partition or not to partition?

[JethroUK©]

i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to use
one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D

my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C: drive is
only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new software uses a
lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system - obviously it's not
so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing for recommendations really

 

[Guest]

Mostly it's a personal preference.
I have mine set at 40 Gig (with an 80 Gig main HD) and a 300 Gig Secondary,
dived in three partitions. and I have lots of room left

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to use
one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D

my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C: drive is
only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new software uses
a
lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system - obviously it's not
so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing for recommendations really

On each and every one of the systems I am responsible for,
I place Windows and all applications on drive C: (20 GBytes)
and all data on drive D:. Doing so makes it much easier to
create, maintain and restore images. Here is an example:

One day I find that my Windows installation has gone South
for unexplained reasons. I am unable to fix the problem
within a reasonable period of time. I will now boot the
machine with my Acronis Recovery CD and restore drive
C: from the image I took a few weekes ago. Thirty minutes
later I'm back in business. My data (including my EMail files)
is still intact because it resides on drive D:.

 

[Dave Moore]

:
: : >i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to use
: > one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D
: >
: > my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C: drive is
: > only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new software uses
: > a
: > lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system - obviously it's not
: > so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing for recommendations really
: >
: >
:
: On each and every one of the systems I am responsible for,
: I place Windows and all applications on drive C: (20 GBytes)
: and all data on drive D:. Doing so makes it much easier to
: create, maintain and restore images. Here is an example:
:
: One day I find that my Windows installation has gone South
: for unexplained reasons. I am unable to fix the problem
: within a reasonable period of time. I will now boot the
: machine with my Acronis Recovery CD and restore drive
: C: from the image I took a few weekes ago. Thirty minutes
: later I'm back in business. My data (including my EMail files)
: is still intact because it resides on drive D:.

And if you do that with 98, and also install all your
programs to the D: drive,
you can even image the entire C: drive (OS)
onto a single CD
I usually set people with 98 up this way.

Once, the next day after I de-virused and de-malwared
a 98 based computer for a guy,
he called up and said that the
computer stopped working, Turned out, the HD had
taken a dive. No problemo. I simply put a new HD in
and copied the C: drive back from an Image of
his system that I had burned to a CD. Voila, back
in action.

With XP, since the size is so large, I usually image of to
a spare HD, then yank it and put it on the shelf for a rainy
day, Now, if I can just find a DOS app with DVD
support


:
:

 

[Ken Blake]

i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend
to use one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data
(D

my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C:
drive is only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new
software uses a lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system
- obviously it's not so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing
for recommendations really

First, note that partitioning them is a *requirement*, not an option. A
drive must have at least one partition on it to be used, and to "partition"
means to create one or more partitions. So what you really mean to ask is
should you have *multiple* partitions on the drives.

There's no answer to your question that's right for everyone. A lot depends
on how you plan to use the drives, what your backup scheme is, and even
personal preference.

I would ignore any answers you get that read something like "I partition my
drives like this--xxxxx--and you should do the same."

 

[JethroUK©]

| JethroUK© wrote:
|
| > i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend
| > to use one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data
| > (D
| >
| > my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C:
| > drive is only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new
| > software uses a lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system
| > - obviously it's not so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing
| > for recommendations really
|
|
| First, note that partitioning them is a *requirement*, not an option. A
| drive must have at least one partition on it to be used, and to
"partition"
| means to create one or more partitions. So what you really mean to ask is
| should you have *multiple* partitions on the drives.
|
| There's no answer to your question that's right for everyone. A lot
depends
| on how you plan to use the drives, what your backup scheme is, and even
| personal preference.
|
| I would ignore any answers you get that read something like "I partition
my
| drives like this--xxxxx--and you should do the same."
|
| --

i think i'll just stick to plan A of single partitions (Drive C & D) - my
own reasons are that my machine starts to slow down after a few months and i
find it so easy just to do a clean install of Windows and Apps & my precious
data remains undisturbed - not that it wouldn't be safe on a partition -
unless of course i get involved )

 

[Ken Blake]

i think i'll just stick to plan A of single partitions (Drive C & D)

OK, but read on.

- my own reasons are that my machine starts to slow down after a few
months

Then you are clearly maintaining your computer poorly--probably allowing it
to get infested with spyware or other malware. With a little care, computers
don't slow down after a few months, or even many months. I have run Windows
3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, XP and now Vista, on multiple machines
here, each from the time it was released until the next version, and have
*never* needed to reinstall any of them.

and i find it so easy just to do a clean install of Windows
and Apps & my precious data remains undisturbed - not that it
wouldn't be safe on a partition - unless of course i get involved )

The above statement suggests that you are relying on the wrong thing to
secure your precious data. There is only one way to make sure you don't lose
your precious data, and that's by backing it up to external media. Anything
other than that, and you are just kidding yourself. If you don't have a good
backup, it is always possible that a drive crash, user error, virus attack,
severe power glitch, such as a nearby lightning strike, theft of th
ecomputer, etc. can wipe out everything you have.

There can be good reasons for separating Windows and data on multiple drives
or partitions, but being able to reinstall Windows without losing your data
isn't one of them. In, fact, in my view, the best reason for doing it is to
facilitate backing up your data.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Don't partition them. Let us know how it works out...


Partitioning, number of partitions, the amount of data, the file size
maximum, partitioning schemes, file security, laziness or adaptiveness of
the user to adapt to multiple partitions for everyday use, and their
intended usage determine a decent answer. Others will grope in the dark in
hopes of providing a solution reply for that based on the information you've
provided.
Dave

 

[Plato]

i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to use
one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D

my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C: drive is
only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new software uses a
lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system - obviously it's not
so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing for recommendations really

Of course every drive needs at least one partition. Personally, I'd just
partition the entire drive to one drive letter.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Sounds like a one physical hard drive system with 2 partitions. The
recovery process is quick, easy, and simple. However, an image backup
should also be made to removable media in case of hard drive failure. If
using Outlook (not OE) for email, the optional update should be installed
for backing up the personal folder contents to an removable location.
Dave

 

[JethroUK©]

I've often wondered about using drive imaging software instead of
reinstalling windows but i couldn't get my head around how you can make a
copy of an 80 gig h/drive

does this software just ignore empty space - e.g. if you just have system
installed it would create a 'smaller' image? if so how many cd's would i
need to keep a basic ghost?

| Sounds like a one physical hard drive system with 2 partitions. The
| recovery process is quick, easy, and simple. However, an image backup
| should also be made to removable media in case of hard drive failure. If
| using Outlook (not OE) for email, the optional update should be installed
| for backing up the personal folder contents to an removable location.
| Dave
| | >
| > | >>i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to
use
| >> one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D
| >>
| >> my question is that because the drives are so big (my current C: drive
is
| >> only 20 gig) should i partition them? i do realise that new software
uses
| >> a
| >> lot more space 300 g seems very big just for a system - obviously it's
| >> not
| >> so easy to change my mind later so i'm fishing for recommendations
really
| >>
| >>
| >
| > On each and every one of the systems I am responsible for,
| > I place Windows and all applications on drive C: (20 GBytes)
| > and all data on drive D:. Doing so makes it much easier to
| > create, maintain and restore images. Here is an example:
| >
| > One day I find that my Windows installation has gone South
| > for unexplained reasons. I am unable to fix the problem
| > within a reasonable period of time. I will now boot the
| > machine with my Acronis Recovery CD and restore drive
| > C: from the image I took a few weekes ago. Thirty minutes
| > later I'm back in business. My data (including my EMail files)
| > is still intact because it resides on drive D:.
| >
|
|

 

[easymike29 via WindowsKB.com]

Dave:

Ghost 2003 will write an image to DVD.

Gene

: >i just ordered a new machine which has x2 300 gig drives - i intend to use
: > one drive as system/software drive (C and the other for data (D
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
: later I'm back in business. My data (including my EMail files)
: is still intact because it resides on drive D:.

And if you do that with 98, and also install all your
programs to the D: drive,
you can even image the entire C: drive (OS)
onto a single CD
I usually set people with 98 up this way.

Once, the next day after I de-virused and de-malwared
a 98 based computer for a guy,
he called up and said that the
computer stopped working, Turned out, the HD had
taken a dive. No problemo. I simply put a new HD in
and copied the C: drive back from an Image of
his system that I had burned to a CD. Voila, back
in action.

With XP, since the size is so large, I usually image of to
a spare HD, then yank it and put it on the shelf for a rainy
day, Now, if I can just find a DOS app with DVD
support

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Good quality imaging software will create an image file
whose size is around 50% of the total amount of data
stored on the imaged partition, regardless of the partition's
size. It will restore this image onto any partition that is
large enough to take all the data.

In other words, if your WinXP installation resides on
an 80 GByte partition and requires 12 GBytes, then the
image file will be around 6 GBytes and it could be restored
to a partition of perhaps 15 GBytes.

 

[Zilbandy]

Good quality imaging software will create an image file
whose size is around 50% of the total amount of data
stored on the imaged partition,

I think you're being a bit optimistic here. I find the percentage to
be more like 70 to 75% of the original size, but I do have several
encrypted files (PGP Disks) that, because of their nature, do not
compress. I tend to tell people that a typical mix of files will
compress around 2/3, or around 65-70%. With more and more people
keeping jpgs and mp3s on their systems, I would except compression to
be even lower, because those files are already compressed.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I think you're being a bit optimistic here. I find the percentage to
be more like 70 to 75% of the original size, but I do have several
encrypted files (PGP Disks) that, because of their nature, do not
compress. I tend to tell people that a typical mix of files will
compress around 2/3, or around 65-70%. With more and more people
keeping jpgs and mp3s on their systems, I would except compression to
be even lower, because those files are already compressed.

You're probably correct but then you've moved away from
my preferred configuration. None of the system drives I image
contain jpg or mp3 files. These are data files and on my
systems they are kept away from drive C:.

 

[Zilbandy]

You're probably correct but then you've moved away from
my preferred configuration. None of the system drives I image
contain jpg or mp3 files. These are data files and on my
systems they are kept away from drive C:.

During the Windows 3 era, I kept my operating system files on C. Dos
applications lived on D, Windows apps on E, and Data files on F. I
maintained this scheme as best I could through Win3, Win95, and Win98.
With XP, I finally gave up. Even if I installed apps on E drive,
Windows still put bits and pieces of stuff in docs and settings \
username \ application data... blah blah blah. It finally became
easier for me to just integrate everything into c drive. The only
files I keep on other partitions / drives is MP3's and my backup
images.

 

[JethroUK©]

|

|
| You're probably correct but then you've moved away from
| my preferred configuration. None of the system drives I image
| contain jpg or mp3 files. These are data files and on my
| systems they are kept away from drive C:.
|
|

likewise for me too - i was only interested in ghosting the system - you
also answered another question i forgot to ask which was that i always
assumed a drive image must be remounted on the same drive it came from & i
see that it doesn't and provided there's enough space it can be remounted on
any drive - although i imagine that it would lead to problems even if the
machines were very similar set up

 

[Terry R.]

On 7/19/2007 11:03 PM On a whim, Zilbandy pounded out on the keyboard

During the Windows 3 era, I kept my operating system files on C. Dos
applications lived on D, Windows apps on E, and Data files on F. I
maintained this scheme as best I could through Win3, Win95, and Win98.
With XP, I finally gave up. Even if I installed apps on E drive,
Windows still put bits and pieces of stuff in docs and settings \
username \ application data... blah blah blah. It finally became
easier for me to just integrate everything into c drive. The only
files I keep on other partitions / drives is MP3's and my backup
images.

On my main workstation, I still use a multi drive system, but I do it
for multiple OS access. My OS's all boot as C:, all data is on D:, and
all programs are on E:. That way I can maintain small OS partitions
(5-6 gig), and I install all apps in all OS's to E, which saves
considerable space as there is only one installation of each program
(unless programs won't allow drive selection, but that list is
relatively small).



--
Terry R.

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