.5 x 256 is 384.
384 divide by 100 times 125 = 480

So we could make the partition say 500 MB or so.

However, perhaps we shall factor in a possible upgrade to 512 MB so double we get 1 GB.



Does it appear in the registry when you open regedit? It should be somewhere around HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE under the name of the company that made the game.

Often, the entry here is only for the purposes of software bookkeeping or to give the game an add/remove programs entry. By and large this will probably not be necessary because when the game was installed it probably only wrote files to its own directory and not windows folder, etc. (i.e if we want to uninstall we just delete the folder containing the game's files, i.e g:\quakeIII\ or something....)

In any case, if you kept the game's files on another partition, formatted your OS partition, reinstalled and without reinstalling the game you can still run the .exe file and all is well, then all you have to do is create another shortcut to the .exe file and everything is cool.



I think you are a little confused with several bits of info, some of which only refers to SCSI devices.

With IDE, the controller is built onto the device, as opposed to on the adapter (SCSI), so the master device's controller drives the master and slave device. One would seek to have the device with the most effective controller (probably the newest or most powerful device) as master in most cases. But exceptions can occur.



I'm not Rick.



Its Phantasm66 not Pantsman66.

I use a number of different sources including kazaalite (www.kazaalite.com) , IRC channels and newsgroups. Kazaa lite is probably your best for ease of use, IRC and newsgroups are the best for sourcing the latest stuff more quickly, and often in a more stable manner, as you will be often downloading from a dedicated file sharing server as opposed to just some other dude's HDD as in kazaa lite. Downloading from IRC is more complex but in general you will find help from other people hanging around in the channel. Finding the right channels to go to in the first place is harder. You just have to look around the internet community and ask about. A lot of the media from IRC DCC file servers winds up available on kazaa anyway it just takes a little longer. If you are not bothered about getting the very latest stuff right away as quickly as possible, kazaa is great. but download kazaa lite which contains no spyware.

Don't lie you do love us. Admit it you admire our superior computing powers!

Thanks Phantasm66 for your reply...
Jeez, i seem to be saying "cheers" & "thanks" to you nearly every day
I think i'll just put "Thanks Phantasm66" in my signature!!!

Anyway, for the reply above /\

1> Ok, i'll make the swap file partition 1 Gig

2> Ok, i'll have a seperate partition for games & apps and try it

3> Im always confused - forgive me. So is this the best way to go:
Primary: Master: 80Gig 7,200rpm
Slave : 40Gig 5,400rpm
Secondary: Master: CD-RW
Slave : CD Rom

4> Sorry, that was meant for rick...

5> I've tried Kazaa-lite, its ok, but thats where i get the "crap" thumbnail movies. I'll have to join a newsgroup server thingy and try it (i'll post a new thread about questions about that)

6 & 7> Ok, Ok, i admit it - i admire your superior computing powers

That's the setup I prefer.

I think Tom's Hardware is assuming you'll be using your other hard disk heavily though, which if that is the case, it really should be on a seperate channel from your other hard disk.

If you are not going to use it often, then it does not really matter where you put it. I do recommend keeping your CDRW off of your primary master's IDE channel though.