Partitioning question

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kevdoggx

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I usually just run one partition on my HDDs but I'm building a new system soon and was considering 2 partitions on my hard drive (one for windows and the other for apps and storage). Is this a good idea or are there better ways to do this?

The main reason I am doing this is because I figured it would be easier to reinstall windows without having to move all my data off the disk first. But when I finish reinstalling will I need to reinstall all my apps again to the other partition since the registry had been wiped?

Like I said I am pretty new to the whole partitioning thing, I usually just send my songs/vids/etc to my buddies computer over the netwk then I reinstall windows and all my apps then I send everything back over. So I'm just looking for an easier way to do this.

Thanks for any help and advice, it is greatly appreciated.
 
Your partitioning choices will be based on what size hdd you want to use and how . you forgot to mention what size..

You will still need to reinstall your apps.. that dosent change
 
kevdoggx said:
The main reason I am doing this is because I figured it would be easier to reinstall windows without having to move all my data off the disk first. But when I finish reinstalling will I need to reinstall all my apps again to the other partition since the registry had been wiped?
Click to expand...

Yes you will need to reinstall your apps and games. However copying files from partition to partition will be far faster than across the network! The only snag is if you suffered a disk failure your data is gone.

If you can, maybe get 2 hdd's instead :D
 
Should i just pick up a 40 gig to install windows on?

Sorry I didn't mention the size, but I am looking to get a 300GB maxtor DM10.

I've only run RAID 0 on all other systems I've built and I wanted something more reliable and was curious how you guys would recommend I set up my drives? I really just did it how I would like to before. So please recommend anything as I haven't purchased the HDD yet and am completely open to suggestions.
 
The only thing partition really helps is with decreasing the demand for defragging. If you download and peer to peer stuff or do things like photo editing seriously then have a seperate partion for those things can be helpful. They both tend to fragment file systems real good, bit torrent is horrendous at this.

As for the Maxtor DM10 is an excellent drive basically the fastest 7200rpm drive around. Do not bother getting a seperate 40gb drive for windows it will be alot slower then the DM10.
 
www.blackviper.com

he has some good tips on partitions.

i dont know who he is but seems like he knows what he is talking about. go check out his sight to fine tune , etc.
 
The best way to do is, is to parition one section for Windows, apps, games, etc, basically everything that needs to be installed, and then paritition the rest for data.

What this does is when you need to reinstall, you can simply reformat the one partition with the OS and installed software, meanwhile your data partition stays untouched.
 
I currently have 3 partitions on a 300 gig sata maxtor
I also have a seperate ide 200 gig maxtor as f:\. I use that as storage for game demos,downloaded,apps,emus, ghost images ready to be burnt etc.

c:\ Os
d:\Programs\Games etc
e: \ multimedia recording from pvr

I think my os is around 2 or 4 gigs.
Since windows likes to use the default program files in c:\ .
I changed that so everything is rerouted on my d: drive program files.

That way if I want to delete the os parition and reinstall over it,all my games program files are still on the d: partition. Then after I would reinstall windows all I would have to do is reroute the program files back to d: with tweakui. I have a seperate folder for games also.
Also my favorites and outlook files are on d:\ parition also.
Of course I have to install some of the games again,but I find it better this way.

Having 3 paritions is great incased the os gets hose and you want to reinstall quickly.
But like they say always backup your important files to another media. Because you never know when the harddrive gremlins will strike. :eek:
 
IDF said:
www.blackviper.com

he has some good tips on partitions.

i dont know who he is but seems like he knows what he is talking about. go check out his sight to fine tune , etc.
Click to expand...

Is that link correct? If so, it doesn't seem to be working correctly right now...

Any hints on what it says on that site?

thanks
 
dirtydr said:
However copying files from partition to partition will be far faster than across the network!
Click to expand...

Actually that's not always true. Gigabit w/ a decently fast setup on the other end will pummel a copy to the same disk. Of course, local disk to a different local disk is still the fastest. When trying to copy a file where the source and target are the same disk I often find it faster to copy to another drive then back to the original.
 
Do you all agree that this

MentallyNormal said:
I currently have 3 partitions on a 300 gig sata maxtor
I also have a seperate ide 200 gig maxtor as f:\. I use that as storage for game demos,downloaded,apps,emus, ghost images ready to be burnt etc.

c:\ Os
d:\Programs\Games etc
e: \ multimedia recording from pvr

I think my os is around 2 or 4 gigs.
Since windows likes to use the default program files in c:\ .
I changed that so everything is rerouted on my d: drive program files.

That way if I want to delete the os parition and reinstall over it,all my games program files are still on the d: partition. Then after I would reinstall windows all I would have to do is reroute the program files back to d: with tweakui. I have a seperate folder for games also.
Also my favorites and outlook files are on d:\ parition also.
Of course I have to install some of the games again,but I find it better this way.

Having 3 paritions is great incased the os gets hose and you want to reinstall quickly.
But like they say always backup your important files to another media. Because you never know when the harddrive gremlins will strike.
Click to expand...

is the most efficient organization of a single hard drive?

Thanks again guys for all the help!
 
When organizing your HD, you need to develop a system that you will stick to. It doesn't matter how organzied a system is when you plan it if you don't stick with it. You'll still end up with the end result of searching for files because you can't remember where you put them.
 
kevdoggx said:
Do you all agree that this

is the most efficient organization of a single hard drive?

Thanks again guys for all the help!
Click to expand...
No, I think it's horrible, but that's just an opinion. ;) You shouldn't normally seperate the OS from the Apps. What's the benefit? If you have some very specific backup/recover solution it might be of benefit.

If you do partition, I'd do it like this.

Part0- OS/Apps
Part1- User data (doc, movies, pics, etc.)

How much space you give each depends on usage.

edit:
That way if I want to delete the os parition and reinstall over it,all my games program files are still on the d: partition. Then after I would reinstall windows all I would have to do is reroute the program files back to d: with tweakui. I have a seperate folder for games also.
Click to expand...
This is VASTLY simplified, the poster is forgetting the registry entries made by the programs (games don't do use the registry as much). In the case of a reinstall you would still have to reinstall the applications that do use the registy (like MS office for ex.). Since you have to reinstall the apps (not all) as well as the OS, you might as well have them on the same partition.

Also, the poster used the terms in future tense, as in, "all I would have to do" implies he hasn't actually done it (perhaps why they don't mention the registry issue), though that could be an incorrect presumption.
 
Well how much space should I partition for each? LIke 100GB for OS/apps and 200GB for the rest?

I have about 100GB of MP3s and a lot of music vids and I'm not really sure how much space games take up exactly... I know most are 2gig or less, but how big is 'doze?

I figure at any one time I'll have as many as 20 games installed, so I'm thinking at least 75gigs for OS/Apps/Games.

Does that sound alright? I mean I don't mind adding and extra HDD later on so maybe I should just over shoot and go for 100gigs+.

Thanks for the help!
 
kevdoggx said:
Well how much space should I partition for each? LIke 100GB for OS/apps and 200GB for the rest?

I have about 100GB of MP3s and a lot of music vids and I'm not really sure how much space games take up exactly... I know most are 2gig or less, but how big is 'doze?

I figure at any one time I'll have as many as 20 games installed, so I'm thinking at least 75gigs for OS/Apps/Games.

Does that sound alright? I mean I don't mind adding and extra HDD later on so maybe I should just over shoot and go for 100gigs+.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Well, my answer (everyone has different views on partitioning, there is no "correct" way) is not to partition at all... Especially if you plan on getting another HDD later. Just use one large partition, then move you user data to the new drive once you get it. Then you will have the OS/apps on one HDD and the data on another.
 
zandor said:
Actually that's not always true. Gigabit w/ a decently fast setup on the other end will pummel a copy to the same disk. Of course, local disk to a different local disk is still the fastest. When trying to copy a file where the source and target are the same disk I often find it faster to copy to another drive then back to the original.
Click to expand...

But we dont all have the luxury of gigabit ;)
Hence my original suggestion to get another drive. No false sense of security that way either. Partitioning is great for the reinstall factor, but 2 partitions are no substitute for 2 physical disks.
 
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