HD Partitioning

[kenn jolemore]

Is there any reason (functionality wise) to partition a drive into multi segments when you have no particular need to do so?
I am putting a new 80gigWD in my brothers system tomorrow and was just wondering what the advantages might be.
My Thanks
KennJ

[Platypus]

I would certainly partition an 80G primary drive.

There's a relevant discussion here:

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...hreadid=131138

[cryos6]

the fact that you can install diff os, and more functionality is a factor. Access time somehow be decreased. and less confusion.

[kenn jolemore]

In truth after reading the articles I still see little reason for dicing and slicing a HD into multi segments.A seperate section for the OS might be a good idea but as to defragging taking less time a regular cleaning and good maintenance solves that issue well.
I don't understand about the cluster size being determined by the HD size and had never heard that before.Is the cluster size not consistent in NTFS?
KennJ

[DVOM]

The reason I keep my OS on a separate partition from my data is I can reinstall the OS and not lose any data. Or install a different OS.

It's also alot faster to ghost image the OS and restore that image when the partition isn't the entire drive.

I can totally fry my OS and be back up and running in less than 5 minutes with all my data intact.

[tironsi]

I totally agree with DVOM; it's just more efficient as well as less dangerous. If you only have one partition and that partition gets messed up (more likely for system partition), all your stuff has gone to data haven, all eggs in one basket and so on...

It's also a pain to back up critical data. If you have to sort and find where everything is instead of ghosting the partition you want which should also preserve permissions if you care about that sort of thing.

I usually back up my system partition more often because it is more likely to mess up, whereas my data I back up incrementally.

[Limerick]

Hi kenn,

Here is another thread where some of us discussed this subject a while back.

Limerick

[kenn jolemore]

In the case of the computer I will be working with today the HD keeps frying (2 in a year) so I am not clear what a partition would have acomplished in this case.As I am still not to sure of the problem(bad IDE cable or power to high, heck, just bad luck ) I am thinking of leaving the 4 gig in there that I used to get his comp up and running a week ago and adding the 80 gig as a slave with the OS and all info on it in case the primary frys again in 6 months or so.
As programs need to run from the main partition it seems that a small section for a backup OS would be all that makes sense from a restore and repair standpoint.The rest sounds like a personal preference kind of thing.
Thanks for the replys all.
KennJ

[HeartbeatMarc]

If I'm not mistaken, programs don't need to run from the main partition. You can install them on any drive. Only the OS needs to be on the main partition.