Partition recommendations?

[de8212]

Looking to see what everyone suggests.
Current setup is
[*]One 74 GB Raptor sata
[*]One 250 GB maxtor pata

Obviously the Raptor will be my boot drive. Should I partition it into two drives and use one for XP/office and the other for games. Then use the 250GB in one partition for storage (dvd/mp3/videos)?
If so, how many GB should I make the C drive ? Just enough to hold XP and office + a few smaller programs? Say ~10GB, and then use the rest for the other?

 

[ribbon13]

I believe a lot of people reccomend partitioning the outer edge as the system drive.

So first make like a 60GB partition for the storage, and then the rest for the system.

I've never done it that way myself though. I don't bother with partitioning.

 

[symbol]

For the raptor, I'd do:
C drive - 10GB
D drive - 64GB

For the maxtor, I wouldn't partition it:
E drive - 250GB

 

[FP]

C drive - 10GB
D drive - 64GB

What is the point? Why not just one big 74gig partition?

 

[tallman45]

Originally posted by: binister
C drive - 10GB
D drive - 64GB

What is the point? Why not just one big 74gig partition?

Wow there is a lot of performance that you can get out of your system

First some facts

1) The outer edge of a disk spins the fastest, the inner edge the slowest.
2) Disk actuators/read heads have to move to get data
3) Defrag of a partition often helps performance greatly
4) Defrag of a Page file really helps performance

Now what to do and why

1) By creating an OS partition of say 10gb on the outer edge of a drive you get the maximum performance out of that disk, it spins the fastest and the actuator only has to move a small distance to find files so you access times are far better.

2) the Page Data file can not be defragmented while it is in use, so by making 1 or 2 additional partitions that house the Page Data file, you can delete it and create a new one which keeps that defragmented.

3) Defrag of often used volumes like the OS/Apps is far more important than backup/archive data. A weekly defrag of a 10gb partitaion is far faster and mor likely to be done that a defrag of a 250gb drive.

4) If your OS needs to be reloaded, you Backup/Archive data is easily recoverable if it is on a separate partition.

So,,,, here is my suggestion

1) 1st partition the 10gb Raptor for OS
2) Rest of Raptor partitioned for Apps
3) 1st partition 5gb of the 250gb drive for Page File
4) 2nd partition of the 250gb drive (240gb partition) for data backup/archive
5) Last 5gb partition of the 250gb drive is a Ghost copy of the OS

Tune as you see best suits you but this scenario offers you better performance, speedy defrags of files that need it, and easier recovery when a drive fails

 

[imported_fatal]

If you dont partition and have to format & reinstall yo lose everything. If you format the secondary partition & the data on it will remain intact.

 

[0roo0roo]

yup, os partition useful for drive image/backup programs

 

[airfoil]

I'd put 2 Partitions on the Raptor:

C: 10 GB
D: 64 GB (will work out to about 60 GB formatted)

The OS will go on the D: drive, with the C: drive used for temporary files and boot files etc. When I have reinstall the OS (and that can be be as often as once in 6 months) I simply format the D drive and reinstall.

The 250 GB will remain unpartioned as a single drive, but you have this option:

E: 235 GB (For backups)
F: 10 GB

Use the F: drive for nothing but the pagefile and perhaps the scratch volume for Photoshop for improved performance.

 

[airfoil]

In no circumstances would I put an OS on a 10 GB partition - my current XP Pro install has used up 28 of an available 40 GB.

 

[de8212]

Thnaks for all the info.

Yeah, 10GB may do it but I was thinking to make things even out I may have the D drive 60GB which would make my c drive wahtever is left over out of the 74GB. SO that woiuld be a little over 10GB.
Then the 250GB I was thinkning of leaving just one big partition. PLease tell me more about what the pagefile would do if I put it on a small partition of the 250? keep in mind the 250 is not serial ata and with my mobo it's ata100.

 

[tallman45]

Originally posted by: airfoil
In no circumstances would I put an OS on a 10 GB partition - my current XP Pro install has used up 28 of an available 40 GB.

My Win XP Pro and MS Office plus a few other apps my C: and it is under 6GB

 

[tallman45]

Originally posted by: de8212
Thnaks for all the info.

Yeah, 10GB may do it but I was thinking to make things even out I may have the D drive 60GB which would make my c drive wahtever is left over out of the 74GB. SO that woiuld be a little over 10GB.
Then the 250GB I was thinkning of leaving just one big partition. PLease tell me more about what the pagefile would do if I put it on a small partition of the 250? keep in mind the 250 is not serial ata and with my mobo it's ata100.

The Page File and Swap File (Photoshop) when used affect system performance greatly. You want those files on a very fast access part of your drive (the outer edge). So make the 1st partition of the 250gb drive a Page/Swap partition.

The rest of the drive can be a huge partition which also serves as a place to move the swap/Page file periodically to reformat/defrag

So

F: 5-10gb of 250gb drive for Page/swap file
G: remainder of 250gb for data

Periodically move the Page/Swap files to G:, reformat F: , then move them back

 

[mshan]

"The 250 GB will remain unformatted as a single drive"


newbie question:

I thought all partitions had to be formatted?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: tallman45

Originally posted by: airfoil
In no circumstances would I put an OS on a 10 GB partition - my current XP Pro install has used up 28 of an available 40 GB.

My Win XP Pro and MS Office plus a few other apps my C: and it is under 6GB

yup, clean xp + office can compress into like 600mb image.. maybe2gb uncompressed if its 28gb, hes installing all sorts of sh*t in the wrong place. keep games/media off c:!! makes it easy to do system restores without losing lots of stuff..

 

[imported_fatal]

28 gig for windows???? how an WHY ???? If you are using 28 gig you have some SERIOUS problems

should be 2 gig or less for windows

 

[John]

Originally posted by: airfoil
In no circumstances would I put an OS on a 10 GB partition - my current XP Pro install has used up 28 of an available 40 GB.

You've got problems. :Q

 

[airfoil]

Originally posted by: mshan
"The 250 GB will remain unformatted as a single drive"


newbie question:

I thought all partitions had to be formatted?

Fixed

 

[airfoil]

Originally posted by: fatal
28 gig for windows???? how an WHY ???? If you are using 28 gig you have some SERIOUS problems

should be 2 gig or less for windows

I just checked. Turns out the Windows folder is 2GB, but the Program Files stuff is 12 GB with all the games installed.

The rest of the stuff is a whole lot of junk that has gotten accumulated over time, mostly downloads. Time to clean up!

I guess the point I was trying to make is, its important to leave room for expansion - with 300+ GB of space to play around with, you wouldnt want to skimp on an important thing like the OS partition.

 

[mshan]

ttt

 

[rise]

dumb question... when setting up the partitions on an install, is the first partition you make the outside edge of the disc/platter?

 

[DruidAllanon]

Lots of interesting advice here. I set my last computer up generally along the lines recommended here (about three years ago). I made the mistake of only allocating 3G or so for the OS and had to get a partitioning program to bail myself out.

Despite all the planning, I never found the need for the extra partitioning. I didn't reinstall the OS, I didn't spend time fine tuning the system for performance as people describe, and I just defragged the entire hd from time to time as needed. Thus, in my latest build a week ago, I opted not to partition my Raptor. My system is set up for general home use and gaming.

I say this only to make you think whether you really will take advantage of the benefits of partitioning. I thought I would and I didn't. As a result, I was stuck with a bunch of drive designations unnecessarily. In other words, what everyone says is good and right, but is it right for you??