Separate Partition for Application Software

[Alan C. Brown]

What are the the pros & cons of installing applications software on a
different/separate partition from the operating system (Win XP Pro SP3) ?

In the past I have split my hard drive into 4 partitions ;


C: Win XP Pro
D: Applications
E: Data&Downloads
F: BackUps

The general logic was that you don't lose everything if you have to do a
clean install (reformat C: first) of Win XP Pro.

As far as the D: Applications partition is concerned, you would still have
to reinstall all the applications software, but the pros would be :

- the applcations to be reinstalled are listed in Drogram Files

- any data files associated with the applications are less likely to be
lost, and would hopefully remain in place on re-installation of the
application software.

My main concern is whether or not the laptop and applications run more
efficiently when they the applications installed on a different partition
(D) from the OS (C), and also the effect on bootup time.

Would appreciate any opinions/advice, because I'm in the process
re-installing all my applications software, and would like to know the best
way to go i.e. whether to install applications sofware on D: or C.

Thank you

Alan C. Brown

 

[David Webb]

Personally, I don't see much to be gained by installing applications on a
separate partition. This may have been a wise move back in the days of DOS, but
Windows enters many entries of its applications settings in the registry and
loads many special DLL files in the System32 folder. Both of these are located
on the C drive.

The other item I question is the storage of backups to another partition of the
same drive. If you have a drive failure, which is more common then you may
think, you're in deep trouble.

FWIW, I use Acronis True Image 11 to backup my 3 main partitions to an external
USB 160 GB drive. I also use OEbackup, Money2003 backup, MS Outlook Backup to
routinely store in this same drive. I also keep backups of my MBR, Office
Settings, and All driver backups on this drive. Also, the ATI backups are saved
in file sizes which can be transferred to DVD media if need be.

 

[Galen Somerville]

What are the the pros & cons of installing applications software on a
different/separate partition from the operating system (Win XP Pro SP3) ?

In the past I have split my hard drive into 4 partitions ;


C: Win XP Pro
D: Applications
E: Data&Downloads
F: BackUps

The general logic was that you don't lose everything if you have to do a
clean install (reformat C: first) of Win XP Pro.

As far as the D: Applications partition is concerned, you would still have
to reinstall all the applications software, but the pros would be :

- the applcations to be reinstalled are listed in Drogram Files

- any data files associated with the applications are less likely to be
lost, and would hopefully remain in place on re-installation of the
application software.

My main concern is whether or not the laptop and applications run more
efficiently when they the applications installed on a different partition
(D) from the OS (C), and also the effect on bootup time.

Would appreciate any opinions/advice, because I'm in the process
re-installing all my applications software, and would like to know the
best way to go i.e. whether to install applications sofware on D: or C.

Thank you

Alan C. Brown

Installing your programs to partitions other than C: is good. Naturally many
files end up on C: during the installs.

But, defragging C: is a lot faster as there are less files to contend with.
And the upper partitions seldom need defragging because there is less
activity.

Galen

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

What are the the pros & cons of installing applications software on a
different/separate partition from the operating system (Win XP Pro SP3) ?

As a general rule, there is hardly any advantage for most people to do
this. See below.

Also read my general thoughts on planning your partitions in this
article I recently wrote:
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

In the past I have split my hard drive into 4 partitions ;


C: Win XP Pro
D: Applications
E: Data&Downloads
F: BackUps

Regarding a separate partition for backups: if your data is important
to you, I urge you to seriously reconsider that plan. Such a "backup"
is better than no backup at all, but just barely. Too many things are
likely to clobber the entire physical drive and cause the loss of the
original and backup simultaneously. Real backups need to be stored on
external media, not kept in the computer.

The general logic was that you don't lose everything if you have to do a
clean install (reformat C: first) of Win XP Pro.

As far as the D: Applications partition is concerned, you would still have
to reinstall all the applications software,

Right, and that's the general reason that a separate partition is not
a good idea.

but the pros would be :

- the applcations to be reinstalled are listed in Drogram Files

That's a very complex way to maintain a list of applications, in my
view. You could easily maintain such a list on paper.

- any data files associated with the applications are less likely to be
lost, and would hopefully remain in place on re-installation of the
application software.

Data files are normally kept separately, in My documents, not within
the application folders. Application configurations might be kept
within the application folders, but are often kept within the
registry.

Most important, if there is something you don't want to lose, the way
to protect yourself is by *backup* of those files. Separating files in
separate partitions provides very little protection; remember that
it's possible to lose the entire physical disk. You are focusing on a
need to reinstall Windows, something that should happen very seldom.
Instead you should focus on the all the more likely things that can
happen: hard drive crashes, virus attacks, severe power glitches like
nearby lightning strikes, and user errors.

My main concern is whether or not the laptop and applications run more
efficiently when they the applications installed on a different partition
(D) from the OS (C),

No. The difference on modern machines is slight, but in general, from
an efficiency standpoint, a single partition is best. Multiple
partitions separate files on the drive and increases the time it takes
for the heads to move from one file to another.

and also the effect on bootup time.

Same as above. A single partition is slightly better.

Also note that my personal view is that the attention many people pay
to how long it takes to boot is unwarranted. Assuming that the
computer's speed is otherwise satisfactory, it may not be worth
worrying about. Most people start their computers once a day or even
less frequently. In the overall scheme of things, even a few minutes
to start up isn't very important. Personally I power on my computer
when I get up in the morning, then go get my coffee. When I come back,
it's done booting. I don't know how long it took to boot and I don't
care.

Would appreciate any opinions/advice, because I'm in the process
re-installing all my applications software, and would like to know the best
way to go i.e. whether to install applications sofware on D: or C.

My view: most people who are not dual-booting should have either one
partition or two, depending on their backup scheme. A single partition
is best for those who image their entire drive; two is best for those
who backup only data. Read my article cited above for a fuller
exposition of this. Hardly anyone who is not dual-booting needs more
than two partitions.

 

[Victor]

What are the the pros & cons of installing applications software on a
different/separate partition from the operating system (Win XP Pro SP3) ?

In the past I have split my hard drive into 4 partitions ;


C: Win XP Pro
D: Applications
E: Data&Downloads
F: BackUps

I have always done this on both laptops and desktops:

C: WinXP, all applications, and pagefile
D: Data

My experience has shown me that this gives me the best performance (data,
and OS & applications, defrag differently and more efficiently) and also
best for organization (EASY access to data). It's also the easiest to
maintain.

 

[Alan C. Brown]

David, Galen, Ken & Victor

Thank you very much for your replies, helpful info/advice, and
informative/interesting links

My main concern was whether to use a separate partition for the application
software, and looks I'll probably go with the majority consensus against it,
and will install application software on C:

I already have the disk partitioned into 4 partitions:

C: Win XP Pro
D: Applications (Nothing installed)
E: Data&Downloads (already in use)
F: BackUps (already in use)


Was thinking I could perhaps just keep it the way it is, at least for the
time being, and utilise the free space of the D: partition to increase the
size of the other partitions according to demand, using Acronis Disk
Director

Alternatively, I could probably use Acronis Disk Director to delete the
current D: partition, and allocate the free space mainly to C:

C: OS & Application
D: Data& Downloads
E : Backups&Copies

Presumambly the partition letters for would automatically be adjusted
without detriment, and perhaps I could rename the partitions.

By the way I do backup my 2 laptop(s) to external hard drives (ABSPlus USB2
& ABSPlus Firewire). I use the F: partition mainly for copies of some
application software, in addition to limited temporary backups of some data
folders from the C: partition (e.g Favorites, Outlook Expess message), but
all are routinely backed up to the external drives.


Alan C. Brown

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

David, Galen, Ken & Victor

Thank you very much for your replies, helpful info/advice, and
informative/interesting links

You're welcome. Glad to help.

My main concern was whether to use a separate partition for the application
software, and looks I'll probably go with the majority consensus against it,
and will install application software on C:

In my view, far more important that where you install applications is
the fact that you are using a partition for backups. You're just
kidding yourself if you think that offers any significant protection.