Partitioning a 40gig hdd

[ripken204]

i would like to partition my 40gig hdd with partition magic, how should i split it up? like how much for OS and for any other sections?

 

[mikescorpio81]

Depends really ...

OS dosen't need more than 1-5 GIG & even then thats heaps! But if you want to keep stuff on there then obviously u need more.
U want 2 Partitions? Split it straight down the middle dude :grinthumb

Look up PART & XOSL; 2 programs that allow up to 4 Primary Partitions. Could come in handy.

 

[Nodsu]

Thare are not many ways yo split a drive that small. It wouldn't make sense to have more than two partitions there but it is really up to you how big you want to make them.

The partitions would be OS+programs and data. Just think whether you will have lots if programs or lots of data there and split accordingly. The bare minimum for the OS+programs partition would be 5 GB.

 

[ripken204]

am i allowed to install programs on the non-OS partition?

 

[Jevond]

Why do you want to split a 40gb hard disk anyway...........? You shouldnt have any problems with installations in either partition, you just choose your destination drive.

 

[ripken204]

i want to partition b/c i reinstall XP alot and im sick of burning all of my data so i just wna have a part for that

 

[Nodsu]

When you reinstall XP you have to reinstall the programs too anyway.. But yes, you can install whenever you like as long as the installer actually bothers to ask for the location.

 

[ripken204]

so the xp part only rly needs to be just a little bigger than it is? and i dont care about reinstalling the apps, i just dont want to have to burn all of my data and waste time

should i make a part for my page file? and if i did it should be on the 1st part cus its on the outside of the disk? and how big should it be if i have 768mb of ram

 

[Jevond]

RE reinstalling windows, that is a good reason, i didnt bother doing it that way, just bought another hard disk, today HDD's are cheap. Windows always takes C:/ as default unless you specify otherwise in the installation so page files, etc will use the default. I would say 5gb should be enough, but i would do 7 or 10gb just to be safe, depends on how much data you have. Hope i answered your question

 

[ripken204]

ok,thx, cant rly get another hdd since this is a laptop unless i got an external but that would be a pain cus i move around alot

 

[Jevond]

That would be a pain! You can use windows XP CD to create a partition during setup, you can find how to do it here - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313348.

 

[ripken204]

ya i know, just wondering if i could use partition magic and just do it 1st

 

[IronDuke]

Partition for OS

I'd go for 10 - 12Gb for the OS and keep all the programs there because as Nodsu pointed out a lot of times you're not given the opportunity to put them elsewhere. Also bear in mind you need 14% free space for a proper defrag. Let Windows look after the page file.

 

[Nodsu]

With 768MB of RAM the pagefile is rather unimportant. Unless you are doing some heavy design or multimedia work or hardcore gaming on that laptop

 

[Jevond]

Never used partition magic, cant say. I Agree with ironduke, forgot the defrag part, In the end i guess it all comes down to what (or how many) programs you plan to install and how much data you have.

 

[IronDuke]

Partition Magic works fine. Err on the safe side and do one operation at a time rather than batching them.