Creating Disk Partitions

[Guest]

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[R. McCarty]

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

 

[Judith]

This information is useful to me, too. On my older computers, I used to
partition, and set up so that C: contained (mostly) apps, D: contained
certain apps and data, and e: contained other apps and data.

With these new big drives (my new box will have a 160 GB drive) and all the
improvements that have been made in hardware, is it still advisable to
partition the drive? Or will one big C: be just as good?

Judy

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[Guest]

How does the affect the software side of things as far as dual boots and such?

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[R. McCarty]

It's a complicated topic, as different OS'es and partitioning schemes
are required for boot loaders, Multi-booting, etc. In some cases you
can use a 3rd-party boot manager to handle multiple operating systems.
I suppose your question is a little too board to give a concise answer,
did you have a specific setup in mind ?

How does the affect the software side of things as far as dual boots and
such?

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos
Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[R. McCarty]

Correction - Should say "Broad", not board. -

It's a complicated topic, as different OS'es and partitioning schemes
are required for boot loaders, Multi-booting, etc. In some cases you
can use a 3rd-party boot manager to handle multiple operating systems.
I suppose your question is a little too board to give a concise answer,
did you have a specific setup in mind ?

How does the affect the software side of things as far as dual boots and
such?

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos
Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[R. McCarty]

It's a personal choice & perhaps depends on what level of
organization you want to employ. There is nothing wrong with
using a single partition. Professionally, I was schooled as an
Engineer - so organization was emphasized and taught to me.
In my own case, I use multiple SCSI drives and partition each
to hold specific data.
You can take partitioning too far, but I would recommend at
a minimum an XP partition with basic applications (Office...).
Then a data drive to hold documents, email stores. I also have
a fairly large collection of .Wma songs - so I have them on a
separate drive (Using large cluster sizes). So a multimedia type
of partition with Pictures, Video and Music is sometimes a good
idea.
Another use of partitioning is to store your latest XP system
image. Then if the need arises, you can restore your XP instance
without affecting personal data or multimedia.
About the only issue with "SuperSize" drives is access times.
Most 200+ Gigabyte drives employ multiple platters/heads. So
you wouldn't want to place critical data on a partition that would
cause excessive head movements. I still prefer to use multiple
smaller drives, instead of the single huge drive.
Sorry for the "Long Winded" Non-Answer - but no solution will
apply for everyone.

This information is useful to me, too. On my older computers, I used to
partition, and set up so that C: contained (mostly) apps, D: contained
certain apps and data, and e: contained other apps and data.

With these new big drives (my new box will have a 160 GB drive) and all
the
improvements that have been made in hardware, is it still advisable to
partition the drive? Or will one big C: be just as good?

Judy

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[Guest]

With these new big drives (my new box will have a 160 GB drive) and all the
improvements that have been made in hardware, is it still advisable to
partition the drive? Or will one big C: be just as good?

I recently researched Microsoft's website for the answer to this very
question. I found an article essentially saying that if a very large drive
(your 160 GB hard drive certainly qualifies, and my hard drive was even
bigger --250 GB) is formatted using NTFS, a partitioned hard drive will
perform 1 to 2 percent faster than a single huge volume, but virtually all of
the difference in performance is due to less fragmentation on the drive
containing mostly programs rather than data and temporary files. In other
words, if you regularly defragment your hard drive, you should notice
virtually no difference in performance at all between one huge unpartitioned
NTFS drive and a partitioned huge NTFS drive.

You are much more likely to see improved performance with partitioned drives
if you use FAT32 rather than NTFS. The reason is hypertechnical and has to
do with cluster sizes on FAT32 formatted drives -- the smaller the partition,
the smaller the default cluster size and therefore the more efficient Windows
becomes at storing files without wasting disk space. NTFS uses small cluster
sizes no matter how huge the hard drive is.

In any event, I never really understood the point of partitioning anyway.
For example, if I want to keep my data and downloaded programs on a separate
partition, I can just as easily store them on a separate external USB hard
drive and have the additional assurance that neither a virus nor a hard drive
failure on my primary hard drive will cause me to lose my data.

Ken

 

[ByTor]

This information is useful to me, too. On my older computers, I used to
partition, and set up so that C: contained (mostly) apps, D: contained
certain apps and data, and e: contained other apps and data.

With these new big drives (my new box will have a 160 GB drive) and all the
improvements that have been made in hardware, is it still advisable to
partition the drive? Or will one big C: be just as good?

Judy

In my opinion *one* big C is never good........It's unfortunate but most
people never knew, don't know, don't care or just don't save their data
to a seperate partition.....I would *NEVER* save my data on the same
partition as my OS.....Why? Ever try recovering data after a total OS
meltdown? At least if it's on a seperate partition "it's there" & won't
be touched.....Of course now a whole HD will go and it won't matter how
many PT's you have....Saving to removable media is also a plus.....In my
case I have a *bunch* of HD's so I do a lot with data and have double &
sometimes triple backups on entirely different HD's...........That's a
*NEED* for me, most average users will not have this type of demand.
But, it appears you have had the right idea though, if you know how to
partition than give your OS maybe 20gig & a logical the rest for your
data...Just keep in mind that third party partitioners will be needed if
someday you decide to manipulate your partitions.....Windows does not do
any of that............just formats, ne resizing or moving etc.

 

[Guest]

I think, unknowingly, I've made a dual boot machine out of both an Extended
Partition and a Primary Partition (not at the same time of course) and was
just wondering if that matters in anyway whatsoever? Or what effects does
that have?

rodchar

It's a complicated topic, as different OS'es and partitioning schemes
are required for boot loaders, Multi-booting, etc. In some cases you
can use a 3rd-party boot manager to handle multiple operating systems.
I suppose your question is a little too board to give a concise answer,
did you have a specific setup in mind ?

How does the affect the software side of things as far as dual boots and
such?

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos
Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[R. McCarty]

None really. As long as the Extended partition remains in tact.
Basically it hosts the actual lettered Drives that exist within it.
It is possible with Partition Magic to convert Logical partitions
into Primary, so if at some time in the future you need to change
things you won't be locked into your current setup.

I think, unknowingly, I've made a dual boot machine out of both an Extended
Partition and a Primary Partition (not at the same time of course) and was
just wondering if that matters in anyway whatsoever? Or what effects does
that have?

rodchar

It's a complicated topic, as different OS'es and partitioning schemes
are required for boot loaders, Multi-booting, etc. In some cases you
can use a 3rd-party boot manager to handle multiple operating systems.
I suppose your question is a little too board to give a concise answer,
did you have a specific setup in mind ?

How does the affect the software side of things as far as dual boots
and
such?

:

A single physical drive can only have 4 Primary partitions.
An extended partition, allows you to create multiple partitions
or Logical (Drives) within the Extended partition.

40 Gigabyte Drive (w/Primary Partitions
[---------------------------|-------------------]
C: 25 Gigabytes D: 15 Gigabytes

40 Gigabyte Drive ( w/Primary & Extended Partitions
[---------------------------|=============]
C: 25 Gigabytes Extended
||
[---------|----------]
{D:} {E:}
Logical Drives inside the
Extended partition.

Hey all,

I was wondering what the differences were between creating a Dos
Extended
Partition and just creating a Primary Partition?

thannks,
rodchar

 

[Paul Knudsen]

With these new big drives (my new box will have a 160 GB drive) and all the
improvements that have been made in hardware, is it still advisable to
partition the drive? Or will one big C: be just as good?

If you think you'll ever want to try out Linux, you'll need to set up
some separate space for it. Other than that, it's just personal
preferance really.

Back in the days, I had a separate bootable partition just for work
stuff. That way, my futzing around wouldn't wipe anything important!