To partition or not to partition-and how

[hewybo]

I have, in previous posts, demonstrated my iggernunce, so allow me to further do so. I have a kind of mechanic's view of computing. I like to add new things, even if I don't really need them. Case in point: I have two HDs, one a WD Caviar SE 250GB, the other an 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax8 (?).

I don't game; most of my work is photo editing, music compilation, and general fart-around, see-how-it-works type stuff. Both drives are IDE. The 250GB is set as master, the other as slave. There is only one partition, a FAT32, which I no longer need, as it contains the recovery files for my Compaq, which has ceased to exist due to my constant upgrade/replacement syndrome. All other space is unpartitioned NTFS.

My question: with no real heavy system demands, and with speed not really a factor, and since I will likely never approach filling these drives, do I need to partition? I back up everything frequently, though it keeps data DVD mfrs in business.

If I DO need to partition, how to choose what goes where? I understand the partitioning can save HD wear and tear from defragging, etc., but otherwise, is it necessary?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Samstoned]

I think it is
paragon or acronis do a good job
your OS should be on a 10gb partition
here's the best reason
OS gets fouled up and you can't recover wow you also have a ton of stuff on the same partition.
if you want to go through the hassle you can have spare pc with a spare drive and copy all the files to it
but wait if all you need is a fast reinstall of OS
all files are on the other partitions great
now just reload the other programs you use over write to same folders.back up reg and in most cases you can migrate the reg files and you don't need to reload the programs.
I just finished ghosting 36gb scsi that was in need of a total cluster remag replaced it in less than 2 hrs
and knitting and knitting

 

[Tedster]

generally I don't recommend partitioning. However, I DO recommend having a spare hard drive. If your first hard drive goes bad, then all your important stuff is backed up on the second drive. Unlike having 2 partitions where the majority of program files install themselves on the default partition - C: , so having a second partiton is pretty much worthless as most programs won't default themselves to a D: partition.

If you have a backup or a clone of your primary hard drive on a secondary, you don't have any compatibility or configuration problems and your system is safe.

 

[patio]

Follow the links and read the info in Post #4 at the top of this page...

patio.

 

[hewybo]

confusion

Follow the links and read the info in Post #4 at the top of this page...

patio.

Uh, your post is #4; are you referring me to the "manners" section at the top of the page? :giddy:

 

[SNGX1275]

He means this thread: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic2510.html

I've recently changed my views on partitions, but I think only because I have 4 hard drives in 1 comp now. But I agree at minimum you should have 2 partitions on your OS hd, one for the OS and 1 for everything else. You will have to tell everything to install to D:\Program Files though instead of the default C. You can change something in the registry to make it default to D, but I don't know where it is.

On your second 80 gig hd, if I were you I'd just leave it 1 partition, formatted as NTFS.