Why partition a HD?

[Bama Bob]

If I'm not planning on using another operating system (XP) are there any benefits in partitioning a 40 gig HD? I have a 2ghz P4.

I've used computers since the 286 was HOT, but still not sure what advantage there is to adding partions.

Trying to decide if I want to install Ranish.

[dAm]

I partition large drives because
A: Smaller partitions defrag faster.
B: I can format and reinstall my OS and not lose everything else.
C: It looks cooler to see two drives in My Computer than just one drive.

[Limerick]

Hi Bama Bob,

Heck, there's not much to add to the excellent answer that dAm gave you, especially that third one!
But, I'll try anyway. A good friend of mine recently asked me this same question in an email. I replied to him, and this thread seems to be an appropriate place to use my reply to him as a means of response to you. There are basically three reasons that I am prone to use partitioning on my drives:

1) Backup Strategy
For those who have information that they do not want to lose (and that's ALL of us), there comes a point where you must ask yourself how you are going to protect that data. I used to support backup products (Fastback Plus, Norton Backup and Central Point Backup), and did so for several years. In all of the thousands of support calls that I took from customers in those years, I never, ever heard a single customer ever say, "Ya know... I think I've been backing my stuff up too frequently!" To the contrary, I've heard a *multitude* of people lament, "Boy, I sure wish that I had been diligent to make frequent backups!" So, with that kind of vocational background, and knowing the value of having a current backup to rely upon when the proverbial "wheels come off", I guess you could say that I am a "backup nut!" Without going in to all the possible means of backing one's data up, the thing that I want to comment on is the "ease" of doing so. I can accomplish that in a single sentence -- It is much easier to implement a backup strategy when the hard drive is sub-divided into partitions.

2) File Organization
I enjoy having the ability to put different types of files into a separate partition. This machine that I've just built has a 20Gb drive as the "main drive", with a secondary drive of 60Gb that I use primarily for saving backups to. I have this 20Gb drive partitioned into C thru G and the first four partitions are about 3.5Gb in size, with drive G being about 4.5Gb in size. (These sizes have no profound significance, other than being the sizes that I arbitrarily chose when I set the drive up.) The D drive is primarily used for holding the data from various applications that I use. Drive E has a ton of MP3 files that I enjoy listening to, and that is about all that I put on that drive. Drive F is generally where I install all my applications to. And drive G is the partition that I download things to. You might ask, "What about the C drive?" The only thing I purposely install on C is the operating system. As you know, over the course of time, the C drive will always "grow" as time goes on. Some applications are going to stick a bunch of DLL files into the WINDOWS\SYSTEM (or SYSTEM32) folder, no matter what. Many programs will try to install themselves (by default) into the C:\PROGRAM FILES folder. I rarely let them, preferring to redirect them to my F drive, even though they will put some of their support files on C anyway.

3) Access Potential
This is perhaps the main reason that I use partitions. If your entire hard drive is all in drive C, and something manages to corrupt the Master Boot Record (MBR) to that C drive, you have suddenly lost access to *everything* that you have. Sure, you can boot to a floppy, and run various kinds of utilities in hopes of repairing the MBR, or perhaps just running FDISK /MBR in hopes of recovering. But what about when something happens to such a catastrophic extent to where (as is sometimes said in the computer industry), your C drive is "hosed?" Unless you have a valid (and recent) backup at that point (that you can get to and restore), then all you have left of your "stuff" is the memory of how much you enjoyed having it while you had it. Whereas, if the drive is partitioned, it is entirely possible that, if for some reason one of the partitions gets corrupted or becomes inaccessible for whatever reason, that may not have an impact upon the contents of the other partitions.

Also, as dAm so aptly mentioned, if the drive is all in one partition and you reach a point to where formatting and starting over looks like it's going to be the only solution, then you wipe out everything. Conversely, by using partitioning, you would only need to "nuke and pave" the C drive, while all your other stuff will still be just fine. No question about it, there are differing ideas on this subject. For those who want their drive to be all in drive C, hey, more power to 'em! As for me and my house, we're going to cross the river that leads to where the land is divided into different tribes. Wait! I think I'm getting my stories mixed up!

Happy Computing!

Limerick



[This message has been edited by Limerick (edited 03-17-2002).]

[cueball]

A: Smaller partitions defrag faster.

yeah, but ya got more parts to defrag! lol. tho, I'm not about to argue iffin (2) 20gig parts de*** faster than (1) 40gig part.

B: I can format and reinstall my OS and not lose everything else.

Exactly!

[pmckinnie]

Limerick,

Couldn't have said it better. It hit the point dead on.

mac :P

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If computers are so smart, why can't they fix themselfs??

[Bama Bob]

So how large should I partion drive C ? On my Win 98 machine it was 1gb, do I need to allow more room for XP (he)?

Thanks for all your responses!

[dAm]

yeah, but ya got more parts to defrag

Very true, but it doesn't "seem" as long.

[pmckinnie]

Since you have a 40 gig drive, split it 4 ways with 10 gig in each partition. 10 gig for "C" OS only, "D" programs like word, antivirus program, etc. "E" for your files, small zipped files, videos etc, and"F" for music files.

Just make sure that "C" has only the os, that way if you need to reinstall the os, you lose nothing else.

gl mac

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If computers are so smart, why can't they fix themselfs??



[This message has been edited by pmckinnie (edited 03-18-2002).]

[ssjenkins]

I'm in agreement with everything said . However I prefer to install my programs to C: .
As Limerick stated previously there aren't many programs that DON'T stick a DLL or something in Windows/System32 . I suppose it all depends on the program . I'd like to see what would happen to Office 2000 if I installed it to D: and then lost my C: drive . Can't help feeling that I'd be doing a complete reinstall of Office after reinstalling the OS .
One thing I do do is save all my application UPDATES to a seperate partition .
Anyway , everyone to their own thing .
Paul


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Things to do with your PC when it's dead .

[cyndy10]

I can't tell you how many times I have been saved by having my OS's files backed up on the (other) Partition. I also synchronize certain files so the important ones are Always current.

I am amazed that someone who has been using a computer since the 286 (386 for me) hasnot thought at least once, ..."Darn! I wish I had saved that file/program/whatever..."

With a Partition, you download to the Partition, go to Add/Remove Programs and point the "Browse" to where it is on the other partition, it installs what it needs to C..., and install. The program shows upin C Drive, you just select the partition as the location to install FROM. Same as if it was a CD or a floppy... Then, the program is Always and forever available to you...

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1) AMD Athlon 750MHz, 365Ram, onboard Audio and Video.
2) AMD K6/2 550Mhz, 194RAM, Monster Fusion, and Vortex/Aureal Sound...
3) Linksys router and Cable Modem.

[This message has been edited by cyndy10 (edited 03-18-2002).]

[dAm]

do I need to allow more room for XP

Most XP installs take 1 - 1.5 gb for the basic install. Plus if you leave system restore on for all your partitions it will save (on c)10% of your total hd space for that which means another 4 gb. Right off the bat you're looking at almost 6gb. I would go with the 10 x 4 suggestion.

[desgnr]

If you put the OS on C & programs on another partition,dont the programs put information in the REGISTRY & you will loose that information if you format C & reinstall the OS??????????????

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Thank's for the help in advance.

[Limerick]

Hi Folks,

You are surely correct that there are some things that will have to be reinstalled if you format the C partition. Any application that has written its info to the Registry will obviously not be able to access that info after the format, and will have to be reinstalled.

But this thought moves this thread in a different direction. This ushers in the value and efficiency of a product such as Drive Image, or Ghost. I have long been an ardent user of Ghost. To be able to grab an image of a partition (or of an entire drive, with multiple partitions) and to pop it back into service in just a few minutes, gives one a bit of the "high atmosphere" of "safe and careful computing!" I simply would not be without Ghost, and the weekly imaging regimen that I prefer. But then, that's a whole 'nother issue.

Limerick

[BattenEye]

This is a fascinating thread. I have a 40gb HD which currently is all one partition (C I have another physical HD in the machine (D which I use for back ups. Also installed are 2 CDRom Drives (E: & F

I would like to partition the 1st drive and have it contain just me OS but can I do that without uninstalling and reinstalling XP?



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All the best

Batteneye

[GodMonstr]

i like several partitions for storing stuff.

win98 is on one. xp is on one. Linux is in a few.
all saved files on one.

Size does matter! I have reversed a previous therory of using 8GB or smaller for the efficient disk space usage to that of making the active partition above 16GB in size to allow faster disk transfer speed. I move files all the time and the larger the cluster size, the less files are split among clusters and fewer clusters are moved.

Partition that 40Gb in at least halves.
After Windows screws up so badly you decide to reload it, you can do it without ever putting a CD in the drive. Store your oSs and setup files all on the second partition, and install from there.
Keep a copy of your email, IE favorites, drivers, documents, files, etc all on the second partition. They are safer there!

kevin

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Zephyr in the sky at night I wonder
Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun

God Monsters!