I missed your question originally, but let me comment on your overall
partitioning scheme, mostly without reference to which drive each
partition is on.
Application program files should almost always be in the same
partition as Windows. Installed applications have many references to
themselves within Windows, in the registry and elsewhere. If you
reload Windows, you have to reinstall your applications. That's the
reason why the practice that many people have of separating their
applications on a separate partition or physical drive really makes no
sense.
What is the rationale for separating the two types of data? For most
people, data is data, and there is no reason to separate it into
multiple partitions.
A couple of points here:
1. The main performance issue with the page file is the time it takes
to move the drive heads to and from it. So, for almost everyone with a
single physical drive, the page file should be on the same partition
as Windows, normally C:
2. However, if you have two physical drives, the main part of the page
file should probably be on the second drive. However don't put it in
its own partition, but on the most-used partition on that
drive--thereby minimizing the time for head movement. A good rule of
thumb is to put it on the most-used partition of the least-used
physical drive.
But even if you put it on the second drive, you should also maintain a
small page file on C:. The best info on the page file is in this
article by the late MVP Alex
Nichol: "Virtual Memory in Windows XP"
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php
3. Most people running Windows XP these days have enough memory so
that page file use is minimal. In that case, it makes very little
difference where you put it.
If you care about your data, you should reconsider the idea of putting
backups on a separate partition or even a separate internal hard
drive. Such a scheme is better than no backup at all, but just barely.
It is always possible that a hard drive crash, user error, nearby
lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the computer, can cause
the loss of everything on your drive or even everything on your entire
computer.
In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not kept
in the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for example, if the
life of your business depends on your data) you should have multiple
generations of backup, and at least one of those generations should be
stored off-site.
My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup scheme
uses two identical removable hard drives,I alternate between the two,
and use Acronis True Image to make a complete copy of the primary
drive.
My view is that most people's partitioning scheme should be based on
their backup scheme. If, for example, you backup by creating a clone
or image of the entire drive, then a single partition might be best.
If, on the other hand, you backup only your data, then the backup
process is facilitated by having all data in a separate partition.
Except for those running multiple operating systems, there is seldom
any benefit to having more than two partitions.