Partition

[gale]

I read an article concerning partitioning your HD such that your OS is in,say C:, program files are in D: and your files are in E:
The article went on to say that this had to be done from the start of the FDISK. I was curious as to what suggestions anyone would have as to what % to assign to the three. I have XP and a 30 GB
HD. Thank YOU.

 

[Phantasm66]

I would keep it to 2 partitions - 1 for OS and programs (which I can't see any good reason to seperate), and 1 for data (which SHOULD be kept seperate from the OS if possible.)

Why this is a good idea is that if I want to reformat my OS partition and reinstall, I don't have to rescue all my data first. My OS might not be bootable (which is why I have to reinstall) or I might not have any other suitable storage area to transfer my files whilst I reformat. So a seperate partition for data and OS is the best model.

What MAY be a good idea, is to have 3 partitions, but to assign them thus:

1) OS and programs
2) GAMES
3) DATA

One would be struggling to fill more than 10GB of OS and programs right now, unless you have a LOT of software.

Maybe 10-20 GB for games.

Rest for data.

 

[Phantasm66]

...when I say rest for data, I am assuming more than 20GB of disk space. You need as much as possible for those mp3s, movie downloads, etc.

 

[Nic]

I'd keep just the one partition if I were you. I can't see any real benefit in having three separate partition on a single 30GB drive. You can go for two partions if you want better protection for your data, but separating the OS from your program files has no benefits whatsoever that I am aware of. The best thing to do is to keep one partion, and simply install a second hard drive to hold your data, and any other 'loose' files you may have. That way you can access those files from another OS/hard drive if you need to, plus you'll never forget to save your files should you decide to reformat/reinstall your main OS.

 

[Phantasm66]

I would recommend your strategy for a system with multiple hard drives, however on a system with one HDD I would make a partition for OS and one for data at least.

 

[poertner_1274]

I agree, if nothing else as everyone else has said, just to be able to keep your data stored if you need to reinstall.

 

[StormBringer]

Partitions serve many purposes, the least of which is reducing overall fragmentation. Also, keeping personal data on a separate partition is a good idea in case of an unrecoverable disaster on the OS partition. This saves you from losing the data in the unfortunate event of such a disaster.

There once was a very in depth thread posted by Phantasm on the benifits of partitioning, but I couldn't find it. It gave several good reasons, as well as having several examples of partition schemes.

 

[ozbob]

Just on the way past

Perhaps a little something to add to the discussion
Probably not completely relavent for Gale at this time
However for later reference maybe

There is an excellent article 'Planning Your Partitions' at

http://aumha.org/win4/a/parts.php

regards
ozbob (certainly no expert)

 

[StormBringer]

Thats a pretty good article. Has quite a good explanation and example.