Putting Vista Partition on outer edge of hard drive

[Ihaveworms]

How can I ensure that my vista partition is on the outer edge of the hard drive, or how can I make that partition on the outer edge of the hard drive. Hopefully there is some software similar to defragging only it moves the partitions around on the physical drive to optimize it? Thanks in advance.

 

[sdotbrucato]

How can I ensure that my vista partition is on the outer edge of the hard drive, or how can I make that partition on the outer edge of the hard drive. Hopefully there is some software similar to defragging only it moves the partitions around on the physical drive to optimize it? Thanks in advance.

The first partition you create will be placed in the optimal area for performance...

Now it was mentioned on how to get the prime size/location for your HDD to partition by Joe Average so I'll just quote him from the other thread.

If this isnt what you're looking for I apologize.

If it was my machine, I'd do 60 to 100GB for Vista, the rest as a storage partition for the goodies. Games, music, videos, etc, all that stuff on the storage partition without even thinking about it. Give Vista lots of breathing room for itself (it grows over time as it should) and your primary applications, etc.

Not much else to suggest. But here's how I do the calculations myself:

Run HDTach and note the beginning speed on the graph, and follow it to the right as the test progresses into the drive's platters. When the graph really starts to taper off, that's the point where you would say "Ok, that's where the speed drops, so the main partition is from the start of the drive to that point."

On most modern drives, they'll maintain a level performance roughly 20% into the drive then it starts to taper off. So I'd use that 20% or slightly less to ensure that I keep the most accessed info (the OS and the primary applications) inside that 'zone' - the rest of the drive is for storage purposes. Here's what it looks like on my 250GB drive as I just ran HDTach:

Note how it drops off sharply at almost dead on the 50GB point; this happens sometimes and if I run the test again immediately it doesn't show that downward spike, but even so, the speed of the drive does take the downward slope starting about that point. The actual size I chose for my XP Pro x64 system partition is 35GB so I'm just under that, and well inside "the speed zone" as I call it.

Hope this helps...

 

[Joe Average]

In other words...

when you install the OS on a blank hard drive, the data gets stored at the beginning of the drive. Hard drives store data like an LP record does: the data begins being recorded at the outside edge and then spins into the center, just like the groove of an LP record (not everyone knows what they are, believe it or not).

Hard drives do NOT store data like an optical disc, burning from the spindle out.

So... if you have a blank hard drive and you install Vista on it, it'll automagically be placed at the beginning of the drive, aka the outer edges, where it's as fast as the hard drive can be.

Simple.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I would also think that you would have a very VERY hard time proving that it made a difference in performance as to where the partition lies on the drive. This is one of those concepts that in theory, it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but in reality, doesn't make a difference.

 

[Monkey God]

difference in individual hard drive performance compared to another hard drive = the difference between where the OS is installed on an individual hard drive * 11tybillion

 

[Unknown-One]

And what do you do when the "speedy" part is roughly 70% of the drive?

 

[Joe Average]

Well the "standby" position for the spindle arm on a hard drive is not quite parked but not quite floating over the platters either. To have to go from that standby position to the inner tracks with nearly every read/write operation, yes, it'll definitely make a noticeable effect on a drive.

Easy enough to test out yourself. Set up a machine for testing, create a 20GB partition at the beginning of the drive, install the do your testing as required (XP works fine, is fast and installs quick), then wipe it. Create a 20GB partition at the very end of the drive and redo the installation and redo the testing.

I guarantee that yes, you'll notice a difference, even on today's high speed drives. And over time, using the machine in intensive disk-based operations with lots of activity constantly you will take a hit, especially if you install common applications towards the beginning/outer edge, it'll go insane jumping back and forth vastly more than it would with a "normal" install.

My concept of using a small(er) system partition is based on the short stroke principle (and no you sick bastards, that's not a sexual reference hehe):

Do a benchmark on the drive, similar to the one above using HDTach or HDTune, find the beginning portion of the drive that gives you the fastest possible speeds up to about 15-20% deep and run with that as your chosen system partition, the rest for general storage, etc.

The concept of having a small(er) system partition becomes really useful and particularly beneficial in situations where you may need or have a desire to start over again clean. You're not dealing with hundreds of gigs of space as the only true way to do a clean install is cleanly: just reinstalling the OS on top of itself doesn't work more often than not. And just deleting all the OS files and directories doesn't cut it either. You've got to start clean to do a proper clean install, period.

Imaging the system partition becomes easier and faster as the OS itself with applications typically compresses fairly well, down to around 2:1 which is common, and then makes restoring it in case of some incident really fast.

The pic above is nice and gives a solid level of performance, but I'd still only use the first 15-20% of the capacity for the system partition. That's just me... it's not a rule, just a suggestion to keep the OS definitely running at optimum speeds.